Goat-Lovers Unite!

If you like photos of bebe goats and hamsters and other assorted pampered pets -- as well as kick-ass spinning and knitting -- check out Mindy's new blog.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to catch up with the monthly book reports.

March Book Report: A Tudor Trifecta

Okay, you're gonna laugh, but it was a Tudor Trifecta last month. A couple of different people recommended The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregoy. Now I recall seeing this book at Borders but passed it by, thinking it was a mindless throbbing-member/bodice-ripper. But when more than two people said it was pretty good, I decided to check it out.

The book is a fictionalized biography of Mary and Anne Boleyn, sisters in Tudor England who both became the mistresses of King Henry VIII. Although Henry's queen Katharine is a faithful and devoted wife, she has failed to give birth to a son that would ensure the succession of the Tudor Line. Henry has a wandering eye and frequently takes Katharine's ladies-in-waiting as his mistresses including first Mary and then Anne. Henry manages to get his marriage to Katharine annulled, breaking with the Catholic Church and starting the Anglican Church to make it happen. He marries Anne Boleyn and has her crowned queen. However, Anne also fails to give him the son he so desperately needs. The book ends with the beheading of Anne, based on (probably) trumped-up charges of witchcraft and incest, just as Henry is turning his attention to Jane Seymour...

Although I know that this book is only based on history, and that even the historians do not agree as to what the "historical truth" is (for example, Gregory suggests that Anne Boleyn slept with her brother because she so badly wanted to give Henry VIII a son, and had concluded that Henry was too old or unhealthy to father one), it was still a greatly entertaining read.

Conveniently, Gregory wrote a sequel called The Boleyn Inheritance which picks up just after Jane Seymour dies in childbirth. This book follows Henry's brief marriage to wife No. 4, Anne of Cleves; his annulment of their marriage; and his marriage to No. 5 Katherine Howard (yet another nubile lady-in-waiting). Poor Katherine, who was quite young, ended up on the chopping block, which is where the book ends. Again, although not necessarily true to history, or what we can glean of it, the book was fascinating and entertaining and if nothing else, I now know more about the Tudors then I ever imagined I would.

I was kind of annoyed that there was no sequel to the sequel, because I was wondering about Henry's last wife, Catherine Parr. Lo and behold, I was shopping at Target and saw a book titled The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carrolly Erickson. Sure enough, it was a fictionalized account of Henry VIII and his last wife, Catherine Parr, the only one who outlived him. It wasn't as well-written as the Gregory books, but it did satisfy my anal-retentive need to finish out the saga of the wives.

I then ended up watching Elizabeth - The Golden Age on cable On Demand. I enjoyed the movie, although it was a bit more melodramatic than I expected. The costumes and scenery were amazing, and Cate Blanchett is a truly wonderful actress. Since Elizabeth I was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, it was interesting to learn a bit more about her life after reading about her parents' ill-fated marriage (again, taking into account that the movie was fictionalized and not always 100% accurate).

After Tudorama, I breezed through Fatal Remedies, by Donna Leon, the latest in her Guido Brunetti series set in Venice.

Happy Birthday, Tom!

Happy birthday to my dear, sweet husband!

When I look at this photo, from about fifteen years ago, I am struck by just how many gray hairs I put on that poor man's head.

Anyhow, I very much adore my husband and this is the one day of the year when I truly appreciate my mother-in-law, for giving birth to such a great guy.

I would also be remiss if I did not wish happy birthday to Alec Baldwin, Doris Day, Tony Orlando, Marlin Brando and Wayne Newton. "Danke schöen..."

Holy crap! It's here!

My adorable spokesmodel, N., is holding my copy of Knit So Fine!

When Interweave said they were sending an advance copy, I figured it would be not-quite-finished, like page proofs stapled together or something. But it is a real, finished copy, fresh from the warehouse or wherever they store books that are about to be released.

I'm so excited I don't know what to do.

So let's plan some road trips.

My loyal blog-readers, who have thrust me to the forefront of the dog-eat-dog world of yarn: Are there any of you out there who own yarn shops or work at yarn shops or are pals with yarn shop owners or belong to a knitting guild that would like to host a book-signing and/or a workshop or maybe even a BBF "tupperware" party/book signing (i.e. I bring a bunch of Black Bunny yarn and you buy it, and I sign your books)?

I'm willing to travel anywhere I can get via car within a few hours. [Edited to say: I live outside Philadelphia.] If you buy me a train ticket, I'll happily come farther. I'm pondering what kind of workshops I might do and am open to suggestion on that too (except I won't teach you how to dye yarn like I do -- a gal's gotta keep some trade secrets).

Email me at goknitinyourhat &^%%A*T&% att DAHT net (you know what to do) -- or use the contact button somewhere over on the right -- and we'll talk.

Another catch-up

My knitting life seems to consist of deadlines -- whether for design projects or more commonly for a gift that has to be given by a certain occasion -- which create periods of feverishly trying to finish something; and after the deadline is met (more or less) I lapse into stretches of inertia, where I have so many projects I want to work on and yarns I want to knit with that I end up dabbling in a lot and finishing little.

In other words, it's feast or famine.

Today I am mailing out a finished item for my second book. Yes, it's true, I'm finishing up a second book that will be published by Interweave Press either late this year or in early 2009. I am forbidden from telling you all about it just yet. I can tell you it's a multicontributor book, and it's been amazing to see the creativity of many very talented designers who sent in submissions.

Having just finished a period of intense knitting, though, I'm hoping that I don't immediately fall back into inertia. I'm working on the next installment of the BBF Sock Club (I decided to give the members an extra week or so since no one seems to be finished with the last shipments...) but I don't want to lose the ability to focus and finish something when it comes to my knitting. I will promise you, however, that some more No-Bull Book Reviews are in the pipeline and I'm hoping to have one done later this week.

Now I'm off to, um, stare at my unfinished projects and fondle my stash and figure out what to do next.

Too much book larnin'

Yesterday the twins came home with these in their backpacks:

These children are SIX years old. I was at least 42 before I knew the meaning of the word "oviparous."

February Book Report (late again)

1. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwen. Beautifully written, but sad and haunting.

2. True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa Michael Finkel was a reporter working for the New York Times Magazine when it was revealed that a story he wrote about the African chocolate trade contained misrepresentations (he combined multiple interviews and details to create a fictional boy that he "profiled", including providing fake photos). He was sacked. Right around this time, he was contacted by an Oregon reporter who told him that a man accused of murdering his wife and three kids had been hiding out in Mexico using Finkel's name. Finkel draws parallels between his own journalistic deception and the lies spun out by the defendant (who by then was facing capital murder charges). Finkel befriended the defendant, and so there are shades of the Joe McGinniss-style dilemma of a writer getting too close to the story. To Finkel's credit, he doesn't spare himself, and he used the experience to help figure out traits of his own personality.

3. My Father's War by Julia Collins. I stumbled over this book while looking for a completely differene one. We hear a lot of grandiose stuff about the Greatest Generations -- and it's true: that generation suffered and triumphed over World War II, changing America (and the world) forever. But what makes this book so interesting is that it gives us a glimpse of the toll that those achievements took on the ordinary men and women who were part of the Great Generation -- and the price paid by their children. Collins' father was drafted while a student at Yale. He fought in the Japanese theater, including the brutal fighting on Okinawa. His wartime experiences affected him profoundly, and Collins weaves together his memories of the war with her memories of growing up as the daughter of two deeply-troubled parents. Her father suffered from what would now be diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder, but forty years ago, no one had ever heard of that or knew what to do. Especially compelling when you relate it to all of the Iraq veterans out there.

4. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach. I enjoyed Roach's earlier book but for some reason, didn't finish this one. The topic was interesting -- an examination of a random assortment of phenomena pertaining to life after death, including the doctor who weighed terminal patients at the moment of death to determine if a sudden drop of weight indicated the departure of a soul. For some reason, I found it too bogged down in detail to get sucked in.

As always, feel free to recommend some recent good books you've read in the comments -- I'm always looking for new stuff to read.

Photography

One thing that has consistently tortured me since I started handdyeing is trying to photograph the yarns and fibers so as to do them justice. I am painfully aware that I just don't know enough about photography to be able to do this properly, and I am constantly taking and retaking photos in different settings, with different light sources. I even got one of those little white light tent thingies to see if that would help me take better photos. (It didn't. It looked like I was taking photos on the inside of a parachute. A very wrinkled parachute.)

So recently I discovered a Ravelry group called "Yarnographers" which was designed for people like me.

The focus of the group is on learning more about one's camera and how to take better, more interesting photographs of one's yarns, fibers and knitted projects.



I started by printing out sections of the User's Manual for my camera so I could get to know some of the less obvious functions of my camera. Then I began playing with some of the tips that the Yarnographers suggested.

The photographs in this post are some of the ones I've taken in the past week using info I learned from the Yarnographers group. I still have a ways to go, but at least I am starting to capture a fraction of the gradations of color in my yarns, and the overall quality of light seems better. (By the way, these are all photos of BBF Chunky Wool, about 475 yds a skein, knitting at around 3.5 sts per inch or so, well-priced (if I do say so myself) at $40 a skein. Except the last one which is the Blue-Faced Leicester Superwash Sock yarn...



Diane snagged the BFL rainbow skein, but I like the photo of it so I'm including it even though it's a bit of a tease.)

The willingness of the knitting community to use the Internet to share their knowledge repeatedly astounds me. And although I understand why there is some resistance to people providing technical information and patterns and other valuable services for free through the Web, I would hate to see the knitting community lose this vibrant exchange of ideas that the on-line knitting world provides.

Joyeuse Fete des Lapins! (Happy Bun-day!)

Okay, Ve-Ve, correct my lame French up there, but Happy Easter to all who are celebrating it.



We provided you with a fuzzy bunny in our last post; today here is Griffin the Goat, courtesy of faithful reader Mindy.

Make mine chocolate, please!

At the risk of sounding preachy, it is time for my annual reminder about giving live animals as Easter gifts: please don't. Each year, clueless people bring home fuzzy widdle bunnies and each year, the buns end up at animal shelters a few days later. Bunnies are wonderful, wonderful pets -- but like all pets, they shouldn't be brought home on impulse. (The same goes for chicks.) If you are seriously considering adding a bun to your family, check out the Interactive Bun, from the Make Mine Chocolate website, which gives you some practical information to decide if a bun is right for your household.




P.S. Um, don't give chocolate to bunnies -- it's no good for them. Charcoal will get a couple of plain cheerios...

A terrible anniversary

Five years ago, George Dubya Bush led this country on a fool's errand into Iraq. He did so by lying to us. Here are some statistics:

U.S. Fatalities: 3,990
U.S. Casualties: 40,229
Iraqi Fatalities: Unknown
Iraqi Casualties: Unknown
Cost: $504,000,000,000.00

Those statistics do not hint at the damage and devastation this war has wrought. The number of American soldiers who survived the war, but now join the legions of walking wounded grappling with post-traumatic stress. The families of these soldiers, who suffer daily whether their loved ones are home, still serving in the Middle East or deceased. The incalculable damage on our country and its standing in the world. The introduction of al Qaeda into Iraq where they were not before Bush's invasion. The deeply felt cynicism that people like me feel toward a president that would betray the sacred trust that comes with the power to send our troops into war.

I am embarrassed to say that I believed the Bush administration when they said there were weapons of mass destruction. I now know that I was being lied to by the government, abetted by a half-ass media too intimidated by the administration to speak out or too lazy to do their jobs. I am ashamed of them. And I will never make the mistake of believing a word that comes from George Bush's mouth again.

Please remember all the victims of this ill-begotten war today. Please resolve to fight against the forces of greed and corruption that have taken over our government. It's time for a change -- a fundamental, profound and lasting change in our government. And if anybody claims that Barack Obama is a handsome lightweight, or is not yet "ready" to assume the mantle of leadership in Washington, then sit down and read the words he spoke five years ago, words that are frightening in their prescience and that still ring true today:

"Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don't oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton's army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.

I don't oppose all wars. After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again. I don't oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism.

What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income - to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

Now let me be clear - I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. He's a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the President today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use
the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in
our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own
people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and
mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education,
without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil,
through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and
Mobil. Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that
we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and
greed. Poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not -- we will not -- travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain."

Holy crap, I'm 43!

Okay, that was a really nasty bout of flu, and I still feel unbelievably tired, but today is my 43rd birthday, and before I even had my first coffee, I'd had confetti made of construction paper thrown upon me and then this was unfurled:






I've got a manuscript due tomorrow and lots of yarn to wind, so I'm off to start catching up!

I raise my bleary head from my sick bed to say...

if you live in Pennsylvania, March 24th is the deadline for registering to vote.

If you are registered already as an Independent, know that YOU CANNOT VOTE IN THE PRIMARY. Pennsylvania has what is called a "closed" primary. In order to vote in the primary, you must be registered with one party or the other. In other words, you must be registered as a republican (and then you only vote in the republican primary) OR a democrat and then you only may vote in the democratic primary.

For the forms you need to register or switch affiliation from Independent, go here.

Sick Bay

Now I am sick, too. Bronchitis, maybe flu or some virus on top of it. It's ugly. Hopefully we'll be on the mend soon.

I got Knothin'.

Elvis got strep this week and now G. has it. Can N. be far behind?

So basically, I've got nothin'.

Except some good Knews: A knew knitting magazine called Knotions, courtesy of SavannahChik. Jody is a smart cookie and a kick-ass knitter, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what develops at Knotions.

In the meantime, the only other thing I can offer you is Bunneh Schnozz:

Recent conversations around my house

Tom: We really have to fix that broken towel rack before Franklin gets here.


Carol: Does your old Mac notebook still work?
Tom: No.
Carol: We better get it fixed before Franklin comes -- he prefers a Mac.
Tom: If he brings his own, he'll be able to use our wireless internet!


Elvis: Am I going to like Franklin?
Tom: Of course! I like him and I've never even met him.
Carol: Plus if you're nice to him, he'll teach you curse words in Latin.


As you may or may not know, when Franklin makes his Philadelphia-area debut at Wool Gathering for the 1,000 Knitters Project, the weekend of April 19th, he will be staying with me. Me, me, me! Nanny-nanny-poo-poo! [insert raspberry sound]

Don't worry, I shall share.

A little bit.

But I am excited.

A lot. (Scroll way, way down to the bottom of my blog to see exactly HOW excited I am.)


Tom: Do you think there will be screaming hordes of knitters running up and down our street, like when they chase Ringo in that Beatles movie?
Carol: Maybe I better call the township to see if we can borrow some traffic cones.

The Guillotine Birdfeeder

My husband has already suggested that I've become the "Erma Bombeck of knitting blogs," but I shall ignore unhelpful comments from the peanut gallery.

Saturday, I looked out at the birdfeeder in my backyard. "Oh look," I thought to myself cheerfully, "that gray bird is really enjoying a winter snack!"

A few hours later, I glanced out back again. "Wow! That bird is back again, enjoying the best birdseed Target has to offer!"

The next morning, I saw that the bird was back again. In the exact same position. Not moving.

I know a dead bird when I see one, and this bird was definitely dead. [Passed on! He was no more! He had ceased to be! Expired and gone to meet his maker! A stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!]

My birdfeeder guillotined him.

We have really cheeky squirrels and this was described as a squirrel-proof model. A little flap allows lightweight birds to get seed but a heavy squirrel makes the flap come down. Apparently this poor birdie found some way to get his head stuck in the flap at just the wrong time.

(This led Tom to speculate that what made the birdfeeder squirrel-proof was the prompt appearance of a dead bird stuck to the feeder. Who'd want to eat after staring into the glassy eyes of a poor dead sparrow? But personally, I don't think our piggy squirrels would let a minor detail like that stop them. They are that greedy.)

Being that I want only to feed the birds, not kill them, I put on my rubber gloves


and threw the whole damn thing away.


We'll try again today, with a less bloodthirsty model.

Special blog appearance: Donna Druchunas

Charcoal is not a companion animal snob. In fact, so gracious is the black bun that he has invited Donna Druchunas, author of the newly-published Kitty Knits: Projects for Cats and Their People (Martingale 2008) to make a special appearance today here on Go Knit In Your Hat.



You may recall that Donna guest-blogged a few months ago, when she released Ethnic Knitting Discovery and before that, upon publication of Arctic Lace, a book inspired by the knitting of Inuits and other Native Americans living in the Arctic. She has also written The Knitted Rug
and blogs here.


Donna's latest book was inspired by her kitties, and includes items for cats (like cat beds and toys), items for people who love cats (like these cute kitty socks)



and items for the cat-lover's home. In honor of this cat-themed post, I shall liberally spinkle throughout adorable photos from my archives of Kute Kitteh Fotoes.

GKIYH: Tell us about your first cat, Donna.

Donna: My first, first cat is a sad story. When I was about 12, my sister and I talked my mom into letting us get a cat from my uncle. My mother acquiesced, but she wouldn't let us keep the cat in the house. We also didn't know enough to get her fixed. So our little kitty lived in the garage and outside, and killed too many birds to count. Then she got pregnant. My mom really didn't want a cat at the time, so we ended up giving her to a friend who had a farm. I hope she lived out a full and happy life there.My first cat as an adult was a member of the family. We got Kittens when he was only about 4 weeks old, not really old enough to be taken away from his mommy. But they owner was going to have him put to sleep if we didn't take him, so he came home with us. He was my best bud, and would ride around the house on my shoulder, and sleep in my briefcase. He only lived 3 years, and died of congestive heart failure with absolutely no advance symptoms. I still miss him!



GKIYH: How many cats do you have now? Tell us about them.





Donna: I have two cats right now, but will have four in a couple of months when my mom moves in with us! My two cats are Uno and DeeDee. The both came to us from the humane society. DeeDee came after another of our cats died of cancer, and Uno came when I went to the humane society with someone else to help them pick out a cat. Uno stuck is foot out of the cage and patted me on the head as I was walking by, and I knew right away he was going to come live with us. It was mid December, so I went home and told my husband, "I found what I want for Christmas!" We went back the same day and filled out the paperwork to adopt Uno.





GKIYH: Do you have other pets? Are you partial to cats as opposed to, say, dogs or hamsters? If so, why?

Donna: We have no other pets right now, although I'd like to get a fish tank with fancy goldfish. Is that really tacky? I think they're beautiful and they would also entertain the kitties. My grandmother always had goldfish in a tank in her kitchen, and I think they'd remind me of her, too. I am not sure why I love cats so much more than other animals, but I do.

GKIYH: What inspired you to create a book with this theme?

Donna: An accidental discussion where I was complaining about all the dog knitting books that had come out over the past few years. I am pretty sure that more knitters own cats than dogs, but no one in the publishing industry had figured that out!

GKIYH: Did you road test the kitty items on real cats?

Donna: It's impossible to keep knitting away from my cats. They don't eat yarn, thankfully, but they do like to test out everything I'm knitting. They love the toys, especially the felted balls with the bells in them, and my mother's cats have used the cat beds so much that they are totally smushed!Speaking of the toys and beds, I'd like to mention the eyelash yarn that I used on those. This is only appropriate for older cats who do not eat strings! Some cats like to eat strings, and kittens are especially prone to this. But it's very dangerous to let cats eat threads or strings, because they can get tangled in their intestines and cause injury or even death. I did put a warning about this in the book, but I want to point it out here because we have to make sure to keep the safety of our kitties our first priority! The projects I made with eyelash can be made with faux fur yarn or plain by simply leaving out the carry-along yarn.

GKIYH: What is your favorite project in the book and why?

Donna: Well, there are a lot of projects that I love. I am sure several people will ask me this question, and I'm going to try to answer it differently every time! I designed the Men’s version of the Scandinavian Kitten Fair-Isle Sweater with my husband in mind. He doesn't wear a lot of sweaters, and he wants everything to be pretty plain. I knew he would never wear something with a blatant cat design, so when I saw these little Scandinavian kitties, I knew they'd be perfect for him. He wouldn't even realize there were cats on his sweater, but I would always know! Thanks so much for letting me visit your blog to talk about my book and cats. There's nothing better than cats & knitting!

The Beu would heartily agree with that...

Our spokesbun

Charcoal becomes a star of the prestigious internets here.



And for those of you who were wondering what the spoiled bun selects when it is his night of Speranza'a, allow me to enlighten you:



Salad.
With carrots on the bottom.
Radicchio in the middle.
And edible flowers on top.

Happy Speranza'a

I have hesitated to write about this before for fear that people would think I was disrespecting their holiday traditions, but I hope by now you know that's not how I roll. So here's what we've been doing this week.

A couple of years ago, my kids got a Sesame Street DVD called Elmo's Happy Holidays.
It's very cute, and covers Christmas, Hannukah, Eid and Kwanzaa, explaining the basic idea behind the holidays and showing real kids and their families celebrating them. My kids have watched this DVD over and over (and over). Somehow they got the idea that we should create and celebrate our own family holiday. Since their last name, like my husband's, is "Speranza," the obscure festival of Speranza'a was born.

Each winter, when the days are gray and cold and it seems like spring will never come, it is time for Speranza'a. (Technically speaking, it begins on the first Monday after Valentine's Day.) Each person in the family gets their own day. Monday is Tom's, mine is Tuesday, and so on, and the sixth and final day is for Charcoal. The person whose day it is gets to pick what we are having for dinner. Candles are lit and the person whose day it is gets to make a wish and blow out the candles. After dinner, we dance in the living room.

We are still working out some of the finer details; for example, someday I will have to take the kids to one of those paint-your-own pottery places so we can make special candleholders (a spenorah?). We still need to work on the Six Principles of Speranza'a: so far we've got the Principles of Irony, Gluttony and Magnetism, but I think they need tweaking.

But all silliness aside, it is sweet and surprising to see how much this family tradition means to my kids. They've been talking about it for weeks. They talk about what they are going to pick for their dinner (Elvis picked turkey breast; N. is opting for shells in tomato sauce; G. will probably ask for bacon and popcorn) and they are thrilled when it's their turn to make a wish and blow out the candles. From the parents' perspective, it is heartwarming to feel like we are making some special memories with our kids. I have little daydreams about them coming over when they are grownups, still celebrating this made-up holiday with us as we all grow older.

So from my family to yours, we wish you a happy Speranza'a!

I think I'll keep her

I mean, you gotta love a girl who does this



to Ken.

I did have a nice relaxing weekend -- including a dinner out with Tom on Saturday night -- and feel much less prone to committing child abuse today. I do find that trying to laugh about it with my blog-friends is the best antidote to these awful, stressful times.

In the meantime, I've been dyeing and website-building. Today will be my first update on the new dot cahm.




There's some wool/nylon sock, a few Corriedale blend sock, a few DK merinos and some rovings. Please be patient in case there are things that don't go perfectly smoothly. I need to throw out a huge mea culpa to my non-United States friends: right now, the website is only accepting U.S. orders but I hope to have that fixed soon. After today's update I'm going to tinker with it some more.