I’m going to be honest here. I’m a horrible knitter. All the strengths I have in crochet– stitch regularity, gauge precision, pattern awareness, structural awareness–completely desert me when I go from one hook to two sticks. I can’t even explain it. And the thing is, I love the knitting process so much! Crochet is big… Read More

Oh my God–it’s like I’m finally coming up for air. I’ve been telling people that I wrote an amazing number of words in six months– 450,000. I sort of made up for that by taking an entire two months to write Fall Through Spring, and now I’m super under the gun writing Silent Heart.  But, back… Read More

So, I am possibly the most socially awkward person on the planet, and I am more likely to offend people than not. Every lesson I know about etiquette and how to comport yourself in public I’ve learned from friends of mine who were civilized when I met them and I owe them a tremendous debt… Read More

So I was in the mood for a Randy Beaman story, and I figured I’d borrow one from YouTube for those of you who are new to the oeuvre. So here goes–here’s my Randy Beaman story. So this one time when I was teaching my AP English kids were taking the AP test and this… Read More

Okay–I admit, I’m a little sleepy. My friend Karen and her husband Martin were in town, and we met for dinner, and you know something? This is not something I do often. I was thinking about it. I know maybe one married couple that Mate and I will meet–every other couple I know is out… Read More

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!! I’ll admit it–first I’m excited because String Boys is out. And, seriously, YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!!!!!!  I’ve been so excited about folks getting a look at this book–I’ve also been really nervous so I’ve kept it kind of close to my heart, which, honestly, is a shitty way to market a book. Anyway– it’s out! I’m excited!… Read More

So, still a little sick. But one of the few real benefits to being sick is that when I sit down in front of the TV to knit, I don’t get as distracted–and you can see here I’ve made some headway on the Wild Teasel. (The actual pattern name. Woot! I used a pattern!) And… Read More

 So, we had some lost years of photos, a transition period between the old-fashioned camera, the electronic camera, and the ever-present, ever-handy smart-phone. Now, I’m pretty sure these electronic camera pictures– I remember the ritual of plugging it into my computer every time I blogged, and I’d been blogging for  a few months by this… Read More

Seth Arnold learned at an early age that two things in life could make his soul soar—his violin and Kelly Cruz. In Seth’s uncertain childhood, the kindness of the Cruz family, especially Kelly and his brother, Matty, gave Seth the stability to make his violin sing with the purest sound and opened a world of… Read More

Yes, I have the crud. I am loopy and irritable and my head hurts and my ears hurt and I’m on Advil and NyQuil and I’ll be super lucky I don’t end up typing about purple lizards shopping at the Galleria. Why is nobody going to bed? Oh, yeah! Because I did nothing all day… Read More