First off, thank you to everyone for your kind comment about the o w l s sweater. I've worn it twice and simply love it. I wish I'd knit it sooner so that I could wear it more before it gets warm!
Sometimes I have a whole collection of things I can write about, but the world around me is making it too hard for me to focus on writing. Or my mood is just wrong, and I know that mood will color everything and make simple happy things seem grim. Such is today. Today itself was wonderful -- one of those good days that I would happily live again -- but tomorrow will bring me some unhappy tasks and the anticipation of them has left me wrapping up the day in a not so great place.
So instead of writing, I will leave you with a few random good things...
1. I have started taking a weaving class at the Chicago Weaving School, and I am enjoying it very much. Tonight I finished warping my first 4 harness loom and wove my first twill. I also warped my rigid heddle loom with my 8 dent heddle today in preparation for some funky plaid dishtowels to welcome spring into my kitchen. I do like me some weaving, yes I do.
2. My husband has some year old Bourbon Vanilla Porter on tap right now. I did not like it right after he first brewed it, but the aging process has made it a fabulous beer. I will miss it muchly when it is gone.
3. There is almost nothing better than a windy spring day and a trip to the park with Z and my Dad. Ms. Z practically ran 6 the whole six blocks to get there. Clearly I am not the only one in the house who can't wait for spring to get here and stay here!
4. Without any prompting on my part, my Dad made the most beautiful warping board for me -- it's a 14 yard board made of walnut left over from the rocking chair he made for my brother and sister-in-law. I can't wait to warp something up on it!
5. I downloaded the Amazon Kindle reader application for my iPhone on Wednesday and downloaded a free book chapter (Niel Gaiman's American Gods: A Novel
, which I really want to read the full version of someday). The whole process worked seamlessly. I don't consider my iPhone the ideal e-book reader, but it does a pretty good job for those times when you'd like something to read but want to travel light. If you have an iPhone, the software is free and since you can download free first chapters for books to "demo" them, you can try without buying anything at all. Very cool.
Sometimes I have a whole collection of things I can write about, but the world around me is making it too hard for me to focus on writing. Or my mood is just wrong, and I know that mood will color everything and make simple happy things seem grim. Such is today. Today itself was wonderful -- one of those good days that I would happily live again -- but tomorrow will bring me some unhappy tasks and the anticipation of them has left me wrapping up the day in a not so great place.
So instead of writing, I will leave you with a few random good things...
1. I have started taking a weaving class at the Chicago Weaving School, and I am enjoying it very much. Tonight I finished warping my first 4 harness loom and wove my first twill. I also warped my rigid heddle loom with my 8 dent heddle today in preparation for some funky plaid dishtowels to welcome spring into my kitchen. I do like me some weaving, yes I do.
2. My husband has some year old Bourbon Vanilla Porter on tap right now. I did not like it right after he first brewed it, but the aging process has made it a fabulous beer. I will miss it muchly when it is gone.
3. There is almost nothing better than a windy spring day and a trip to the park with Z and my Dad. Ms. Z practically ran 6 the whole six blocks to get there. Clearly I am not the only one in the house who can't wait for spring to get here and stay here!
4. Without any prompting on my part, my Dad made the most beautiful warping board for me -- it's a 14 yard board made of walnut left over from the rocking chair he made for my brother and sister-in-law. I can't wait to warp something up on it!
5. I downloaded the Amazon Kindle reader application for my iPhone on Wednesday and downloaded a free book chapter (Niel Gaiman's American Gods: A Novel
, which I really want to read the full version of someday). The whole process worked seamlessly. I don't consider my iPhone the ideal e-book reader, but it does a pretty good job for those times when you'd like something to read but want to travel light. If you have an iPhone, the software is free and since you can download free first chapters for books to "demo" them, you can try without buying anything at all. Very cool.
Ahhhh, American Gods is one of my favorite novels ever! Definitely worth the read, even if you have to buy the actual book.
I love that book.
I can't wait to see more weaving!
I just bought that book! After reading "Coraline" (courtesy of my eleven year old), I decided I should really check out some of his adult stuff. I haven't started it, but I'm looking forward to it.
I hope tomorrow will go better than you expect.
American Gods is an amazing book. It's one of those books I recomend to anyone I can!!
Have you read Syne Mitchell's blog about weaving?
She's great.
http://www.weavezine.com/
There are links to Weavezine her weaving ezine and her podcast.
I learned to knit after weaving,
I am thinking my entry into weaving might be sooner than I was expecting. I am just hoping to find someone local with a rigid heddle that I can try for a little bit before committing.
Of course, this means I'm looking to see what everyone is using to help decide which one might be the one for me!
I have been using the Stanza application for my iPod Touch - it's also free and there are lots of free whole books out there for download. I agree, it's not ideal, but it's nice to have a book in your bag and not actually have to carry a book in your bag!
I am looking forward to more posts about the weaving class. When does it meet? A specific time or is it one on one (the price seems too low for that)? I have been thinking about getting a loom & learning to weave for a good while now (maybe it will free up some space in the house - now taken up by huge stash). Oh course, I'd have to find some space for the loom. I was just happy to discover what seems like a good weaving resource not too far from Oak Park. My only problem might be in taking the 12 classes in a 15 week period since I will be visiting my daughter & her family in Palo Alto fairly often (every 2 or 3 months at least).