He kisses his mother with that mouth?

I don't know about you, but I feel there's a bit of global paranoia brewing regarding a certain strain of influenza. Aside from fleeing to the hills, there are basic hygiene practices you can adopt to help keep yourself healthy:

Wash your hands.
Cover your cough and sneeze.
Stay the hell home when you're sick.
Don't lick pig snouts.

His mama is so proud.

Taking a back seat

The blogoversary will have to wait, for there is sad news to share in the knitting world: Kay Gardiner (of Mason-Dixon Knitting fame) lost her husband, Peter, on Saturday to a brief illness. You can read her cohort Ann's brief blog entry here.

I'm sure Kay and their children would welcome all thoughts and prayers.

Blog 2.0

The Meema Files is now entering the terrible two's. Hang on, kiddies!
(Blogoversary event details coming soon...)

An Easter Week miracle?

Apparently there has been a tear in the cosmic time/space continuum because Miranda and Colleen are appearing in the same YouTube clip (along with some major powers-that-be, listed below).

Richard Jay-Alexander (director), Donna McKechnie (choreographer), Kevin Stites (musical director), Steve Linder (producer) Brian Grohl (producer), Ben Toth (assistant MD), James Kinney (associate choreographer), Michael Donovan (casting director), and "Miranda Sings" (Colleen Ballinger)

Free and clear

The people at GlassDharma have a heckuva deal in anticipation of Earth Day. Would you like a reusable glass drinking straw for free? Follow the simple instructions here to get your own Simple Elegance drinking straw. Who knows - it could be the summer party theme you've been looking for.

(BTW, they also carry hard cases, soft pouches, and brushes for cleaning said straws. Other styles and sizes also available.)

Easter 2009

Easter Sunday was a beautiful spring day in Minnesota (finally!). Busy, too. Church service and egg hunt in the morning, noontime meal at M&D's, then Kidlet was off to Grammy's fro the evening meal. Quite the haul was made - she had three Easter Bunny egg/nest/basket opportunities. Yikes.

I realize I never documented holiday knitting FO's very well. Oops. Since there's no time like the present to start setting things aright, here are the details for Kidlet's Easter shrug:

pattern: adapted from One Skein Wonder, by Stefanie Japel
yarns: body in Classic Elite Soft Linen (35% linen, 35% wool, 30% baby alpaca), trim in Rowan Kidsilk Haze (70% super kid mohair, 30% silk)
needles: Knit Picks Harmony interchangeables, US5 and US6
cast on: 27 Mar 2009
completed: 11 April 2009

Rock the resurrection

Get your God groove on here:

Christos anesti!

Alethos anesti - alleluia!

While we wait for a miracle

... we do odd things to eggs.

Kidlet and I galhandled 82 eggs in preparation for tomorrow, both candy-filled (for the egg hunt at St. Paul's) and hard-boiled (to help the Easter Bunny). She was very focused and paid great attention to detail. Best of all, there were no dye stains on Nana & Papa's beige carpet - woot!

The Wright stuff

(I'm sorry - the title had to be writ.)

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959). My, but he was long-lived. And creative. And prolific. And genius. And durn clever at financing his grand architectural works of art (read: squeezing every penny and then some out of his customers).

I'm convinced I was born a century too late. Living in south Minneapolis I grew to adore the American Arts and Crafts movement, to the point where I have dreams about Stickley. I could (and have) spent hours pouring over tile and wallpaper friezes and light fixtures and did I mention furniture?

Wright took the A&C movement and married it to the "modernity" of the 20th century in a very organic and non-offensive way. (Can you tell je deteste International architecture? Blech.) The way the walls of windows in his Prairie School homes (Fallingwater, at left) embraced and framed the natural view as art, to the conch-like structure of the Guggenheim (right) - he totally does it for me.

Thanks, Frank.

The look... the feel... the smell?

What is more important to you when choosing a yarn - the look of the resulting fabric, or the feel of the yarn? [insert Jeopardy theme song here]

This was the weekly question on Knitter's Review, a weekly e-newsletter by Clara Parkes featuring a review (doh) of a yarn or product each issue, along with a readers' poll; the archive of yarn reviews is an invaluable resource, IMHO. If KR doesn't already appear in your inbox, go sign up. I'll wait.

Take the poll and make your senses heard, then feel free to share a comment here about a yarn experience you've had - good, bad, or downright ugly. Was the allure of a beautifully twisted skein deceptively harsh on your skin? Did an ugly duckling yarn transform into a swan-like fabric once knitted? (And I'm OK with using actual brand names if you are.) Inquiring minds want to know!

DIY cosmetology

Well, it had to happen sooner or later.

Kidlet + scissors + a moment alone = self-styled hairdo

Considering a 4-year-old was wielding the shears, it couldn't have been tamer. She basically extended her bangs by a lock of hair on one side. A trip to Kids' Hair (god love 'em) to balance the look, and you really can't tell anything transpired.

I don't recall cutting my own hair as a child, but I do remember giving my sister a trim. I was about 5 or 6 (which means Ness was 3 or 4). We were supposed to be napping together on the big bed; instead of sleeping I cut her hair and, being the clever older sister, dropped the evidence behind the headboard. Yeah. No one will ever find it there, I thought. Not Mom, who cleaned the floors religiously because we had a Dalmatian who shed every time she breathed and it was the 1970s and we had a black Naugahyde couch and red shag carpet in the living room that showed every short white hair. Nope.

You may ask, "Did you ever do it again?" Hell no. Especially when Mom said if I did, she was giving Ness the scissors with permission to cut my hair.

Smart mom.

Peep. Peep peep.

Scooter, it's time. I bet Phil would even co-farm with you.

Photo from my un-iPhone.

Summer in a bottle

Direct from Capri to me (via my friend, Laura):

Limoncello e Crema di Limoni.

The RHS Chorale spent their Spring Break singing their way through southern Italy. Sigh. Laura brought this back for me as a grazie for shuttling her to the airport for their early departure. Mmm.

Pitch, 10; Rhythm, 3

Ooh, it's the morning of the district Solo/Ensemble Contest!!!

Did anyone else go through this rite of musical passage? I'm sure most of my students woke up with butterflies in their teenage tummies in anticipation. All that preparation (or last-minute memorization) for a 10-minute slice of your life to be dissected and evaluated and r a t e d.

And on top of that, seven lucky events get to have me as their accompanist. Mwah hah hah...

Saint Cecilia, pray for us.

UPDATE: No one died. Several cried (not mine), mainly because of one very questionable judge. My piano skills did not inflict pain or suffering.

Do you like holes in your knitting?

Then go sign up for Knitting Daily. It's free e-newsletter published by Interweave Knits, and they currently have a bundle of 7 free lace patterns for you to download. Can't shake a pointy stick at that price...

Note to self:

Check the homework before it leaves the house.

Exhibit A: The Artwork

Exhibit B: The Explanatory Note

Knitters are clever people

From the Knitter's Review article:

We have an insatiable appetite for new and novel fibers. We've created yarns made from corn and bamboo. We've seen yarns dusted with jade, laced with copper, and even fortified with crushed crab shells and seaweed. So it should come as no surprise when I tell you about a new company that has just launched a line of yarns made with recycled kitty litter.

Based in Urbana, Illinois, the company is called PurrFect Yarns. It was founded by inveterate knitter and former R&D scientist Patricia Krapsch—who also happens to have a household full of cats.

"It really bothered me that I couldn't easily flush my used kitty litter down the toilet, nor could I spread it on my garden," she told me. "Every week I'd carry huge plastic garbage bags of used kitty litter out to the curb, and the waste really bothered me. So I thought, hey, I'm a scientist. I should do something about this."

You can read the full article here.