Whoops, time slipped away from me there. I find that I really struggle during the summer. July and August find me in a funk, and I have to work my way out of it slowly.
I'm still working on my hexagons for the One-Flower Wednesdays; pictures will be coming this week. I've finished the Tour de Fleece, and though I didn't post in any of the threads on Ravelry, I did get done what I had hoped to.
Where I've really fallen down has been on violin practice, and I'm not sure why, exactly. I was really feeling good about the Challenge, and had been playing every day. Then suddenly...nothing. So I listened to some of my favorite violin pieces on my iPod last night, and I remembered why I want to play the violin. So I've been playing today, and I'm determined to get some time in every single day.
The daily thing is what really makes a difference, I've found. After five days in a row, I could zip through the scales and etudes I'd been working on with very little effort. I found myself not having to read each and every single note on the page, something my teacher promised me would happen in time. She always likened it to reading words. We don't read by seeing each individual letter in each individual word--our brains have learned that when we see this set of three letters: CAT; we know what it says without having to think about how each letter sounds. As we improve as readers, we can read entire phrases in a glance. And that is what I find is happening as I play. I'm not reading each note--instead I see the phrases in the bars of music, and my muscles play them without my brain having to THINK about it. It's very very cool. And now I'm beginning to understand how professional soloists can play 45-minute long concertos from memory. It's still amazing, but I can see how they have to organize the music to memorize it in blocks instead of individual notes. Kind of like how we might memorize a poem stanza by stanza.
So it doesn't seem like much has been happening at Chez Spingirl, but I have the usual Project Pile going. I'll have pictures up as the week goes on.
Showing posts with label violin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violin. Show all posts
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
The First Few Hours
As of this moment, I've practiced 6.5 hours on the violin this week. An hour a day seems to be the most I've been able to manage, and I have to break it up. After half an hour, my brain feels like mush and I start playing worse and worse. So I put the violin down and go off to do some knitting or spinning. When I come back to it later, I can feel and hear that I'm much better. So apparently my brain can only handle 30 minutes of new info at a time.
And that's fine, because my body has to adapt as well. My muscles have to be toned and built up for playing violin just as they would have to be for any kind of sport. Well, maybe not quite as much as, say, a weightlifter or something, but still. And since I've had whiplash on the left side of my neck and I have muscle spasms in the whole "shoulder girdle" (the massage therapist's term for it), I have to proceed slowly. One of the things I really have to think about while I'm playing is keeping my neck and shoulders relaxed. As the pieces become more difficult, I start tensing up and before I know it the muscle just below my left shoulder is burning. So half an hour at a time is plenty for right now.
On the knitting/spinning front, I'm trying to decide which projects I'll work on for Tour de Fleece. I'm not sure how TdF started, but it's where you spin every day that the Tour de France race is going on. You can set goals for yourself--some people want to spin a mile of yarn (which is not as hard as it sounds) and some challenge themselves to use a new fiber or technique. I think I'll focus on getting all the spindle projects done. Last time I counted, I had nine spindles with fiber on them. I've joined a couple of "teams" on Ravelry, so I'll be posting my progress and seeing what everyone else is doing in each team's thread. It's good fun
Don't forget about the giveaway. Comments on this post count as a chance to win!
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| My lovely violin |
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| A Bach piece I'm working on |
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| A few of the prospective TdF spindles |
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thank you, Joshua Bell
Ok, so I know I've been away from the blog for too long. I still haven't shared any pictures or stories about the vacation and the trip to SAFF. They're coming--we finally got what we needed to be able to upload the pictures from the camera, so I'm partly there. I still need to get a few pics from the husband's computer, so I'll futz with that soon and have something about the fun stuff I did.
Today, though, I have pictures from an wonderful, thrilling, glorious, dazzling event I attended Saturday night. Joshua Bell (the virtuoso violinist, in case you don't know) played with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and I had a seat right smack in the center of the floor, about 6 rows from the stage (and the Hilbert Circle Theater has no orchestra pit, so the musicians are right there in front of you!)
That was beyond excellent--I was so close that I could hear JB breathe as he played. That's not as weird as it sounds. A good musician has to regulate his breathing as he plays, and JB plays passionately and athletically. He was dripping sweat when he was done.
And what he played--oh. my. goodness. First the ISO played some music by Hector Berlioz (and the ISO should get a big mention here because they are a tremendous group of musicians.) Then Joshua came on to play Maurice Ravel's Tzigane, which is a pull-out-all-the-stops piece of fiery virtuosity. That alone was worth the price of admission. But that wasn't all. After the Tzigane got everyone's heart pumping, he played Meditation by Jules Massenet, a gorgeous, haunting melody. He took a break while the Symphony played music by Richard Strauss, then after a short intermission came back for the headliner piece: Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor.
That's one of my favorite, if not the favorite of all the violin concertos I've heard. It has everything a big piece of music should have: power, lovely melody, technical fireworks, all in a harmonious and beautiful setting. Even if you're not a classical music fan, you should take the time to listen to it once or twice because it's gorgeous. (If you scroll to the bottom of the page, JB's album of Bruch, Mendelssohn, and Mozart is the first one listed on my Amazon.com widget. It's worth every penny.)
Not only was the music beautiful just because of what it was, JB played it flawlessly. I know that recordings made in a studio are probably "tweaked" a bit to take out wrong notes or other mistakes, but I'm telling you, he made no mistakes. I can't even come up with the words to describe how wonderful the whole experience was. Hearing it while seeing someone pour his entire being into the playing was...well...I have no words. Sigh. Give me a minute...
Ok, so then, after we all stood and whooped (politely--this was a classical music concert after all) and applauded until I thought my arms would fall off, he came out and performed an encore. It was his rendition of "Yankee Doodle" with just about every virtuoso violin technique you can throw in a piece. That really brought the house down.
AND THEN...he signed autographs after the concert. Sigh again.
It was really funny, because when I got out of the car I grabbed my Bruch CD and stuck it in my purse. I had already made up my mind that I was going to be brave and ask anyone and everyone who worked in the theater if there was any chance I could get him to sign my CD after the show. This guy is the reason I started taking violin lessons in the first place--basically he changed my life--so I was going to try everything I could to at least get to say hello. Once inside the theater, I saw that a CD sales table was already set up with a little note that Joshua would be signing CDs after the show. How cool is that?
And guess who didn't think to bring her camera. The husband squeezed off a couple of shots on my cell phone, so all is not lost:
No, they're not the best, but about as good as you can get when you're in a hurry and using a cell phone camera.
I was ecstatic. He was so nice and smiled and said hello to everyone. He didn't rush anyone through the line, and another lady who was watching told us that he spent a lot of time talking to all the young people who came through, encouraging them if they played an instrument and posing for pictures.
So what do you say when you finally get the chance to speak to someone you admire so much? (And, no, it's not just because he's so darn good-looking!) I can't even tell you what I said--I mumbled something, though I think I remembered to thank him for the autograph. I hope so. There wasn't time to say what I really wanted to say.
I didn't want to tell him how great his performance was--I'm sure he knew that already, based on the standing ovation and cheers at the end. And I'm sure nearly everyone who went through the line said that, and it's not like he can't tell when he's played well. There has to be a feeling of contentment for a job (extremely) well done, and I would think that after all these years, Joshua knows in himself when he's performed brilliantly.
What I really wanted to say was the most heartfelt "Thank you." Not for the autograph, because I think I did say thank you for that, or for that evening's performance, but for the whole gift of his talent. That cannot be an easy life, no matter how much passion you have for your art. It's not just the thousands and thousands of hours of practice, the sacrifice of other interests, the money spent in teachers and schooling, the years dedicated to trying, failing, trying again until you get it as perfect as you can and then maintaining that perfection. It's the responsibility that comes with signing contracts for recordings and performances, constant travel, and fulfilling the expectations of an adoring public whether you feel like it or not. Yes, he gets something out of it, or he wouldn't continue doing it. But what he gives is inestimably more--when he's playing for you, his whole life is in that performance. It's as if all those years of dedication and hard work were for you, the listener. How do you thank someone for a gift that great?
I'm not even able to express what I mean in this post, so I never would have been able to say it when I had the chance Saturday. I would have ended up sounding like some creepy stalker fan or something. I don't know--maybe I did seem like a creepy stalker fan. (Naw, a creepy stalker fan would have asked him to sign her butt or something, right? I definitely did NOT do that.)
So for what it's worth--thank you Joshua Bell. My life is happier because of what you do.
Today, though, I have pictures from an wonderful, thrilling, glorious, dazzling event I attended Saturday night. Joshua Bell (the virtuoso violinist, in case you don't know) played with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and I had a seat right smack in the center of the floor, about 6 rows from the stage (and the Hilbert Circle Theater has no orchestra pit, so the musicians are right there in front of you!)
That was beyond excellent--I was so close that I could hear JB breathe as he played. That's not as weird as it sounds. A good musician has to regulate his breathing as he plays, and JB plays passionately and athletically. He was dripping sweat when he was done.
And what he played--oh. my. goodness. First the ISO played some music by Hector Berlioz (and the ISO should get a big mention here because they are a tremendous group of musicians.) Then Joshua came on to play Maurice Ravel's Tzigane, which is a pull-out-all-the-stops piece of fiery virtuosity. That alone was worth the price of admission. But that wasn't all. After the Tzigane got everyone's heart pumping, he played Meditation by Jules Massenet, a gorgeous, haunting melody. He took a break while the Symphony played music by Richard Strauss, then after a short intermission came back for the headliner piece: Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor.
That's one of my favorite, if not the favorite of all the violin concertos I've heard. It has everything a big piece of music should have: power, lovely melody, technical fireworks, all in a harmonious and beautiful setting. Even if you're not a classical music fan, you should take the time to listen to it once or twice because it's gorgeous. (If you scroll to the bottom of the page, JB's album of Bruch, Mendelssohn, and Mozart is the first one listed on my Amazon.com widget. It's worth every penny.)
Not only was the music beautiful just because of what it was, JB played it flawlessly. I know that recordings made in a studio are probably "tweaked" a bit to take out wrong notes or other mistakes, but I'm telling you, he made no mistakes. I can't even come up with the words to describe how wonderful the whole experience was. Hearing it while seeing someone pour his entire being into the playing was...well...I have no words. Sigh. Give me a minute...
Ok, so then, after we all stood and whooped (politely--this was a classical music concert after all) and applauded until I thought my arms would fall off, he came out and performed an encore. It was his rendition of "Yankee Doodle" with just about every virtuoso violin technique you can throw in a piece. That really brought the house down.
AND THEN...he signed autographs after the concert. Sigh again.
It was really funny, because when I got out of the car I grabbed my Bruch CD and stuck it in my purse. I had already made up my mind that I was going to be brave and ask anyone and everyone who worked in the theater if there was any chance I could get him to sign my CD after the show. This guy is the reason I started taking violin lessons in the first place--basically he changed my life--so I was going to try everything I could to at least get to say hello. Once inside the theater, I saw that a CD sales table was already set up with a little note that Joshua would be signing CDs after the show. How cool is that?
And guess who didn't think to bring her camera. The husband squeezed off a couple of shots on my cell phone, so all is not lost:
No, they're not the best, but about as good as you can get when you're in a hurry and using a cell phone camera.
I was ecstatic. He was so nice and smiled and said hello to everyone. He didn't rush anyone through the line, and another lady who was watching told us that he spent a lot of time talking to all the young people who came through, encouraging them if they played an instrument and posing for pictures.
So what do you say when you finally get the chance to speak to someone you admire so much? (And, no, it's not just because he's so darn good-looking!) I can't even tell you what I said--I mumbled something, though I think I remembered to thank him for the autograph. I hope so. There wasn't time to say what I really wanted to say.
I didn't want to tell him how great his performance was--I'm sure he knew that already, based on the standing ovation and cheers at the end. And I'm sure nearly everyone who went through the line said that, and it's not like he can't tell when he's played well. There has to be a feeling of contentment for a job (extremely) well done, and I would think that after all these years, Joshua knows in himself when he's performed brilliantly.
What I really wanted to say was the most heartfelt "Thank you." Not for the autograph, because I think I did say thank you for that, or for that evening's performance, but for the whole gift of his talent. That cannot be an easy life, no matter how much passion you have for your art. It's not just the thousands and thousands of hours of practice, the sacrifice of other interests, the money spent in teachers and schooling, the years dedicated to trying, failing, trying again until you get it as perfect as you can and then maintaining that perfection. It's the responsibility that comes with signing contracts for recordings and performances, constant travel, and fulfilling the expectations of an adoring public whether you feel like it or not. Yes, he gets something out of it, or he wouldn't continue doing it. But what he gives is inestimably more--when he's playing for you, his whole life is in that performance. It's as if all those years of dedication and hard work were for you, the listener. How do you thank someone for a gift that great?
I'm not even able to express what I mean in this post, so I never would have been able to say it when I had the chance Saturday. I would have ended up sounding like some creepy stalker fan or something. I don't know--maybe I did seem like a creepy stalker fan. (Naw, a creepy stalker fan would have asked him to sign her butt or something, right? I definitely did NOT do that.)
So for what it's worth--thank you Joshua Bell. My life is happier because of what you do.
Friday, January 30, 2009
I'm Still Alive. I Think.
This blogging thing has gotten way off track. Part of it is that I hate to blog without picture content, and I can never find the camera when I need it. Well, that's not always true, but getting pictures done and uploaded is my biggest obstacle. I'll try to stick a couple of random ones in, just so I feel like I've done my bloggerly duty.
Life pretty much feels out of control right now. We have a wedding gown, we have a mother-of-the-bride dress, we have the reception hall, we have a cake ordered. So now we have to order the flowers, then knuckle down for the really big job, which is the food for the reception. We're not doing a full-blown dinner, so it will be finger foods like little sandwiches and such, and bite-size dessert thingys. It's mostly a matter of deciding what we'll have, asking friends to help out with the making of everything, then figuring out how and when to get it all to the reception hall. Now I know why people have these things catered, but it's not in our budget.
On the needlework front, since this blog is supposed to be about how I'm finishing UFOs (hush--I can hear the snorts of derision from here), I have three projects that I am focusing on at the moment. One is a Jo Sharp cabled cardigan that I originally planned to make almost knee-length. It may end up being hip-length as called for in the pattern. I do need to set some limits for myself! Another is a needlepoint pillow from Ewe & Eye & Friends, which I'm doing for my bedroom. Said bedroom is on the list for repainting and decorating after The Wedding, so I want to finish a few things for the decor. Third project is a pair of socks. How could I not have a pair of socks in the works??
Why three projects? Why not just work on one at a time? Well, the cardigan takes a lot of concentration and marking off rows, because I'm doing two different cables while increasing. I have to have silence while I work on that (which is why progress is so slow and it will not be knee-length!) The needlepoint is mindless and can be done while I listen to the TV or any other hideous yammering going on around me. But that's not portable, so the socks are the portable mindless project. See, there is a method to my madness, at least in the needlework department.
I figure the house will be trashed until at least a few weeks after the wedding, because Missy is starting to go through the boxes that have been stored in our basement. The boxes contain what we moved out of her house during her divorce, so she's figuring out what she has in the way of kitchenware and dishes and such. Those boxes are stacking up around the edges of various rooms. In other rooms, decorations and tiered dessert plates are piling up, awaiting The Big Day. So we hit the middles of the rooms with the vaccuum cleaner, clean the bathroom occasionally, and keep the dishes and laundry done. Otherwise, housework is not at the top of the priority list.
So that's the life for the moment. Maybe next time I'll have pictures of the three projects. And I'm planning another giveaway, so stay tuned. Speaking of tuned...here is a picture of something else I'm trying to focus on right now, not very successfully:
Life pretty much feels out of control right now. We have a wedding gown, we have a mother-of-the-bride dress, we have the reception hall, we have a cake ordered. So now we have to order the flowers, then knuckle down for the really big job, which is the food for the reception. We're not doing a full-blown dinner, so it will be finger foods like little sandwiches and such, and bite-size dessert thingys. It's mostly a matter of deciding what we'll have, asking friends to help out with the making of everything, then figuring out how and when to get it all to the reception hall. Now I know why people have these things catered, but it's not in our budget.
On the needlework front, since this blog is supposed to be about how I'm finishing UFOs (hush--I can hear the snorts of derision from here), I have three projects that I am focusing on at the moment. One is a Jo Sharp cabled cardigan that I originally planned to make almost knee-length. It may end up being hip-length as called for in the pattern. I do need to set some limits for myself! Another is a needlepoint pillow from Ewe & Eye & Friends, which I'm doing for my bedroom. Said bedroom is on the list for repainting and decorating after The Wedding, so I want to finish a few things for the decor. Third project is a pair of socks. How could I not have a pair of socks in the works??
Why three projects? Why not just work on one at a time? Well, the cardigan takes a lot of concentration and marking off rows, because I'm doing two different cables while increasing. I have to have silence while I work on that (which is why progress is so slow and it will not be knee-length!) The needlepoint is mindless and can be done while I listen to the TV or any other hideous yammering going on around me. But that's not portable, so the socks are the portable mindless project. See, there is a method to my madness, at least in the needlework department.
I figure the house will be trashed until at least a few weeks after the wedding, because Missy is starting to go through the boxes that have been stored in our basement. The boxes contain what we moved out of her house during her divorce, so she's figuring out what she has in the way of kitchenware and dishes and such. Those boxes are stacking up around the edges of various rooms. In other rooms, decorations and tiered dessert plates are piling up, awaiting The Big Day. So we hit the middles of the rooms with the vaccuum cleaner, clean the bathroom occasionally, and keep the dishes and laundry done. Otherwise, housework is not at the top of the priority list.
So that's the life for the moment. Maybe next time I'll have pictures of the three projects. And I'm planning another giveaway, so stay tuned. Speaking of tuned...here is a picture of something else I'm trying to focus on right now, not very successfully:
Ah, my lovely violin. The brief moments I spend with it are not enough, but I'm trying to do at least a little every day. The goal is to finish the 2nd Suzuki book by the end of May, and I'm about halfway through it. So I need to get off the computer and start working on those scales and etudes!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Breaking my Silence
For some reason, keeping up with computer stuff was not something I did while on vacation. Maybe it was because I was too busy winding yarn balls (or cakes, as they're called on Ravelry. Too bad I don't have the little icon that pops up for "cake".) Ennnyway--that was a whooooole bunch of yarn-winding, and I at least can see what I have waiting to be knitted.
That, however, huge pile that it is, did not stop me from just ordering more sock yarn. It was just one skein, I swear! And I haven't ordered anything online for more than two weeks! Well, not counting a couple of things I got on ebay. They don't count, because they weren't knitting related. (I love my rationalizations, don't you?) But I needed the Wendy Knits "Ribbon Candy" pattern for the pink yarn that came in the "Boobie" sock kit because I don't like the "Boobie" pattern that came with the yarn, and while I was at The Loopy Ewe site, I thought I might as well get some of that great Dream in Color Smooshy yarn everyone else seems to love. I would have ordered some Woolmeise, but it goes out of stock exactly 73.2 seconds after it's listed, apparently. I need to get on the advance notice list or something!
I still haven't taken pictures of the things I've been working on. Not the ball-winding part. That would be just too dull. No, I mean the socks that I've still been half-heartedly knitting for SOS08, and the other project that I mentioned. I might as well admit it here and now. I joined the lemmings and made a Clapotis scarf.
If you haven't heard of that, where the heck have you been? Not on Ravelry, that's for sure! The pattern is from knitty.com, from sometime in 2005, and it's the most downloaded pattern they've ever featured. In fact, the latest Interweave Knits magazine has an article about the designer and the impact the Clapotis had on knitty.com and the knitworld in general.
When I first saw it, I thought, "Meh. What's the big deal?" But the more I looked at it, the more I liked it, and I kept reading that other people felt the same way until they saw a finished scarf, then they fell in love. Well. I had three skeins of Noro Kureyon sock yarn, and the more I petted it, the less I thought I would like it as socks. It is kind of wiry and rough. But three skeins is more than enough to make a cool scarf, so I started looking through my patterns and books for just the right thing, and that turned out to be the Clapotis. (BTW, it's pronounced something like, "Clah-poh-tee" in some Frenchy manner. Accent on the last syllable, I think. That makes it sound a little less like some weird STD.)
So that's what I worked on between socks, while listening to "Persuasion" on the iPod. It's an easy pattern, once you get the rhythm of it, so it didn't take long and was fairly mindless. I haven't washed it yet, so it still feels a bit wiry, but it drapes nicely now and I think it will be even better once it's washed and laid flat to dry. The general consensus seems to be that you don't want to block it hard, like you would a lace shawl. I really will get before-and-after pictures, but the resident expert photographer is mortally ill (i.e. he has a cold) so I won't bother him today.
In other not-so-exciting news...well...that's about it. Except that I did finally get to my violin lesson, and I've been practicing a lot. I've loved all my teachers, but this one and I communicate so well, and she spots immediately what I need to work on and explains it perfectly. It's encouraging, because we agree that I am making progress, yay!! Violin is tough at any age, and when you start at the age of 46, you've really got your work cut out for you. Part of it is the simple fact that holding and bowing the instrument are new motions, and if you haven't been doing it since you were four or five years old, your body rebels a little. I got a new shoulder rest, after test-driving about nine of them, and that's made a tremendous difference.
So I'm loving my music more and more. One of my favorite pieces is "The Lark Ascending" as played by Hilary Hahn. (Go buy the CD. Even if you don't like classical music, you'll LOVE this. I promise.) I bought the sheet music, even though it's way beyond my skills, and can actually play snippets. That makes me so happy and keeps my enthusiasm up for continuing to slog through the Suzuki books. I have my own pet names for the pieces in Book One: "The Not-So-Happy Farmer" and "The Stinkin' Gavotte" are a couple of them. And, yes Virginia, playing your scales does improve your overall playing.
I've been trying to resist starting a shawl, but my Plurkbuds tell me resistance is futile. So, if I can find that cashmere-blend lace yarn somewhere around here...
That, however, huge pile that it is, did not stop me from just ordering more sock yarn. It was just one skein, I swear! And I haven't ordered anything online for more than two weeks! Well, not counting a couple of things I got on ebay. They don't count, because they weren't knitting related. (I love my rationalizations, don't you?) But I needed the Wendy Knits "Ribbon Candy" pattern for the pink yarn that came in the "Boobie" sock kit because I don't like the "Boobie" pattern that came with the yarn, and while I was at The Loopy Ewe site, I thought I might as well get some of that great Dream in Color Smooshy yarn everyone else seems to love. I would have ordered some Woolmeise, but it goes out of stock exactly 73.2 seconds after it's listed, apparently. I need to get on the advance notice list or something!
I still haven't taken pictures of the things I've been working on. Not the ball-winding part. That would be just too dull. No, I mean the socks that I've still been half-heartedly knitting for SOS08, and the other project that I mentioned. I might as well admit it here and now. I joined the lemmings and made a Clapotis scarf.
If you haven't heard of that, where the heck have you been? Not on Ravelry, that's for sure! The pattern is from knitty.com, from sometime in 2005, and it's the most downloaded pattern they've ever featured. In fact, the latest Interweave Knits magazine has an article about the designer and the impact the Clapotis had on knitty.com and the knitworld in general.
When I first saw it, I thought, "Meh. What's the big deal?" But the more I looked at it, the more I liked it, and I kept reading that other people felt the same way until they saw a finished scarf, then they fell in love. Well. I had three skeins of Noro Kureyon sock yarn, and the more I petted it, the less I thought I would like it as socks. It is kind of wiry and rough. But three skeins is more than enough to make a cool scarf, so I started looking through my patterns and books for just the right thing, and that turned out to be the Clapotis. (BTW, it's pronounced something like, "Clah-poh-tee" in some Frenchy manner. Accent on the last syllable, I think. That makes it sound a little less like some weird STD.)
So that's what I worked on between socks, while listening to "Persuasion" on the iPod. It's an easy pattern, once you get the rhythm of it, so it didn't take long and was fairly mindless. I haven't washed it yet, so it still feels a bit wiry, but it drapes nicely now and I think it will be even better once it's washed and laid flat to dry. The general consensus seems to be that you don't want to block it hard, like you would a lace shawl. I really will get before-and-after pictures, but the resident expert photographer is mortally ill (i.e. he has a cold) so I won't bother him today.
In other not-so-exciting news...well...that's about it. Except that I did finally get to my violin lesson, and I've been practicing a lot. I've loved all my teachers, but this one and I communicate so well, and she spots immediately what I need to work on and explains it perfectly. It's encouraging, because we agree that I am making progress, yay!! Violin is tough at any age, and when you start at the age of 46, you've really got your work cut out for you. Part of it is the simple fact that holding and bowing the instrument are new motions, and if you haven't been doing it since you were four or five years old, your body rebels a little. I got a new shoulder rest, after test-driving about nine of them, and that's made a tremendous difference.
So I'm loving my music more and more. One of my favorite pieces is "The Lark Ascending" as played by Hilary Hahn. (Go buy the CD. Even if you don't like classical music, you'll LOVE this. I promise.) I bought the sheet music, even though it's way beyond my skills, and can actually play snippets. That makes me so happy and keeps my enthusiasm up for continuing to slog through the Suzuki books. I have my own pet names for the pieces in Book One: "The Not-So-Happy Farmer" and "The Stinkin' Gavotte" are a couple of them. And, yes Virginia, playing your scales does improve your overall playing.
I've been trying to resist starting a shawl, but my Plurkbuds tell me resistance is futile. So, if I can find that cashmere-blend lace yarn somewhere around here...
Monday, August 4, 2008
Vacation!
My stay-at-home vacation started today, though I've been considering myself on vacation since I got home from work on Friday. No, I haven't tackled the basement yet, but I intend to work on that later this week. In the meantime, I have a tiny problem.
I can't lift my arms.
One of the plans for the week was to start doing regular exercise, whether by going to ballet class, joining a club, or working out at home. I've gone too long without any exercise at all to jump back in to ballet class, so I thought I'd better get a few workouts in first. I checked in at Curves, and they're having a special this month, and the lady said I could come and try it this week. So I thought I would do that tomorrow. Today, however, I finally grabbed my exercise ball, stuck the DVD in the player, and did my own at-home workout.
That was two hours ago, and I can hardly raise my arms above my waist. The exercises didn't feel that hard while I was doing them (though I did feel hideously clumsy--trying to drape myself over the ball without falling off was a hoot. Probably I really hurt my arms from flailing them in vain attempts to keep from sprawling on the floor. The cats were clearly baffled by the whole ugly scene.) Anyway, the pain didn't set in until about half an hour ago. Which is a more holistic treatment--a pain pill or a shot of Old Crow? Pain pills have fewer calories, which is a consideration.
The really bad part of this is that I had a violin lesson scheduled for this afternoon. I was so embarrassed to call and cancel only an hour beforehand, but I have a wonderful teacher. She started laughing and said, "Oh, I did that once. I had to call in to the XXX Symphony (a fairly large orchestra) and tell them I couldn't play because I'd done a workout and couldn't move my arms. I was tempted to lie and tell them I had the measles or something--anything but the truth." So we had a good laugh, and she was totally cool with it. THEN she told me she'll be in China next week, playing with the orchestra for the Olympics! How cool is that? Bet she doesn't do any workouts between now and then...
So I obviously can't clean the basement today, which leaves me doing more of what I've been doing since Friday afternoon: cleaning the sewing/weaving/stash room, knitting, loading my iPod, knitting, adding to my Ravelry queue, knitting, winding yarn balls, and knitting. Obviously, I have a short attention span.
Since I have to set up the swift and ball winder on the dining room table, I'm trying to get all my skeins wound and stored neatly. I pulled out the bags and boxes of random yarn items--leftover bits, odd skeins, acrylic, novelty yarn from the scarf craze a few years back--and have decided what to keep, what to give to the Knitting Guild for community projects, and what to throw away. I've kept some yarns for small projects, but a lot of it is going to the guild. They do hats and mittens and lap ropes and such, so they'll make good use of it, I'm sure. And I didn't give them crap yarn, so I feel virtuous.
I didn't realize how much laceweight yarn I have, and that's what remains to be wound. I'm not looking forward to it, especially after the 2500-yard skein I wound the other day. I thought it would NEVER end. (But now I'm looking for the perfect shawl pattern for it. That's where Ravelry comes in. I've seen pictures of some breathtaking shawls, so I'll have to go through all my "favorited" items and see what calls to me.) And once I get all this yarn wound, I'm going to "repurpose" the clear storage bins hubby bought for the basement last week. Heck, we can use cardboard boxes down there. I need to see my yarn! I just need to get them up here before he comes home and sees me doing it. I hope I can carry them. Heck--I hope I can walk down the stairs and back up again!
I'm still plugging along (sort of ) with SOS. After I started digging through all the yarn, and figuring out how many projects I have planned, I decided that the priority list needed revamped. It's not an official List yet, because I'm still sorting, but by the end of my vacation week, I hope to have a better idea of what I really want to do.
Moving my arms will be high on the list, I'm sure.
I can't lift my arms.
One of the plans for the week was to start doing regular exercise, whether by going to ballet class, joining a club, or working out at home. I've gone too long without any exercise at all to jump back in to ballet class, so I thought I'd better get a few workouts in first. I checked in at Curves, and they're having a special this month, and the lady said I could come and try it this week. So I thought I would do that tomorrow. Today, however, I finally grabbed my exercise ball, stuck the DVD in the player, and did my own at-home workout.
That was two hours ago, and I can hardly raise my arms above my waist. The exercises didn't feel that hard while I was doing them (though I did feel hideously clumsy--trying to drape myself over the ball without falling off was a hoot. Probably I really hurt my arms from flailing them in vain attempts to keep from sprawling on the floor. The cats were clearly baffled by the whole ugly scene.) Anyway, the pain didn't set in until about half an hour ago. Which is a more holistic treatment--a pain pill or a shot of Old Crow? Pain pills have fewer calories, which is a consideration.
The really bad part of this is that I had a violin lesson scheduled for this afternoon. I was so embarrassed to call and cancel only an hour beforehand, but I have a wonderful teacher. She started laughing and said, "Oh, I did that once. I had to call in to the XXX Symphony (a fairly large orchestra) and tell them I couldn't play because I'd done a workout and couldn't move my arms. I was tempted to lie and tell them I had the measles or something--anything but the truth." So we had a good laugh, and she was totally cool with it. THEN she told me she'll be in China next week, playing with the orchestra for the Olympics! How cool is that? Bet she doesn't do any workouts between now and then...
So I obviously can't clean the basement today, which leaves me doing more of what I've been doing since Friday afternoon: cleaning the sewing/weaving/stash room, knitting, loading my iPod, knitting, adding to my Ravelry queue, knitting, winding yarn balls, and knitting. Obviously, I have a short attention span.
Since I have to set up the swift and ball winder on the dining room table, I'm trying to get all my skeins wound and stored neatly. I pulled out the bags and boxes of random yarn items--leftover bits, odd skeins, acrylic, novelty yarn from the scarf craze a few years back--and have decided what to keep, what to give to the Knitting Guild for community projects, and what to throw away. I've kept some yarns for small projects, but a lot of it is going to the guild. They do hats and mittens and lap ropes and such, so they'll make good use of it, I'm sure. And I didn't give them crap yarn, so I feel virtuous.
I didn't realize how much laceweight yarn I have, and that's what remains to be wound. I'm not looking forward to it, especially after the 2500-yard skein I wound the other day. I thought it would NEVER end. (But now I'm looking for the perfect shawl pattern for it. That's where Ravelry comes in. I've seen pictures of some breathtaking shawls, so I'll have to go through all my "favorited" items and see what calls to me.) And once I get all this yarn wound, I'm going to "repurpose" the clear storage bins hubby bought for the basement last week. Heck, we can use cardboard boxes down there. I need to see my yarn! I just need to get them up here before he comes home and sees me doing it. I hope I can carry them. Heck--I hope I can walk down the stairs and back up again!
I'm still plugging along (sort of ) with SOS. After I started digging through all the yarn, and figuring out how many projects I have planned, I decided that the priority list needed revamped. It's not an official List yet, because I'm still sorting, but by the end of my vacation week, I hope to have a better idea of what I really want to do.
Moving my arms will be high on the list, I'm sure.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Slogging Along
I'm still fighting whatever has got me down; probably a fibromyalgia flare, about which I can do almost nothing but ride it out. The fatigue is mind-blowing. I drag myself to work and stagger home and collapse and that's about it. When I don't even feel like knitting, I know I'm in bad shape!
I did have a nice violin lesson today, which lifted my spirits a little. Oh, and I learned something about practicing at home. Do not practice under a moving ceiling fan! Who knew it was that low?? It's a wonder I didn't break my bow. What's worse is that Missy was piggy-backing the baby on her shoulders the other day and ran her little noggin right into the moving fan. Yeowch!!
I'm still knitting slowly on socks. I just finished one of WendyKnits Seaweed Socks in a beautiful green-shaded Araucania Ranco Multy They are super-easy to knit, and Missy has been raving about them since the pattern first started appearing on the needles. I've cast on the second one, but it's slow going since I feel so cruddy.
I also joined a spin-for-ten-minutes-a-day group on Ravelry, so I've been using my drop spindle a bit, which is a nice change. Right now it seems like I can only do things in 10-minute-or-less increments. I couldn't even solve Sudoku in today's paper, even though it was the easy level.
I do want to post some photos, but my 10 minutes are almost up. Here's a hint: check out Wee Ones on Etsy. The woman is an artist. I got several sets of stitch markers from her the other day, and I'm afraid to look at her site again for fear I'll see something else I must have. The ones I just got were custom-made for me, so they're really special.
My 10 minutes is up. Time for my next 10-minute ice cream break.
I did have a nice violin lesson today, which lifted my spirits a little. Oh, and I learned something about practicing at home. Do not practice under a moving ceiling fan! Who knew it was that low?? It's a wonder I didn't break my bow. What's worse is that Missy was piggy-backing the baby on her shoulders the other day and ran her little noggin right into the moving fan. Yeowch!!
I'm still knitting slowly on socks. I just finished one of WendyKnits Seaweed Socks in a beautiful green-shaded Araucania Ranco Multy They are super-easy to knit, and Missy has been raving about them since the pattern first started appearing on the needles. I've cast on the second one, but it's slow going since I feel so cruddy.
I also joined a spin-for-ten-minutes-a-day group on Ravelry, so I've been using my drop spindle a bit, which is a nice change. Right now it seems like I can only do things in 10-minute-or-less increments. I couldn't even solve Sudoku in today's paper, even though it was the easy level.
I do want to post some photos, but my 10 minutes are almost up. Here's a hint: check out Wee Ones on Etsy. The woman is an artist. I got several sets of stitch markers from her the other day, and I'm afraid to look at her site again for fear I'll see something else I must have. The ones I just got were custom-made for me, so they're really special.
My 10 minutes is up. Time for my next 10-minute ice cream break.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Heading for a finish, I hope!
This is the project I'm trying to finish by Friday, because Saturday begins the oft-written-of sock contest.
It's a little more than half-finished, and I'm happy that I just started the second ball of yarn, because that means I'll have enough to finish it! You never know when you don't use the yarn the pattern calls for! I really should have had this done a long time ago, but every time I'd pick it up to work on it again, I'd have to relearn the pattern. Now that I've been working on it every day for the past few days, I don't have to count every stinkin' stitch. As with all lace, it will be far prettier once it's blocked.
I was a good girl and did a lot of stretching and strengthening exercises for my neck and back yesterday, so things are improving. I have another massage appointment tomorrow, and I hope that works the last of the knots out of my neck. I have to take care of this problematic neck because it affects my knitting (horror of horrors!) as well as my job. Worst of all, it makes it difficult for me to play my violin for any great length of time. So that's a real incentive to keep up the stretching program. Besides, I'm not getting any younger, so I can only expect more problems down the road if I don't take good care of it.
I started back to violin lessons this morning, so I have some things to work on. I'd like to get at least an hour of practice every day, but obviously I can't do it all at once. And it's usually best to do it when my family's not home! Though that's what practice mutes were invented for. I just don't know how many times they can stand to hear scales and arpeggios, even muted ones, before they crack up.
I've wound almost all the yarn for my socks, so I'm set up for the contest, even though that little voice in my head that just won't shut up keeps asking why I'm doing this. I dunno. It must be my competitive streak coming out. It's kind of funny--the only competitions I've ever won have been stupid baby shower games!
The evening is incredibly beautiful and cool. I should go flop in the hammock and enjoy it while I can.
More obligatory grandbaby pics. I think she can pull in Bolivia with those things on top of her head!
It's a little more than half-finished, and I'm happy that I just started the second ball of yarn, because that means I'll have enough to finish it! You never know when you don't use the yarn the pattern calls for! I really should have had this done a long time ago, but every time I'd pick it up to work on it again, I'd have to relearn the pattern. Now that I've been working on it every day for the past few days, I don't have to count every stinkin' stitch. As with all lace, it will be far prettier once it's blocked.
I was a good girl and did a lot of stretching and strengthening exercises for my neck and back yesterday, so things are improving. I have another massage appointment tomorrow, and I hope that works the last of the knots out of my neck. I have to take care of this problematic neck because it affects my knitting (horror of horrors!) as well as my job. Worst of all, it makes it difficult for me to play my violin for any great length of time. So that's a real incentive to keep up the stretching program. Besides, I'm not getting any younger, so I can only expect more problems down the road if I don't take good care of it.
I started back to violin lessons this morning, so I have some things to work on. I'd like to get at least an hour of practice every day, but obviously I can't do it all at once. And it's usually best to do it when my family's not home! Though that's what practice mutes were invented for. I just don't know how many times they can stand to hear scales and arpeggios, even muted ones, before they crack up.
I've wound almost all the yarn for my socks, so I'm set up for the contest, even though that little voice in my head that just won't shut up keeps asking why I'm doing this. I dunno. It must be my competitive streak coming out. It's kind of funny--the only competitions I've ever won have been stupid baby shower games!
The evening is incredibly beautiful and cool. I should go flop in the hammock and enjoy it while I can.
More obligatory grandbaby pics. I think she can pull in Bolivia with those things on top of her head!
Heading for a finish, I hope!
This is the project I'm trying to finish by Friday, because Saturday begins the oft-written-of sock contest.
It's a little more than half-finished, and I'm happy that I just started the second ball of yarn, because that means I'll have enough to finish it! You never know when you don't use the yarn the pattern calls for! I really should have had this done a long time ago, but every time I'd pick it up to work on it again, I'd have to relearn the pattern. Now that I've been working on it every day for the past few days, I don't have to count every stinkin' stitch. As with all lace, it will be far prettier once it's blocked.
I was a good girl and did a lot of stretching and strengthening exercises for my neck and back yesterday, so things are improving. I have another massage appointment tomorrow, and I hope that works the last of the knots out of my neck. I have to take care of this problematic neck because it affects my knitting (horror of horrors!) as well as my job. Worst of all, it makes it difficult for me to play my violin for any great length of time. So that's a real incentive to keep up the stretching program. Besides, I'm not getting any younger, so I can only expect more problems down the road if I don't take good care of it.
I started back to violin lessons this morning, so I have some things to work on. I'd like to get at least an hour of practice every day, but obviously I can't do it all at once. And it's usually best to do it when my family's not home! Though that's what practice mutes were invented for. I just don't know how many times they can stand to hear scales and arpeggios, even muted ones, before they crack up.
I've wound almost all the yarn for my socks, so I'm set up for the contest, even though that little voice in my head that just won't shut up keeps asking why I'm doing this. I dunno. It must be my competitive streak coming out. It's kind of funny--the only competitions I've ever won have been stupid baby shower games!
The evening is incredibly beautiful and cool. I should go flop in the hammock and enjoy it while I can.
More obligatory grandbaby pics. I think she can pull in Bolivia with those things on top of her head!
It's a little more than half-finished, and I'm happy that I just started the second ball of yarn, because that means I'll have enough to finish it! You never know when you don't use the yarn the pattern calls for! I really should have had this done a long time ago, but every time I'd pick it up to work on it again, I'd have to relearn the pattern. Now that I've been working on it every day for the past few days, I don't have to count every stinkin' stitch. As with all lace, it will be far prettier once it's blocked.
I was a good girl and did a lot of stretching and strengthening exercises for my neck and back yesterday, so things are improving. I have another massage appointment tomorrow, and I hope that works the last of the knots out of my neck. I have to take care of this problematic neck because it affects my knitting (horror of horrors!) as well as my job. Worst of all, it makes it difficult for me to play my violin for any great length of time. So that's a real incentive to keep up the stretching program. Besides, I'm not getting any younger, so I can only expect more problems down the road if I don't take good care of it.
I started back to violin lessons this morning, so I have some things to work on. I'd like to get at least an hour of practice every day, but obviously I can't do it all at once. And it's usually best to do it when my family's not home! Though that's what practice mutes were invented for. I just don't know how many times they can stand to hear scales and arpeggios, even muted ones, before they crack up.
I've wound almost all the yarn for my socks, so I'm set up for the contest, even though that little voice in my head that just won't shut up keeps asking why I'm doing this. I dunno. It must be my competitive streak coming out. It's kind of funny--the only competitions I've ever won have been stupid baby shower games!
The evening is incredibly beautiful and cool. I should go flop in the hammock and enjoy it while I can.
More obligatory grandbaby pics. I think she can pull in Bolivia with those things on top of her head!
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