Mission Accomplished

Truthfully, today is marked by the accomplishment of two missions. The first, as of 1:37 am this morning, I have successfully raised Brooke to adulthood. I'm not exactly sire what the means; her room is still a mess and we still pay all her bills. That is not the adulthood that I am living. I wonder where I went wrong. I thought long and hard about how best to celebrate her 18th birthday. Tomorrow I will share the details.

Today's other accomplishment concerns the mystery project that I should have said no to last week, but didn't. Here's the story.

On the 8th of December, BK and I, as well as everyone else in Denton county who has been involved in theater in any way, judged a high school drama tournament. Between sessions, BK was sitting in the judge's lounge knitting. Though I often knit at these events, I had left my knitting at home on this day. I was so far behind at that point, I could not decide which project to take so I opted for nothing. The following MOnday, while I was giving the first of my two exams, a person who had been judging with us called BK and asked her if she would be willing to make a Christmas stocking for her. As you might expect, BK's first question was, "For this year?" Truth to tell, I am not exactly sure what the inquirer's answer to this question was. As they discussed the project in more detail, the fact that the stocking included intarsia came up. This is not BK's favorite kind of knitting and because BK had several other projects in the queue, she told this person she could not do it.

On our way home from school that day, BK told me about the conversation about the stocking. The condensed version was that the original stocking had been made by this person's mother. It had been misplaced for a while and when they found it, it had a few problems. So, could we make another one like it. At some point, this person's mother-in-law had made a stocking to match the original for our friend's son. It became clear that these stockings were meaningful family heirlooms.

Last year BK and I knit stockings for almost everyone in our families so I know how important these things can be. And this year, I made Mike's stocking and BK made one for her new grandson, Carson. We hope that the stockings we've made will last our kids, well, forever. But, we know that things happen and this may indeed not be the case. If one needs to be remade somewhere down the line and neither of us can do it, I hope that there is some kind soul out there who will do it. For this reason, I decided that I would at least look at what we were up against, if I thought I could make the stockings. This was late in the afternoon on Monday, December 9th.

Monday night I was writing the pattern for the stocking. Tuesday morning we headed to the yarn shop to buy the yarn. The fact that the store even still had yarn in Christmas red and Christmas green was a miracle. Maybe this was the restocking of colors for those people who want an early start on the stockings they will make for next year. Writing the pattern such that I could re-create the original design was somewhat of a challenge. Here is what I was given to work from.

The is the original "damaged" stocking.
It is difficult to see in this picture, because all of the colorwork is on the fold or front of the sock rather than on the flat side making it more visible, but the intarsia says, "Merry Xmas", has a Santa Claus, and then the name of the person on the leg. The foot is simply stripes.

I was also given the sock that mother-in-law made for her grandson, son of our friend. Here it is.

Notice the interesting shape of the foot. Perhaps this was made to go over high heeled shoes? Actually, the problem is that the person who made this had no idea how to make a heel flap and pick up a gusset. Based on the knitting techniques that were employed in this stocking, the fact that it looks as much like a sock as it does is a bloody miracle.
The most difficult part of the pattern writing was the charting of the Santa Claus. I couldn't really tell exactly what he was doing, primarily because of bad colorwork. First of all, the floats across the back are pulled too tight so Santa looks like he is seizing up. Secondly, the design is a little strange.
I'm not sure what the green at Santa's waist is. To me it looks like he was impaled with an evergreen, probably not the image that I should replicate. I made some editorial decisions and redrew Santa. One major change I made was to add black boots. In the original design he looks like he is wearing knickers and has not seen any sunlight in . . .decades.

I worked on this project from last Tuesday until this morning. Oh, one more detail: she wanted TWO stockings. I know you are all thinking that she wanted me to remake the high heeled stocking. No. She wanted one for her husband. Here they are.
When I agreed to do this project, our friend said that she wanted to pay me for making the stockings. All of you knitters know that most people are either ignorant of the time that such a task requires or can't afford to pay for the actual time that it takes to make something by hand. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would be grateful just to be reimbursed for the yarn. When I delivered the stockings this afternoon, the recipient shed a few tears. Yes, good tears. Truthfully, that was payment enough. She then asked how much she owed me. I replied with, "The yarn was $40." Because she is a crafty person, my friend knew the value of my time. She wrote me a generous check and gave us two beautiful poinsettias. The stockings were immediately hung on her fireplace and I came home and placed the poinsettias on my hearth. All are happy. I am finally beginning to feel a little Christmas joy.

Service With A Smile

As I have mentioned, I am way behind on Christmas preparations this year. What little gift shopping I have done has been via the Internet. I was able to take advantage of several online shopping sites that were offering free express shipping. Though these deals guarantee the delivery of the ordered items no later tha Demeber 24th, there is not any room for things to go wrong - lost items, tbe the wrong size or color, etc.

When I got home tonight, one of my purchases had arrived and was waiting for me in my desk chair. The box had the seller's name on it so I knew exactly what it was . . .or should be. I stared at the box thinking that it was awfully big for what I had ordered. Perhaps I should open it now just to make sure all is well. I ripped the tape from the shipping box and pulled the packing slip from atop the item. Relief. The packing slip listed exactly what I had intended to order. Since much of my shopping has taken place in the wee hours of the night, I was perfectly willing to admit that I may have clicked on the wrong thing. Not this time; the packing slip confirmed that I had indeed placed my order correctly. But still the question, why is the box so big?

Inquiring (and procrastinating) minds want to know. I lifted the BIG box from the shipping box and reluctantly pulled the lid off. Oh, this is so not what I ordered! What do I do . . .

I checked the website for return policies. The Help section outlined the entire process. It seemed easy enough. The return shipping label could be printed from the web page and the return would cost me nothing. Then I noticed a phone number on the packing slip. It was midnight; I doubt any one is answering the phone at this time of night, but I'll give it a try. The recorded message began. Several cheerful voices clearly stated my options for proceeding and they offered me the opportunity to hear the joke of the day. A comapny with a sense of humor, especially at this time of year, can't be too bad. Naturally, my problem was one of those that required me to stay on the line until the next available representative could take my call. Again, a cheerful voice spoke.

After I told him my situation, the cheerful voice on the other end of the phone apologized repeatedly and vowed to remedy the situation. He transferred me to another cheerful voice. After reading her a few numbers, she said that the item I originally ordered would be shipped tomorrow via overnight delivery and that they would send someone from UPS to pick up the item that I had received in error. I told her that I would be glad to take it to UPS myself. As long I would receive my original order before Christmas, I was perfectly happy. After we discussed all of the details concerning the shipment of my correct order and the picking up of the incorrect one, the cheerful voice said that they would like to credit my credit card for this order as a way to say that they were sorry. I told her that that was not at all necessary, but she insisted. So, now I am getting the item, by Friday, free. How often does a company treat you like that?

Interestingly, this particular company's advertising slogan is "Powered by service." We all know that much of the time, a company's slogan bears little resemblance to what they really deliver. Here is the exception. They are indeed powered by service . . .exceptional service.

I really have no intention of turning my blog into an advertising site. (I read several blogs that have sold out to consumerism. I am sorry for them.) However, I feel that the wonderful service I received deserves a big thank you. And I know that the best thank you gift that I can give to a business is to recommend them to others. So, if you are in the market for shoes or other accessories, visit www.zappos.com. I trust that you will not be disappointed.

Thanks to these great people, my Christmas spirit is improving.

(Sorry for the vaguenesses here. The person who will receive this gift reads this.)

Puppy Love

With two teen aged girls in the house a discussion of puppy love could get ugly in no time at all. So I will leave the girls to tell their love stories to their friends via text messaging and Facebook. I must admit though that periodically I check the "status" on their profiles just so I know what kind of moods to expect. At present, all is well on this subject.

This is the first time in several months that everyone has been home. Brooke came home a week ago for winter break and Mike is actually working from home this week. Though Adidas is happy to have all of his humans around because that means more suckers to throw the Frisbee, he is not too keen on having to share his half of the bed. Also, with Mike and Brooke home, the couch potato factor at our house has increased exponentially. Therefore, there is competition for the best seats in the house. The dogs are having to share a chair.

"I can't believe that #@*! is sitting in my chair. We are going to have to go sit in Mom's office and I am going to miss the House re-runs."
"If we just sit here and be quiet, he'll get up in a minute for a Diet Coke, or one of his phones will ring, or he'll just start wandering. They do that when they get old, ya know. Then we make our move and the big leather chair is ours."
"Until then . . .Don't tell my friends, but I don't mind sharing a chair with my baby sister. It beats the heck out of sharing with one of those feline things!"

Where Have All The Days Gone?

BK asked me this morning, when we left to take Erin to school, if I had written a blog entry last night. I had to respond with a somewhat embarrassed "no". When I started writing nearly a year ago, I promised myself that I would write "regularly"; myself and I never talked the specifics of what regularly really meant. Somewhere in the back of my mind I think that I intended never to skip more than a day or two. I realized with BK's question that it has been almost a week since I last posted. What I have I been doing?

Considering just how I have spent my time over the last week is a good question. As I look around me, I am immediately struck with all the things I have not done - the laundry, housekeeping, making any progress on Christmas gifts, grocery shopping, played Frisbee with Adidas (I think he has marked me off his Christmas list), changed the cat box . . .I think you get the picture.

In an attempt to see myself as something other than a lazy, irresponsible schmuck, I share with you what I have done since I last wrote.

• On Saturday, I spent ten hours judging a Texas Forensic Association tournament. Truthfully, I am not convinced that I am qualified to judge these things, but I love to do it. The talent amongst the high school kids who participate in these events is amazing. As I watched the various judges come and go during the day and as I kept track of the Ryan High kids who were competing, I was amazed by how many people in the Denton theater community I have come to know in the past few years. Erin, who was competing, made the same observation. She knew nearly all the judges on a level beyond just acquaintance. Because my Dad was in the Navy, I never lived anywhere long enough to establish this kind of roots. It is an awesome feeling. We can also walk into our favorite diner on the square and the servers will bring our drinks before we ask and then ask if we want "the regular" this time. There is much good to be said about fairly small town America.


• Saturday night I saw many of the same people as we attended a Denton Community Theatre production of Big, the musicali. Erin was in the chorus of this show. Though she had a non-speaking role, she had a featured swing dance. For her this couple minutes in the spotlight made all the many hours of rehearsal worth it. It all paid off; the dance required her to do a back flip with her dance partner spotting. Over seven performances he never dropped her on her head! In fact, Brooke came home Saturday and saw the show. The first thing she asked after seeing Erin's performance was how many times she had fallen on her head during the rehearsals. Thanks T.J. for sparing her little blond head!


• Sunday I sang for Mass in the morning and then the choir, with the Texas Camerata, performed a concert of two Bach cantatas. In between the two I had a massage. You would choose a massage over laundry or changing the cat box too!


• Monday began finals week. I gave my first final Monday morning and then went to the knit shop to wish Alissa (aka The Knitting Fairy) a happy birthday. Also on Monday I said "yes" to a project that I probably should have said "no" to. I will write more on that later. Suffice it to say that much of Tuesday was consumed with the specifics of this project.


• On Wednesday, we made two round trips to Dallas; one for my second final and another for choir rehearsal last night. I must confess to a brief nap yesterday afternoon because in the midst of all that I have done, I am also trying very hard to get sick.


• A good part of today was spent reading final projects from my theory class and averaging grades. I did take time out this afternoon to have a little fun with the girls. BK and I took Alissa out to lunch for her birthday.We had a good lunch and a fun visit. How can you go wrong with a lunch that involves dessert and a trip to the beloved bookstore? This evening, after going to school with Erin to pick up her PSAT scores and attending a parent meeting explaining said scores, I came home and did some more work on "the project". Brooke kindly made dinner. She asked what I wanted. Because my throat feels like there a million little creatures in there scraping paint with razor blades, all I could say to her was that I wanted something soft. She made some lovely bean soup. And here I sit at 11:25 writing this entry.

I guess that I really have not wasted much time. The massage was not wasted time! Neither was the nap. My grades are done and submitted electronically for the first time. I am making progress on the mystery project and the Internet and I have had some discussions about Christmas presents. I still have much to do before the holidays; I will soldier on one step at a time.

Friday Night

When you get old and sit at home alone on Friday night with only the dogs and your computer, and are easily entertained, what better to do than discover new ways to embarass your offspring. I've got it here.

Get Thee To A Nunnery

I usually ask one question on each of my tests in music theory that has nothing to do with the immediate material but is intended to make the students think. One of my favorites is to ask them what they might like to be doing if they were not pursuing a career in music. Because students today seem to have had many experiences and opportunities before they get to college, most have a ready answer to my question. To some extent, I think that they may also get better information about potential jobs from high school counseling than I did when I was in high school nearly thirty years ago. (Wow! That hurt.)

Kids today are given several different tests that are designed to identify both their interests and their talents. Erin came home with the results of her tests this week. This is the child who loves theater, plays soccer, and is on the Academic math team. Her recommendation is as follows:

"Your high scores bring together many characteristics that can be useful to people. You are a creative and outgoing person and you enjoy helping others with their problems. You also have the ability to communicate your ideas and thoughts clearly. You may be a person who likes to teach or to plan fund raising programs for charity. For you, what is important is that you are helping others. Most occupations in this pairing require at least a Bachelor's degree or some post high school courses. It is also helpful to have a Master's degree or a PhD in many of these occupations."

In terms of assessing her strengths, this evaluation is right on. So what career opportunities do they suggest she explore? At the top of the list is clergy or nun. I know many people who would like to send their teenaged daughters to the convent but I have not heard of any getting real support for such a plan. According to the test, such a career path best utilizes her skill set and requires the most education. If that much education is not appealing, she should consider being a teacher. Should Erin want to lean more toward her creative side rather than her people side, she should consider being a writer; again, this path requires the most education. Being an actor requires some education. If she really does not want to go to school post high school, she can be a comedian. Seemingly one does not have to be well educated to be funny. Maybe all those really stupid things that fall out of the mouths of comedians are because they honestly don't know any better.

Erin has several years before she has to decide which career path to follow. At least she knows what some of her options are - and aren't. She scored a zero on the business and management section. She is quite organized and could perform jobs in this area, but I know she would not be happy. So, check back in six or eight years to see how accurate this test is.

I remember taking a similar test when I was in high school. It recommended that I be a forest ranger. I am not sure what this was based on. I do enjoy the outdoors. There are times when I would be perfectly content in a cabin in the woods communing with nature. My second option was to become a lawyer. Yeah, well. Third on the list was a musician. I don't remember if teacher was suggested at all. At this point in my life, though there are many things that I enjoy and I would be happy doing, I can't imagine doing anything that did not involve some aspect of teaching.

Did you take any test like these? Were they accurate? What are you doing now? What would you like to be doing?

Blog To Blog

I am relatively new to blogging - both writing and reading. Therefore, I have not yet added to my page a list of the other blogs that I read. I read several. Their topics range from knitting to farm life. Though I was a bit skeptical when I began writing my own blog, I now realize that there is much to be learned by wandering around in the community of bloggers. I feel good when I read some one's post that makes me think, that challenges me to look at myself and the world with new eyes.

One such blog is written by a friend and fellow knitter, Lynn H. I met Lynn when she was a teacher and I was a student at last year's DFW Fiberfest. Since our meeting last April, I have been a faithful reader of her blog, and she of mine. Lynn is celebrating five years of blogging. As part of this celebration, she is posing questions to her readers and encouraging us to comment. Lynn's blog's name is Colorjoy! In her post today, Lynn asks what does colorjoy say to you. What word or song or piece of art reflects your personal understanding of the word colorjoy.

I did post a comment on her blog, but I also recalled an article that I wrote a year or so ago that was published in Spirit of Knitting. It does not address Lynn's question directly though it does express some of my views about color. It is too long to post as a comment on someone else's blog so I am posting it here. Those of you who subscribe to Spirit of Knitting need not read any further. This falls into the category of rerun; it was written in the spring of 2006.


WHAT COLOR IS YOUR STASH?
As I sit down to write, it is a beautiful almost spring morning in Texas—March 2nd to be exact. I have just finished my morning prayers, which included a meditation from my favorite book of daily reflections, The Old Hermit’s Almanac, by Edward Hays, a most witty and thought-provoking writer. He reminded me that today is the birthday (in fact the 100th birthday) of someone who has had a profound impact on me throughout my life – Theodore Geisel, better known to us as Dr. Seuss. The words penned by Dr. Seuss were the first that I read by myself, and today, some forty plus years later, I still rely on Seuss as a learning tool both personally and in the classroom.

In today’s reflection, Hays focuses on the creativity and determination exhibited by Theodore Geisel. It is hard for those of us who grew up with the Cat in the Hat, Horton, Yertle the Turtle, and Sam I Am to believe that Dr. Seuss’ first offering to the literary world was rejected by not one or two but twenty-seven different publishers before someone was willing to take a chance on Seuss’ style of creativity, which he calls “logical insanity.” We all crave logical insanity, those moments when our inner child is playing hard and having fun.

When was the last time that you read a book by Dr. Seuss? Not read one of these books to someone, but read it for yourself? Next time you are visiting your local library or bookseller, pick one up and read it. It will take a few minutes to read and a lifetime to digest. The book you choose really doesn’t matter; any of Seuss’ whimsical characters and zany adventures will carry you to that place where “logical insanity” is abundant. Lurking on the pages of every book are life lessons that we are never too old to be taught and re-taught. If more people thought that Horton the Elephant’s words, “a person’s a person no matter how small,” were true, this place we live would be much more tolerable –or is that tolerant? Consider how we, all at one time or another, have been forced to look at life through the eyes of a “small” person. And if we are lucky, we have been in Horton’s shoes and had the opportunity to be a positive influence in the life of someone who is feeling small. Whatever your perspective right now, Seuss and his characters nurture and challenge us all to be the best that we can, wherever we find ourselves.

One of Geisel’s most recent books is My Many Colored Days (© 1996). Although he text for this book was written in 1973, his words waited until a great color artist who, as Seuss says, “ would not be dominated by me,” could be found. Geisel hoped that such an artist could bring “a new art style and pattern of thinking” to his words. His vision was realized, almost twenty five years after he wrote the words, by artists Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. You may recall that the illustrations in earlier books—which were done by Geisel—are line drawings embellished with washed out primary colors. This is not a criticism; it is simply an observation. Why did Geisel feel that My Many Colored Days demanded a broader use of color? Why did he feel that this book needed to depart from what is so clearly the Seussian style? Color has profound effects on us both consciously and subconsciously. Seuss was keenly aware that a book that addressed the colors of moods and feelings begged for illustrations whose colors were as broad and as intense as the emotions themselves.

Whether we like to admit it or not, color has a great influence on how we perceive many things in our world. Bad guys wear black; people who drive red or black cars live on the wild side; boy babies wear blue and girl babies wear pink (how else will we know what they are?); doctors and brides wear white. All of these associations bring forth in us attitudes, opinions—and unfortunately prejudices—that arise purely from our perceptions of color.

We are also manipulated by color. Have you noticed how many foods are packaged in green? When the first “healthy” pre-packaged foods found their way to grocery store shelves, many were in green boxes. Now that we are imprinted with this association, foods that are anything but healthy are also packaged in green. Companies that market these items bank on the fact that we can be conditioned by color associations and that we don’t read the labels. Here is another example: next time you eat at a restaurant, take note of its décor. Bright colors, particularly red, are prominent. Bright colors generate energy in us causing us to eat quickly. The faster we eat, the faster we leave so another party can have our table. Color translates to money in the dining business.

We all have a favorite color (or colors). Mine happen to be blue and orange. Yes, sometimes together. It is not as strange as you might think. These two are complimentary colors on the color wheel. I have been drawn to orange and blue for as long as I can remember. It probably goes without saying that my yarn stash abounds with shades of blue from baby to electric and orange from burnt to neon. I love them all. I have even found some hanks of variegated yarn with both blue and orange. Somewhere out there I have a soul mate with a dye pot! The stash closet also holds yarn that is definitely not me. You know the stuff; coming across it later your reaction is, “What was I thinking?” Most of the time this thought pops in and out of our head as quickly as the yarn is tossed into the “donate to charity” bag. Is it possible that we do ourselves a disservice by not taking that “what was I thinking” question seriously?

Why did I buy those ten skeins of hot pink wool? I am definitely not a pink person! Where did I buy the yarn? Who was I with? What was happening in my life at the time? Dr. Seuss says, “when my days are happy pink it is great to jump and just not think.” So there’s the answer--I wasn’t thinking. On a serious note, I need to ask myself was I really happy when I bought the yarn that now I can barely look at? Or, was I trying to make myself happy because it was really a brown day when I felt “slow and low, low down?” Everything we knit has a story. Each of these stories becomes a chapter in the book that is our life. What do these chapters reveal about where I’ve been and where I am now? What do they say about who I was and who I am now?

There is no doubt in my mind that my eyes (and my heart) will always gravitate toward the blues and oranges that call to me from their nests on the yarn shop shelves, but I am learning to give a bit more credence to that little voice that sometimes says “this is not you at all but I really like it (today).” Buy it. Make something with it. Even if on this day it has lost its appeal. If you really have no affinity for the yarn, find a friend who will knit something with it for you. If you are still puzzled by your reason for buying that yarn, take the finished project and tuck it away in a safe place. A day may come when you say, “that yarn is not so bad. In fact, I kind of like it.”

If you have nothing like this in your stash, set out to deliberately make something with a color that lies outside of your normal comfort zone. What color or colors would you choose? Or, take the challenge further. What can you do to make your creation say something about who you are without relying on its color?

Given a choice, I will always choose bright colors. I shy away from anything in what I call “mud” or “business blahs.” Having said that, one of my favorite pieces that I have made in the last year is a shawl in a variegated yarn in subdued southwest colors. Though I bought the yarn in Texas, I finished the shawl while vacationing in the New Mexico mountains. As I glanced from my knitting to the landscape that enveloped me, the yarn and the land became one. The colors blended together like the paint on a fine artist’s canvas. At that moment, this shawl became the next chapter in my book. Though at the time I thought this chapter was complete, it was not. It took a sad turn. The pattern that I used for the shawl was designed by a local Dallas knitter and teacher. She passed away, after a courageous battle with cancer, shortly after I finished my shawl. What began as a ho-hum project has now become a piece that represents significant moments in my life. Suddenly, all of its subdued colors glow with a brightness that I could not see at first.

Simply stated, we all need to put a little more trust in that small voice that is so easy to ignore. When it whispers, in a gentle attempt to nudge us to try something new or different, listen! Pleasant surprises await those who dare to take the leap toward “logical insanity.”

Though this essay focuses on yarn (because it was written for a knitting publication), here yarn color is simply a place holder for all those things that reside neatly "inside the box". Consider listening to a different kind of music, reading a new author, trying a new kind of food, making a new fashion statement; the possibilities, and the colors you'll experoence, are endless.

And, if you haven't already done so, visit Colorjoy!