Poetry in Motion

You guys all know that I have a thing for music, right?...and you've seen me rhyme. You also know that I was never very athletic, and I am definitely NOT "poetry in motion"...I've proven that over and over again in this lifetime! That might leave you wondering what the heck I ever did to pass the time on the playground when I was a kid, and it might not surprise you to know that I delighted in the rhyming games...jump rope rhymes, hand clapping games and the like were more my speed!

Don't be fooled...I was no better at jumping rope than I was at kick ball or soccer (or running)...but I was really good at memorizing the rhymes, and turning the rope so others could jump! You remember the classics, I'm sure...like:

Cinderella, dressed in yella,

Went upstairs to kiss a fella.

Made a mistake, and kissed a snake!

How many doctors did it take?

1, 2, 3,...

Or perhaps you did this one:

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around!

Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground!

Teddy bear, teddy bear, shine your shoe!

Teddy bear, teddy bear, how old are you?

1, 2, 3,...

Oh! And I loved the hand clapping games, especially with a little melody, like:

Miss Susie had a tugboat, the tugboat had a bell.

Miss Susie went to Heaven, the tugboat went to...

Hello, operator? Please give me number 9,

(I'll stop here, you've probably heard this one)

So, you get the picture...I like rhyming! And singing! And knitting! Sooo, it really shouldn't surprise anyone that I like knitting rhymes and songs. Rhymes help you remember things. The ABC Song rhymes (and so do most of the songs we use to teach our toddlers and pre-schoolers). Most songs rhyme, and just take a moment to look around in your head and see how many stray lyrics are still hanging out up there, even songs from decades ago! I can even remember jump-rope rhymes from elementary school, for goodness' sake!

It's no surprise, then, that when I teach knitting (especially to kids) I love to use rhymes! I use them for adults, too...but the look on a pre-teen who is first learning to knit when I say, "In through the front door, grab your scarf! Out through the back, before the cat barfs!," that look is priceless! (Wait, did she just say BARF?!?) I get much the same look from adults who don't know me well! Of course, the ones who know me barely bat an eye. lol!

I know I'm not the only one using rhythm and meter to teach knitting, so I looked up knitting rhymes this week, in the hopes of sharing with you. After all, you never know when you'll need to teach someone new to knit! Here's the most common knitting rhyme I found (there are variations, very few include the word "barf."):

In through the front door and around the back.

Out through the window, off jumps Jack!

Or, if you want to teach the purl stitch, try this one:

Under the fence, catch the sheep.

Back we come, off we leap!

Knitting, you amaze me! You produce beautiful fabric, and you quiet my soul. You are poetry...poetry in motion on my needles. Thank you knitting!

Thank YOU for stopping by! I hope this week will find you knitting and rhyming in good health!

Yin and Yang...and Kevin

Yin and Yang, or (as you may know them) White Cat and Black Cat. They love Mr. Pretty, and sometimes me, if I sit still and play with yarn. Mostly they sleep...like this.

Yin 1 and Yang 2, or (as I know them) my neighbor's white cat and black cat. They love my neighbor. They tolerate me if I am scooping litter and filling the food dish when she is away.

And Kevin, an outdoor, neighborhood cat who begs treats and loves everyone...as long as we have kitty treats and are willing to share. 

And this is the spinning I was able to accomplish when I was not petting, playing with or providing food and treats for cats this week. Not too shabby!

That is all. Happy Hump Day!

Free Fingers!!!

They're Free!

Free fingers...

I couldn't very well sing you "Free Falling," now could I? That would make you worry. Because I fall down. It would make ME worry, too!

In any case, my fingers are free from their captivity, and they are pretty glad to be knitting and typing and just living their "digit"-al lives. :) On Wednesday morning, the doc looked over my X-rays and declared my fingers "well on their way to recovery." He said they will continue to be swollen and sore for another 6 weeks or so, but they are healthy enough to start using them all the time. Cleared for knitting? Well, you don't have to tell me twice! (I actually confessed to the doc that I had already started knitting, even before the clearance...he laughed, and assured me that knitting is good physical therapy, and I should knit as often and as much as my fingers would allow - Yay!!!) I've already finished the first in a pair of socks (that I started while still wearing the brace):

And, after knitting a pair of fingerless gloves (for Dollface, one-and-a-half knit before the cast, the second finished in the brace) with Chroma in Midwinter and a cream-colored alpaca/wool/nylon fingering-weight yarn... 

I've actually knit a third one in the last couple of days!

Can you see the color variation? Yeah, I love the gentle gradient that is Chroma, but after I had knit the second mitt, I noticed how different the colors were on each one...hmmm. So I thought I'd knit a third, and just match it to the closest of the other two...well, do you see what happened? Yep! Three mitts, each totally different in Chroma...lol! So, since Dollface said not to bother trying for a third, and since she liked the first two together anyway, I'm just going to give them to her and call it done. (If I have enough of the cream yarn left, I may make a fourth so I can have a mismatched pair that match hers...kinda...haha!)

In other Knitting Knews, it turns out that I've made quite a bit of progress on the alpaca scarf, even knitting on it a bit while I had the big cast on! So, this morning, it looks like this:

The variegation in the yarn (which I spun myself - squee!), is just so lovely! In the sunshine, it almost sparkles...it is the happiest brown I think I have ever seen!

It makes me so happy that I am taking it on a field trip to That'll Do Farm this afternoon, along with some spinning for a fiber day! If you're not doing anything fun yet, you should totally come on out to Farm Days and see us! (Or you could come to see the alpacas, or the very friendly chickens, or the very hungry goats, 

or the very busy bees, or even the sheep...they have sheep! So fun!) 

It's going to be a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope that you have lots of time to Knit in Good Health this weekend!

Any Progress?

From running three times a week (and falling once a month), I went to nothing at all. I tried to walk with the cast...but 4 days after having the cast applied, I actually fell down and gashed my knee while also landing directly on the cast. I rolled with it, and the cast and fingers were fine (okay, I was sore...and I had a grass stain ON MY CAST, but I was fine), but I fell off the sidewalk and ended up flat out on my back. I did not walk again for almost three weeks. I was a-skeered.

Actually, walking around didn't bother me in general, but the minute I thought about "going for a walk," or someone suggested the same, my pulse would quicken, and I would immediately play the footage of the three falls in my brain...the video would go in slow motion at the point of impact, and my whole body would tense. A little ridiculous, I know. But I was (apparently) traumatized. Still, I knew that I needed to get back out there.

So, in the past couple of weeks, I've done just that. I've had Mr. Pretty dig out my athletic shoes (yes, they are my expensive, well-fitting "running" shoes, but we all know that I will not be running, now don't we?), and I laced up so we could go for a walk. For the most part, I've done fine. Walking is still causing me some anxiety, and I'm not sure how long it will be until that goes away (there have been some minor stumbles), but I'm walking. That's progress! You know what else is getting better? The knitting! (Yayyy!) Here's proof, in the form of a new baby toy:

A sock, that is actually starting to look like a sock...

And three more hexipuffs! (Bringing the grand total to 129!!!)

(Psst! I did two of those before the broken fingers, so in all honesty, I should really only be taking credit for one hexipuff, but I'm an overachiever...and apparently, a bit of a fibber!)

Anyway, as you can plainly see, there has been progress. As a matter of fact, as this post goes live, I'm probably getting an X-ray of my fingers to see just how much healing progress my fingers have made. Judging by the knitting, I'm guessing that the news will be good. :) I promise to report in and let you know!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

PS - It's a good thing there is knitting progress...my queue is currently over 200 projects!

Goodbye, Old Musical Friend

I've got the music in me...I think I always have. But the fourth grade gave me my first real opportunity to learn music. I had plunked out a tune or two on assorted keyboards, here and there, but my family did not own a piano (or any other musical instruments). When I learned that I could be in the fourth-and-fifth-grade band, I think I may have been a little bit excited! When I found out that the pretty, pretty flute was an option, I was ecstatic!!! So my parents rented a flute from the local music store, and I proceeded to torture the dogs with my attempts at making beautiful music with that lovely, sideways, silver woodwind...but playing the flute made me dizzy.

When fifth grade rolled around, the band director gently suggested that I try a new instrument...we needed more clarinets in our little group. Eager to please, and oblivious to the fact that he was probably telling me gently that the flute was not my forte, I proudly brought home that clarinet, and I practiced at every opportunity. I was oblivious to the fact that the dogs had a strong disdain for my new "music-maker," and I put those pooches out when they nuzzled the bell and cried. In retrospect (and having heard beginners on the clarinet within the context of my adult years) I now wish I could somehow go back and apologize to them...I didn't even offer ear plugs!

Well, I played that clarinet for two years, and I think I eventually did ok. We rented it long enough that we owned the instrument, and I know that the dogs complained less (in general) over time, so I have to assume that I got better. Still, I never achieved anything remotely close to the coveted "first chair" in the band...but I really liked music, and I loved to play my clarinet. :)

By the end of 6th grade, I noticed that there were a LOT of clarinets and flutes in the band! In response, I abandoned the woodwind family altogether, and taught myself to play the trumpet during the summer before 7th grade. I also played the trombone briefly in high school, and the french horn my senior year, but it was mostly trumpet. My elementary school band director was distressed rather than proud of my achievement in the brass family, and he kept saying, "No! Sax-o-phone comes next...!," as though loudly over-articulating would bring me to me senses (and back to the woodwinds)! But, I sat 3rd-chair (only two away from first-chair) in the 7th-grade trumpet section...there was no going back!

All these years, I've kept that clarinet. I've taken it out, from time to time, and I've even blown a note or two here and there. Mostly, though, it sits on a shelf, lonely and unused...until this past week. I learned that a friend's son is having his fourth-grade band opportunity, and he's decided on the clarinet. I haven't heard him play, but this kid's personality strikes me as having Benny Goodman potential, so I've offered up the instrument to him and his family, and they have accepted. :)

Goodbye, old friend. May you Sing, Sing, Sing (Clarinet solo at 1:01 in the video), and find new life with a Bloke and a Bird's Boy!

I know...there was no knitting today, but I am making knitting progress...you'll see proof on Wednesday! Until then, I hope that you are finding the joy in your life, music and crafting.

Knit in Good Health!