It Wasn’t Me

Reference

Well, I got some good news last week. The investigations into the accident are over, and everything came out in my favor. While I never doubted that I was not at fault in the accident, things don’t always come out the way they are supposed to. Fortunately, they did in this case.

In more good news, I got the Monkey’s Wrench socks done!

They were Mr. Penney’s Easter gift, and they were actually all washed and ready for him on Easter morning. I was a little scared that the sea silk might be kind of rough, but a trip through the wash softened the socks up a fair bit, and they seem like they will be comfortable while still wearing well. I am sure Mr. Penney will give me a report soon.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Crash into Me

Reference

Let me just start by saying that I am ok, for the most part. (That is never a good sign, I know.)

This wasn’t the next post I was planning on putting up, but….

For those of you wondering where I was Wednesday night, I was in an accident on my way from work to the gym to teach class. I don’t want to post any details at the moment, as the whole thing is under investigation; but both me and the other driver walked away from the accident. I am still a little sore and bruised, but I should be fine in a little bit.

Next up, something fiber related. I promise.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Winter Wonderland

Reference

Yes, I am still kind of out of commission, but I did want to interrupt this irregularly scheduled break to show you the package I got from Kati as part of the Winter Wonderland swap.

Nifty, huh! Here is the list of what you are seeing:

  • The yarn is Araucania.
  • In the bag were chocolate covered pretzels.
  • An oven mitt with sugar cookie mix and a snowflake cookie cutter.
  • The snowmen box contains Elmer’s chocolates.
  • Ferrero Rocher candies.
  • A Christmas card from Kati and her family.

My package to her is on its way, and should hopefully arrive later this week.

I hope everyone it doing well. Back into exile for me!

Copyright 2008 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

I’m Coming Out

Who are we kidding? That happened a while ago. Reference

First, I have a few thank you’s to make. (Sounds like I am about to make an acceptance speech, doesn’t it?)

Thank you to Jane for giving me the I Love Your Blog Award. (Hmmm. Maybe it is an acceptance speech.  And yes, I am very slow on the uptick, here.) I am due to update my blogroll, so when that happens, I will give special notice.

Thank you to Adrienne for giving me her French curves. (People! People!) She doesn’t want me freehanding my curves for the armholes on any future patterns I may draw up.

And thank you to all of you that have already sponsored me in Race for the Cure. If you mailed in your donation, it may take a while for it to get through the mail system and posted to my sponsorship page. If you still haven’t gotten a thank you (by email or in person) that confirms the number of tickets that you have in the raffle by the time of the raffle, email me to let me know that the check is quite literally in the mail. I don’t want anyone to miss out.

With all of the weaving that is going on, I am still getting some knitting in there:

Pride socks - Top view

Pride socks - Side view

Yes, the Pride socks are done. They are bright, aren’t they? The yarn is Dave Daniel’s superwash merino in the Kaleidoscope colorway. With all of those colors, they go with everything, don’t they? Just like me! (Stop the snickering.)

Copyright 2008 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Here Comes the Judge

Reference

Yesterday was a very interesting day for me. Why? Because yesterday, I was one of the two judges for the weaving and spinning home arts competition at the Maryland State Fair. It was a good time, getting to go over everyone’s entries with a fine tooth comb. Of course, doing that made it a long day. I didn’t get home until 8 PM.

Here are some observations: Continue reading

No 1/2 Stepping

Reference

I was pretty darn nervous this morning. I was teaching my first Basic Step class at our new (to Mr. Penney and I) gym. There were two things that were causing the nervous:

  1. Unlike cycling, I hadn’t taught a step class in two years, since we moved to Ellicott City. It got to the point when I used to teach that I could throw a selection of step combinations together a few minutes before class and have a Basic Step class all ready. Now? I am rusty. I kept running through things in my mind about steps I could do, trying to assure myself that everything would flow smoothly from one move to the next, and that I would be able to break down the steps so that everyone could understand and follow along.
  2. Basic Step is a new class for the gym, so I had no idea what to expect as far as turn out or what the participants would expect. Would my routines be too hard or too easy? Were they going to be able to hear me ok? Would I wind up offending someone with something I would say?

It’s a 8:15 am class, so Mr. Penney and I get to the gym around 7:30 so that I can prep and check out the stereo and mic equipment. Stereo sounds fine, but the mic is getting some awful feedback. I twiddle around with a few knobs (my degree in electrical engineering coming into use now) and get the feedback to die down. I sound like I am talking in an echo chamber, but at least the people in the class won’t go deaf.

Five minutes before class: There are three people in the room, a nice lady, Mr. Penney, and myself. Not looking good on the attendance front. Luckily, the nice lady tells me that there are some people in the cycling class that is about to let out that want to take my class. Bless their hearts!

Cycling class lets out, and now I have a total of ten, which is decent for a new class at a neighborhood gym. I turn on the mic to speak and “SCREEEEEECH!!!!” So, it doesn’t look like I will be using the mic this morning. Fortunately, I have a loud enough voice (when I want it to be) that I could go without the mic and be heard by everyone.

After that, things went pretty well. There were a few gaffs, but it is almost inevitable that I get tongue tied at some point and am not able to call out the next move properly. Also? Never ask an aerobics instructor which way is right and which way is left and expect to get the correct answer all of the time. We have to do part of the class facing everyone, mirroring their movements, so in time, left and right become rather vague to us.

In any case, I am now sitting here hoarse, but relieved, in my socks that I finished on Saturday.

STR Carbon socks side view STR Carbon socks top view

Sand on My Feet

Reference

Well, we are back from our vacation. Again, we went to Rehoboth Beach, DE.

Out to dinner with my sister and her family

We had a great time. We got to catch some sun each day, and have plenty of stories to tell, though I am not sure if I will be writing them up here. (Hint: If I title an entry with a song that contains the word “Freak,” then it is one of those stories. How we attract them, I do not know.)

In any case, we still have a couple days for us to recover from our outing. In that time, I will also be practicing my routines for teach Basic Step at our new gym. And practice and practice and practice….