Knitting in the Pink

Al's sweater

2012-02-07T16:32:00.004-07:00

Finally knitting again this year. Here is Alex in his new Christmas sweater.

Noro Silk Garden double stranded on US 4 needles. Found the Noro on sale!

printing money

2010-11-20T19:08:00.001-07:00

Exorcise

2010-11-20T01:57:00.002-07:00

From the Associated Press: "Citing a shortage of priests who can perform the rite, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops are holding a conference on how to conduct exorcisms.

The two-day training, which ends Saturday in Baltimore, is to outline the scriptural basis of evil, instruct clergy on evaluating whether a person is truly possessed, and review the prayers and rituals that comprise an exorcism. Among the speakers will be Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas, and a priest-assistant to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan."

What's next? A how-to manual on burning witches?

Tax the Rich

2010-10-02T11:59:00.001-06:00

why it all hurts so much:

WatsonMedia presents Mark Blyth on Austerity from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

love vs fear

2010-09-30T12:28:00.002-06:00

ok, finally moved off the fuck you dime.

here is a vlog that helped.

Davey Wavey is a daily sip of youthful joy. kinda like my morning juice. check him out.

http://www.breaktheillusion.com

the red button

2010-08-18T15:24:00.002-06:00

so, I don't exactly know why, but I've been pushing the red button quite a lot lately.

Mainly when I read the news. Or deal with the university. Or try to buy food. Or try to sleep.

Anyway.

It seems the most reasonable response to such matters.

I Have the God

2010-07-29T23:24:00.005-06:00

An animated rendition of James Broughton's poem of the same name.

really only bother with the first minute or so......

the rest is just air

check out the http://www.bigjoy.org/

When was the last time YOU were threatened by a lynching?

2010-07-29T22:28:00.000-06:00

I have the God (test)

2010-07-29T17:17:00.002-06:00

For the Christians

2010-07-25T18:11:00.001-06:00

A Manifesto by John Shelby Spong

A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!

John Shelby Spong

I have made a decision. I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. I will no longer engage the biblical ignorance that emanates from so many right-wing Christians about how the Bible condemns homosexuality, as if that point of view still has any credibility. I will no longer discuss with them or listen to them tell me how homosexuality is “an abomination to God,” about how homosexuality is a “chosen lifestyle,” or about how through prayer and “spiritual counseling” homosexual persons can be “cured.” Those arguments are no longer worthy of my time or energy. I will no longer dignify by listening to the thoughts of those who advocate “reparative therapy,” as if homosexual persons are somehow broken and need to be repaired. I will no longer talk to those who believe that the unity of the church can or should be achieved by rejecting the presence of, or at least at the expense of, gay and lesbian people. I will no longer take the time to refute the unlearned and undocumentable claims of certain world religious leaders who call homosexuality “deviant.” I will no longer listen to that pious sentimentality that certain Christian leaders continue to employ, which suggests some version of that strange and overtly dishonest phrase that “we love the sinner but hate the sin.” That statement is, I have concluded, nothing more than a self-serving lie designed to cover the fact that these people hate homosexual persons and fear homosexuality itself, but somehow know that hatred is incompatible with the Christ they claim to profess, so they adopt this face-saving and absolutely false statement. I will no longer temper my understanding of truth in order to pretend that I have even a tiny smidgen of respect for the appalling negativity that continues to emanate from religious circles where the church has for centuries conveniently perfumed its ongoing prejudices against blacks, Jews, women and homosexual persons with what it assumes is “high-sounding, pious rhetoric.” The day for that mentality has quite simply come to an end for me. I will personally neither tolerate it nor listen to it any longer. The world has moved on, leaving these elements of the Christian Church that cannot adjust to new knowledge or a new consciousness lost in a sea of their own irrelevance. They no longer talk to anyone but themselves. I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn’t. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone. An old civil rights song proclaimed that the only choice awaiting those who cannot adjust to a new understanding was to “Roll on over or we’ll roll on over you!” Time waits for no one.

I will particularly ignore those members of my own Episcopal Church who seek to break away from this body to form a “new church,” claiming that this new and bigoted instrument alone now represents the Anglican Communion. Such a new ecclesiastical body is designed to allow these pathetic human beings, who are so deeply locked into a world that no longer exists, to form a community in which they can continue to hate gay people, distort gay people with their hopeless rhetoric and to be part of a religious fellowship in which they can continue to feel justified in their homophobic prejudices for the rest of their tortured lives. Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged.

In my personal life, I will no longer listen to televised debates conducted by “fair-minded” channels that seek to give “both sides” of this issue “equal time.” I am aware that these stations no longer give equal time to the advocates of treating women as if they are the property of men or to the advocates of reinstating either segregation or slavery, despite the fact that when these evil institutions were coming to an end the Bible was still being quoted frequently on each of these subjects. It is time for the media to announce that there are no longer two sides to the issue of full humanity for gay and lesbian people. There is no way that justice for homosexual people can be compromised any longer.

I will no longer act as if the Papal office is to be respected if the present occupant of that office is either not willing or not able to inform and educate himself on public issues on which he dares to speak with embarrassing ineptitude. I will no longer be respectful of the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who seems to believe that rude behavior, intolerance and even killing prejudice is somehow acceptable, so long as it comes from third-world religious leaders, who more than anything else reveal in themselves the price that colonial oppression has required of the minds and hearts of so many of our world’s population. I see no way that ignorance and truth can be placed side by side, nor do I believe that evil is somehow less evil if the Bible is quoted to justify it. I will dismiss as unworthy of any more of my attention the wild, false and uninformed opinions of such would-be religious leaders as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Albert Mohler, and Robert Duncan. My country and my church have both already spent too much time, energy and money trying to accommodate these backward points of view when they are no longer even tolerable.

I make these statements because it is time to move on. The battle is over. The victory has been won. There is no reasonable doubt as to what the final outcome of this struggle will be. Homosexual people will be accepted as equal, full human beings, who have a legitimate claim on every right that both church and society have to offer any of us. Homosexual marriages will become legal, recognized by the state and pronounced holy by the church. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” will be dismantled as the policy of our armed forces. We will and we must learn that equality of citizenship is not something that should ever be submitted to a referendum. Equality under and before the law is a solemn promise conveyed to all our citizens in the Constitution itself. Can any of us imagine having a public referendum on whether slavery should continue, whether segregation should be dismantled, whether voting privileges should be offered to women? The time has come for politicians to stop hiding behind unjust laws that they themselves helped to enact, and to abandon that convenient shield of demanding a vote on the rights of full citizenship because they do not understand the difference between a constitutional democracy, which this nation has, and a “mobocracy,” which this nation rejected when it adopted its constitution. We do not put the civil rights of a minority to the vote of a plebiscite.

I will also no longer act as if I need a majority vote of some ecclesiastical body in order to bless, ordain, recognize and celebrate the lives and gifts of gay and lesbian people in the life of the church. No one should ever again be forced to submit the privilege of citizenship in this nation or membership in the Christian Church to the will of a majority vote.

The battle in both our culture and our church to rid our souls of this dying prejudice is finished. A new consciousness has arisen. A decision has quite clearly been made. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. Therefore, I will from this moment on refuse to dignify the continued public expression of ignorant prejudice by engaging it. I do not tolerate racism or sexism any longer. From this moment on, I will no longer tolerate our culture’s various forms of homophobia. I do not care who it is who articulates these attitudes or who tries to make them sound holy with religious jargon.

I have been part of this debate for years, but things do get settled and this issue is now settled for me. I do not debate any longer with members of the “Flat Earth Society” either. I do not debate with people who think we should treat epilepsy by casting demons out of the epileptic person; I do not waste time engaging those medical opinions that suggest that bleeding the patient might release the infection. I do not converse with people who think that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as punishment for the sin of being the birthplace of Ellen DeGeneres or that the terrorists hit the United Sates on 9/11 because we tolerated homosexual people, abortions, feminism or the American Civil Liberties Union. I am tired of being embarrassed by so much of my church’s participation in causes that are quite unworthy of the Christ I serve or the God whose mystery and wonder I appreciate more each day. Indeed I feel the Christian Church should not only apologize, but do public penance for the way we have treated people of color, women, adherents of other religions and those we designated heretics, as well as gay and lesbian people.

Life moves on. As the poet James Russell Lowell once put it more than a century ago: “New occasions teach new duties, Time makes ancient good uncouth.” I am ready now to claim the victory. I will from now on assume it and live into it. I am unwilling to argue about it or to discuss it as if there are two equally valid, competing positions any longer. The day for that mentality has simply gone forever.

This is my manifesto and my creed. I proclaim it today. I invite others to join me in this public declaration. I believe that such a public outpouring will help cleanse both the church and this nation of its own distorting past. It will restore integrity and honor to both church and state. It will signal that a new day has dawned and we are ready not just to embrace it, but also to rejoice in it and to celebrate it.

– John Shelby Spong, Retired Episcopal Bishop

Las Vegas Fourth

2010-07-03T11:34:00.014-06:00

We had our "Fiestas Fourth" Parade here in Las Vegas today. Always a favorite around here, the whole town turns out, either lining the the streets or walking/riding in the parade.

The theme was "Tradition, Heritage, Love, Family, and Freedom." Quite a mouthful, though a few less words in Spanish.

I've been always impressed with aspects of this parade which are part anachronism, part racist, part small town precious.

I have pictures of a few choice moments. Firstly come the men dressed up as "Conquistadors," on horseback of course.

Most New Mexican towns have a fiestas celebration at some point in the year. Santa Fe celebrates the bloody subjugation of New Mex by the Spanish Crown and Church during the feast day of La Conquistadora in September. It's a bit like the DAR, only instead of celebrating revolutionaries it is all about inflating aristocracy. All the old Spanish families around Santa Fe put their coats of arms up around the plaza and hoot and hollar about their pride in pretending to not be related to any Indians or gringos despite 400 years of rubbing elbows and god knows what else.

Here in Vegas we are much more practical. We celebrate the racial pride and domination of some fictional Old Spanish Pure Aristocracy at the same time as US independence from precisely such domination. Why spend money on two celebrations when you can have just one and everyone can have a good time in July? This is one of the most interesting cultural mash-ups I have ever experienced. The Monumental Denial involved to achieve this is one of the hallmarks of this oh so dysfunctional town.

I had hoped that the reason for the shared holiday was because the folks here still resent the failure of the US government to honor the terms of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. While it is true that many people who draw their ancestry to mid nineteenth century land holds granted by the Mexican Government are actively pissed off about the last almost 200 years of Anglo interests and outright thievery. This point of view is held in tandem with staunch US patriotism mixed with racial disdain for all those "other" non-Spanish mixed race Latinos south of the border. And (sadly) has nothing to do with launching Conquistadors after the VFW in the fiestas parade (I only wish it did. I could get behind a serious Fuck You to the fourth of July.).

Truth is, the "tradition" of fiesta was invented by a bunch of white business men in Santa Fe during the early twentieth century as a way to generate tourist money. Admittedly they were riffing on folk traditions of processing through the fields with saints to stimulate the bean crops, so some kind of tradition is indeed involved. It just isn't the kind of tradition most folks around here say it is. Really it is just plain old traditional hootin and hollering to make who ever happens to be in charge at the moment feel "traditional" pride.

I thought photographing the horse's ass was the best way to depict this cultural train wreck.

Next we have the endless royalty floats from all the small towns in northern New Mexico. This is the float from Espanola.

Gentlemen, choose your princess bride here. But you better have the right pedigree, or no touchy no feely.

Lastly I have pictures of the true revolutionaries and patriots in our nation's culture wars. Why have separate gay pride parades when every town in America could be uplifted on the fourth of July through the vehicle of home grown identity politics? This is what keeps me interested in this crazy town.

So, happy Independence day to one and all! Enjoy the noise and fireworks and irony.

better lucy pictures

2010-06-30T17:39:00.002-06:00

still not great pictures, but best I could do for now.

what do you think of her?

Oh, details: Lucy is 20" high by 5" by 6" or so; Stoneware fired to cone 6.5 oxides and glaze.
Birds are 27" high by 24" by 24" or so; bronze.

little lucy update

2010-06-24T19:56:00.004-06:00

Just wanted to post some photos of progress. these are terrible pictures of little lucy in her swirl of bronze birds. Not quite finished with the patination, needs some polish. The pictures really just give you a sense of scale and outline. but best I can provide today....

lucy larger

2010-06-01T00:33:00.001-06:00

I've begun building the larger version of Lucy. Here are her feet.

Ganesha through the fire

2010-06-01T00:12:00.004-06:00

Ganesha was glaze fired yesterday. Shino sprayed all over. The belt is manganese oxide with copper carbonate. The glaze looks fantastic!

He was fired in two sections because he is too tall (54") for our kiln. gas fired with reduction cone 6.5. His upper portion was fired upside down to minimize the potential for warping.
Unfortunately, he warped despite our best efforts and no longer fits upper to lower (I blame the missing sections of his belt). sigh.

I spent the day gluing the parts which were broken off him during his greenware stage when a young student fell into him in February. He must be well built since only most of his trunk, his left hand, part of his left foot and parts of his belt broke off in the assault. sigh.

These parts will be molded and cast in bronze. also a new belt will be crafted out of wax and cast so he fits together better.

The skull is the beginning of his stand. it is iron.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

2010-05-13T13:17:00.007-06:00

Well, once again months have gone by with no post. My excuses are varied and full of pathos. this has been a very challenging semester.

Ganesha is yet to be glaze fired, and he was the victim of an assault which left him without a trunk, left hand, and smashed left foot. Yikes. Plan B includes casting the missing elements from their shards in bronze. Hmmm, we'll see.

Anyway, I focused much more on acquiring foundry skills this semester. These pictures are of a maquette I am working on of Lucy surrounded by a flock of birds. Right now she is half size. At her full size she stands 42 inches tall.

Another disaster hit in the form of misinformation regarding kiln firing tolerances of the clay she is constructed from. What was once vertical ended up after the glaze firing to be horizontal.

To top it all off, my Dad died on Palm Sunday.

Anyway. The pictures I hope capture some of the charm of the planned piece. I think the glaze is spectacular. The stand and the birds are wax at this point. I'll be taking a foundry intensive in June and should have the stand and the birds cast in bronze by the end of it.

These sculptures will be one of a kind. I am using the lost wax technique.

Here's a pic of the wax maquette stand sans Lucy.

So, many more birds to make. I will post progress as I can.
Ganesha update once he makes it through the glaze fire.

Cheers!

Ganesha

2009-12-12T10:18:00.008-07:00

I haven't posted in a long while. This posting is some of the why.

This is a project I developed as part of a class I was taking at Highlands University. I wanted to learn the skills necessary to plan and execute 3/4 life sized ceramic sculptural figures.

Ganesha was chosen because of his virtue in getting through tough thresholds.

The first step was to create a maquette. So, here he is at nine inches tall. I took him all the way through the glaze firing process to try out some glazing ideas as well.

The finished piece will be around 48 inches tall and so some adjustments to the form and composition were possible and necessary.

The cobra belt is designed to cover the seam where he is split in half in order to fit in our kiln.

While the maquette stood on his own, the full size version will likely require support in the back. His left foot will be resting on a human skull.

I loved the process of dancing with the clay in this construction. I allowed the clay to teach me where it wanted/could go while attempting to retain enough human proportion and anatomical detail to delight and not discomfort my eye.
This resulted in some surprising gestural passages that presented challenges in reconciling the figure as a whole.

However, every time I got "fussy" and tried to beat the form back into a more "classically" acceptable shape, I was defeated. So, ultimately I bowed to my teachers: gravity and clay and moisture and went with the energy, trusting it would all work out in the end.

Based on the maquette, his head would be about the same mass as his torso. I created a significant internal structure to support the weight on his chest and spine.

His neck proportions had to be massive for the head. Meanwhile everything was drying very quickly. Challenging to build the mass and at the same time get the shape for a workable form.

I was delighted to discover how an elephant head recapitulates the form of an elephant as a whole. Also many other animal forms surged into the process at the same time. what wonderful teaching/learning.

His tusks are made from porcelain and will be added later. I might cast them into bronze as well, not sure yet.

The pose of the arms and trunk are traditional. His right hand is grasping the broken end of his left tusk. His trunk is reaching for the bowl in his left hand.

I am very grateful for the support and feedback of many people (especially Al and Vic) throughout this process. I love how this project became truly a group effort.

Next steps are: drying, bisquette firing, glaze firing, stand construction and assembly, and finally installation. I pray we all survive each step of the process.

Neil Gaiman and Miniature Knitting?

2009-02-11T17:31:00.005-07:00

It's true. These two words do go together.

What Bliss.

Althea Crome.

http://www.bugknits.com/

Thanks Aster!

PK's muffler

2009-02-06T18:55:00.003-07:00

Two images of the mysterious PK. Thanks pig sister! Glad you like the scarf.

Knitting for Hope

2009-02-05T15:23:00.002-07:00

It is a new day we can all participate in, even knitters.

Knitting is an act of hope.

Change we already believe in.

Thanks Birdie!

Berly's upcoming show in Vegas

2009-02-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

CREEPY BIRDS ART SHOW

February, Friday 13, 2009, from 5 - 8 p.m., Berly Laycox's studio gallery The Looking Glass will be hosting its Grand Opening. The Looking Glass is located at 410 Columbia Ave, Las Vegas, at the corner of 4th and Columbia.

The main exhibit will be "Creepy Birds" - photography, sculpture, mixed media, collage and drawings inspired by birds. Berly’s work is known for its gorgeous patterns, its meditation on details others often don’t see, for its themes of rhythm and decay.

Berly recently moved to Las Vegas after graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her photographs of summer in Japan were recently featured in the deMare Fine Art Gallery’s Holiday Show.

The next issue of GALLINAS Magazine, issued February 11, will feature a profile of Berly Laycox by her mom - and huge fan - Birdie Jaworski.

Other pieces on display will include Berly's book art and photographs of Las Vegas.

Local author Birdie Jaworski will read several original stories based on Creepy Birds She Has Known.

Daniel Jencka will perform harpsichord music.

Refreshments will be served to all avian and human attendees.

All guests will be given the opportunity to meet the stars of the show - African Grey Parrot, Ramses, and Sun Conure, Sunny Bun Bun - and feed them piñon.

For more information, please email Berly at klaycox@gmail.com.

Birdie's Mittens

2009-02-04T10:41:00.002-07:00

Look at this! My beautiful friend Birdie is wearing the beautiful Anemoi mittens I just finished for her. Beauty wearing beauty. So satisfying.

Birdie is the awesome Diva of Vegas. She sings chicken songs, plays the Indian flute, the banjo and guitar, and is a writer extraordinaire. Check out her links to her blog and her fabulous magazine Gallinas.

Finally! a knitting post!

2009-01-09T19:22:00.005-07:00

this is a scarf I'm making for my pig sister, PK. I couldn't get photoshop to get the color right, but this is close. It's a baby alpaca yarn, chunky, knit on US 10's.

here's the pattern (adapted from somewhere, I forget where) for anyone interested:

cast on 52 stiches.

ROW 1: K16, P4, K4, P4, K4, P4, K16

ROW 2: K10, P6, C4B, P4, C4B, P4, C4B, P6, K10

ROW 3: K16, P4, K4, P4, K4, P4, K16

ROW 4: K10, P5, T3B, T4F, T4B, T4F, T4B, T3F, P5 K10

ROW 5: K15, P2, K3, P4, K4, P4, K3, P2, K15

ROW 6: K10, P4, T3B, P3, C4F, P4, C4B, P3, T3F, P4, K10

ROW 7: K14, P2, K4, P4, K4, P4, K4, P2, K14

ROW 8: K10, P4, K2, P3, T3B, T4F, T4B, T3F, P3, K2, P4, K10

ROW 9: K14, P2, K3, P2, K3, P4, K3, P2, K3, P2, K14

ROW 10: K10, P4, K2, P3, K2, P3, C4B, P3, K2, P3, K2, P4, K10

ROW 11: K14, P2, K3, P2, K3, P4, K3, P2, K3, P2, K14

ROW 12: K10, P4, K2, P3, T3F, T4B, T4F, T3B, P3, K2, P4, K10

ROW 13: K14, P2, K4, P4, K4, P4, K4, P2, K14

ROW 14: K10, P4, T3F, P3, C4F, P4, C4B, P3, T3B, P4, K10

ROW 15: K15 ,P2, K3, P4, K4, P4, K3, P2, K15

ROW 16: K10, P5, T3F, T4B, T4F, T4B, T4F, T3B, P5, K10

keep repeating these 16 as written until the length you want, cast off in pattern.

KEY:

C4F : slip two stitches onto CN - FRONT. K2 from left needle, K2 from CN

C4B : slip two stitches onto CN - BACK. K2 from left needle, K2 from CN

T3B : Slip ONE stitch onto CN - BACK. K2 from left needle, P1 from CN

T3F : Slip TWO stitches onto CN - FRONT. P1 from left needle, K2 from CN

T4B : Slip TWO stitches onto CN - BACK. K2 from left needle, P2 from CN

T4F : Slip TWO stitches onto CN - FRONT. P2 from left needle, K2 from CN

So, La de da! knitting again. Yippee

URKLE the MIRACLE

2009-01-06T22:21:00.003-07:00

This is the chick our girls hatched last month. They tried and tried and finally one made it through the freezing weather, the changes in location, the fretting and worrying of the humans.

Phew!

Urkle was named by our friend Birdie. He/she is keeping me company in the office while feathers grow out. I think this bird will be quite lovely.

Happy New Year!

Is it the year of the chicken????

Grand Tour

2008-10-24T11:06:00.002-06:00

Dorine's wedding cake. The fall leaves and branch are made from pulled sugar, a confection involving pulling sugar at the "hard crack" stage until it forms a satiny consistency and can then be worked like glass. Al and I worked on this project together. He was very impressed at how similar the medium is to working in wax. hmmmmm

After a very cold night of camping we took a walk on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The dogs resented the leashes and all the "no dog's" signs posted. Elmo did a lot of watering, Emma just sighed.

Who would think it had been 20 degrees and windy just hours ago?
We drove out to Davis CA last week to attend my niece's wedding. A quick stop at a very cold Grand Canyon was called for. A good time was had by all. Dorine enjoyed the cake. I learned about "pulled sugar," Al got to spit in the big ditch, Emma learned she is not impervious to cold, and Elmo smugly snuggled.

Huge thank yous to Barbara and her family without whom no cake would have been made!

Dorine's cake

2008-09-17T15:27:00.003-06:00

Well, haven't posted in a while. Life got very busy. Al was working on his show at deMare. We also were getting a rental ready for a new tenant. Dr. Who and Torchwood have been calling me. But, I did manage to make a cake.

this baby took three dozen of our girl's finest. YEs! the chickens are laying!

18 weeks: chick meets dog!

2008-07-12T12:26:00.003-06:00

Well, its eighteen weeks since the girls (and at least one boy) hatched out. Time for bird to meet dog!

We unveiled the front of the chicken run so everyone could see and be seen. Pretty anticlimactic if ya ask me.

The birds were very interested in the view, and the additional feeding possibilities.

Elmo sniffed and was sniffed in turn.

Emma wanted the birds to run around, but no one paid her any mind.

The silkie in front with the fancy neck feathers has begun to crow! So, we have at least one roo. Not sure what we'll do with him. He's very pretty and the silkies are so fun, but we are kinda on the down low and can't afford any neighborhood complaints. Fortunately its summer and we have a little time.

Here's a picture of the July garden. We've been eating the harvest since I got back mid June. We thinned the beets and had a great beet green stir fry. The potatoes are growing lavishly. The beans are being a little pokey. The peas were lovely and sweet, but not enough of them.
Anyway, learning what grows...

House finches visiting the feeder - our most common visitor.

Mystery Map

2008-06-29T13:39:00.004-06:00

This is a rather poor photo of my Pal's most recent work. It is titled "Mystery Map" and is about 3' x 4' total on four 3' x 1' panels. The painting medium is Encaustic, which is a bee's wax and resin emulsion with pigments suspended in it. He also uses strange things like: coffee grounds, chili powder, marble dust, mica dust, aluminum, carbon and other things.

I'm posting this as a preview of his upcoming show at DeMar Gallery here in Las Vegas, New Mexico. His show opens on September 13th. Be there or be square!

Check out his blog "Al made this." The link is listed to the left of this post.

eight weeks chickens

2008-05-09T17:39:00.003-06:00

The chicks are growing like weeds. And so purty! They've graduated to "Pullet grower feed." Hope you enjoy their portraits. Click on them, usually it will be worth it.

why I'm so sore and tired

2008-05-02T16:38:00.006-06:00

I think these pictures document around six weeks of back breaking work. At least next spring should be easier.

First we cleared the land of debris and cord wood.
Then dog fencing, gates, and building the new beds. The beds are made out of stone from the land that the previous owner had brought in. Much of it is the same rock as the houses are built from. Raised beds are important since we have the thirsty elms to contend with. At least 70% of the materials we used for all this work was recycled from what we found already here. We were fortunate in that the soil here is pretty good. So, we'd dismantle a nasty little bed the previous owner had built (and in the process saving the houses from further degradation), augment the lovely topsoil with Chaffhay and manure, and mix it all up in the new beds. Lots of tooing and froing with the wheelbarrow, and lifting and heaving of rocks and boulders - Phew!

We had to interrupt the garden development and hurry to get the Chicken coop done since the girls were growing so quickly. We laid the foundation a couple weeks ago inside the only covered exterior space the houses have to offer. The gate to the hen yard was built by friends in Santa Fe for their old garden and recycled for our girls.

This is a picture of everything pretty much done. The hen yard has a screen around it for now until the dogs and hens get used to each other. We hung bird netting to keep the girls in and hawks and cats out. The yellow is the color we started painting the old screens for the windows. Yellow screens for summer, and blue storm windows for winter. I think we provide endless amusement for the neighbors: Gay TV. Someday I'll have my wall.....
Al built the hens their condo nesting boxes. They will be mounted higher on the wall once the girls start laying eggs. Walmart sells a dozen organic eggs for 3.77 right now......

Seven week old Ameraucana (we are beginning to suspect rooster...):

Seven Weeks Old:
interior shot of the girls new digs:
Yikes! what a lot of work!
well deserved nap.

6 weeks old and moving into the big house

2008-04-23T20:19:00.004-06:00

The new hen house is finally done (or at least mostly). The girls had definitely outgrown their brood box. This is a picture of the back side of the hen house leading out into their yard. This is their first foray out doors. The silkies led the way. Brave birds. Al insisted they needed steps on their ramp for their little feet. It is hard to imagine their full grown size at this point, but, except for the Bantams, they will eventually reach 8 to 10 pounds of fluffy hen.

I'll post more tomorrow. Tonight I am tired out. This has been quite a job getting the coop done before the birds started stressing too much in their former digs. Watching Chick TV is definitely the best show in town these days!

five weeks old and xtras

2008-04-17T18:15:00.002-06:00

The Barred Rock is getting her speckles.

Feeding time is all the time!

Emma and Elmo doing their taxes.

this strange fowl, was a birthday gift years ago from my friend Donna. I am so pleased to finally have a garden for it to live in. While it was in the 70's yesterday, today, it snowed.

cold spring day - nap time!

2008-04-09T18:55:00.001-06:00

Alex and the dogs enjoying the new wood stove:

4 weeks old

2008-04-07T21:40:00.002-06:00

three new chicks! couldn't resist these little silkies. The bigger bantam was in their brood box and they think she must be mom!
little miss poopy butt is looking very alert. Al's favorite - hoping shes a hen.
lots of feathering out on the buff orpingtons.
Barred rock going round and round.
Everyone needs a mom.

working hard getting the coop built. I'm very tired and sore....

chicken head

2008-03-31T19:24:00.004-06:00

We have started some chicks for our organic gardening enterprise. Some would say we are kinda nutty. But, how could you resist such chickness? We are learning loads. My favorite thing.
The chicks are about three weeks old in these pictures.
Featherless Biped meets feathered biped:

Butterfly Birthday

2008-03-13T12:57:00.003-06:00

Yet another birthday cake. This was requested petite. Many thanks to MC for the way to make butterflies.

Win, Lose, or Fraud

2008-03-09T18:54:00.004-06:00

OK, so here's a rare picture of me working on a cake. What is rare about it depends on who you talk to. I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, this was a very fun cake to design. The pictures are kinda crappy because we were finishing the cake as we were rushing to deliver it in time for the party.

A local politician's wife had commissioned this cake to celebrate her husband's recent victory in the city council election. The theme of the party was "Win, Lose, or Fraud" because apparently in the last municipal election there were 300 dead people who voted. Or so the story goes. So I designed a cake depicting the dead on their way to drop their ballots in the ballot box on top.

This was a lot of fun to do, and I have to say a big thank you to my pal who saved my ass by making the cookies and piping the skeletons.

The cake is a yummy lemon butter cake with chocolate and lemon curd filling and vanilla butter cream frosting on the first layer. The second layer has raspberry brandy soaked in the middle. The ballot box is rice crispy treat. The cookies are a chocolate short bread.

I have got to get my commercial kitchen going ASAP; I came home from delivering the cake to discover Emma had gotten up on the table and eaten all the leftover cookies!

One Fish, Two Fish

2008-03-03T15:48:00.002-07:00

I've been making a whole slew of birthday cakes lately. This one was so much fun I thought it deserved a picture. Al designed the fish and the swoopy waves on the side in between the snow flakes. Why snowflakes? Well, it snowed last night, how's that for a reason?

Anyway, this is a Hummingbird cake with a cream-cheese frosting. I had never heard of a Hummingbird cake until recently. Apparently it is a Southern invention from mid last century. Its a variation on a spice cake with pineapple, banana, and pecans - just lovely. Don't know why its called a hummingbird.

Immaculate Confections is averaging a cake a week right now. Pretty good for word of mouth. I'm hoping to complete my commercial space this spring, then start some serious advertising.

Happy Birthday to all Pisces!

for victoria

2008-03-01T18:32:00.003-07:00

Al in adoration.
Virginia is a blessed creature who shares a passion for the fantastic in lighting options. We have her to thank for this latest addition to the living room decor.

Thank you Virginia.

Enjoy Victoria.

best of craigslist

2008-02-13T13:35:00.002-07:00

Ya gotta check this out!

Darth McCain

Princess Leia Orbama of Alderaan, IL

Hillando Clintrissian

and more!

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/526482501.html

which is better?

2008-02-11T23:35:00.000-07:00

this one:

or this one?

Obama beats Clinton 2-1; McCain edges Huckabee

2008-02-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is the headline of the Seattle Times today. Actually Huckabee is challenging the GOP on calling the caucus with only 85% of the precincts reporting and only a 1.3% difference in the vote.

My point with this post though is to show how strange the voters are in Washington State, my former home. I mean look at that headline: Obama beats Clinton 2-1. OK, I would imagine a fairly progressive state from that headline; basically California without the Hispanic vote. But then, consider Huckabee. He won handily in Kansas and Iowa. The Whacko (oh yes, there were indeed dinosaurs on Noah's Ark) Christians love the guy. How oh how did he make such a showing in a state that so roundly rejected Billery and embraced the Obamster? If you look at the rest of the country, Billery plays well in the bible belt. Heck she won the buckle, Tennessee, right along with Huckabee.

I haven't had a chance to talk this over with my Republican Prosecuting Attorney brother in Eastern (read gun-toting farming/survivalist) Washington. I wonder if he was feeling kinda sorry he couldn't vote for Obama in the Democratic Caucus yesterday. Can you imagine if your choice was between a bigger dumb bully than the shrub or a sweet and bumbling Curshtian who "majored in miracles not math" in college. Yikes!

Super Tuesday Results

2008-02-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

New Mexico still hasn't finished their count!

Where oh where is that Super Obama Girl?

why I'm voting for Obama on Tuesday

2008-02-02T21:25:00.001-07:00

image from my.barakobama.com

I registered Democrat so I could vote for somebody not Republican.
Take a look at this picture - do you see the little handmade signs saying "HOPE?" That's from a rally in Santa Fe. The signs also say "Believe." I like a little faith without the burden of religion in my politics.
He's not Hillary (aka the handmaiden of NAFTA and the WTO).
Did I mention he's not Hillary?
Actually, I'm really voting for Michelle.

wanna play?

2008-02-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

wanna play?

oh, come on, let's play!

PLAY!!!!!!

someone's bound to get bit.

wanna play?

acid test

2008-01-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a birthday cake commissioned for a 69 year old who loved taking LSD in his prime. The name of this cake ended up being "L'Homage du Cube de Sucre." Hope he likes it!

The client graciously sent in a picture of the cake "in action." I love the pictures used as candles!

The marbling looks a bit crazy.... its a lemon butter cake with a chocolate buttercream filling. The birthday boy just called to say it was delicious. Yahoo! what fun!

soul stitch pups

2007-12-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it seemed time to indulge in a few pup pics.

Elmo is turning into a fine young dog. He's about nine months old now I believe.

look into those eyes... you WILL give me a cookie!
Emma's eyes are a little harder to find, but she doesn't miss a thing.

Watching for Cats!

the pair of them are constantly vigilant.

Happy Solstice Season to one and all. Don't forget the birds!

A Parade of Presents

2007-12-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Immaculate Confections just finished its first paid job!

A local business asked me to make nine little cakes as party favors for their office Christmas party. Hence a parade of cakes!

A couple close ups Mr. DeMille:

Alex was a huge help as I was freaking out several times trying to meet the deadline for these cakes. My gratitude for a patient and imaginative pal is unending.

Happy Solstice Season!

2nd Snow

2007-12-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Maybe a second snow is a bit like a second wind, I hope so. I've been lame for the past week with a mysterious pain in my left foot. Today is the first day I could put on a shoe in days. The snow is so beautiful though, I thought I would visit some of the household gods with the camera.
Here's Francis:
and Hummingbird:
and Mickey (with Al):
Al has been hard at work making storm windows, the blue trim are the new windows:

And then I had to take some pictures of the snowflake gate covered in all her sisters:

Here's a detail from the top of the gate:

I'm loving this place!

Immaculate Confections

2007-12-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we attended the Big Gayla last night - a potluck of course. So I decided to try my hand at another fancy cake (and do a little advertising while I was at it. This is the cake:

Its a Red Velvet cake with a yummy Marscarpone and Cream Cheese filling. The cake was delicious, but I had some trouble with how I decided to decorate it. It seems kinda blah to me. The fondant interacted with the icing in such a way as to melt the sugar, so the cake kinda weeps sugar around the seams. It all seems a bit too "home made" to my eye. I ran out of time to do everything I had designed, the cake broke when I was torting it, the bow looks like it has a hard-on, my Pal didn't like the color scheme - so I changed it, but never really bought into it, and on and on.

The real lesson here is to follow my own instincts and have fun.

Anyway, folks at the party seemed to like it. And someone hired me to make a cake for them!
So - Immaculate Confections has its big start. I need to design a business card!

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is safe and well for this lovely Holiday!

Look at this!

My very first cake!

Cheers!
Mrs. P.

lots of work

2007-11-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a long haul to get to this post! I kept thinking - oh now I can take a picture and post - but then another thing would come up and I would again be delayed.

We've been working steadily for about a month now on designing and building a gate, a trellis, and landscaping (involving relocating a stone wall).

So, here's the pictures finally:

The first picture is the "Grand View" of the new (partially finished) fence line, the relocated wall (dry stacked), the "snowflake" gate, and the trellis.

The second picture is intended to give you a view of the wall and fence.

The third picture is of the new landscaping sans wall. Digging up the wall that was there was quite a chore - at least three feet down and mortered together.

The rest of the pictures are of the gate and trellis construction between the two houses.

As Robert Frost said....

2007-08-26T12:57:00.001-06:00

I'm grateful for the wacky and weird. So much better than scary, so much more lively than bland.

So, last evening, Al happened to be looking out the window when the little girl made a dash for freedom. By his account, she was fashionably dressed in a fur hat that Laura from Dr. Zhivago would envy, hot pants, and cowboy boots. She was glimpsed running out the back gate of her house. Shortly afterward we were startled by someone shrieking in our driveway. I looked out and beheld the vision of an old woman in a bright pink house-dress shuffling along and periodically yelling over her shoulder, "Hyacinth!" At first I thought it was our neighbor Joy trying to corral her two Pomeranians and I went out to give her a hand. But as I got closer, I realized it was the little girl's grandmother, and then realized the little girl's name must be Hyacinth, and that Hyacinth was in big trouble. The old woman was just beside herself, shrieking for Hyacinth and then shuffling along muttering and grumbling and apparently trying to get a hold of something on the ground. The puppy! Sure enough the pup was blissfully rooting around the cat poo and making sure to keep away from the old lady's reach. I introduced myself to Phylis and volunteered to catch the wiggly mass of puppy bliss. As we walked back across the street, Phylis complained that Hyacinth had run out the back after being denied at the front door and the puppy had run out after her. Phylis was not happy, and as soon as the pup was safely in the yard, all but slammed the gate in my face. What is it with these people? The end result is that I am now officially a fan of Hyacinth, and an ally in her secret war against the oppressive dictatorship of Phylis.

Later in the evening, by now it is pitch dark, I heard a suspicious rustling and breaking of branches in the back yard. At first I thought it was Al, but no, he was inside the house with the dogs. So I wandered in back slightly worried that I was going to interrupt a break-in, when I discovered two collage girls pulling branches out of our trees. When I asked them what they were doing I was told that they were collecting wood for a fire they wanted to roast corn on since they didn't have any briquettes, and that's alright isn't it, I mean its just dead branches ya know, and we remembered seeing these trees earlier in the day, right? I was dumbfounded, and asked how much wood did they think they needed. They looked down and decided that the several branches they had collected was probably enough. By now I had gathered my wits and started asking them a little about college life (collecting data for a project I have in mind). After a little while we parted on friendly terms - them with the wood, me with food for thought. A fair exchange. And that was that, or so I thought.

But no, about an hour later I was alarmed to hear more branch breaking in the darkness. Could it be the girls back for more? Nah, they couldn't be that oblivious could they? Yes they very well could! Sure enough, they were back for more. Interestingly, when I asked them if they would be comfortable with me coming over to their house and pulling branches out their trees in the middle of the night, they actually paused and had to think about it. Fortunately the light somehow went on in their heads, and they said no and that they understood why I didn't think what they were doing was "cool." No more tree breaking for the rest of the night.

I am so designing fences.

Minty Fresh

2007-08-22T20:04:00.000-06:00

So there's this little girl, about 8 years old I'd guess (based on way too many years in elementary education), who lives somewhere in our neighborhood. I suspect she is the daughter of the guy with the big scary dog and even scarier attitude: "Hi, I'm your new neighbor," smile and shuffle. "uh, yah," look me up and down and spit. She's the granddaughter of the scary man's mom who I couldn't help but overhear screaming at the little girl one evening for playing with her friends too long.

Anyway, this little girl comes by our house periodically. She came by one evening about two months ago to ask us if we wanted the puppy in her arms (a sweet little pit-bull). "No thanks, but where'd you get it?" "Oh just got it the other day, but its not working out. Ya sure you don't want it?" She came back a few weeks later to show us her new puppy, a pug. I guess that one worked out better.

She also comes by to play with the kids who don't live here anymore. I guess she gets lonely.

Well, tonight just as it was getting dark, I noticed her standing at the edge of the street holding a basket with both hands. "oh no," I thought, "not another puppy." But no. After we put Emma in the house, she walked up and asked, "Would you like some tea? I made it myself, from leaves in my yard, Minty Fresh!"

I looked over into her basket in the ugly orange glow of our too bright (that's another story) street light. She had rows of dixie cups (you know, the swirl and spit type from the dentist's) half-filled with what looked like overcooked spinach, snails included, barely covered in murky water. I immediately recoiled from the whole scene and gratefully redirected her to my "tea drinking pal." Clever no? Not only did I not have to look at the disgusting soup, but I didn't even need to lie about not having any money to buy it with. That's right, this gross concoction, which didn't even smell of mint, was for sale. Clever girl.

Poor Al. He doesn't even like tea. I watched with great curiosity. Would the girl prevail on my soft hearted pal? Would he actually pay her for her potion? Would he even go so far as to taste the yucky brew? Ah, but this is where Al is infinitely smarter than me. He asked, "How much is your tea?" And the little girl in a very sweet voice says, "Its just three dollars." At that point I noticed the substantial roll of bills clutched in her hand - she'd been making the rounds all evening. I suspect this was her second or third batch for the night!

Suffice it to say that little girl had met her match in Al. He smiled and dug around in his pockets (I was wearing PJ's, obviously no cash) and said, "I'm sorry, all I have is a penny." The little girl paused for a moment, and then asked, "Do you think your next-door neighbors would like some tea." We both smiled and assured her that indeed they loved tea, and ran inside.

Deflection redux

2007-08-15T13:23:00.001-06:00

This is the renewed deflector shield standing tall on our front path. I particularly like the glass of water sitting in the crotch of the two stumps. Light moves through it. Eventually something a little more permanent will be constructed for this spot, or not. Who knows the mythic motion of this land's mind?

gates and fences

2007-08-12T13:09:00.000-06:00

And of course with a new puppy, there is the compelling need for containment. We have been very busy building fences and gates. This is the south side of the dog run:

I designed the gate, and Al designed the fence to go with it. It's particularly fun with light coming through it at night. Kinda like pumpkin carving at Halloween.

Al as Zeus:

And inside the dog run:
The dogs don't like it nearly as much as we do - just another place to poo and chew. Al created a little acequia to channel water from the downspout in back out to the the street. Fortunately, there's lots of rocks to work with.

The front yard needed some fencing, so we used the limbs trimmed out of the Elms to start a coyote fence along the south wall. This is just the beginning. The fence will drop down to about four feet high for the middle span.

Al created the gate for the archway. Inspired by the New Mexican Zia, it also has a bit of a catholic feel to it, very appropriate for a parsonage, though Al insists it's just a zia. Elmo's trying out his escape route.

This gate is also taking on some of the deflector shield's function. Here's the inside view:

I gotta say, it is so much nicer having some barrier from the street in front. These houses are so wacky they generate a lot of looky-loos driving by in their diesel powered gigantor trucks and trailers.
Although, Al's gate is so spectacular, I think we get even more traffic.

Well, I hope the picture show today catches folks up. This is pretty much all we've been doing for weeks and weeks. I do have some more stories to post, hopefully I will be able to organize my time a little better now that things are slowing down.

My best to one and all, may the dog days of summer be biteless and blissful.

More Elmo Pictures

2007-08-12T12:14:00.001-06:00

Wonderfully, and somewhat surprisingly, Emma loves her new little brother. They wrestle nightly.

Introducing: Senor Elmo Esposito de Las Vegas Grandes

2007-08-12T11:37:00.000-06:00

Oh My! Need I say more?

Two Words, no, Three Words

2007-07-25T19:47:00.000-06:00

I realized recently that I haven't lived in a town for about 17 years, and I'm here to tell ya, I hate streetlights! I have an idea to make tin shades for them with star shapes cut out directing the light down into the street instead of into my eyes as I try to find the moon somewhere behind their glare. I also hate middle aged men, or really anyone, on a Harley-Davidson.

But I love the twenty something gangsta wanna be named "Chevy" who lives up the street from me. The other evening I was walking out to the street to finish pruning some branches on the road there. As I turned the corner, there was Chevy with a small kite trying to get it to fly. There was plenty of wind, but for some reason the kite just wouldn't take off. We both shrugged and smiled at the same time at the kite's obstinate refusal to go up. It was a moment full of unspoken good will and cheer. I loved it. But wait, it gets better.

Now you have to know that where Chevy was trying to fly his kite is a small parking lot behind a four story building and near a side alleyway. Pretty tight quarters and very tricky wind wise. Also, surrounded by tall trees. When I rounded the corner and saw this man wearing a bandana and low riding baggy jeans, overweight and running up the alley with a little kite on a string that was spooling out on the ground - I was instantly in love with Chevy. All my resentment for his previous weekend's performance - ala Marlin Brando and Stella, you know the one, where he's drunk and yelling outside her window from the street - evaporated with our mutual shrugs and smiles at the sweet absurdity of this dang kite's insistence on being earth bound.

So I turned to my pruning and Chevy sort of hung his kite up in a bush next to his door, kinda like tying your horse to the hitching post, and went inside. Pretty soon he was back out in the street talking on his cell phone. He was telling a friend about flying his kite "bro, like a thousand feet up in the air, mon!"

This went on for about another ten minutes or so. Me pruning, Chevy on the phone wandering in and out of his house, the kite fluttering on it's shrub in the wind. I sort of lost track of Chevy and his story, I was pruning bro, like a thousand little twigs, mon! Anyway, I was interrupted by Chevy, cell phone to his ear, saying "excuse me sir, did you see my kite? It's gone! It must have blown away! Did you see which way it went?" And sure enough, there was the string broken in Chevy's hand. We both looked around astonished that the kite could have made a break for it while both our backs were turned. Also, the wind which had been blowing at a good pace up till now, was suddenly still. Again, shrugs and smiles, and on my part at least, wonderful cheerful love for a troublesome neighbor. No sign of the kite.

I have a postscript to this story, it goes like this: about a week later, around 3 in the morning, I was woken from a sound sleep. Chevy was locked outside his apartment again, yelling at Maria. What woke me was Chevy bellowing, "I have just two words for you: F***ING B*TCH! No, wait, thats THREE Words!"

I could just see him in the dark - fuming, frustrated, and counting fingers.....

I fell out of bed laughing.

water, wood, rock, and light

2007-06-26T12:30:00.000-06:00

Finally! We are finally home. It is difficult to fully express the thorough satisfaction, the deep comfort, the frission of excitement - the flash of lightning the rumbling of thunder and the smell of distant rain over the desert - that the word home holds for me when coupled with this place, the Mesas and Mountains of Northern New Mexico. And to be home with my Pal and my Dog - to close up the house at night, feeling the cool breeze of this high altitude shivering through the leaves of the elms, hearing the quiet of this sleepy town on the edge of the great meadow, sensing the wilderness opening extravagantly to the west and the wide desert to the east- oh how lovely my dreams have become.

Our emissary of place has revealed itself in the person of the Mourning Cloak Butterfly. This lovely being loves the sap from the Elm trees which surround us. They are one of the longest lived butterflies, close to a year. This one is probably a teenager. She/he has been following Al around the yard, landing on his shoulder and ultimately keeping track of him as he hung the clothes on the line:

We had a similar experience with the Luna Moth in Indiana, and so have come to recognize these beings when they appear.

Our response to this place, this particular place and her welcoming of us so beautifully home, is to create a shelter for the spirits in thanksgiving for our place here with them. Very much like the Thai do in their homeland, we understand that we are the tenants here, borrowing this little patch of ground, playacting at setting up house, pretending we have some endurance - when in fact we are just brief interlopers. Beauty attracts beauty, so we created our first intentional space in this new garden in honor of the real residents here.

Another first response, the other side of the coin so to speak, is our "deflector shield." From our front door one can look up the front path, through the front gate, and all the way directly up the street that "T's" at our front door. Very bothersome energetically. So, we quickly gathered the materials at hand from the garden and invoking the elemental powers of water, wood, rock, and light, created the first of what I am sure will be many manifestations of deflecting guardians for this space. The lost toys from the yard are happy to have a new job to do, and they are doing it very well.

Emma is happy to be home too!

I'll try to post more regularly now that we are getting a little more settled. Las Vegas has so many stories to tell - like the very fat man with spurs on his boots eating bad Chinese food, or the Chevy and Maria drama that lasted from 1AM until 11AM, or the lady with the white moo moo, the big hair, and giant fuzzy slippers who just walked by.....

Eighth Dolor in Las Vegas

2007-05-12T09:05:00.000-06:00

OK, the first thing you need to know is that Dolor means sorrow. Traditionally there are seven sorrows which Mary suffers as the mother of Jesus. Hence her name: Our Lady of the Sorrows, or Dolores, or in Spanish, Nuestra Senora de los Dolores.

Now, when my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary there was a big party out at the Hoban's lake house in Coeur d' Alene Idaho. My parents and two other couples all got married around the same time that year, so the three couples and their children got together for a big shindig at the lake. I must have been around 15 years old. Well, as you might imagine with these large Catholic families, the kids lost no time finding ways to celebrate too. The result being captured on film by my god-father Austin.

Here I am passed out from my first exposure to alcohol. Austin very sympathetically (to my mother) captioned the picture, "Eighth Dolor." And so I am.

That's my mother sitting next to me, not pleased. You had to have a sense of humor to survive raising six kids through adolescence, through the 70's no less. Austin's quip certainly helped this particular episode.

This picture and its tawdry tale drifted into blessed memory for thirty years until my pal and I decided that New Mexico was to be our next home. Specifically, the former parsonage of a church in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Here is a picture of our new home where we should be living come June.

Established by Spanish land grant in 1835, Las Vegas was originally called Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de Las Vegas Grandes (Our Lady of Sorrows of the Great Meadows)

And naturally her church is Nuestra Senora de los Dolores Catholic Church, its foundation was laid in 1862.

You are probably connecting the dots (or should I say "dolors," Dolores) quite effectively on your own. But each story beseeches its narrator to carry it to its own Golgotha, and so I continue the travail.

Of course, the church to which our new home was once parsonage, is indeed dedicated to "Our Lady of the Sorrows," aka Dolores.

You need to know that this move is something of a miracle: that we qualified for the loan to buy this place, that we survived a challenging year in Indiana intact, that we found a place that provides two studios a residence and rental income, that the world hasn't quite made that proverbial hand-basket trip to hell.... would all point to the miraculous.

I can't help thinking that Our Lady enjoyed Austin's joke some thirty years ago, and with laughter amid her Dolors, granted her "Eighth Dolor" a bit of grace, and called him to her beautiful home on the edge of the great meadows in New Mexico.

You can bet I'll be building shrines come summer!

Chantal Cordey Guitar Strap

2007-05-12T07:51:00.000-06:00

Chantal Cordey is a gifted artist living in Australia. Currently she is lending her vast talents to the making of custom guitar straps. This is the strap she just finished for my R Taylor and me. I feel very fortunate to have this guitar to play, and doubly fortunate to have this lovely strap to support the playing.

The design took us several months to develop. Mainly because she is so talented and I love her work so much, I couldn't settle on just one idea. With patience, Chantal helped me hone my ideas down to this beautiful and powerful motif. I love how the Apple Blossoms cascade down the strap. The color tones and texture are evocative of the old west, and the Medicine Wheel is substantial yet soft. Just Perfect.

Check out her link in the "links of beauty" section. She has a wonderful web page which shows the breadth and depth of her work. She recently won an award for a design using the deadly "ghost nets" floating off the Gulf of Carpentaria in Arnhem land.

I'm here to tell you this strap helps me play better. And it looks so good too.

David Foege

2007-05-09T14:37:00.000-06:00

My friend David died in April, the cruelest month. I loved him very much. He was a true brother, and I miss him greatly.

His family offered this poem at his memorial:

We trust that beyond absence
there is a presence.

That beyond the pain
there can be healing.

That beyond the brokenness
there can be wholeness.

That beyond the anger
there may be peace.

That beyond the hurting
there may be forgiveness.

That beyond the silence
there may be the word.

That beyond the word
there maybe understanding.

That through understanding
there is love.

PEACE

Spring Ephemerals

2007-03-25T16:01:00.000-06:00

Take a look at this picture. Notice the lovely pale blue sky and light cloud cover, the bare stark branches of the deciduous forest, the slight hint of green lurking underneath it all. I just took this picture at our house in Indiana. It is the 25th of March at around 6 in the evening.

What do you suppose the temperature to be? 40 degrees Fahrenheit? 50 degrees? sixty? Oh, ok maybe it's a remarkable 70 degrees Fahrenheit this fourth day of spring. By the way, it was in the teens just a few days ago.

No, the temperature here at this moment is an astounding and worrisome 85 degrees!

All the spring ephemerals, just now pushing up from the forest floor, are looking heat stricken. I can relate.

This is where we are moving this spring:

I guess we're ephemeral too.

Progress Notes

2007-03-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

I thought I should post some progress pictures. The gold in my restart on Taylor's sweater. Its going much easier. I love the color and the sweater will be very nice. Zoooming along!

The left mitten got me to learn the magic loop approach to circular knitting. Much easier for my lumpy fingers than doublepoints.

And then of course there is Donegal whimpering in its basket while I play with these other projects.

And then, I joined a knit along to make a pair of fantastic gloves! more on that later in April.

And then, I made the delicious error of going up to a new yarn store in Indianapolis the other day. Of course they had a sale, of course Noro Silk Garden was 40% off. Of course I had to buy them out of their entire stock. Yikes! But honestly, who could resist?

And then I had to get a start on the jacket in Noro of course. Here's the start of a sleeve and the front right panel:

I'm knitting this aran weight 40% silk wool blend double stranded on US 4 needles. This sweater will be bullet proof baby! And OH! the colors! I'm mixing up all sorts of their color combinations, what fun!

I just got new glasses, and what a difference a little clarity makes.

So, that's my update for now, gotta get packing, I'm driving out to New Mexico tomorrow to go house hunting. Wish me luck!

Spring?

2007-03-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

We woke to snow this morning. It was 60 degrees yesterday with lots of wind. A full moon and eclipse tonight. Must be spring.

Al woke up before dawn to greet the snow. This is the driveway.

Norsk Strikkedesign

2007-03-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally could afford a copy of Norsk Strikkedesign. What a wonderfully inspired book. The patterns are beautiful and complement the objects made perfectly. I am intrigued by the stranded pattern Betty Harmansen created for her Jacket and hat. So I knit up the charcoal yarn previously for Aberlady with some Wintergrass Aran weight tweed I had in my stash. I knit this swatch on US 1 needles, which made for a very tight stitch. But what I am thinking of would really benefit from the structure this approach yields.

Anemoi Mittens Redux

2007-03-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, I think this has got to be the prettiest thing I have ever knit. I love this pattern, and the mitten is intelligently designed. Can't wait to finish the left hand.

I was so excited about this I haven't yet done the finishing work, and it shows. But isn't this neat?

Emma had to get in on the action. She just got a haircut.

The colors of this picture are pretty true. The burgundy is a very fine wool thread that had to be doubled to make the fingering weight of the gold color. The gold is a very very soft fingering weight wool called Wensleydale lustre longwool. very fine and soft.

CableKnit Jacket

2007-03-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

This is the first sweater I tried knitting. As you can see, it came out a little large. I was so concerned about knitting something too small....

It is a pattern called "sweater Jacket" published by Sandnes Isldvarefabrik under their "tradition" collection #TD0006. Its knit in a very spongy aran weight marino on US 4 and 7 needles.

My friend Gordon gave me the lovely buffalo head nickel buttons. the white knobly thing on the chest is a gathering of rose quartz crystals I sewed on the sweater when I loaned it to my Aunt to wear in the chilly hospital. She particularly loved the yummy warm quality of this oversized sweater. Sadly, Rita has moved on to places you hopefully don't need clothes. I love that this sweater now has this history.

Over the years it has seen a lot of wear. I like the pattern and design so much I'm now thinking of knitting it up again. Only this time I will be using a sturdy tweed on smaller needles. More for outdoor work than indoors with a good book.

Snowbells

2007-02-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Its gray and dreary today in southern Indiana, after a windy and sleety storm that knocked out power for a few hours last night. The line crew drove out our lonely road around 1am looking for the "problem" in our neighborhood, just glad they didn't think it was me - this time.

Anemoi Mittens

2007-02-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

As if I needed another project on the needles.....

Oh but who could resist this one. Besides I've never knit mittens before. I am sure to learn new things... Yeah, we've heard that before.

Look at this:

If you haven't visited Eunny's site, check out the link and go there! She is a goddess.

I'm thinking maybe gold and burgundy......

Taylor's Sweater

2007-02-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

This is a sweater I am knitting for my dear friend Taylor. He lives in the PNW and, I think can wear this pattern well.

I found the pattern in the summer 2003 edition of "Knitter's Magazine." It was designed for a cotton knit, but I decided to use this beautiful bronze tweed instead. I think the wool suits the fish-tail cable pattern better, and of course is more useful for the damp and cool days of Vashon Island.

I started this project a couple years ago. Taylor has been very patient waiting for the finished piece. I tend to knit several things at a time. Its hard to just knit a seed stitch and cables for ever. So, I switch off with a stranded knitting project, or an easy knit I can do with my eyes closed, or a quick knit. That way I can always shift to a project depending on my mood. Gemini nature at work!

sorrow

2007-02-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

My friend MC told me this story today:

My TaTa called me a stupid clumsy girl. All the socks and mittens we wore as kids were made by her. She taught me to knit. So I started a scarf. She would rip out my work in disgust, and redo it herself. After the third time she did this, I said "no, its ok, that mistake doesn't bother me," but she ripped it out anyway. And so I decided that scarf wasn't mine, and I wouldn't knit anymore. I was in second grade when I lost that career possibility.

Joy

2007-02-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Knitting, like any passion, can take you many wonderful places.

Today I was browsing in a local independent bookstore and noticed that the woman at the counter was knitting a sock. We got to talking and one story led to another, as they do, and pretty soon Joy, that was her very appropriate name, was drawing out a design of a tulip as she spoke of the history of this design and its relevance to her family.

It turns out that Joy's family enjoys the heritage of several peoples. From Scotland to the Americas. The rich result is that she was taught to knit by her grandmother, along with her brother. Girls were encouraged to learn color stranded knitting, while boys were encouraged to learn cables and single color knitting. The reason given is that you don't want to be burdened with multiple colors while out fishing. This of course led to the story of how drowned fishermen are identified by the patterns of their sweaters. We discussed the origins of colored knitting being in the economical use of yarn ends, and the family patterns of stockings. And then Joy launched into how these patterns can come back to you in interesting ways.

She told the story of her father responding to a painted pattern on a bus on a reservation. Joy drew the pattern out for him without having seen it, amazing him until she revealed to him the ancestry of the pattern. The tulip pattern on the bus, which her father initially considered just some "hippy" decoration, was a traditional decorative pattern of their tribe. This pattern was adapted from pattern books the French missionaries brought to the Northwest territories in the fifteenth century based on wallpaper designs and embroidery. The pattern was adapted by the Indians for use in their own textiles and is in fact knitted into fabric.

My thanks to Joy for this wonderful lesson in the web of pattern and design and how we all contribute and draw from the wells of our complex communities. I wish I had a picture of the drawing Joy made to cast into this modern well of the Internet. Web 2.0 at work.

More winter birds

2007-02-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

The bird feeder remains quite busy with the recent cold snap. This picture I thought was fun for its variety. The red cardinal, the winter goldfinch, and hanging on with his tail for balance, a red bellied woodpecker. Usually the woodpecker scares everyone away while he grabs his seed, but these two snuck back on the other side.

Cashel for grown-ups

2007-02-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

This pattern was created by Alice Starmore as a child's sweater in her Celtic Collection. I decided to do the math and make it big enough for an adult. I think it went a little too far and became an over sized sweater, which can be fun to wear (especially for a faerie).

This was a quick knit on US6 needles. The cabling was fun and I enjoyed the details of the cuffs, waist band, and neck. And the yarn is a wonderful emerald green tweed. The stitch pattern is a two-row background, one row in single rib and the other knitted.

Neckdown Pullover

2007-02-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

You gotta know you are well and truly loved if anyone ever knits you a sweater.

(unless they are one of those super knitting machines who knit a sweater a month, then they're just showing off, or just need a reason to feed their addiction)

This pattern is from "knitting pure and simple" (http://knittingpureandsimple.com/) and knits from the top down. I traded a painting for the yarn which was a yummy shetland wool from Alice Starmore's old distributor.

It's pretty essential for me to have an alternative to the stranded nightmare of Donegal, where I can just go on automatic and enjoy the simple production of fabric while my mind wanders off on its own.

Winter Birds

2007-02-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I love how brightly the birds show in this winter landscape.

Ooops, time to fill the feeder!

Aberlady

2007-02-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the question: should I go ahead and knit up this wool (Heilo, black tweed, 4ply, knits in pattern at 5.5 stitches per inch, on US size 1 needles) in aberlady's pattern, or use it for something else? Aberlady was designed by AS to be knit in a silk/wool blend at 9 stitches per inch, on US size 2 needles. So, this version is much coarser. I have my doubts about whether the pearl stitch pattern will show to good effect. The swatch photo is in bright daylight. Under an incandescent light bulb at night, the pearl stitches loose their organization on the swatch. It might be, that when they have the whole fabric to play with they stand out better. BTW, I am planning to knit it up as a man's waistcoat, not the tight gansey AS designed it for.

Donegal

2007-02-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

Here is my first stranded knitting project. Of course it is one of Alice Starmore's more complicated celtic patterns. Someone forgot to look at the level of difficulty before deciding to buy the yarn, typical. Anyway, I will pass on two things I've learned that are probably quite obvious to most knitters (but since I learn to knit from reading - no one had bothered to write down before), but not obvious to someone new to stranded knitting.

First: make sure your loop is almost as long as your work! Since the key to stranded knitting is ensuring the stitches are generously spaced as you strand along the second color, it is essential that you have room on your needle for that spacing. If your loop is too short, the stitches push back on the right hand needle, causing the infamous washboard effect to your work. This picture shows the effect of not realizing this until I had struggled through ten inches of work, cursing it all the way. I tried everything I could think of to address uneven tension in my work, to no effect. Finally a kind soul (thank you Claire Boissevain Crooke! whose Norwegian Hat patterns are available at Yarns Unlimited) clued me in when I desperately sought help in a workshop (not my style). I am told that blocking heals all. I look forward to the day.

Second: With Starmore's pattern directions, it wasn't clear why you place one stitch on a holder as you begin the arm hole steeks. Well, its simply the underarm stitches that you would place on a holder for any armhole work - duh! I can't tell you how many hours I puzzled over those directions, never having done a steek before (thank you Eunny! whose Steek tutorial is the best on the Net). Anyway, here is a detail of the beginning of the Steek.

So, hope you can benefit from my silly mistakes, they sure caused a lot of grief! Of course the next step of cutting the steek will be an adventure of another sort. Cheers!

Ice Storm

2007-02-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentines Day! We woke to a winter wonderland today in Indiana. The sunlight sparkling on the ice makes for instant cheer.

first vest

2007-02-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is the second thing I ever knit. I enjoyed the rich texture of the seed stitch, combined with the beautiful Manos wool. Learned how to make pockets too!

Cable Hat

2007-02-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

This is my first hat. The pattern is a great way to learn cables and double point knitting. I found the pattern in the book: The Hat Book, Creating Hats for Every Occasion, by Juliet Brown, Lark Books 1993.
Cold here in Indiana, we're having an ice storm, brrrrrrr.

2007-02-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is my brand-new, right out of the box, knitting blog. Here I will be posting pictures of finished projects, current projects, and ambitious new projects being planned. I am a naive and therefor courageous knitter. You might also notice I'm a Starmore fan. This gets me into many tight spots, so I will also be posting my quests for solutions to problems beyond my skill level.
This might be helpful for everyone. I have definitely benefited from the expertise of generous bloggers, such as the outstanding www.eunnyjang.com/knit/ and hope to return the favor.