cue the percussion

and the winner is....
Diane of WoolandSpice, Harry Potter on audiobook will be on it's way to you as soon as you send me your email & address.

Thanks for all the suggestions for my future book listening. And in case anyone wonders,check this out:

If you're thinking "..what're the chances?" .... It's 1 in 50. I know, probability is like that. Weird.

mid month review

Ahem. I called this meeting to review the status of monthlong goals and objectives. Referring to post 349 dated Nov 2 . Entitled "commitments with issues":

1. NaKniSweMo First let me say I heard Shannon Okey speak last Friday night and she smoothly spews out NaKnitSweMo as a noun, no pausing or giving it verbal quotation marks. Because she is just. that. cool. As far as my personal progress? I cast on this manly cabled sweater for Dave, got a good manly cabled start, and then found I had less manly cable knitting time than I thought. No way it will be done by month's end. Fail. But win for me because I love this kind of knitting and the Ultra Alpaca from my new LYS, Knit NewHaven , is heavenly to handle.

Win for Dave, who hasn't had a new handknit sweater in ages. Also win for me, I am tired of looking at this last one, which appeared recently for its 15th season. You'll note it is also manly cabled. What can I say? The guy knows what he likes.

2. NaPoBloMo The truly alert amongst you may have noticed this commitment was dated November 2nd which means..yup,technically a fail before I began. Cool. No pressure. So I missed another day in there too? Big deal. It's the 18th today. I'm declaring this one a cautiously optimistic win.

3. Vestvember Beyond fail. A non-start. I kept it real with my other projects....

4. ...such as the Red Scarf Project which I wouldn't dream of missing. I'm finishing this one I began last year. The brightness , randomness of striping and simplicity of stitch are a fine counterpoint to the manly cabled knitting . Although it may not be ideal (nongender), I feel pretty sure it'll find it's way to the right college student through the OFA.

5...and some holiday gift knitting. It's Malabrigo and it feels so fine I decided to wind the ball by hand last night, so I could touch all 215 or so yards. .

The color is Pearl. Mushroomish, purplish, slightly blackish shade with undeniable pearlescence. For a requested grey accessory. I think this'll work.

6. No more procrastinating on some long term cleaning/sorting/organizing. Hmmmmm. I read an essay I found helpful. So. I'm going to choose to go make a list of tasks, and it'll be imperfect. And then I'm heading off to the gym.

Meeting adjourned.
(This was written earlier, and I did make it to the gym after the list. The items on the list, well, see imperfection, above)

3 glimpses

Still putting the final touches on showing the whole Make Mine Local indie fiber fashion experience from the Common Cod Fiber Guild. You know, fixing the collar and getting the ID's straightened out for the models & designers.

Until then just this little peek.

Back soon with the real deal.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

You can enter to win the Harry Potter audiobook giveway until midnight Wednesday Nov 18th, leave a comment here.

you've been volunteered

My niece was drafted into being photo assistant and subject for some swift dramatic lighting tests just before the models and their fab fiber designs posed at Make Mine Local last Friday night in Boston .( I'll show and tell them tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.)
It's not that she minded helping me out for the night. She just didn't have any choice.

I know how she feels. My neighbors have decided we will have a knitting group and I will teach them how to knit worsted weight socks. Or ....whatever. This has been the buzz on the beach, half jokingly , for the last few summers, that we'll have a knitting society in the fall. Never happens. Just found out I've been drafted, Thursday night is our first gathering.

Not that I mind.

Still time to enter the giveaway for the Harry Potter audio book. Go ahead, leave me a comment here.

an assist

iphone photo

I put three little pumpkins on the mailbox. The wind must've grabbed a leaf off the lawn and stuck it in the handle. I've been Martha'd by Mother Nature.

If she could upgrade those ugly house numbers, that'd be a Good Thing. I swore I'd do that right away when we bought the place. 17 years ago.

p.s. file under: There's A Website for Everything, subfolder: lose 30 minutes browsing house numbers here

pps If you haven't already entered, the giveaway for Harry Potter on audio book is till open, on yesterday's post.

and, ummmm, also the dog ate it

Just yesterday morning I fully committed and put the NaPoBloMo button in my sidebar. I put a stickynote on my monitor with a list of blog post ideas flitting through my brain. On top of things , was I ! Then I headed north to Boston for the Common Cod Make Mine Local fiber fashion show, with a stop enroute in CT for a meeting.
The event was fabulous. But I didn't get home till the wee hours of this morning. And never posted for Friday the 13th. ooops. Ironic, eh?

You know what helped my tired ass self drive back here ? A terrific audio book. Random House Audio Books asked if I'd like to review one of their titles. I have to admit I've fallen out of the habit of listening to audiobooks. Back in the (way back) darkroom days of black & white film, I discovered audio books as the perfect accompaniment to the task. I was a finicky listener- anything too literary and metaphor-laden needed too much concentration. Anything twee- like charming vignettes of life in Provence- made me feel like gagging. Mysteries totally worked. Lots of plot, one strong main character to bond with, entertaining.

Anyhoo, sorry, got lost in my old silver chemical fumes there for a moment. The lovely PR person sent me Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I am partially through ( it is 16 cd's of story). I cruised over the rainy dark roads lost in this fabulous Swedish mystery, read in sonorous tones. If you click the link above (you need to go to my blog for real, if you're using a blogreader, the clip is missing) you'll hear a snippet. Highly recommend. I woke up wondering how Lisbeth Salander was going to deal with her guardian and when she'd cross paths with the Vanger mystery & Blomkvist. (and do not tell me if you know)

To celebrate my renewed fondness for listening, Random House gave me a gem to give away: one brand spanking new copy of Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone unabridged audio cd recording to a randomly chosen comment on this post, open till midnight Wednesday November 18th.
Mention an audio book you recommend in your comment, if you can think of one. Or not. All comments will be entered.

Just remember to leave your email address or link to your blog, since I'm on Blogger a lot of the comments don't link back to you.

goings on of note

This Friday evening (tonight!) in Boston, the Common Cod Fiber Guild is putting on Make Mine Local, a fashion show of area indie fiber fashion design. Shannon Okey was the juror and will be there in person to emcee.( Her blog. ) There'lll be some live music and plenty of interesting knits.
I'm going to head up there to photograph and wallow in fibery creativity.

It'd be great to see you there, its at MIT, 50 Vassar Street, 7 pm.
But if you can't make it -- you can see us thanks to a live streaming feed.
That should be nothing to yawn at!

help wanted

Joan & I are seeking an intern - an editorial assistant- to help us with our new book project.

Details here. Interested? We can't wait to hear from you.

Order is the shape upon which beauty depends.- Pearl Buck

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.--Eleanor Roosevelt

*apologies for cross posting with the Shear Spirit book blog, for anyone who visits both.