Listen...

(doo wah doo)

Do you want to know a secret?

(doo wah doo)

Do you promise not to tell?

(oh ... oh ... oh ... oh)

Closer...

(doo wah doo)

Let me whisper in your ear...

Say the words you want to hear....

This shawl will be completed and up for auction, soon, for a very good cause.

Upon completion, the shawl will be auctioned on Ebay as a fundraiser for the

Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery

in memory of

the mother and sister

of knitwear designer Lily Chin,

both of whom died

earlier this year.

Pattern: Voodoo Shawl by Dez Crawford (soon to be available)

Knitted by: Dez Crawford and Lisa Louie

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts -- Socks that Rock -- lightweight -- 360 yards -- 4.5 oz. -- "Chapman Springs" colorway

Funds donated in memory of Lily's mother (Linda) and sister (Mabel) will be contributed to the construction fund for a prayer hall and cultural center at the monastery.

Stay tuned to this blog for the announcement of the auction.

Private donations can also be sent to:

Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery

245 Sheafe Road

Wappingers Falls, NY

12590

Lisa Louie and I have embarked on this project together. We will each knit half of the shawl. I completed my half the other day, and put the shawl and yarn in the mail to Lisa. She will finish, photograph and block the completed shawl, set up the auction on Ebay, and mail the shawl to the winner.

While I was knitting my share of the shawl, I gave a lot of thought to the Buddhist concept of the "Field of Merit." Put simply, this is the idea that all of our actions, however great or small, affect others, and that no being exists in this world without an entire network of other beings who work in ways, large and small, for the benefit of one another.

I meditated on the yarn going through my hands. There were people who raised, nourished and cared for the sheep. Someone sheared the wool, which was then carded and spun into yarn. Dye was produced, and the dyers at Blue Moon Fiber Arts then infused this yarn with their energy, which then came into my hands, and passed across fingers and needles, and which now is in route to Lisa in Hawaii, who will infuse it with her own energy.

Many people have been involved in smaller, but no less important ways: the people who tend the machines at the yarn mill, the people who manufactured the needles, the many people who carried packages so that yarn and wool could travel to and fro, and Tom the mail carrier who put the box in my hands.

And then there is Lily Chin,

who has given us all so much beauty, and her mother and sister, who gave beauty to her, and all of their interactions, which played their part in making Lily the person she is.

And so we want to remember these two women, and we think this is the best way to honor them, and to honor Lily as well for all she has given to us in the world of knitting.

And

there is also the person who will win the bid on this shawl,

perhaps as a present to celebrate a joyful occasion,

perhaps to give as a comfort to a grieving friend,

or maybe simply for the pleasure of having a good shawl, and the satisfaction of donating money

to people who,

in their turn, do good for others.

Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the shawl,

more information about the monastery,

the opening date of the auction,

and for the introduction of Pineapple Gumbo, the collaborated knitting efforts

of Dez Crawford and Lisa Louie.

--Mambocat

p.s. --my apologies for the odd spacing; I will try to correct it on Blogger.

Socks That Rock,

My Own Personal Truck Stop,

and Stunt-Blogging

Because I have been in overdrive trying to keep one New Year's resolution (a personal, work-related goal which would be doomed by bad ju-ju if revealed at this moment), I have neglected another resolution (to blog more often) but, as you see, I have returned.

They have arrived: two skeins of Socks That Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, purchased in a display of moral and financial support while the gals at BMFA fight the bad guys at Nastybank. This purchase involves a Near Occasion of Resolution-Breaking, but sock yarn technically doesn't count as a yarn purchase, in exactly the same way that sampling the apple-smoked bacon, grape tomatoes and cheese chunks at the grocery doesn't count as breaking your diet. Yarn purchases, like grocery-bacon-nibbling, is merely an act of grazing. No guilt.

The colors in my photo are very close to true. The top skein is Fire On the Mountain (me, with more than a touch of grey, buying yarn named after a Grateful Dead tune? Nah.), and the bottom skein is 24 Karat, a luscious skein of variegated golds which is looking at me with big, big eyes and pleading to be made into a Celtic design and, possibly, even kilt hose.

This bundle of color couldn't have arrived on a better day. Here in Louisiana it is chilly, grey and rainy, which ordinarily does not depress me (any weather not involving hurricanes, heat or tornadoes is good weather as far as I'm concerned, and I say this with authority because I have spent time in the deep freeze and all sorts of other weather extremes), but adding the Saints' loss to the messy weather doesn't make for a cheerful week at all.

Cold and wet and misty and muddy calls for knitting, and a pot of chili on the stove, and coffee. Lotsa coffee. For Christmas, the ever-thoughtful Dave provided me with a Hamilton Beach Brew Station Deluxe, so now I have my own personal truck stop in the kitchen:


















And I also have some caffieneilicious Hawaiian coffee to put in it, courtesy of Lisa Louie.

People who know me well understand my odd fascination with truck stops. I love truck stops. I cannot imagine living in a place like Siberia or Kenya or Outer Mongolia where there aren't any truck stops. To me it doesn't matter if the truck stop is large and bright or small, old-fashioned and tidy, as long as I can get coffee, a clean bathroom, diesel for the VW and something to eat, all in the same place. I have spent an inordinate amount of my adult life driving (and driving and driving), and as a result, I know where to find clean bathrooms, digestible eats and decent coffee in a surprising number of states.

One truck stop fixture that I have always coveted is a coffee maker where you just press your cup against a metal lever and hot, strong, heavenly coffee pours out into it from the urn above. No glass pot to fumble with and possibly crack if (when) you (inevitably) bounce it against the counter. Just a big, piping-hot Tower Of Java ready to fill my cup whenever I want.

And now I have one. I am happy. Very happy. Lots and lots of coffee have made this chilly, endlessly rainy January a surprisingly cozy time.

This calls for digging among the bags of UFOs and finishing a few cozy post-holiday items:

Ray Whiting may recognize the metamorphosis of a bag of various Noro Silk Garden leftovers into this casual shawl:

Does this butt make my shawl look big?

This snazzy pose demonstrates why I had to abandon my previous career as a supermodel.

Also, the interminable rain has provided opportunities for sock-finishing:

While it rains, I am also stunt-blogging for Joan Hamer as she recovers from yet another abdominal surgery. This arrangement actually worked out conveniently for both of us. I was thinking of starting a sub-blog for knit-alongs anyway, and Joan needs someone to keep her readers occupied until she feels well enough to blog regularly again, so, in addition to my regular blog here, I will be stunt-blogging and conducting a knit-along for my cozy fingerless mitts on JoanKnits.

And speaking of cozy:

Shamu says, "I love it when the humans have warm ideas like putting a kitty bed on top of the fridge, right under the heat vent. Oh yes, I love it a lot. You can't see it in the picture, but those toes are strategically positioned under the heat vent. Oh yes."

"And, might I add, that chili smells darn tasty."

--Mambocat