UrbanGypZ Blog

Like the dead. I have had my share of insomnia over the years. But with in the last 2-3 years, 6 hours of sleep was a good night for me. Lately I have been getting 8-10 even 12 hours of sleep every night.

It is awesome.

But I have to admit I have been keeping the slacker girl hours–up til 1 or 2 am sleeping till 10-11am. B has been working second shift, so I just wait til he gets home to go to bed. If I was working his schedule would totally mess me up.

Overall I totally underestimated the amount of downtime I would need. Leaving my job has been out right weird. I know it was the right thing to do, but I find myself anxious adjusting to a shift in career. Decompressing after 20 years in one of the most stressful careers that I could have possibly chosen has frankly made me a little blue and reflective. But I am not one to navel gaze and wallow, so I have become a domestic goddess. I have been making everything but the yarn actually. I have stuff dyed up after a small custom order I fulfilled right before we left for Philly, but is it in the shop? Maybe this weekend…

And the knitting has been erratic. I have been flitting from one project to another, doing those felting projects I have never had time to do. And right now the house is in shambles while I do the grand purge/reorganization, so I can fit a cottage industry into my tiny house that B and I share with a menagerie of 8.

I hear from others who have left the company that this is how it is–6 weeks of shell shock. Hiding my antsy, angsty self behind the holiday chaos is actually a good thing. I look forward to starting the New Year with a refreshed fiber/office space and my 27 new WIPs.

Spiderman is patroling my stash buster project.

We got back from Philly Last night. A week long Thanksgiving trip topped with a party where the inlaws who were not able to make it to the wedding could celebrate with us. They remind me so much of my extended family in New Orleans. It was a great time.

This is the part of the blog entry that would be an ideal place to insert photos of my trip. That is if I had any. I brought the camera…it never left the bag. I would make a lousy photojournalist.

I was able to see the Gee’s Bend Exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (You know the place with the Rocky Balboa stairs). Being from Alabama, this exhibit had a special interest to me. I loved it. Quilting is something I would love to be able to do (as in so many fiber arts, so little time). As I was strolling through the photo gallery at the beginning of the exhibit, there was a patron behind me explaining to her companion the how the meager surroundings and the compositions of the sewing room in the photo is where the quilters drew their ideas. Okay this might get me a some nasty emails. I think some of the museum folks were over-intellectulizing what was probably really happening. I think the women did have a great eye for color. And they while they did not formally know about art composition, when they need to break from the traditional quilt block patterns they learned from their mothers and grandmothers for what ever reason (like needing to make it faster, lack of similar fabric, etc. ) they were not afraid to break the rules (this quilt after all was for utility more than art) and had a natural eye for how to make it work. I read over and over again the comment….”It will keep my family warm” And like in knitting a shawl is created as a gift to provide the recipient with a hug, So did a quilt.

I found the quilts from the earlier days to be far more beautiful because they were pouring love into their quilts for their families. And the recycled fabrics were far more interesting, they had well worn character. But there was a period in the 70s when the women wear quilting home dec items for Sears and many of their quilts had remnant corduroy fabric in them. These quilts were still love-filled and amazingly beautiful and stylish. They were some of my favorite of the exhibit. At the end of the exhibit were a set of quilts made after they became famous. They are now able to get any kind of fabric they like. They quilts just were not as vibrant as they originals. Except the very last quilt of the exhibit. It was made entirely of store bought velvet fabrics. I can just see the quilter saying “I am going to make a quilt out of VELVET!” You could tell it was her dream quilt. And you know that as she worked each stitch and her hands held that luxury fabric she was in heaven.

I was given some vintage fabric right before I left Birmingham to move to Asheville. I was not sure of the age, my guess was mid century. It was quilting cotton, most likely flour sack. I used some of it to make project bags for knitting kits I sold at LEAF. One of the Gee’s Bend Quilts used some of the exact fabric. It was dated 1930s!!!! Who knew?

They rest of the trip was filled with playing tourist, visiting yarn shops, and seeing friends. I had some kick ass Vietnamese food in Chinatown and some killer Corned Beef Hash with pickles at Hymie’s Deli.

I got a fraction of the knitting I had hoped to get done for 2 holiday craft shows this weekend. So I guess you could say I am back to the grind. But the “grind” being my new job pimping yarn and knit goods. The last 3 days I found myself fantasizing about the yarn and how to grow the business. I have been itching to get to the dyepots and my wheel. You might even say my new career begins today. It is good to be home.

Really. I did it. I have always said it was my dream job. And in so many ways it was. I have done some of my best work of my career there (In case you don’t know I am/was an art director for a publisher). But, I was severely burnt out. I have been doing this for 20 years.

Sometimes you just know it is time for something different. So with the support of my husband, I jumped ship. We would just figure it out. Even though the economy is crazy scary right now.

So for know I am making yarn and hand knits and recovering. I have 3 shows and 2 gift mart opportunities in December. And I am working a business plan filled with my new dreams.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous. But most of all I am insanely happy.

Okay Maybe I am so type A I do not really know how to relax. Ever since this knitting thing took over my life 7 years ago, I have always had something fibery in my hands when I am relaxing in front of the TV, hanging out at the coffee shop, even before I go to bed. I suppose the difference between projects are the deadline oriented ones (ie: spinning yarn for the shop, gifts, samples) and non-deadline ones (ie: one of the 24 WIPS I have around the house)

This weekend’s project falls into the non-deadline category, although I am determined to finish it today so I can wear it to work tomorrow.

The Silk Garden sock yarn shawl. I think it will end up using a little more than 3 balls of yarn and will be about the length of my favorite pashmina.

This is actually the fourth project I have made on my loom. I figured out my biggest problem is knowing when to stop weaving on one project. I just keep weaving and weaving until I have fabric a mile long. And the warping board=disastrous tangled mess. I used a peg to warp this shawl and it went much faster and without the hassle.

My first project, The itchy remnant scarf.

This is the whole reason I wanted to get a loom to begin with–to have a new way to showcase the handspun. I was inspired by this etsy shop. They are a family of fiberartists running a successful ETSY shop from their home IN ITALY. They make fabulous woven stuff from their handspun. I have fantasies about the kind of life I assumes they are living. Of course they live in Italy so it is all so fabulous to begin with. And the pictures they take are all against what I can only imagine to be a fabulously old stucco wall in a fabulous cottage in a fabulous village on a hill IN NORTHERN ITALY (where no doubt they also have some form of universal health care and have absolutely no health insurance stress…but I digress). They also make terrific but simple clothes with their hand woven inserts and are made from incredible looking Italian silks which I imagine they can get easily because you know, they live in ITALY. I am totally envious of their life of fiberart and delicious gluten filled carbs.

Anyway, this scarf is in no way next to the skin soft. Not even close. I am thinking of cutting it up and making a few small handbags. I should have enough for at least five of them since like the other weaving projects it is about a mile long.

My second project is the bath runner made from an old twin sheet and a cotton mill end yarn. I was hoping to make a bath mat and just did not realize how long it had become. It is about the length of the bathroom itself.

The third project was inspired by this scarf I found through the Ravelry Rigid Heddle Loom group. I absolutely fell in love it, and wait a minute…I have that exact yarn in the stash!(The ill fated Bealltrix sock, just never panned out for me) But I did want something a little longer (she only used one skein, HA!). I used a little more than a skein and a half. And can easily wrap it around my neck twice before knotting with ends to spare…

I am not a big fan of plaid, so figuring out how to work with variegated and complimentary yarns has been a challenge. I do not mind the watery plaid that Noro yarns seem to produce. And I will have a large time playing with different textures. I have almost a dozen of these projects festering in my head. But with the loom I can only make one project at a time. Slows me down into the moment…so relaxing.

Let’s just say married life is just awesome. B and I came home to life that just seems surreal. Looking back, the last 7 months have simply flown by with all the preparations for the big day. And since we were already living together, I would have though it would not be much different. But it feels different. I can not put my finger on it, but it just does. In a really good way.

The one thing I can identify is how tickled I am to have in-laws. The new additions to my family reflect a whole other side of me-all the things I have in common with my husband (I am still getting used to this phrase). Love truly extends beyond the vows B and I made to each other.

And my inner domestic goddess could just squee over some of the awesome gifts we got. The panini maker has changed my relationship with grilled cheese and PBJ (gluten free bread MUST be toasted). B loves the brullé torch–this concerns me a little. We dropped $140 in gift certificates on what we hope is a new cat proof kitchen trash can.

The weekend before the wedding, I got news that my college sweetheart took his life. It had been 5 years since I had been in contact with him. It was a shock that took a few days to sink in, all while I was in the middle of a frenzy of last minute preparations and greeting out of town family. But I took the time to process with college friends whom I had not talked to in 20 years. It was like a gift that he brought us together again after so long. So Big Chill. But I would trade in that gift and more if knowing he had so much support would have saved his life. I wanted so bad to go to the memorial, but is was just impossible. His childhood best friend lives here in Asheville. He was not able to attend as well. At the time of the service in Birmingham, we met at a coffeeshop and toasted our friend.

Two weeks ago, I vended at LEAF (and did way better than I expected to) Last weekend was SAFF with Emilyand Kate crashing at the house for the weekend. (Sorry folks no pix of either event…do I even know where my camera is?)

And finally I can breathe.

I had to pack up the loom to tuck away while we were cleaning up for wedding guests visiting. It is truly calling to me right now. I have made a couple of projects: an itchy test scarf (mental note: itchy yarn makes an itchy scarf), a recycled sheet bath mat, and a noro sock yarn scarf. I will post pix of all and the latest yarns sometime after I decompress.

I am a little freaked out. The best hairdresser I have ever had has left town with no forwarding number. I found this out a couple of weeks ago when I went to get my hair cut. If that was not bad enough, I had scheduled her to do my hair for the wedding. This is not good, but not tragic. I decided to trust the salon. They specialize in wedding hair. They are a hip trendy Asheville salon, so I was pretty okay with it.

Them: So when can we schedule you for a trial run for you updo.

Me: Okay, let me be clear, I really do not want an “Updo”. I just want something soft and simple for my wedding.

Them: Oh no, we just call them all updos. Of course we will give you a beautiful hairstyle.

Updo. Funny, that phrase just doesn’t say soft wispy with a sprinkling of flowers to me. To me updo says I am going to look like this:

or this:

Or at the very least this

I think I was just having a problem with the wording. Could we call it a wedding hairstyle? Not updo. Don’t say updo.

Them: Hi Stacey? I would like to confirm your trial updo with Ms.X tomorrow at noon.

Me: Great, but I really just want to talk about options, nothing really formal, just soft…um…

Them: Great see you then!

Now I am scared.

Obviously updo is okay for some gals, but me? not so much. And I am not naming the salon where this trial updo went down, because I do think that kind of style is just fine for a lot of brides. And the stylist was nice enough. I told her I wanted the do more down than up, just something soft. But honestly after the $50 2-hour session all I could think was “The bigger the hair the closer to God.” There was quite a bit of product, back combing and bobby pins. In fact, there were so many bobby pins, it felt like there was a metal plate in my head. Hell I could have glued the flowers to a magnet and stuck it directly into my hair.

Back at the office (yes I went back to the office…feeling taller…) I had Linda paged. I needed her honest opinion. I knew she would tell it like it is. The verdict…Nice hair …for someone else. It just was not me.

My favorite make up dude had it right…go with your every day look so you will look like yourself in you pictures. Actually he said “Find that stylist get your cute hairdo back and keep it simple.” You know a gay man will always tell it like it is when it comes to how you look.

On to plan B.

I think the most compelling blogs are the ones that let you see inside someone else’s life. I have no idea why comparing their mundane details against my mundane details is absolutely riveting. But one of my favorite bloggers described in detail the immacculant system she has devised for her closet. Since I have followed her transformation over the last 3 years, I know what kind of accomplishment this was. And I was glued to the computer, taking note, thinking wow– I need to try that. I do not think I have even seen my brother’s closet much less know the intimate details of how it got that way. But I guess blogging and reality TV make voyeurism okay. And for every person willing to share the inside of their closet and the deeper story of how she got there and what it represents, there is someone out there that needs to hear it.

So as I surfed the radio stations during my 5 minute commute to work, I happened upon a radio show talking about one of their DJs skipping town to meet up with a woman he met online and pretty much taking a leave of absence to clear his head. The parent company is giving him 30days to do so. So what do his coworkers do on the air but CALL HIM. And they proceed to grill him on the air. I am actually feeling quite sorry for this guy. He needed to check out of his day to day life for a little while and they drag him back ON THE AIR. I changed the station just on principle alone.

Sometimes I take breaks from blogging to just deal with what is going on. And not always bad–I seem to have checked out the last couple of times I started a new relationship. For me that was just something I needed to sort out privately. Blogging was good for me when I was getting over a break up. But I’d like to think I blog about enough mundane things. I mean hell this is theoretically a knitting blog.

Haven’t been knitting at all this week. Spinning just a little(only because the looming deadline of LEAF is real). The invitations have to go out by Monday. I even brought them to Stitch and Bitch last night. My fellow SnBer thought I was insane for opting to handbuild 100 invites. But I am an art director, could not let this one go. I had to design my own invites. I used to make the most kick ass party invite on a shoestring budget. I am only a little stressed, but actually like doing the hand building. It feeds the closet bookmaker that gets edged out but all the fiber art stuff. Besides. I have to kick them out in a hurry so I can get to the new loom waiting patiently in the corner. Expect a detailed blog entry on that.

This wedding thing has done something to my brain. I am becoming domestic. Yes this exGenXer is going all out Donna Reed. My single girl life of shoes and dating and being out with my friends has been replaced with homemaking, and crockpots, and the urge to make {{gasp}} a retro apron. And damn if it hasn’t infiltrated my knitting. I have 4 afghans on the needles!! 4 people!! Only they aren’t really on the needles, they are on a hook. But another one is threatening to emerge as a quilt (because apparently I do not have enough fiber hobbies.) I do not think this Suzy homemaker thing is a phase, I think it is my inner adult finally being heard, accepted and enabled by this wedding thing. But, I still have hope for my inner shoe fiend.

So let me back up to the part about crockpots. I have been collecting crockpots the last couple of years for the yarn. It is a hands down the best way to kettle dye. Lucky for me it is something that turns up in yard sales and thrift stores about as often as Black and Decker rice steamers and bread machines. A couple of weeks ago I scored 2 at Habitat for $5 each. One had a removable crock. When I was in college I had a roommate that made the easiest and most delicious roasts in the crockpot. The removable crock is the way to go for an easy cleanup. You know how us college student love to clean up. But as this new Suzy homemaker chic, I seemed to get all a twitter over this removable crock and the holy grail of many a homemaker has been saved from a life of dying yarn.

Ravelry has a crock pot group (enablers). I found this web site there. Oh My God. Domestic bliss. Daily recipes. And they are GLUTEN FREE!!! most recipes call for a can of cream of something soup which is something I can not eat because of my wheat allergy. The tapioca recipe is awesome!!

This weekend the crockpot was on for a solid 24 hours while I made sandwich meat for the week, dinner and dessert. The smell of chicken wafted through the house like a thick fog. To the cats it was sheer torture. Spiderman was particularly vocal about his complaints. He pointed to his bowl wanting to know why there was just a dry cereal in there as opposed to the chicken I have been torturing him with all night long. I do believe he gave me the finger. I generally do not give the cats people food because they become entitled assholes when I do. They get insanely assertive while you are trying to eat. Staring you down, trying to trip you while you carry your plate, and heaven forbid you leave that plate unattended. But damn it B caved. I think he was totally hoodwinked.

Spiderman was in jungle kitty hiding mode. Noticing he had not seen Spiderman in a few hours, B was worried he might have somehow gotten outside. In a panic opened the cold chicken container from the fridge. The cats came running (funny how they just knew exactly which Gladware container was being opened). Poor B was attacked and threatened by all three screaming cats and had no other choice than to give them each a little bit of chicken. Suzy homemaker and her fiancé will be eating crock pot meals on the front porch for the next week.

My other new obsession arrived yesterday (did I mention I needed another fiber hobbie like I needed a hole in my head?). A Kromski harp loom. I swore I would never start weaving. I am not really that keen on most hand woven fabric. I think it looks like a kind of retro 70s Moses coat. But this shop changed my mind. I am having fantasies of what the handspun would look like in a textural woven shawl. I do not have time to put it together until I get the wedding invites out the door. I think I will be doing the invites at a breakneck speed.

The wedding date is September 21st. Here is the website And yes I am registered for 2 crockpots. It is a sickness really…

I lost my oldest companion last night. Sarsaparilla simple laid down by the fireplace and peacefully crossed over. No long illness, no tragic accident, no indication of rapid decline. Last month the vet said she looked good for 15. And just this weekend she broke up a squabble between the boy cats, obliged the young girl kitty with a quick teasing wrestle, and fussed at me for arguing with my fiancé. But after 13 years of unconditional love without an ounce of the typical cat aloofness, I could not have picked a kinder end for what I will always remember as the most amazing cat ever. I can’t begin to tell you how much I miss her.