FemiKnitMafia

Back in early 2005, I got a heaping pile of Cotton Ease at Building 19.  Now they’re unloading a pile of craft books (including knitting books).  I have NO idea if they’ll be good books or not, but I’m going to take a peek.  For locations, go to the Building 19 website, and if you’re interested in how they’re advertising it, here’s the flyer:

In looking through my ‘07 resolutions, I didn’t do too poorly. Especially when you consider the two huge life changes that were unexpected and largely out of my control: the divorce and being recruited into a graduate program. Still, as I look at the list, I feel a twinge of guilt for not achieving everything I set out to do. It’s silly, I know. But I’m a striver like that.

However, this year I pledge to be a realist. Life is short. Relationships are unpredictable. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. Therefore, I intend to focus more on the present, less on the future, and way less on what other people are doing/accomplishing. Accordingly, my goals are:

Human
… pay attention and go with the flow
… continue to be mindful of my body, fitness and health
… continue to love my little boy with all of my heart, and make all decisions with his needs in mind
… regularly tell friends and family how much I appreciate them

Employee & Student
… focus. focus. focus. produce. produce. produce.
… imagine. envision. create.

Home-owner
… buy a mattress & box spring
… buy a couch
… make wise financial decisions

Creator
… look to the stash (both fabric and fiber) before buying anything new
… finish some WIPs
… have fun

In looking back, I realize that I finished more crafty projects in 2007 than I thought.

It’s funny how you can forget about things that are finished and gifted away, temporary, perpetually in progress, or outgrown. If you ignore all of those items, that leaves 2 pairs of socks, one washrag, a pair of mittens, a hat, and my first skein of handspun. No wonder I’m forgetting my accomplishments!
I fudged the definition a little to allow the Dale to make the cut. After all, I finished the whole body. That’s a finished object, right?

Note to self: try to take more photos of completely finished objects before using/gifting them.

In a moment of crazy youthful impulsiveness, and thanks to blogless Deanna’s tip, I convinced Cheryl to drive across the state to Northampton tonight to see an incredible New Year’s Eve show at the Calvin: Melissa Ferrick, Erin McKeown and Alix Olson, together! There’s also talk of additional surprise guests, and I bet Pamela Means will be one of them. I am so f-ing excited I can barely contain myself!!! Happy Dance. Happy. Happy. Happy. Dance. After the show, we’ll drive east in the wee hours, crash hard, and then go to Danielle’s for the afternoon. What a way to welcome the New Year! Hoooooray!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As if I didn’t love Maritza enough already, look what she’s done now!

It’s Freddy the Bat!

Clearly her timing is impeccable. Now, if only I didn’t have a g-d-mn lawyer expecting a big fat retainer … sigh … and a shitload of people lining up to buy this little guy.  Grrr. Argh. Want. Want.

*** photo taken by and copyright of Maritza Soto and borrowed with permission from her Flickr photos ***

I’m so delighted today, I can barely contain my joy. This post will be an honorary Favorite Things Monday post, because I’m just ooozing favorite things.

1) Hooray Massachusetts. How I love thee! Thanks for allowing me to legally harass on a daily basis legally stay married to the woman I love.

2) Your comments.  Truly. Wonderful. Heartfelt. Appreciated.

3) As I mentioned about a year ago, I’m a professional fundraiser, and one of my clients is the primary force behind this victory. Simply stated: I raised a lot of money so that Arline Isaacson could eat/sleep/breath gay marriage lobbying. So this feels like a professional victory too, one that I’m very proud of. This picture (stolen from the Globe site) makes me weak with joy.

No matter what you may read, these two women are the power behind this victory. Arline Isaacson (the one who’s weeping) is the co-Director of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, and Norma Shapiro is the lobbyist for the Massachusetts ACLU. They’ve been lobbying on this issue together for years. In addition to the current-day consulting I’m doing, I worked very closely with them professionally about six years ago, so I know first-hand how hard they work, how powerful they are, and how much this means to them. The Globe wrote about the power of everyone who called, emailed and visited their legislators, and clearly, that won the day.  Thanks to MassEquality for that!  But I happen to know that Arline & Norma played a huge role in this victory and that they’re too humble to highlight their own impact. So I say — Thank you and Congratulations!! I’ll be calling donors tonight, and I plan to ask a particularly helpful donor to buy Arline a weekend at a spa. She really needs a weekend away.

4) In celebration, I got a wee present for myself. Additional background: I was supposed to start teaching again in 10 days, but my class was cancelled for under-enrollment. Yet, I’m teaching another summer class that starts in late July, so I have a small window of freedom. Yippee! A little freedom + a historic gay marriage decision + Little Man’s need for a quilt + my guilt about ignoring said need for a year = a little of this

a little of that,

a little of this,

and a heaping pile of that,

which will also become pj pants for me. I’ve been absolutely lusting over this Hippie Bus fabric for months.

5) Hello Yarn Adrian’s Ireland vacation photos. I’m mere moments (and a sugar mama) away from buying three plane tickets to Ireland. In the meantime … does anyone know if Ireland has a right-of-return policy*? You know … just in case another Republican wins the Presidency?

*[it does, but I miss it by one generation. hrumpf.]

6) Soulemama’s newest creation. I really want those little green trees and the plump green apples. Must find that fabric, despite it being sold out on Superbuzzy.

7) Kat’s amazing photo of the Boston Public Garden. The delight of waiting for Kate Gilbert’s Marina Piccola sock pattern, which I intend to make for my SockPal using Sophie’s Toes in the Fresh Air colorway.

See? I told you I was bursting with joy.  Have a great weekend y’all!

On Sunday, Little Man turned 4 years old, so we threw a big party. While the primary purpose of my vacation last week was to prepare for visitors, I was less productive than I planned. Perhaps my list was too long? Anyway … here’s the story in photos.

Handmade invites by Wifey

What do you do the night before a party?

You don’t remove a toilet? Well why not? Doesn’t this look like fun?

Since that last photo was not terribly flattering, this is simply proof that MafiaBro has a nice rear:

How many Mafias does it take to paint a bathroom?

The next morning, we hauled a$s to finish the castle. For those who are interested, I present:

How to Build a Castle in 10 Steps or Less

1) Rebuild your pergola: those rotting beams that are broken and sagging in the middle under the weight of that ancient grapevine will not win the hearts and minds of other parents. [new pressure treated wood=$90]

2) Buy white sheets from Goodwill. [$6]

3) Dye them with “pearl gray” RIT dye. [$8]

4) Cut a stencil out of poster board. [$2]

5) Buy 4 cans of gray spray-paint and use the stencil to paint the block imagery. [$8]

6) Cut the castle top out of cardboard & spray-paint it gray.

7) Send your Bro to the ‘Po to get a staple gun and don’t let anyone else play with use your new toy tool as you staple the sheets and cardboard to the pergola. [$20] Borrow an artistic soul (MafiaMom) who feels that colorful flags are necessary. Stand and watch while they paint two pieces of felt with Elmer’s glue to stiffen the felt, cut the triangles and attach the flags two small dowels.

9) Cut windows in random places.

10) Sit down and drink a beer while your kid goes nuts.

Ta Da!

** if you do this project, I have one suggestion — start early! When you wait until the last minute, your family will be stressed, and you’ll owe your Mom and Bro something big!

In any case, it’ll be a big hit.

Even the dog will think it’s cool.

To further the notion that Wifey is Martha Stewart [have you ever seen them in the same room at the same time? yeah, me neither], here’s the spread that she prepared while I was dicking around in the god damn yard building the castle.

Do you see the Little Man hiding under the table with his Tord Boontje t-shirt? The cycle of favorite t-shirts [freezer paper stencils + Mombian’s “one of my moms is blogging this” t-shirts) makes a crafty blogging mama proud.

Speaking of Mombian - we were delighted that Dana & Co. came to the party, had a blast, and brought a brilliant present. Seriously. Go make a PVC pipe construction set.

And speaking of kids presents, I made a new freezer paper stencil for Grace’s 4th birthday. Most of the design is free-hand, but I traced the outside flower lines from What’s This?, a beloved Barefoot Books book. If you don’t know Barefoot Books, go now. Quickly.

Her t-shirt was part of a garden themed gift. I tried to find What’s This?, but it’s not available at the big box bookstores near my house, so Eric Carle’s The Tiny Seed was a great substitution.

It was a fabulous weekend of happy people all around!

Stay tuned for a knitting & fiber update tomorrow.

The couple directly across the street from us their first baby last Tuesday. We don’t know them well, but initial indications say that they’re nice. The Dad said his garage is always open and that we should help ourselves to any tools that we don’t already own. He owns a gardening company and offered to haul our yard waste away. Yeah. Seriously nice people.

So I knit a hat. And instead of knitting something that I would like, I knit something that they would like. Whoah. People - this is a big development. I would never knit a picot edge. I would never knit a flare. I would absolutely never knit in shocking pink. But they’re fairly traditional people, so I knit something pink and frilly. Caah-razy.

Details: Lion Brand Cotton Ease (leftovers from knitting the Womb)
Pattern: My own
Needles: KnitPicks Circs size 4 (I think)
Started: May 3rd
Finished: May 4th

(decreases stretched out by Little Man’s Ted Kennedy head)

Then Wifey put together an amazing basket with a stuffed dog, yellow tulips, artisan bread (wrapped in muslin and tied with a pink bow), hummus, grapes, a block of cheese, and some other stuff in the bottom of the basket:

I know. She’s good, isn’t she?

What the fuck is this?

Why is an Asian woman dressed like a little girl?
Why is she pulling up her skirt for the camera?
Why is she dressed like a little girl and pulling up her skirt?
Why is she looking in the other direction? Is she being coy? Or is she uncomfortable?
What’s with the sock monkey? Is it simply to further enhance the little girl imagery?
What is she planning to do with her sock monkey? Hump it?
What’s with the corn field? Is she rushing off to the corn field to have an illicit affair with a sock monkey? Is this a solo excursion (i.e. she’s in control of pre-pubescent sexuality?) Or was she brought to the corn field by someone who needed a private place to take pictures of this hyper-sexualized child-like stance?

Why are we, in the craft world, accepting this shit?

Would you stand in the middle of a corn field, dressed like a little girl and pull up your skirt while holding a sock monkey?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

It would feel really really fucked up, wouldn’t it?

This photo could be worse, I suppose, if she had pony tails and a delicate floral print.

Still — this photo is taking Cute-itis, which is nearly always associated with Japanese crafting culture, to a whole new level. It’s cute + sexist + cultural misappropriation + exoticizing + sexualizing childhood, all wrapped up in a funky mod package with an objectification bow.

Ever since I entered the cyber crafty world, I’ve been uncomfortable with the obsession with “cute.” Stuffies abound. I cringe when I see grown women across the craftosphere obsessing about all things “cute” but I tell myself “it’s not my cup of tea” and try not to be judgmental of other makers. Stuffed cats and dogs and dolls = yuck; a stuffed praying mantis = irony = cool. In other words, No Tea Cozies Without Irony.

However, this cover of N.E.E.T. Magazine is really gross. And I’m pissed. For better or worse (worse, I’d argue), crafting is primarily a female pursuit. Craft blogs are primarily written by women. Women are the target audience for magazines like Craft and N.E.E.T. In fact, N.E.E.T. is part of Bust’s Girl Wide Web.

With an attitude that is fierce, funny and proud to be female, BUST provides an uncensored view on the female experience. BUST tells the truth about women’s lives and presents a female perspective on pop culture. BUSTing stereotypes about women since 1993.

source: About BUST

We’re the target audience for N.E.E.T. — smart, creative, unique, diverse, savvy women. This imagery doesn’t speak to me, and if you agree, join me in correcting the misconceptions of the folks at N.E.E.T. by emailing them at:

My dear sweet NinaBeana, my local SAHM with whom I would spend every afternoon if I didn’t have to work. Every time I leave her house I whine, “can I quit my job please?” She’s so generous of spirit (and food) that her house has become a revolving door of friends and family, and somehow she remains sane.

Our friendship began three years ago at our local library, where our kids, at the ripe old age of 9 months, brought us together. As the story goes, she spotted my tattoo and was too scared to say hello, and after seeing her funky little outfits and her bumper stickers, I was too scared to say hello. Thank god for our babies. Actually … thank god for her baby Grace, who crawled right over and tried to steal Little Man’s binky. They still steal things from one another (we will never discuss the firefighter hat drama of 1/8/07), but they also hug and kiss and talk and share and pretend and snuggle and giggle and craft and make their moms very very happy.

Speaking of happy, this photo makes me happy. Back in December, Nina and I went to the Bazaar Bizarre together, made covert “I could make that…” lists, ogled the beautiful goods made by bloggers that we’ve been reading, strolled through the South End, tried organic smoked salmon at a beautiful little deli, shared a ham, cheddar and fig sandwich, and grabbed tea and scones for the ride home. While waiting for the train, I snapped this photo. I love it because it’s just so Nina.

In the last three years, we’re shared many things, including an ever-growing list of “Crafts To Try.” And ever since Angry Chicken posted her adorable freezer paper stencils, we’ve been trying to plan a weekend crafts-only date. With the lure of Tord Boontje designs in my house, we finally had a crafty date last weekend. And it was wicked fun.

Little Man and I ran off to the “art store” as he calls it, where he selected the t-shirts and paint colors. Nina and I laid the Tord panels on the floor and let the kids pick their favorite animal images. Then we traced the animals onto the freezer paper, carefully cut the stencils, ironed the paper to the outside of the shirt, with another layer of freezer paper fused to the inside (very important) and handed out paint brushes.

I consider the experience a success because Little Man wore the red rabbit to school yesterday and accosted everyone with “I paint this shirt with Mommy!”

By the way, see that silly face he’s making. Yeah … that’s what happens when you tell a kid to “smile.” Apparently Alison’s boys got the same memo.

Back in October, someone blogged about the Holiday 2006 partnership between Target and Tord Boontje, a name I’d never heard before. But I was intrigued by the images that were posted: intricate paper cuts of deer, rabbits, snowflakes, stars, and stark winter branches. My little pagan heart warmed.

Then I read accounts of folks dashing to Target stores across the U.S. to snatch the best pieces as soon as they hit the shelves, other bloggers mourning missed opportunities, and blogger gifts of Tord collection bits. I longed for that garland. Small. Simple. White garland. But that was one of the first products to disappear.

Then I bought a house. And I ripped up floors. And fixed ceilings. And my Tord fetish slipped into the back of my mind.

Until my Mom came to visit. My Mom - the woman who brings out my inner consumer - requested a trip to Target. While there, we dug into the deep recesses of the holiday sale shelves, and found the window clings for 50% off (score!). Ms. 1890 reallys like them, but my camera - not so much. Have you ever tried taking a decent photo of a window cling? See … even the brilliant photographer SouleMama struggled with it.

Anyway … after strolling around the store and digging through the bins, I started to look upward, at the beautiful designs hanging from the ceiling. Then I strolled up to the Customer Service desk and asked:

“What happens to those beautiful holiday decorations after Christmas?”
“We throw them in the trash.”
“Can I have them?”
“Ummmm … sure, I guess. Well … let me make sure. I have to call our sign person. Can you wait here?”

I waited.

And after some logistical negotiation, it was decided that if I called every day to remind Melissa (my uber customer service chick), and arrived very early in the morning on the Thursday after Christmas, I could have whatever I wanted. I requested two strings of stars/snowflakes and two of the large panels.

Cat for scale

Dansko for scale

I’m not sure what to do with the big panels — probably cut them up(?). Adornments for wrapping paper? Mobiles? Tracing them to make stencils? Freezer paper t-shirts [nina]?

After all that excitement and inpsiration, I came home and made stockings for my Mom and MafiaBro so they had some visual love when they awoke in my house on Christmas morning.

Now Mom and MafiaBro will have stockings whenever they come for a Christmas visit, and I have yards of Tord paper cuts to play with. Peace and Joy.