If you asked me to describe my childhood, it would be all about the books, since I wasn't overly sociable or sports minded. I don't remember much else about growing up, but I could tell you which books I read at what age (gives new meaning to "bookmarks"). Lots of Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary from age 6 to 9. Little Women and the Little House books at age 10. Dear Mr Henshaw and Starring Sally J Friedman as Herself and the Katie John books at age 11. The entire Nancy Drew series and Madeleine L'Engle at age 12. Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Plath, Hughes, Thomas, the Brontes, biographies, and bits of French and Russian lit from 13 through 17. Anne Rice and Kate Chopin and Lawrence and Atwood at 18.
Somewhere along the way after childhood, my daily intake of the printed word diminished quite a bit because I got interested in other things. I discovered art and photography, and then re-discovered knitting (which I'd briefly learned and played with at age 12), and then cello. And writing took up more and more time as well. So did having to work to earn a living and maintain order in my digs once I moved out on my own.
I can still read large chunks of writing fairly quickly, when I get the chance to do it, which seems rare these days. I read Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad in one sitting while the repair person fixed my air conditioner, and I got through a Campion novel during a particularly bad rainstorm that was keeping me awake in the middle of the night. Now that e-books are available, it's made reading a lot more portable, and I get a kick out of being able to carry around the complete works of Oscar Wilde and Shelley and Austen and a few Wodehouse novels and the letters of Sylvia Beach on my iPhone. It means when I have a few minutes here and there, like standing in line somewhere or waiting for the previous student to pack up so I can go into my teacher's studio for my cello lesson, I can read a bit, and the software even marks my place.
Still, that's just reading in spurts when the opportunities present themselves. For awhile, I've been searching for some way to get back to a more regular reading routine. And then I came across a documentary recently on Netflix called Paris Was a Woman. It's about the women artists and writers of Paris between the world wars.
One of the writers featured was Janet Flanner. She wrote a weekly column for The New Yorker for decades called "Letter from Paris" under the pen name Genet. I liked what I saw and heard of her in the documentary, so I decided to check out her writing. It turns out that her New Yorker contributions are collected in four volumes. Because I am a writer, and because I am strange, I decided to get myself some copies of these books for my birthday, and it gave me a reading project idea.
The books arrived last week, and while flipping through them, it occurred to me that I could read a letter a day to get back some of the daily reading habit I used to have. The "Letters from Paris" start in 1925 and go through to 1970, so it will take awhile to get through them. I think it will be a good reading ritual. I might even tweet about them now and then - "on this day in 19__, Janet Flanner wrote about..."
The first entry in the first book is about Josephine Baker's debut in Paris in 1925. While the entry is short, it reads as though Genet was impressed. And in her blunt style, Genet points out that "Paris has never drawn a color line."
This is going to be fun and enlightening.
knitter in training
Friday, April 20, 2012
The London 2012 Olympics are less than 100 days away.
In the knitting world, there is an activity called the Knitting Olympics, with an offshoot called Ravelympics. The idea is to cast on for a project at the beginning of opening ceremonies, work on it while watching whatever events interest you, and then finish it before or by the end of closing ceremonies. The Games start on 27 July and end on 12 August - 17 days (if I did my math right).
On Ravelry, you can sign up for specific teams depending on what you're working on and post updates. Overall, it's a fun knitting community phenomenon.
During the last Olympics, I managed to finish a blanket that had been languishing for far longer than I care to admit. I had all the squares made, but it was a matter of sewing them all together and there were more than 100 of them.
This time, I'm thinking of working on a project that is London- or British-related. So far, I've come up with a few possibilities.
One is the Hitchhiker Scarf by Martina Behm, which was inspired by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, who was British. Ideally, you end up with 42 points on your scarf (in the book, 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything). I've made this pattern once already, and enjoyed it a lot, although I only ended up with 36 points. However, the pattern is flexible enough that if you run out of yarn before you get to 42 points, you can bind off wherever you need to and still have a nice scarf. I have a skein of yarn that I reclaimed from another project that I think would be enough for 42 points. Theoretically, the knitting of this could be divided up to work on a certain number of points each day, although because of how it's knit, the rows get longer the further into the project you get. So it would be a matter of doing more points early on, maybe.
Another other option is the Tudor Grace scarf by Anne Hanson. The Tudors were a ruling family in England (starting with Henry VII and ending with Elizabeth I). It's a lace pattern that has a six-row repeat and purl rest rows on the wrong side. It's a lovely pattern that I've been eyeing for awhile. But would I be able to pay attention to the events and knit at the same time without messing up the pattern? That is the question.
There is also the Miss Woodhouse shawlette by Wendy Johnson. It's a very pretty piece, and the name reminds me of Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse. However, Emma is my least favorite of the Austen novels, so I'm not sure I want to go that route.
I was also thinking of a Dickens-related project, seeing as this year is the centenary of his birth. However, I've not come across anything that appeals to me.
Since these are the summer Games, I'm not inclined to knit something heavy like a sweater or another blanket. Hence the scarf or shawl option. It's a matter of what can I get accomplished in two and a bit weeks of knitting, which will mainly be evening knitting. Any of the above mentioned patterns would probably just squeak in under the deadline.
Any votes or other pattern ideas?
In the knitting world, there is an activity called the Knitting Olympics, with an offshoot called Ravelympics. The idea is to cast on for a project at the beginning of opening ceremonies, work on it while watching whatever events interest you, and then finish it before or by the end of closing ceremonies. The Games start on 27 July and end on 12 August - 17 days (if I did my math right).
On Ravelry, you can sign up for specific teams depending on what you're working on and post updates. Overall, it's a fun knitting community phenomenon.
During the last Olympics, I managed to finish a blanket that had been languishing for far longer than I care to admit. I had all the squares made, but it was a matter of sewing them all together and there were more than 100 of them.
This time, I'm thinking of working on a project that is London- or British-related. So far, I've come up with a few possibilities.
One is the Hitchhiker Scarf by Martina Behm, which was inspired by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, who was British. Ideally, you end up with 42 points on your scarf (in the book, 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything). I've made this pattern once already, and enjoyed it a lot, although I only ended up with 36 points. However, the pattern is flexible enough that if you run out of yarn before you get to 42 points, you can bind off wherever you need to and still have a nice scarf. I have a skein of yarn that I reclaimed from another project that I think would be enough for 42 points. Theoretically, the knitting of this could be divided up to work on a certain number of points each day, although because of how it's knit, the rows get longer the further into the project you get. So it would be a matter of doing more points early on, maybe.
Another other option is the Tudor Grace scarf by Anne Hanson. The Tudors were a ruling family in England (starting with Henry VII and ending with Elizabeth I). It's a lace pattern that has a six-row repeat and purl rest rows on the wrong side. It's a lovely pattern that I've been eyeing for awhile. But would I be able to pay attention to the events and knit at the same time without messing up the pattern? That is the question.
There is also the Miss Woodhouse shawlette by Wendy Johnson. It's a very pretty piece, and the name reminds me of Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse. However, Emma is my least favorite of the Austen novels, so I'm not sure I want to go that route.
I was also thinking of a Dickens-related project, seeing as this year is the centenary of his birth. However, I've not come across anything that appeals to me.
Since these are the summer Games, I'm not inclined to knit something heavy like a sweater or another blanket. Hence the scarf or shawl option. It's a matter of what can I get accomplished in two and a bit weeks of knitting, which will mainly be evening knitting. Any of the above mentioned patterns would probably just squeak in under the deadline.
Any votes or other pattern ideas?
gotta have faith
Saturday, March 31, 2012
My cello teacher decided we should have a little break between study books, so at the moment, I'm working on a standalone piece called "La Foi" ("The Faith") by Goltermann. It's a nice, flowy, smooth piece for piano and cello, with plenty of opportunity to practice vibrato.
My vibrato has come a long way. First finger is still giving me fits, and if I'm not careful how I place my pinky finger, I get a slight shooting pain. Otherwise, it sounds like I may sort of perhaps quite possibly know what I'm doing. Kind of. If I squint my ears real hard.
I got the hang of the first page of the piece pretty easily. The second page - not so much. Frankly, the second page annoys me. It's a hell of a lot of shifting, although a large section of it is only on the A string and not at an overly fast pace. In theory, that should make things easier. In practice, it does not. Not to mention that one has to hold the right bow arm up for rather a long time, which can be tiring. Also, I've noticed that my A string sounds awfully bright compared to the other three strings, so it's a bit jarring when I get to that section in the piece. (Don't start in about changing out the A string for a new one. Cello strings are not cheap. I've got to work with what I have.)
I'm hoping the third page of this piece will be less annoying. I would like to be able to play the whole thing at least somewhat respectably. Right now, it's a trudge.
My vibrato has come a long way. First finger is still giving me fits, and if I'm not careful how I place my pinky finger, I get a slight shooting pain. Otherwise, it sounds like I may sort of perhaps quite possibly know what I'm doing. Kind of. If I squint my ears real hard.
I got the hang of the first page of the piece pretty easily. The second page - not so much. Frankly, the second page annoys me. It's a hell of a lot of shifting, although a large section of it is only on the A string and not at an overly fast pace. In theory, that should make things easier. In practice, it does not. Not to mention that one has to hold the right bow arm up for rather a long time, which can be tiring. Also, I've noticed that my A string sounds awfully bright compared to the other three strings, so it's a bit jarring when I get to that section in the piece. (Don't start in about changing out the A string for a new one. Cello strings are not cheap. I've got to work with what I have.)
I'm hoping the third page of this piece will be less annoying. I would like to be able to play the whole thing at least somewhat respectably. Right now, it's a trudge.
4S Saturday: glorious
Saturday, February 11, 2012
My grandmother loved her shawl. My aunt loved it, too, and kept trying it on. I'm adding some additional projects to my gift knitting queue this year, so the paternal aunts will get some lace at some point.
My mother also liked my grandmother's shawl and asked for one as well, instead of a mark II of the Fernfrost scarf that the wind took away from her last year. I started working on that with the yarn that was intended for Fernfrost the Second, and I added a pattern repeat on the middle section to make it bigger. However, I misjudged the amount of yarn that I would need for the size increase and ran out, so the project went on hold until the additional yarn I ordered arrived. I finished the middle section at my knitting group session today, so there's just the edging left to do, and yet I still may be short on yarn to get it finished. Generally, I'm pretty good about making sure I have an adequate amount of yarn for a project, so I don't know why this one is different. And I can't show you any progress pictures of it because my mom reads this blog.
I can show you this, though:
This is the Two-Thirds Shawl by Wendy Johnson from her Wendy Knits Lace book. The yarn is a tight twist superwash merino wool fingering weight from Fearless Fibers. The colorway is called Glorious Green. Indeed.
I had tried two other shawl patterns with this yarn, and neither worked. Third time appears to be the charm. I like the pattern so far, and I've had no problems following the charts. I'm already through the first section and well into the second set of charts. I have just under the amount of yarn the pattern calls for, but I'm making this on a smaller needle size as well, so I think it will be okay. I may regret saying that, given my recent struggles with yarn amounts.
There are quite a few patterns in this book that I would like to make, so it may be an additional knitting goal this year to work through a bunch of them. I started the Stacy Shawl awhile back, but ran into problems with the pattern. I thought I'd worked out a fix, but it was still giving me fits, so I put it down for awhile. More people have made the pattern now, so I'm hoping I can find some help to figure out where I'm going wrong.
I also made this recently:
The pattern is Minnie by Jumper Cables Knitting. The yarn is Waverly by Bernat in the Breath of Blue colorway.
The other scarf I'd been wearing had stretched out too much and was curling on the long edges, which doesn't provide much protection from wind and cold. It was driving me nuts. I thought I'd put in enough garter stitch so it would lay flat, but apparently not.
I didn't like the idea of doing a beginner-looking garter stitch scarf, but I did want something that wouldn't curl. I poked around on ravelry and came across this pattern and had a hallelujah moment. It has the needed garter stitch, but it also has the bobbles and lace edging to make it more interesting. You start at one end with only five stitches and you gradually increase stitches on one side only until you have it as wide as you want and then start decreasing on the same side - that gives you a long, narrow triangle shape. Easy and fun to knit, and I like how it turned out. Exactly the sort of scarf I wanted.
My mother also liked my grandmother's shawl and asked for one as well, instead of a mark II of the Fernfrost scarf that the wind took away from her last year. I started working on that with the yarn that was intended for Fernfrost the Second, and I added a pattern repeat on the middle section to make it bigger. However, I misjudged the amount of yarn that I would need for the size increase and ran out, so the project went on hold until the additional yarn I ordered arrived. I finished the middle section at my knitting group session today, so there's just the edging left to do, and yet I still may be short on yarn to get it finished. Generally, I'm pretty good about making sure I have an adequate amount of yarn for a project, so I don't know why this one is different. And I can't show you any progress pictures of it because my mom reads this blog.
I can show you this, though:
This is the Two-Thirds Shawl by Wendy Johnson from her Wendy Knits Lace book. The yarn is a tight twist superwash merino wool fingering weight from Fearless Fibers. The colorway is called Glorious Green. Indeed.
I had tried two other shawl patterns with this yarn, and neither worked. Third time appears to be the charm. I like the pattern so far, and I've had no problems following the charts. I'm already through the first section and well into the second set of charts. I have just under the amount of yarn the pattern calls for, but I'm making this on a smaller needle size as well, so I think it will be okay. I may regret saying that, given my recent struggles with yarn amounts.
There are quite a few patterns in this book that I would like to make, so it may be an additional knitting goal this year to work through a bunch of them. I started the Stacy Shawl awhile back, but ran into problems with the pattern. I thought I'd worked out a fix, but it was still giving me fits, so I put it down for awhile. More people have made the pattern now, so I'm hoping I can find some help to figure out where I'm going wrong.
I also made this recently:
The pattern is Minnie by Jumper Cables Knitting. The yarn is Waverly by Bernat in the Breath of Blue colorway.
The other scarf I'd been wearing had stretched out too much and was curling on the long edges, which doesn't provide much protection from wind and cold. It was driving me nuts. I thought I'd put in enough garter stitch so it would lay flat, but apparently not.
I didn't like the idea of doing a beginner-looking garter stitch scarf, but I did want something that wouldn't curl. I poked around on ravelry and came across this pattern and had a hallelujah moment. It has the needed garter stitch, but it also has the bobbles and lace edging to make it more interesting. You start at one end with only five stitches and you gradually increase stitches on one side only until you have it as wide as you want and then start decreasing on the same side - that gives you a long, narrow triangle shape. Easy and fun to knit, and I like how it turned out. Exactly the sort of scarf I wanted.
5S: again with the socks
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Scarf/Shawl/Sock/Sweater Saturday (or Sunday)
I finished my time traveling socks:
These really give me a giggle. I mentioned in a previous post that the colorway was derived from one of the scarves that the fourth Doctor wore. I watched some of the Tom Baker episodes on Netflix while I worked on these. Seemed appropriate.
I'm really impressed with the yarn. It's Knit Picks' Felici fingering weight yarn. It's 75% superwash merino wool and 25% nylon, which is a good combination for socks to make them soft, long-wearing, and stretchy. The yarn has great stitch definition, too. (I used a garter rib pattern.)
As soon as finished them, I started another pair in the same yarn, but a different colorway, and a seed stitch rib:
The colorway is called Mixed Berries. I'm not a fan of pink (especially after this week's news), and the pink in these reminds me of Pepto Bismol (which one might have needed after this week's news). However, it's only one stripe of pink amid four stripes of varying values of purple/lavender, so I can live with it, and it makes me happy to knit on these.
After I get these finished, I think I'll go back to less variegated/stripey yarn because I'm getting tired of doing afterthought heels to preserve the striping sequence. Although clever, it's a fiddley process, and I'd sooner go back to Wendy Johnson's gusset heel since it's easy and doesn't require anything fiddley.
Why do I suddenly have the urge to play a highland reel on the cello?
I finished my time traveling socks:
These really give me a giggle. I mentioned in a previous post that the colorway was derived from one of the scarves that the fourth Doctor wore. I watched some of the Tom Baker episodes on Netflix while I worked on these. Seemed appropriate.
I'm really impressed with the yarn. It's Knit Picks' Felici fingering weight yarn. It's 75% superwash merino wool and 25% nylon, which is a good combination for socks to make them soft, long-wearing, and stretchy. The yarn has great stitch definition, too. (I used a garter rib pattern.)
As soon as finished them, I started another pair in the same yarn, but a different colorway, and a seed stitch rib:
The colorway is called Mixed Berries. I'm not a fan of pink (especially after this week's news), and the pink in these reminds me of Pepto Bismol (which one might have needed after this week's news). However, it's only one stripe of pink amid four stripes of varying values of purple/lavender, so I can live with it, and it makes me happy to knit on these.
After I get these finished, I think I'll go back to less variegated/stripey yarn because I'm getting tired of doing afterthought heels to preserve the striping sequence. Although clever, it's a fiddley process, and I'd sooner go back to Wendy Johnson's gusset heel since it's easy and doesn't require anything fiddley.
Why do I suddenly have the urge to play a highland reel on the cello?
not-quite-S: hands not idle
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The past two months have been...interesting. Is it something in the air or the water? Is it the violent solar flares I keep hearing about? It's been a whirlwind that included bumps and bruises and worries and a huge mistake, and I am only recently feeling recovered.
I kept my hands busy throughout, in an attempt to keep some form of normal routine going. This week, I'm going to show you the projects that don't fall into the S category - that is, none of them are scarves, shawls, socks, or sweaters. I'll get back to showing those next week.
Mom and I both worked on crocheted blankets while she and Steve were here for the holidays. She finished up a zig zag blanket I'd barely started I don't know how long ago:
And I got it into my head to do a crochet version of the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. I got this idea because while I like the look of the knitted version, committing to that much garter stitch has always given me pause, not to mention hearing and reading complaints from people about how bloody long it takes to make. It required some gauge swatches and math (and a false start that had to be ripped out) to figure out a crochet version, but it turned out well. I adjusted the pattern a bit to suit the color placement (the color inspiration came from a sweater I've had for years), which was easy since the whole thing is made up of blocks that attach to other blocks.
A few people have mentioned that it looks like a Mondrian painting. I wish I'd thought of that sooner because I would have outlined all the blocks in black.
The cats like both blankets:
I also made a quick cowl out of some handspun yarn that owldaughter sent me (yes, she spun it herself):
It's a blend of blue-faced Leicester wool and hand-dyed tussah silk.
I'd made a cowl out of it soon after she sent it to me, but I had the feeling the pattern I'd chosen hadn't done justice to the yarn. Eventually, I unraveled it and started looking for another pattern. I finally found Anne Hanson's Poinsettia pattern, and it was off to the races. It only took a few hours to make, and I'm pleased with how it turned out:
I think the pattern shows off the yarn a lot better.
I also have enough left over yarn to make another cowl. I have quite a few possibilities saved in my ravelry queue.
Warning: There will be a small parade of brightly colored socks next week.
I kept my hands busy throughout, in an attempt to keep some form of normal routine going. This week, I'm going to show you the projects that don't fall into the S category - that is, none of them are scarves, shawls, socks, or sweaters. I'll get back to showing those next week.
Mom and I both worked on crocheted blankets while she and Steve were here for the holidays. She finished up a zig zag blanket I'd barely started I don't know how long ago:
And I got it into my head to do a crochet version of the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. I got this idea because while I like the look of the knitted version, committing to that much garter stitch has always given me pause, not to mention hearing and reading complaints from people about how bloody long it takes to make. It required some gauge swatches and math (and a false start that had to be ripped out) to figure out a crochet version, but it turned out well. I adjusted the pattern a bit to suit the color placement (the color inspiration came from a sweater I've had for years), which was easy since the whole thing is made up of blocks that attach to other blocks.
A few people have mentioned that it looks like a Mondrian painting. I wish I'd thought of that sooner because I would have outlined all the blocks in black.
The cats like both blankets:
I also made a quick cowl out of some handspun yarn that owldaughter sent me (yes, she spun it herself):
It's a blend of blue-faced Leicester wool and hand-dyed tussah silk.
I'd made a cowl out of it soon after she sent it to me, but I had the feeling the pattern I'd chosen hadn't done justice to the yarn. Eventually, I unraveled it and started looking for another pattern. I finally found Anne Hanson's Poinsettia pattern, and it was off to the races. It only took a few hours to make, and I'm pleased with how it turned out:
I think the pattern shows off the yarn a lot better.
I also have enough left over yarn to make another cowl. I have quite a few possibilities saved in my ravelry queue.
Warning: There will be a small parade of brightly colored socks next week.
2012 revolutions
Sunday, January 1, 2012
As I have done for several years now, I have a list of specific things I want to do in the coming year, rather than things I think I should do, and that makes resolutions easier to keep. And actually enjoyable. Here is this year's list:
Gardening
I learned many gardening lessons last year - namely, that wildlife may be cute, especially the way they come right up to the windows to chat with my cats, BUT THEY ARE ROTTEN LITTLE SEEDLING THIEVES, TOO! Two gardening goals this year are to get things planted earlier and GUARD THE CROPS!
Cello
I am thisclose to starting a new study book, and the first piece in it is the Breval Sonata. I'm already quaking in my boots at the thought of it, because I've heard things about it. Things that make me shudder.
My teacher has informed me that there will also be some non-study book pieces as well, just for a change of kicks and giggles, because, as he frequently reminds me, we're doing this cello thing for FUN!
Travel
Scotland in May. More details to come.
Also might go see the Dickens exhibit in London, since I'll be passing through. It's his 200th birthday this year. I feel the urge to re-read Bleak House all of a sudden.
Knitting
Catalog the stash and knit down more of it. I knit, and finished, a lot more projects last year, and yet, the yarn stash didn't seem to get any smaller. That may be because the lace projects didn't require as much yarn as something like a sweater or blanket project would need. Lace projects usually require only a skein or two of yarn, whereas a blanket or a sweater can use up to a dozen skeins or even more.
I've already put aside stuff for the next yarn swap, which will reduce the stash somewhat. I didn't buy much new yarn this year, mainly because I didn't go to the Sheep and Wool Festival in May owing to a monster of a sinus headache that weekend. My LYS had a big sale on its birthday this summer, so that added about two projects' worth. Most of the other yarn I bought or acquired from last year's yarn swaps went directly to a project, often for someone else, so it was in and out of the stash pretty quickly.
I may even assign projects to yarn, just to see if that gets them knit quicker.
Writing
It's a revision and publishing year, I think. I have complete drafts of several novels that need revision, and they're piling up. Now that I (more or less) have the hang of e-publishing, I have a good excuse to clear out the backlog before the stories get so stale they aren't worth reading.
My sonata novel is still missing "that certain something," and I think I've figured out what it is. My cello teacher explained the sonata form to me recently, and it's given me ideas for what I hope will be the final re-write of this novel. It may prove to be disasterous, and I'll have to take it all out again, but I'm curious to see what can be done.
Career
I have a new job as a medical information specialist for a small pharma company. I start this week. I was getting stale and mushy-brained in the old job, and feeling bored and increasingly useless. The new job scares me a little, because it's bigger than I am, and I'll be back into hardcore clinical science. I like the idea of growing into a job, though, and my brain will hopefully soak up the science and feel more alert and challenged.
I've also been musing on the crazy idea of another master's degree, this time in public health or clinical research. I probably won't start this until mid-year. Even I know that starting a new job and a science-heavy master's degree at the same time can only end in madness and tears. Best to get used to the new job first and figure out which degree would be the most useful for it.
Purely for Entertainment
Audiobooks! My commute time to work is going to double. Given the nature of my job, as well as the looming possibility of a master's degree, not to mention dealing with more heavy downtown traffic than I am used to, I suspect I will need the mental indulgence of fiction being read to me. I've already saved an embarrasingly long queue of books on the Maryland Digital e-Library Consortium page via my county public library system. I'm working my way through the five books in Anne Perry's World War I series, and they have a lot of her other books as well. (Yes, I know who she is and what she did as a teenager. No need to tell me. I still admire her writing.) I noticed that audible.com has the first of Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde series on audio finally, so that's been added to my to-be-listened-to list as well.
If you have audiobook recommendations, let me know, and can someone please ask Richard Armitage to record some more Georgette Heyer novels or other novels in general? I'm afraid I've become addicted to his reading voice.
Gardening
I learned many gardening lessons last year - namely, that wildlife may be cute, especially the way they come right up to the windows to chat with my cats, BUT THEY ARE ROTTEN LITTLE SEEDLING THIEVES, TOO! Two gardening goals this year are to get things planted earlier and GUARD THE CROPS!
Cello
I am thisclose to starting a new study book, and the first piece in it is the Breval Sonata. I'm already quaking in my boots at the thought of it, because I've heard things about it. Things that make me shudder.
My teacher has informed me that there will also be some non-study book pieces as well, just for a change of kicks and giggles, because, as he frequently reminds me, we're doing this cello thing for FUN!
Travel
Scotland in May. More details to come.
Also might go see the Dickens exhibit in London, since I'll be passing through. It's his 200th birthday this year. I feel the urge to re-read Bleak House all of a sudden.
Knitting
Catalog the stash and knit down more of it. I knit, and finished, a lot more projects last year, and yet, the yarn stash didn't seem to get any smaller. That may be because the lace projects didn't require as much yarn as something like a sweater or blanket project would need. Lace projects usually require only a skein or two of yarn, whereas a blanket or a sweater can use up to a dozen skeins or even more.
I've already put aside stuff for the next yarn swap, which will reduce the stash somewhat. I didn't buy much new yarn this year, mainly because I didn't go to the Sheep and Wool Festival in May owing to a monster of a sinus headache that weekend. My LYS had a big sale on its birthday this summer, so that added about two projects' worth. Most of the other yarn I bought or acquired from last year's yarn swaps went directly to a project, often for someone else, so it was in and out of the stash pretty quickly.
I may even assign projects to yarn, just to see if that gets them knit quicker.
Writing
It's a revision and publishing year, I think. I have complete drafts of several novels that need revision, and they're piling up. Now that I (more or less) have the hang of e-publishing, I have a good excuse to clear out the backlog before the stories get so stale they aren't worth reading.
My sonata novel is still missing "that certain something," and I think I've figured out what it is. My cello teacher explained the sonata form to me recently, and it's given me ideas for what I hope will be the final re-write of this novel. It may prove to be disasterous, and I'll have to take it all out again, but I'm curious to see what can be done.
Career
I have a new job as a medical information specialist for a small pharma company. I start this week. I was getting stale and mushy-brained in the old job, and feeling bored and increasingly useless. The new job scares me a little, because it's bigger than I am, and I'll be back into hardcore clinical science. I like the idea of growing into a job, though, and my brain will hopefully soak up the science and feel more alert and challenged.
I've also been musing on the crazy idea of another master's degree, this time in public health or clinical research. I probably won't start this until mid-year. Even I know that starting a new job and a science-heavy master's degree at the same time can only end in madness and tears. Best to get used to the new job first and figure out which degree would be the most useful for it.
Purely for Entertainment
Audiobooks! My commute time to work is going to double. Given the nature of my job, as well as the looming possibility of a master's degree, not to mention dealing with more heavy downtown traffic than I am used to, I suspect I will need the mental indulgence of fiction being read to me. I've already saved an embarrasingly long queue of books on the Maryland Digital e-Library Consortium page via my county public library system. I'm working my way through the five books in Anne Perry's World War I series, and they have a lot of her other books as well. (Yes, I know who she is and what she did as a teenager. No need to tell me. I still admire her writing.) I noticed that audible.com has the first of Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde series on audio finally, so that's been added to my to-be-listened-to list as well.
If you have audiobook recommendations, let me know, and can someone please ask Richard Armitage to record some more Georgette Heyer novels or other novels in general? I'm afraid I've become addicted to his reading voice.
(nearly) a year in the Treehouse
Saturday, December 31, 2011
I can hardly believe I've been in the Treehouse for almost a year already. (January 15, 2012 will officially be one year)
I got the red couches. And the bookcases. I also set up a guest room, painted the downstairs bathroom, and replaced the front rain gutter.
I'm calling this my "observational" gardening year. My front garden did far better than my side patio garden. I did next to nothing to the front garden except cut back the rose bushes. The previous owners were clever with the front garden - it pretty much takes care of itself, and the plants and flowers in it are seasonal, so there's always something new coming up as something else has finished for the year. There was also so much rain this year that I didn't need to do much watering at all. It may need another layer of mulch next year, but that looks to be it.
The side patio garden was more of aheadache, er, challenge. The side patio gets a lot of attention, both from afternoon sun and from the local wildlife. My next door neighbors puts out birdseed every morning, which the birds and the squirrels take full advantage of. Then they come next door to my patio for second breakfast. I didn't realize how much digging they were doing in my raised beds until I found one of the seedpods I'd used for seedstarting lying well outside the box. I got some wire hoops and netting for the boxes, which served as a decent deterrent, but the damage was already done, and most of the loot was already stolen, so there wasn't much of a harvest. My tomato box did okay, though, courtesy of Gardener's Supply Catalog's Organic Tomato Success Kit.
Writing
While all that was going on, I got Tempus House published as an ebook. It went through a title change and an unexpected major edit, but it's out there finally. Yay!
The next novel is STILL in revision. I did a major re-write on it and added a character, which certainly made it more interesting. That was a relief because I was beginning to think I would have to abandon the story, and I didn't want to do that because I have an odd faith in it. There is another character, though, that either has to come out or at least be diminished. I used up too much story space on his past with the main character. It explains the main character's motives, but it could be done more succinctly. And while he's meant to be an antagonist, he doesn't have to be such a bloody insufferable one.
I finished a children's novella, and did some digging on e-publishing for children. Just as I ran into problems with a new title for Tempus House, I ran smack into a wall with the cover for this novella. I'm not liking this last-minute calamity pattern. Anyway, a new cover is in the works. I am a slow writer/reviser/editor (or perhaps "an annoyingly/alarmingly thorough" one would be more accurate), and I'm an even slower graphic designer. You do not want to know how long it took me to find the perfect image for the Tempus House cover.
I spent just about all of October outlining the novel I worked on in November for NaNoWriMo. This definitely gave the actual writing a lot more direction, so writing sessions were more productive. Unfortunately, I was plagued by severe right-side neck and shoulder pain for most of the month, so I had to cut back on the daily word count goal. The draft is done though, and acupuncture and physical therapy helped me do battle with the neck and shoulder pain...which was then all undone by the car accident I was in last week.
Cello
I've worked on the Prelude to Bach's "Suite No. 1 in G major" off and on over the year as a kind of independent study experiment to see what two-and-a-half years' worth of lessons have taught me as I attempt a piece on my own, outside of what I work on for lessons. The result showed me that I can analyze it, recognize the patterns, break it into chunks and layers to work on, listen to versions for comparison, and more or less chip away at it a bit at a time. So it's fair to say I get the concept of "strategy."
However, I was not able to devote as much practice time to it as I had hoped because I hadn't factored in the increasing complexity and length of the pieces I would be working on in my lessons with Ben. Meaning I spent more time on them in my daily practice sessions than I had spent on pieces in my first year of cello study. This is logical of course, and it was silly of me not to have taken it into account ahead of time. So the poor prelude was often pushed aside while I struggled with the other pieces. I humbly apologize to it and to Bach, and I will soldier on with it into the new year.
I've done a bit better with vibrato. I incorporated it into scale practice (I love two-fer efficiency!). Decent first-finger vibrato still eludes me - I'm just overly stiff with that finger, and I swing my arm well into my body, which I don't do with the other fingers - no idea why I think of first finger as its own entity. Consequently, vibrato with the other fingers is improving and starting to feel a little more natural. Only problem is, I often don't think to use it in anything but scales, so it's going on the layering list as a reminder to work on it in actual pieces.
I already have plans for next year, which may or may not be a good idea, although the intent is to keep me productive, happy, and out of trouble. Saving those for the next post.
I got the red couches. And the bookcases. I also set up a guest room, painted the downstairs bathroom, and replaced the front rain gutter.
I'm calling this my "observational" gardening year. My front garden did far better than my side patio garden. I did next to nothing to the front garden except cut back the rose bushes. The previous owners were clever with the front garden - it pretty much takes care of itself, and the plants and flowers in it are seasonal, so there's always something new coming up as something else has finished for the year. There was also so much rain this year that I didn't need to do much watering at all. It may need another layer of mulch next year, but that looks to be it.
The side patio garden was more of a
Writing
While all that was going on, I got Tempus House published as an ebook. It went through a title change and an unexpected major edit, but it's out there finally. Yay!
The next novel is STILL in revision. I did a major re-write on it and added a character, which certainly made it more interesting. That was a relief because I was beginning to think I would have to abandon the story, and I didn't want to do that because I have an odd faith in it. There is another character, though, that either has to come out or at least be diminished. I used up too much story space on his past with the main character. It explains the main character's motives, but it could be done more succinctly. And while he's meant to be an antagonist, he doesn't have to be such a bloody insufferable one.
I finished a children's novella, and did some digging on e-publishing for children. Just as I ran into problems with a new title for Tempus House, I ran smack into a wall with the cover for this novella. I'm not liking this last-minute calamity pattern. Anyway, a new cover is in the works. I am a slow writer/reviser/editor (or perhaps "an annoyingly/alarmingly thorough" one would be more accurate), and I'm an even slower graphic designer. You do not want to know how long it took me to find the perfect image for the Tempus House cover.
I spent just about all of October outlining the novel I worked on in November for NaNoWriMo. This definitely gave the actual writing a lot more direction, so writing sessions were more productive. Unfortunately, I was plagued by severe right-side neck and shoulder pain for most of the month, so I had to cut back on the daily word count goal. The draft is done though, and acupuncture and physical therapy helped me do battle with the neck and shoulder pain...which was then all undone by the car accident I was in last week.
Cello
I've worked on the Prelude to Bach's "Suite No. 1 in G major" off and on over the year as a kind of independent study experiment to see what two-and-a-half years' worth of lessons have taught me as I attempt a piece on my own, outside of what I work on for lessons. The result showed me that I can analyze it, recognize the patterns, break it into chunks and layers to work on, listen to versions for comparison, and more or less chip away at it a bit at a time. So it's fair to say I get the concept of "strategy."
However, I was not able to devote as much practice time to it as I had hoped because I hadn't factored in the increasing complexity and length of the pieces I would be working on in my lessons with Ben. Meaning I spent more time on them in my daily practice sessions than I had spent on pieces in my first year of cello study. This is logical of course, and it was silly of me not to have taken it into account ahead of time. So the poor prelude was often pushed aside while I struggled with the other pieces. I humbly apologize to it and to Bach, and I will soldier on with it into the new year.
I've done a bit better with vibrato. I incorporated it into scale practice (I love two-fer efficiency!). Decent first-finger vibrato still eludes me - I'm just overly stiff with that finger, and I swing my arm well into my body, which I don't do with the other fingers - no idea why I think of first finger as its own entity. Consequently, vibrato with the other fingers is improving and starting to feel a little more natural. Only problem is, I often don't think to use it in anything but scales, so it's going on the layering list as a reminder to work on it in actual pieces.
I already have plans for next year, which may or may not be a good idea, although the intent is to keep me productive, happy, and out of trouble. Saving those for the next post.
reluctantly slowing down
Sunday, November 20, 2011
I've been pretty diligent with my daily goal of 3000 words. However, the extra sitting and typing isn't doing my neck and shoulder much good. Neither is long stretches of cello practice. In fact, all that is making it worse.
The neck and shoulder pain has been bothering me off and on since the last week of October. It led to an adventure on Wednesday evening. When I was driving home from work, the ache started radiating up to my ear and was making my right arm feel a bit tingly. I had considered getting a doctor's appointment, but the soonest mine can see me is the 28th. Then I considered going to urgent care to see if I could get some pain meds to tide me over until I could see my doctor, but I wasn't sure if this qualified as "urgent." I called the 24/7 nurseline number on my insurance card, and I told the nurse that I'd had this pain off and on for three weeks. I asked if it would be appropriate to go to urgent care.
She said I should call 911 because those symptoms could be heart attack.
This is not a good thing to tell someone with a history of panic attacks. Most of me didn't think I was having a heart attack, but a teeny bit of me started to worry about it because of the family history of heart problems. It was really hard not to listen to that teeny bit, especially when the nurse was so insistent that I call 911.
I realize it's a CYA mentality for the nurse and the insurance company to assume the worst so as not to appear negligent. On the other hand, the nurse discounted much of what I told her, and took the neck pain radiating to ear and arm out of context as the only important things to consider.
So panicky me calls 911, the EMTs show up, I tell them what's going on, they take my vitals, and they tell me they don't think I'm having a heart attack. However, they said if I wanted to go to the ER, they'd be glad to take me. At which point I said I would go, because the only thing that was going to stop me panicking was a doctor telling me that I'm not having a heart attack. They understood, and were as nice as could be about the whole thing. I appreciated that.
I was in the ER for four hours, grappling with waves of panic on top of the neck and shoulder pain. I finally saw a nurse practitioner. She felt around my neck and shoulders, and when she pressed on a particular spot, I could feel the tingling in my right arm. She decided on X-rays, which turned up negative for anything overt that she was looking for, like a bone spur, so she diagnosed it as a pinched nerve, not a heart attack, and recommended that I see an orthopedist. She also gave me a prescription for Flexeril. I've only taken it at night, and while it helps me sleep, I go through most of the next day feeling groggy and drugged. Don't like that.
I saw an orthopedist on Friday, and I've been prescribed four weeks of physical therapy. The pain is now moving around a bit. On Thursday, it felt like it was pulling down on the inside of my ears. Yesterday, it had moved to the back of my neck and radiating up to the crown of my head. Sometimes, I feel it down further in my right shoulder blade. It's less sharp than it has been, but it's still there. And it's affecting how much time I can spend sitting at a desk comfortably writing.
I've reached 50,000 words on this writing project, so I've met the official NaNoWriMo goal, but I have to slow down the writing pace because of the neck and shoulder pain. This means I won't reach 90,000 words by the end of the month.
I'm very disappointed. I can work on it into December, of course, but I had really latched on to the idea of getting the entire first draft done in a month. It's taken the wind out of my sails to keep working on it at all. In fact, the only reason I have any desire to continue with it is because there's some good stuff that's come out onto the page, and I want to see what happens. It also feels like the story is going to be longer than I'd anticipated. This isn't a bad thing, and who knows what will happen in the editing phase when I start ruthlessly chopping stuff out?
I will still keep posting my daily word counts on Twitter until I finish this draft, and thank you so much to everyone who has popped in to ask how the writing's going and to find out the latest word count. I appreciate it muchly.
The neck and shoulder pain has been bothering me off and on since the last week of October. It led to an adventure on Wednesday evening. When I was driving home from work, the ache started radiating up to my ear and was making my right arm feel a bit tingly. I had considered getting a doctor's appointment, but the soonest mine can see me is the 28th. Then I considered going to urgent care to see if I could get some pain meds to tide me over until I could see my doctor, but I wasn't sure if this qualified as "urgent." I called the 24/7 nurseline number on my insurance card, and I told the nurse that I'd had this pain off and on for three weeks. I asked if it would be appropriate to go to urgent care.
She said I should call 911 because those symptoms could be heart attack.
This is not a good thing to tell someone with a history of panic attacks. Most of me didn't think I was having a heart attack, but a teeny bit of me started to worry about it because of the family history of heart problems. It was really hard not to listen to that teeny bit, especially when the nurse was so insistent that I call 911.
I realize it's a CYA mentality for the nurse and the insurance company to assume the worst so as not to appear negligent. On the other hand, the nurse discounted much of what I told her, and took the neck pain radiating to ear and arm out of context as the only important things to consider.
So panicky me calls 911, the EMTs show up, I tell them what's going on, they take my vitals, and they tell me they don't think I'm having a heart attack. However, they said if I wanted to go to the ER, they'd be glad to take me. At which point I said I would go, because the only thing that was going to stop me panicking was a doctor telling me that I'm not having a heart attack. They understood, and were as nice as could be about the whole thing. I appreciated that.
I was in the ER for four hours, grappling with waves of panic on top of the neck and shoulder pain. I finally saw a nurse practitioner. She felt around my neck and shoulders, and when she pressed on a particular spot, I could feel the tingling in my right arm. She decided on X-rays, which turned up negative for anything overt that she was looking for, like a bone spur, so she diagnosed it as a pinched nerve, not a heart attack, and recommended that I see an orthopedist. She also gave me a prescription for Flexeril. I've only taken it at night, and while it helps me sleep, I go through most of the next day feeling groggy and drugged. Don't like that.
I saw an orthopedist on Friday, and I've been prescribed four weeks of physical therapy. The pain is now moving around a bit. On Thursday, it felt like it was pulling down on the inside of my ears. Yesterday, it had moved to the back of my neck and radiating up to the crown of my head. Sometimes, I feel it down further in my right shoulder blade. It's less sharp than it has been, but it's still there. And it's affecting how much time I can spend sitting at a desk comfortably writing.
I've reached 50,000 words on this writing project, so I've met the official NaNoWriMo goal, but I have to slow down the writing pace because of the neck and shoulder pain. This means I won't reach 90,000 words by the end of the month.
I'm very disappointed. I can work on it into December, of course, but I had really latched on to the idea of getting the entire first draft done in a month. It's taken the wind out of my sails to keep working on it at all. In fact, the only reason I have any desire to continue with it is because there's some good stuff that's come out onto the page, and I want to see what happens. It also feels like the story is going to be longer than I'd anticipated. This isn't a bad thing, and who knows what will happen in the editing phase when I start ruthlessly chopping stuff out?
I will still keep posting my daily word counts on Twitter until I finish this draft, and thank you so much to everyone who has popped in to ask how the writing's going and to find out the latest word count. I appreciate it muchly.
a third done
Sunday, November 13, 2011
I'm closing in on 39,000 words written. Toward the end of next week, I will hopefully have reached the NaNoWriMo official goal of 50,000 words. However, I've still got a ways to go to get to my personal goal of 90,000 words by the end of the month.
Week 2 was a slog, as predicted. Right-side neck and shoulder pain plagued me all week, which made it painful to type for long periods of time, let alone do much cello practice with the bow. I managed some word sprints with breaks in between, which seemed to help. I had some acupuncture last week, which also helped, and I'm getting a massage tomorrow. I've been using heating pads and ice packs and all that, too.
In addition, week 2 writing resulted in things starting to make themselves plain to me the more I wrote.
Thing 1: my main and impact characters are switching places. This is not a calamity, merely unexpected. And interesting. And worth pursuing. Writing is like that.
Thing 2: At least two characters, possibly three, will need to be re-named, since two sets of characters each have names that begin with the same letter, and sometimes I'm mixing them up. What was I thinking doing that, especially when these sets of characters are often in scenes together? And I need to come up with names for two other minor characters that showed up - I can't keep referring to them as "so-and-so's relative" - it's getting annoying having to type that over and over again. I do a lot of research to come up with character names, and yet I also tend to change them despite the research. As you do.
Thing 3: Two major scenes at the beginning will be switched. Because it will flow better that way. That is all the reasoning I have for the switch.
I still like the story. I like how it's progressing. I'm nearing a plot point where things seem to be going well, but they soon won't, and conflict is always so much more interesting to write anyway. I'm focusing much more on action and dialogue than on description, but I can add more atmosphere when I revise.
Back to it.
Week 2 was a slog, as predicted. Right-side neck and shoulder pain plagued me all week, which made it painful to type for long periods of time, let alone do much cello practice with the bow. I managed some word sprints with breaks in between, which seemed to help. I had some acupuncture last week, which also helped, and I'm getting a massage tomorrow. I've been using heating pads and ice packs and all that, too.
In addition, week 2 writing resulted in things starting to make themselves plain to me the more I wrote.
Thing 1: my main and impact characters are switching places. This is not a calamity, merely unexpected. And interesting. And worth pursuing. Writing is like that.
Thing 2: At least two characters, possibly three, will need to be re-named, since two sets of characters each have names that begin with the same letter, and sometimes I'm mixing them up. What was I thinking doing that, especially when these sets of characters are often in scenes together? And I need to come up with names for two other minor characters that showed up - I can't keep referring to them as "so-and-so's relative" - it's getting annoying having to type that over and over again. I do a lot of research to come up with character names, and yet I also tend to change them despite the research. As you do.
Thing 3: Two major scenes at the beginning will be switched. Because it will flow better that way. That is all the reasoning I have for the switch.
I still like the story. I like how it's progressing. I'm nearing a plot point where things seem to be going well, but they soon won't, and conflict is always so much more interesting to write anyway. I'm focusing much more on action and dialogue than on description, but I can add more atmosphere when I revise.
Back to it.
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