Twisted Knitter

My husband has to travel a lot for his job and I stay here and run things. Somebody asked me once if I was envious of his business travel and I'm really not -- traveling WITH my family is a lot more appealing to me than traveling without them. I know my husband was sincere when he said that he wished I could have been at the Waldorf Astoria when Martha Stewart was being honored at the "Go Red for Women" luncheon. And while I do have a list of yarn shops I would have visited if I'd been in NYC, it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if I'd been alone.

That's not to say that I don't have travel in my future. I'm making a list of places I would like to go and hope to update our passports soon.

These past few weeks, I've really felt the loss of my laptop but I've deferred the purchase of its replacement for a few more months. Meanwhile, I'd love to hear from other knitters about Macs vs. PCs. If you used the one and are now using the other, I'm curious to hear your thoughts. I'm most concerned with portability, battery life, ease of wireless connection and your experiences using a Mac with Flickr and Ravelry (i.e. the browser). I won't be using Photoshop or graphics software -- I'll be using it for long-term writing projects, blogging, Flickr and Ravelry. I like to knit while I read blogs and obviously prefer something very lightweight.

I've been working on some gift knitting and am almost finished with the simple knitted shell with the RYC Cashcotton DK (Ravelry link here, but no updated project info yet). On Thursday, I got to meet up with another local knitter at Starbucks and knit for a while on my take-along sock. Earlier in the week, I stopped by Twisted Yarns and bought the leather straps for the Noro bag. I chose the longer (large, rolled 25") leather straps in dark brown. I might have also bought another skein of Online Supersocke 100.

I've continued to work on some of the genealogy research I started a few weeks ago. One of my aunts has helped fill in a lot of missing information and another aunt and a cousin have gotten in touch with me after my not having talked to them in over 34 years. This time last year, Sallie found most of my American family's ancestry information and I wouldn't have had such a good start without her. Lisa and one of her good friends has been helping me with the Japanese side. Of course, I now wish I had learned to speak and write Japanese (and no, it's not too late) as that would have helped immensely!

Here's another photo of my sisters and me that I don't think I ever saw before last week:

It was taken the same day as this one.

Posted by Janet at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)

This weekend, I had that unsettled feeling of having veered off-course. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I have to stop and remind myself of my mission and goals.

There's been knitting, but nothing much to show yet (it's a shop sample) - lots of stockinette in the round and you saw a preview a few entries ago. The knitting sets the stage for the thoughts that are the true undercurrent of my writing and blogging here. Knitting helps me think -- it's mind- and heart-expanding. I couldn't write if I didn't knit.

I'm still organizing all the data regarding my family ancestry -- both the Japanese side and the Irish/Scottish/German side. I have two stacks on my desk and they're separated: the "H" side (my maiden name) and the "F" side (my mother's maiden name). I work best from stacks rather than files, so I'm doing what works for me, but if you were to visit right now, I'm sure it would look like clutter to you.

The most overwhelming part was sensing all the stories that want to be told -- I can pick something out of either stack and tell a compelling story based on what I know or what I've learned - hence, that off-course feeling. To get back on course is to focus on my OWN story. I'm the only one who can tell it. I'm the only one who can share my own experiences - the people I've met, the places I 've visited and loved. We four sisters grew up with very different experiences due to our age differences and having lived all over the world. My younger sister and I are only 22 months apart so some of our memories are shared, but we don't often share the same point of view. I don't think that's uncommon, but it's part of what made me realize that I need to focus on my own unique perspective.

The Patons Merino hat that I blogged about last week was finished that same day.I used to think it was so odd that others could knit a plain (or fancy!) hat in less than 24 hours, but now I can too. When did that happen? (And oddly enough, it's almost cold enough here today to NEED a hat).

Finally, to wrap up this post, I finally figured out the handles I want to use for the Noro Kureyon Scraps Bag I knit in 2004. (Ravelry link here). I used the leftover Kureyon from the Booga Bags I knit that year plus some additional single skeins I had acquired to knit a large project bag.

So it's back to the knitting for a while.

Posted by Janet at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

We have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here.--Mildred D. Taylor

In going through so many levels and layers of genealogical research, the strongest impression I have is that the biggest changes are sometimes a result of what seem in the moment to be small choices -- like the choice my father made to lie about his age in order to join the Army before he was out of high school. The most compelling reason he had was an opportunity to travel and see the world rather than become a coal miner like his father and grandfather. While he was stationed in Tokyo, he met my mother who was on the path of making some choices of her own.

Unfortunately, but probably not unexpectedly for postwar Ohio, my mom wasn't accepted by my American grandmother -- my sisters and I didn't have a relationship with her (or with one of my aunts and my cousins); it's likely I saw her only twice in my entire life. It would have been nice to have known more about my Irish and Scottish ancestry.

My mom is in the hospital right now. She's going to be fine, but she's been in a lot of pain and they're trying to help her with her degenerative disc disease.

what little knitting I've been able to do was on Sunday; I'm swatching for some simple summer tanks.

Now I just need to find the time to knit them.

Posted by Janet at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I'm experiencing heightened intuition and perception, along with feeling extremely empathetic (to the point of weepiness sometimes) and strange maternal and nesting urges TOTALLY unrelated to pregnancy (no chance of that). And these are the GOOD parts of this female aging process. I'm not sad to be starting to experience pre-menopause, but I am a little unsettled. The skin changes and grey hairs don't bother me, but the forgetfulness and anxiety DO upset me a bit.

And to be quite honest, I wasn't going to mention this particular process at all on my blog. Then I remembered my goal of having a blog as a record for myself -- and also my desire to use this blog as a way to capture some things in REAL time that might help my daughter twenty years (or more) from now. I know that my mom doesn't remember anything at all about what she went through and I wish she did.

Knitting helps. I am able to focus and concentrate on knitting when I can't focus on anything else. On some days I feel incredibly sharp and focused and others I feel like I'm in mental quicksand. But the heightened perception -- I'll take that any day. With unexpected surprises (both physical and mental) around every corner, successful navigation requires that I have an optimistic attitude. Pollyanna? You bet.

I wait until I feel sharp enough to tackle demanding tasks and this past week has included working on our income tax returns and organizing some historical family documents and vintage photos. This one of my mom and her brothers was taken in the late 30's, presumably before the death of their father (my grandfather). My mom was nine years old when he died, so I'm fairly certain that this was taken before then:

When a bit of time opens up and I'm able to organize my stash, frog hibernating projects or wind yarn, if I get an urge, I'll allow myself to indulge in a quick project. These two one-day projects have been enjoyable and entertaining. Oddly, they're both Malabrigo:

So go ahead . . . indulge yourself.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Posted by Janet at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

These were the socks I knit for my sister for Christmas in 2006. She sent them to me when I sent her another pair this past Christmas. She told me she loved them and provided proof:

And this is the Wollmeise Brombeere that I had left over when I knit her these socks:

I'm thinking I have enough for my first attempt at mending socks. Tips anyone? Ideas?

This will be a short post for now, but I wanted to thank those of you who left such helpful and encouraging comments (and sent private emails) in my last post. I am pursuing some leads you all have given me and have discovered that a native Japanese speaker will actually have a more difficult time translating to English in an understandable way. He/she can translate in the SPOKEN native Japanese language, but then I would have to have somebody translate THAT. That explains the difficulty that my uncle had providing me with a translation. I had to set aside the pursuit in favor of some unexpected crises this past week, but it remains at the top of my mind -- even though I haven't been able to sit and reply to the emails some of you have left. Please know it is very much appreciated.

For those of you new to my blog, this is my maternal grandfather:

and this is my grandmother:

The samurai ancestry is on my Grandfather's side.

Posted by Janet at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

In between a few knitting projects this weekend, I'm also going through many old letters and photos from my uncle. Although he passed away several years ago, I've kept over twenty years' worth of letters he sent me and combined with the details my mom has been able to share, I've filled in some gaps.

Sallie was immensely helpful in providing me with genealogy information from my father's side of the family -- but mostly my grandmother's (Snodgrass) lineage. I think I only have two generations of my father's information.

The biggest obstacle in learning more about my Japanese ancestry is that I don't know the language. I can't speak it, read it or write it. I do have our koseki, but because my mom married a non-Japanese, her husband and children (me and my sisters) wouldn't be on the koseki. And for those of you wondering the obvious, my mom can't read the koseki either -- after more than 5 decades in the U.S., it's increasingly more difficult for her to read Japanese and understand it when it's spoken.

I will be checking some local resources, but I'm also going to "ask the blog" (It worked before!) if anybody could put me in touch with somebody who can read Japanese. The koseki (I have a certified copy) probably covers our family's history from the mid-1800s to the late 80s. I do have some scans of it if that would help.

And now, back to some knitting. If all goes well, I'll have knitting to share this afternoon.

Posted by Janet at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

I went to sleep with some big questions last night and woke up with the answers. The big questions have to do with a goal of mine -- something I want to complete this year involving a family story.

I love this photo of my family. Due to the age difference between my oldest and youngest sisters, it was rare to get all of us in a photo together. This is how I remember my Dad. I'm startled now when I see photos of him with white hair and his thinner, smaller frame. During most of my childhood and the years I lived in Oklahoma, he was stocky -- and looked like he did in this photo.

Longtime readers know that I don't "do" resolutions, but I do evaluate what's working for me and what's not. In 2008, I'm taking some steps to enrich my life -- I'm excited about the things I'm considering. And because the most effective method I have of dealing with unresolved issues is to write through them, I'll continue to do that and will probably share more of it here on my blog.

My knitting goals for 2008 are rather vague, thanks to a refreshed point of view and a desire to be true to myself -- I will knit what I enjoy knitting and do what I enjoy doing. Because I don't struggle with discontent or disappointment internally, I'm going to take full advantage of the absolute freedom I have to just BE.

And now, for the winner of the hand knit socks . . . congratulations to Susan at KitKatKnits. I'll be contacting you to get your color preferences and shoe size!

Look for more fun contests and giveaways in 2008.

Posted by Janet at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)