Category: Uncategorized

  • Update from the World of Weave!

    I have some news from my weaving classes and pictures, as well as an announcement about WeaveSpa.  Check it out on Knoontime Knitting!  And another entry, here!

  • News from the World of Weave

    I continue to attend weaving classes at the Chicago Weaving School, which in turn continues to grow and prosper.  Founder and Instructor Natalie Boyett conceived yet another excellent idea called WeaveSpa – single weaving classes with a pre-dressed loom or packages of lessons for very reasonable prices.  It\’s a great way for people to dip a toe into the weaving world without having to take an expensive and time-consuming plunge.  (It\’s also a great way to get hooked on the weaving addiction, but that\’s beside the point…) 

    The first WeaveSpa is February 2, 2011.  Check it out on Facebook.

    As for what the heck I\’m weaving, I\’m weaving a Quesquemitl!

    Say huh?

    A Quesquemitl!

    Nope, doesn\’t make sense to me either, other than it\’s a Mestizo shawl thingie.  It\’s pretty cool.  Here\’s a pic:

    The schematic on the left is the drawing of what you weave:  it\’s a long rectangle with fringe on the ends.  I think I might add some clear crystal beads to the ends of fringe and macrame them in some fashion; we\’ll see.  I don\’t have to decide that til next week. 

    Why next week?   BECAUSE I\’M NEARLY DONE!!!  I\’m so excited.  Here is a picture of the loom I\’m using; you can see the fabric in the front wound around the beam and the threads on the back with the knots sticking out – those knots are the end of the warp!  That means I only have a few more inches that I can weave before I\’m all finished!

    And since a friend of mine asked me about what the school is like, and I realized I haven\’t posted any pictures, here are some views of the school.

    \’My\’ loom is in the back on the left.  In the foreground on the left is another floor loom, and the yellow threads are the warp of what will be a blanket.  The bookshelves are the weaving library, and the odd shapes on the right are, in the foreground, my jacket over a chair and behind that my classmate\’s coat hanging on the corner stantion of a giant floor loom.

    The left is the back of that same enormous floor loom, then the back door that leads to the other room of the school, a long hallway and the all-important restroom.  What you can\’t see is there\’s a little bit on the right where there\’s a sink and more shelves with looms.  In the foreground on the right is the castle of another loom; what you\’re looking at are the levers that control the harnesses.

    This is looking toward the front of the school.  The center table is the main worktable, and looks different each time I come depending which students will be working.  When not in use, those table looms go on shelves.  On the left is a floor loom with a blue warp; beyond it are three more floor looms and a large wooden contraption for winding lengths of warp threads.  It\’s got a name but I can\’t call it to mind at the moment.

    It\’s a fun shop, full of electric and creative energy.  The students are just as interesting as the instructor; I\’ve really enjoyed the time I spend here and look forward to many more days weaving here.

  • That Good-For-You Food – Yogurt!

    Stemming from discussions with some friends, my contribution to Thursday 13 today centers around 13 Things About Yogurt. An unusual topic, perhaps, but an interesting one none-the-less:

    1. Yogurt can be made from cow’s milk, goat’s milk, even soy milk. One article I saw said “any mammal milk,” which gave me pause – elephant yogurt? o.O…

    2. It’s fermented milk. Commercial yogurts have the fermentation added, but you can make it at home with a commercially-available home yogurt maker.

    3. I have a commercially-available home yogurt maker.

    4. I’m not brave enough to try it yet…

    5. The bacteria that make the yogurt are VERY beneficial to the human digestive tract. By now, most folks have heard about “acidophilus” (which my spellcheck tried to make “audiophiles,” but I digress…), but there are a broad spectrum of bacteria that are useful.

    6. When you have any kind of intestinal trauma, from simple stomach flu and food poisoning all the way up to intestinal disease, yogurt can help re-populate the healthy flora in the intestines and ease up on painful symptoms.

    7. Yogurt is an excellent facial cleanser.

    8. No, that’s not a typo – yes, it is a non sequitur (my spellcheck tried to make THAT ‘squirt’). You can simply take yogurt in your hands (use a spoon, don’t just dip your paws in the container, sheesh!) and spread it on your face with gentle, upward sweeps of your fingers. HINT: let it come up to room temperature first. (Ask me how I know.)

    9. It is an excellent cure for yeast infection.

    10. No, I have not personally tested that theory. I used to get them a lot (infections) and did a LOT of research. Something about the beneficial bacteria eats the yeast in your system, and so applying it directly on the … um, affected area… is how it works. I just couldn’t do that myself, but my herbal instructor confirmed it is effective. (Couldn’t eat yogurt for months when I found out, as a matter of fact…)

    11. Now, I eat yogurt pretty much daily. I have intestinal problems that I won’t bore you with, but the yogurt helps a) soothe my stomach and gut and b) helps keep the good flora well-populated. Cuz a flowery colon is your friend. (Um, forget I wrote that last sentence…)

    12. Yogurt impersonates sour cream REALLY well, and if you use the 0% fat yogurt, it’s MUCH fewer calories. I put it in my spicy Indian food (which, happily enough, is actually rather authentic – they put yogurt on it too!), Mexican food, my baked potatoes, in soup, all sorts of stuff. Even put cocoa powder and honey in it! (The yogurt, ya goof, not the Indian food…)

    13. If you need a quick dip for fresh broccoli florets, put some mild curry powder and a smidge of garlic salt into half a cup of yogurt and stir really well. YUM! And, 0% fat is your friend!!

    Wow. Despite my worries, I actually ran out of 13 before I ran out of list! We might have to do this one again!

    Happy TT!

  • New World Order – Chapter 17: Banker’s Hours (Belinda)

    The long-awaited next installment of New World Order, Chapter 17, \”Banker\’s Hours,\” is up on Taurus and Taurus for your perusal.  Enjoy!

  • Thursday 13 – 13 Stress-Busting Tips

    I’ve had quite a bit of stress in my life lately, and it’s reminded me of the tools I’ve been given, learned, or, let’s be honest, been forced to incorporate in my life in order to manage the stress. While the obvious best solution is to eliminate the stressors in life, sometimes that’s not an option. When stress rears its ugly head, and we aren’t in a position to slay it outright, here are some of the tools that have worked for me. I hope they help you, too.

    1. Breathe. This is one of the most effective, in-the-moment tools in the arsenal. Recently, I learned that breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth can give it an extra stress-busting kick that can help to bring the adrenaline down.

    2. Drink lots of water. So what, it makes you go to the bathroom a lot? (Seriously, this is one of the most common complaints in response to this suggestion that I hear.) Water helps to wash toxins out of our bloodstream. Stress releases toxic chemicals into our system (that’s part of why it feels yucky and why, over time, stress is actually damaging to the human body).

    3. Learn about stress. There are a lot of good materials out there, from places like the Mayo Clinic or your health provider’s website, to your doctor, books, friends, and the internet. Get good information about what stress is, how it affects the body, and what you can do about it. Knowledge is power.

    4. Take your own advice. Many times, we know what we “should” do, we just don’t do it. Take the steps to remove your own blocks to good behavior, and implement what you know will help you in the long term.

    5. Don’t be the lone gunman. While that has an echo of ugliness, because sometimes people literally become gunmen when under stress, I mean it more figuratively: don’t suffer in silence. Tell your friends, your pastor or rabbi or other religious counselor, your therapist, or other trusted advisor. Talking about it, even just admitting “I feel stress” is the first step to taking control and reducing the stress in your life.

    6. Understand bravery. Being brave isn’t lack of fear. Being brave is doing something even when you’re afraid. Sometimes, the things that are causing the most stress are within our power to change, we’re just afraid to. Practice bravery in the small things so that when big things come up, you have the skills polished and know what to do.

    7. Trust yourself. Your own inner guidance, that moral compass inside you, is your best and truest friend. Learn to listen to yourself, so that when you need it, you’re there to advise you.

    8. Exercise. Endorphins that are released when you exercise lower stress. It can also boost your ability to handle new stress, so it’s kind of a perpetual-motion machine of goodness that can beat back that stress. Just do it!

    9. Eat well. Medicating ourselves with too much sugar or fat is a common response to stress. Be aware of this impulse and make good decisions about food. If you need to get yourself into a program like Weight Watchers or Overeaters Anonymous if food is your drug of choice.

    10. Remember, or learn, the Serenity Prayer: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Simple, powerful, liberating.

    11. Learn what you can control in a situation. There are always options. When you can hone your ability to see those options, you empower yourself. You may not like the options, but having them can give you, well, options. When you can make decisions, you exercise control. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle.

    12. Go easy on the drugs. Understand the effects of your drugs of choice: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, or others. Know that putting them in your system has consequences, and that when we’re stressed, it’s natural to want to self-medicate. The problem is that doing so can cloud our ability to effectively deal with the stress that caused the urge in the first place, which is why it’s difficult to stop. If you need help doing so, see a therapist or cessation group and get information and support.

    13. Massage. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: massage works. It works with the body’s natural healing processes and boosts your ability to manage the stress you’ve already developed as well as prevent further stress from having adverse effects. If you haven’t tried it, make a resolution to find a good massage therapist. Highly worth the money and time you invest.

    Above all, remember: you are the architect of your life. If there are things happening on a regular basis in your daily round that you don’t like, you have the power and authority to change them. Be open to the abundance in the universe and trust yourself. You can do it!

  • Happy New Year!

    Happy New Year!  It\’s 2011!  Wow, amazing.  It feels like it should still be October…  (don\’t ask me what YEAR I mean, either; we\’ll just assume for the sake of my dignity that I mean 2010 and leave it at that…)

    I hope this year brings you great peace and prosperity, and that your craft aspirations become reality.  If you don\’t HAVE any craft aspirations, maybe I\’ll finally convince you to join the bandwagon and you will decide to pick up a craft or art of some kind and play with it.

    I would also like to share with you the recent honor I received.  As readers of Knoontime Knitting know, I started weaving school in 2010 at the Chicago Weaving School.  I was invited by my instructor, Natalie Boyett, to contribute to an online gallery showing of weavers\’ works – a true honor, considering I am a very new weaver and relative novice.  My work is featured under my name in the world, as opposed to my pen name, and is reached thusly:

    Visit the website Through the Shed.  For you non-weavers out there, that\’s a pun:  the \’shed\’ is the opening between the warp threads that one passes a shuttle through; this is the essential weaving operation that creates a woven fabric.  Once there, you click on the \’through the shed\’ graphic.  To see my work, and other students\’ work, click on \”Works.\”  My name is the first in the list, Amanda Clothier.  You\’ll be able to see my placemat project that I\’ve talked about here on Knoontime Knitting.

    I wish all of you a very Happy New Year!  

  • The Daily Round

    Happy New Year! 2011 not only begins, but a new decade in the new millennium begins. It’s a new, new beginning.

    As with anything, though, plans rarely survive contact with the enemy. In typical fashion, I am reminded by the Universe that not everything is within my control.

    A fact I am disgruntled by, I might add…

    My story is typed from a table in the Acela Lounge in Washington, D.C., on Saturday afternoon, New Year’s Day. It SHOULD have been, or rather was INTENDED to have been, typed from a train somewhere in the Carolinas. Maybe, dare I suggest it, Georgia.

    DC was YESTERDAY.

    Ah. But that would be the case if the plans survived contact with the enemy.

    The enemy, in this case, being a burst water pipe.

    We were taken via rickety golf cart to our train via the wrong way down the tracks (no, really; the Red Cap [i.e. Bellman] got lost… reassuring, eh?) and got to our car – the last car on the train, and aaaaallll the way down the tracks from the station – and were told “Oh, didn’t anyone tell you? Your compartment is flooded, we put you in Coach.”

    For a twenty-five hour trip.

    Needless to say, we were not, um, pleased.

    We were put up in a Holiday Inn (an actually nice one; I was gratified and surprised, not being a fan of the Holiday Inn chain) for the night and given a stipend for the cab and for dinner. They managed to get us into a sleeper car for the trip to Florida on an earlier train, but ON New Year’s Day instead of New Year’s Eve.

    We both fell asleep prior to midnight, in the middle of attempting to watch a movie. I did manage to call my husband and a friend and wish them Happy New Year first, then zonked.

    In the “seeing the Sacred in the ordinary” department, this was pretty darned cool for the possible outcomes. We didn’t get derailed, the train didn’t hit anyone while we were on it, and we got a nice, comfortable hotel with two huge comfy beds AND a bathtub. And dinner – a pretty nice Chinese takeout with too much salt but very yummy steamed dumplings and won ton soup.

    All in all, one of the better contacts with the enemy experiences my plans have gone through.

    Thereby proving, once again, that adventure is all in how you look at it.

    Happy New Year!

  • Thirteen Management Tips

    So. … This is my list. It has no introduction, on account of I can’t think of one. Suffice it to say, if you’re a manager, and you want to motivate your team members or build trust, don’t do these things:

    1. Yell a lot.

    2. Don’t apologize.

    3. Yell some more.

    4. Look confused when confronted about your mood and why you’ve been yelling.

    5. Tell the person that confronted you about your mood and why you’ve been yelling that they obviously don’t know what their effect is on others.

    6. Yell at your team members about stuff they do outside of work, that has no bearing on work, and when they don’t bring it in to work.

    7. Look surprised when they tell you it’s none of your business what they do outside of work. They’re your employees, right??

    8. When you do get an inkling you might have gone a teensy bit overboard, apologize and act contrite to everyone EXCEPT the team members you yelled at.

    9. Yell some more.

    10. Blame your yelling on your own stress and tell people that if they find your yelling stressful, they should consider themselves lucky that’s all the stress they have in their lives.

    11. Don’t apologize.

    12. Yell about how you’re the boss, because obviously your employees have failed to realize that you are the boss.

    13. Pass off 1-12 as “clearing the air.”

    There are many good management books out there. Some are even in English. They’re available for free, even, at libraries. Public ones. That are nearby. Even walking distance of some places.

    Isn’t society advanced?

  • Thursday 13

    Thirteen Words:

    This is what you do when you\’re pressed for time, haven\’t done a TT in ages, and need to do a TT cuz yer friends are startin\’ ta eye yer blog with a dust rag in their hands…

    1. Prevaricate
    2. Bonk
    3. Abscess
    4. Obstreperous
    5. Fiddle
    6. Loquacious
    7. Moody
    8. Defenestrate
    9. Transit
    10. Vector
    11. Cetacean
    12. Nitwit
    13. Catalepsy

    There!

    ~faints~

  • The Versatile Blogger Award!

    Thank you to author Darla M. Sands for awarding me The Versatile Blogger award.  It\’s much appreciated, Darla!

    I \’met\’ Darla through a mutual writing community and she joined my online writing forum.  Over the last couple years, we\’ve become friends and supported each other through the trials and successes inherent in the writing life.  I got to see her blossom from a novice blogger with one blog to the proud author of two individual blogs and as a contributing author to several others.  Her steady output and inventive writing style are continuous sources of inspiration to me, as is her support and upbeat personality.  Thank you!

    The Versatile Blogger Award:
    Here are the rules:
    1. Share 7 things about yourself
    2. Pass The Award to 15 bloggers recently discovered (or however many you can manage).
    3. Notify the blogger recipients.
    4. Link The blogger who gave the award.

    Seven things about me:
    1.  I love to write.
    2.  I love dark chocolate.
    3.  I\’m afraid of spiders.
    4.  I dislike interpersonal conflict.
    5.  While I am strongly right-brained in my thinking style, I am good at details and working in a stepwise fashion.
    6.  Writing out of order is fun.
    7.  I speak Spanish and Russian, though I don\’t get as much practice as I\’d like.

    Here are my award recipients:

    1.  Allie, of Hyperbole and a Half
    2.  Debbie Cairo
    3.  Tina Holland
    4.  Lucius Antony
    5.  Rowan Larke
    6.  Silently Mine
    7.  Tess Miller
    8.  Kaige, at Impulsive Hearts
    9.  Michael A. Horvich
    10.  Perri Sanborn
    11.  Sand Castles, by Darla M. Sands
    12.  Romance Divas Blog
    13.  Sasha Devlin
    14.  S. K. Yule
    15.  Maddy Barone

    Enjoy!

  • The Importance of Mentoring

    I am a member of the Romance Divas forum, and recently they issued a call for submissions.  My article, The Importance of Mentoring, was selected to be published today.  I\’m so excited!

    Check it out here.

  • Holiday Knitting: The Bolero of Doom

    I decided to tackle a bolero for my friend R…, and figured it would be easy because it\’s a Lion Brand free pattern.  It stumped me a little at first, because of instructions like \”and at the same time\” in all caps.  But I took it apart, started over again, and am pleased to report that I have now finished the left front.

    Read on!

    First, we found the pattern at the store, but it\’s also available online.  Click here.

    Since R… has a dress code at work, we decided to use a black tone for the sweater so she could use the bolero there. We settled on 312 Edwardian, Art #790, Lot #10289.

    Once I finally got the hang of it, it was easy to do.  The instructions \”and at the same time\” made more sense once I realized there\’s a distinct left side and right side to the piece – in this case, when I say \”side,\” I mean \”edge.\”  See below:

    At the bottom of the image is a blue tie, to indicate \”center front.\”  Once I realized that, the schematic helped me to determine that the shaping (note the pronounced slope on the left) of the piece.

    After that, finishing the left front piece was a snap.  Here it is, using the simple expedient of an extra knitting needle as a stitch holder:

    All of a sudden, it begins to look like a sweater!

    For you stitch-a-holics out there, here\’s a detail of the pattern stitch:

    It\’s called a broken rib stitch.  All wrong-side rows are knit; all right side are K3, P2.  It\’s a nice, nubby texture; particularly with the Homespun brand yarn.