TrickyTricot

We'll Miss You, Witt...

Wednesday night. I've had a terribly difficult time this week packing and wrapping up work. Between the general lack of focus, my sinus' and the high from the MSKR, it's been tough.  All I was able to muster tonight was two episodes of Season 1 of "Doctor Who" and untangling a ball of yarn from MSKR (because the swift is packed). It was sunny today, and it'll be sunny tomorrow, but I'll be seeing clouds for a while.

I learned through Ted that Witt Pratt passed away last night, for which I am deeply saddened by.  We'll miss you, Witt.

I first met Witt at a Knitting Group in Logan Circle --- it was Logan Circle Knit 'n Crochet back then, before we became part of Stitch 'n Bitch.  I remember meeting him and being amazed - he had hanks and hanks of Manos he'd bought (somehow he scored a Wholesale account). We talked a lot that night - I was so glad to know there was another male knitter out there somewhere. 

Witt and I crossed paths again and again from then on, often at times I least expected it. I'd see him every once in a while at Yarns International (when it had a physical space in Bethesda), where he worked and taught.  We took a class together there, once, with Nora Bellows on designing felted bags.

I often saw Witt at knitting groups - and more and more when we started MenKnit in DC. He'd come, often working on an amazing project... he was close with Cat Bordhi at a time, and loved her moebius knitting. I remember watching him make one of those striped philosopher wool shawls --- he made more than one if I remember correctly.

Witt knew everyone, everywhere in the knit-world.  Without him, I would have never written 'Knitting with Balls' --- he played a key role in lending me books from his library, helping to stir the creative juices, and offering help at every turn. He introduced me to my tech editor for the book, Karen Frisa, who has become a great colleague and a good friend. He has had designs published - I found 2 on ravelry, but I know there are more. When we talked about the fiber-y world, he seemed to know everyone on a first name basis. I greatly respected him - and still do.

Today, I'm thinking about Witt and where he's been since I saw him last --- more than 3 years ago, when I'd understood he moved to Virginia. I'll miss Witt - in a phrase, he changed my life as a knitter.

A few links for folks who knew Witt...
Kvetching Up who received word from Gary (my thoughts are with him!)
Dan's Blog, photos of Witt, as I remember him...

MSKR 09

Sunday night.  It is cool and cloudy in Washington and it's not all that different from weather elsewhere on the east coast. This morning, waking up in Easton/Greenwich, I thought the air had a tinge of fall in it.  While I love summer, and all the wonder it brings, I felt some small bit of relief in the air, that, if fall, the summer had come and gone that the uncertainty on the path to come, had passed, as all uncertainty does, and that I could finally sit back and relax, and enjoy. Yes, cool fall air fell from the clouds this morning, the last day of the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat 2009.

All of the inaugural attendees of the 2008 retreat (well, those that I talked to) agreed that this year was much different than last.  Despite all of us saying we'd return in 2009 to enjoy our company, 1 out of 3 were unable to make it, sadly.  Sickness holds a few, the economy others - and, who knows what else.  We all understand - priorities shift, but friends, you were thought of often, and missed.

To give you the set up, Wednesday afternoon I was so looking forward to hearing North.  Simultaneously, due to crazy work and transition stress (yes, friends, I'm moving to points south in 3 weeks - more another time), I'd been grinding my teeth down to little stumps (not literally, though it felt that way). Hypochondria and a life of dental trauma had me rethinking a flight to Albany, but Thursday morning, I awoke, took the risk and headed on (despite mind-numbing tooth pain which is still going away, today, Sunday).

I arrived early afternoon, and once there, Kyle, Chuck, and I headed to lunch and then on to Easton to check in. I was blessed to be rooming with Tom this year - a truly kind gentleman who I was glad to sleep in the same room with, especially given some of the caddy b*tches at this event (the measure of a good roommate is that he leaves the light on so that when you stumble in at 1am, you're not actually stumbling).  By 6pm, most folks had arrived and we began the chatter and connections which lasted all weekend. 

Giving you all a blow-by-blow is tedious (and I can only be so charming with the tedious), so instead, here are the highlights.

*There was porch knitting. Oh yes, there was porch knitting. In fact, after teaching on both Friday and Saturday, I spent all afternoon on the porch knitting, mostly working on my Russian Prime, and chatting with Alasdair- a charming guy from Boston, and a fiend with double knitting. It was lovely to be able to sit on the porch and knit --- I saw goslings and geese, the redwing blackbirds, goldfinches (my new favorite songbird), and then this morning, a few orioles.  Nature at its best.

*The hike to the top of the mountain. It is so tough to call that hill in front of the porch a mountain, when you're looking up at it, but when you clim to the summit, yes, you know it's a mountain.  Trails abound in the backwoods there, and the heart trail had just been cleared by folks at Easton that day. Alasdair and I decided to go on a quick hike around the pond, but tempted by the sign, "Summit ---> .6 mi", we couldn't resist. Trees blocked our way early on, but we were strong and pressed on. As the path went on, there were more and more and more fallen trees (the products of an ice storm this winter), but we pressed on.  Alasdair did really well - me, not so much. In fact, exhausted, I may have exclaimed inappropriately a few times, but pressed on. We did indeed reach the summit.
Now, a mountain summit is way less exciting than you'd think.  I mean, we were expecting a spectactular view - but, it was really just trees.  Happily, there was sunlight though, and a beautiful breeze - and I was invigorated to have made the climb. Coming down was much easier (it usually is) - there was no trail (though we did follow trail markers), and fewer fallen trees.  Worth the effort in the end though.

*An afternoon in the hammock.  Back from our hike, Jeff, Chuck, John and I all climbed into the hammock and had a good chat.  It was wonderful small-group time and will be taken away as one of the best moments of the weekend.

*Knitting, and not knitting.  Even though it was clearly a mens knitting weekend, I actually don't recall doing that much knitting, which is odd.  I worked on the Russian Prime on Friday, and did some sock knitting on Thursday and Saturday - but mostly, it was just looking at nature and chatting.

*The Slumber Party - where there was no slumbering. We watched 'Steel Magnolias', did face masks and cuticle cream, and ate junk food.  Good times.  Wonderful more than anything because we all mostly knew the words.  When I dream of men gathering, I dream of us watching the classics and seeing our love of Olympia Dukakis in each other.  I'm voting for 'Mommie Dearest' for next year, though there are other great ones out there.

During the weekend, it was tough to feel relaxed and tough to feel like I was "there" and enjoying the company.  Still, back in DC now (and looking at the piles of boxes here, and thinking about the piles of boxes yet to pack), I'm feeling that same satisfied feeling from 2008 bubbling up.  It's tough to say from where it comes --- I think spending time together with other guys in an authentic way is part of it --- and that mixed with the beautiful surroundings and everything else, I think the strange cocktail brews up a great feeling of satisfaction and connection. I of course am missing my partners-in-crime there and wishing that we could be seeing each other more often (all the while acknowledging that us together in that place is one way of being - I'm not sure it could be replicated!).

Onward friends - just didn't want to let a knitting retreat go-by undocumented.  Hope everyone's well.

Goodnight Cable, Goodnight Wrong Love, Goodnight Moon

Wednesday night.  New Year's Eve.  Somewhere, folks are out having a good time. Were it summer (subconsciously, I'm yearning for summer), folks would be out in the streets screaming and being rowdy, and so on.  Across the street, I see a few apartments full of tame-rowdiness (it is early still).  Looks like Hors D'Oeuvres in 704, and lonely men on a Wii in 602. I once spent a tame night in 801 (which we'll never speak of again), and I remember looking across to my apartment and thinking, "Wow, you really *can* see right in..."

I cancelled my cable today - and my local phone.  In the end, it will save me $100 a month (about) and I'm thrilled.  I mean, the extra money is great - and the extra time is even more great.  Karen is right (from yesterday), a whole new world is on my doorstep and I'm just inching to go exploring.  The folks at RCN were nice and courteous (had they already read my blog?) - although I *did* listen to advertisements for 10 minutes on the phone "before my call was answered in turn" (maybe they were hoping I'd hang up and hang on). Just after cancelling, I signed back on to NetFlix and go a few movies I'd been wanting to see.  When I cancelled in October, I realized that I had had "The Fountain" and "The Fabulous Life of Ethan Green" (or whatever it is called) on my coffee table for nearly a year and I had not watched either.  I was ready to toss the extra charge and forget about it, but then today, realized that getting a DVD every week (or whenever) would be almost as good as actually having TV --- and when I dug deep into their online offerings, I realized I was in pretty good shape (I just watched an episode of "The Office") - and realized I was in even better shape when I saw on ITunes I can download the things I want to watch (and pay) and be done with it.  It's a win-win-win-win situation.  No more days spent uselessly surfing the channels (now they'll be filled with uselessly seeing if I can watch "Jumanji" on the NetFlix site).

It's NYE - I should write something culminatory for you all.  And, lucky for you, I will. I actually had wanted to put a post up about "sleep" tonight, but instead, you'll get something better (stay tuned for my post about sleep - it's got pictures, I promise. For now, you'll need to settle for the hyperlink I put below).

As you may well know, I love Astrology.  For years, I read the Washington Post horoscopes and wondered why they didn't make sense and why I never seemed to actually know anyone with the letters "F", "Q", and "Y" in their names (you know - like in a birthday horoscope).  Then, one day I stumbled across Rob Brezny and Free Will Astrology (yup, that's your hyperlink, kids. No more emails that my posts are all text.). Rob is great - he sends a weekly horoscope which is full of nuance and good thinking --- I don't think I've ever read 'This week, you will meet a tall stranger'... his posts are more like, 'In Ang Lee's 'Sense and Sensibility', Colonel Brandon appears as a tall dark stranger with a hidden past and a silent love for young Mary Ann.' - and will go on to say something about how you think, why you think, and/or what shifts in thinking will come that are somehow related to a tall dark stranger that Jane Austen writes into one of her seminal chef-d'oeuvres.  I think he's wonderful - when I'm stressed, Rob gives me a lot to think about. I get shivers sometimes when I read them (and some lightbulb goes off in my head and is replaced by a solar panel of wonderful deep and new thinking).  Go - check out his site, read your horoscope - and think. I'll wait.

So, one of the best things about Rob and his horoscopes, is he does yearly projections for each sign.  You have to pay (no divine wisdom is free) - but it is worth it.  I myself bought "a token" as they're called and listened to the first installment last night. In my mind, it was worth every penny and I urge you to check one out for yourself (if you buy into this whole thing, or 'introspection' is a word in your vocabulary).  Now, I'd like to tell you what he told me in this first installment, but I recognize that doing so would be like me photocopying a Nancy Bush Estonian Lace pattern (WHICH, I should say are amazing - if you have not yet gotten a complimentary copy from Interweave OR have not yet checked out the bookstore for the title, do it - it's great - and full of "nupps" [rhymes with "poops" - did anyone ever see "Last Holiday"?]) --- which I'd never do because Nancy kind of lives off book sales - just as Rob lives off (or really deserves to live off) these projections. BUT, the projection was interesting and good - Rob tells me this year will bring good and powerful shifts and that I need to begin by dropping deadweights such as things which no longer serve me, and to move on from 'the wrong kind of love.' So far, I'm doing a good job already dropping the things that might hold me back - like excessive time wasting and/or things that kind of make me crazy like TV, too much sugar, or what have you.  I'm an overachiever - I like to get an early start. On the last, I confess, it's somewhat less easy.

Now, there are folks reading who have only ever done the deed with 6 people (who I will not name because I like them and don't want to single them out) who may not know what 'the wrong kind of love' is... but I deeply hope that the rest of you at least are familiar with the phrase, or can imagine what happened the one and only night I spent in apartment 801 across the street recognizing what one could see in my own apartment (let's keep it PG in the comments, harlots).

So far, my best tactic to advance on this goal has to talk openly and friendly with a very cute massage therapist in Milwaukee who I think is very cute about things that are real and good and don't involve a long weekend in the Poconos.  So far so good - if this one were closer (or will be closer, which I do hope), he'd be a keeper.  He is a keeper. I'd really like to occupy my year with good things - make room for awesomeness and so on and so forth.  And tonight (and if only for tonight), I'm honoring that. Ask me again in 2 weeks when I'm begging RCN to let me pay $200 a month for full cable.

Hope you're all out and about, having good times, and driving safely and without issue. I'm going to do me a little more work, then pull out the Russian Prime and pop in "Pride and Prejudice".  Yes, TrickyTricot, I do think Mr. Darcy would have loved you.