Betsy Phillips's Blog, page 34

November 5, 2018

You Guys!

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I finished the afghan I’ve been dying yarn for all summer! And it is both as beautiful as I envisioned and better.


I wanted to say more about it, but I’ve just been distracted–right now–staring at the picture. The pattern is Julie Yeager’s “Fantastic.” The middle of each motif is a little of the Queen Anne’s Lace, which I really loved the smell of. That bright deep pink is the pokeberry, which, fingers crossed, won’t fade or, if it does, will fade in interesting ways. And the brown in all the motifs is that walnut, somehow looking darker here, because it’s magic.


I also love that it looks like dresses spinning or wagon wheels turning or big Victrola bells. Somehow, to me, it just looks like a party with music.


I hope Julie likes it. I’m very, very happy with it.

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Published on November 05, 2018 05:19

November 3, 2018

Yarn Difficulties

Do I stay home and finish the last round on these beauties?


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Or first trek to Murfreesboro to the fiber festival and then come home and put the last round on these guys?


I really, really love how beautiful these are.







I was thinking this morning, while walking the dog, what would a person have to charge if she was going to sell this afghan? I probably have $90 in yarn. The Kool-aid, food coloring, and vinegar, maybe $10. It’s the labor costs that would sink you. It’s just really time intensive.


I guess that’s why I’ve been thinking of these hand-dyed afghans as art first. Like, yes, they are functional art, but you could buy an item with the same function for a lot less.


Plus, there’s just the sense I have of the number I’d have to hear to be willing to do this as a task instead of as something I want to do. I’d make another afghan like this for someone I didn’t know–couldn’t be identical, because I can’t replicate it–for $1,000, I think. Otherwise, I’m going to follow my whims to the next afghan, you know?


But that’s an art price. Which isn’t to say that any afghan like this–locally-sourced hand-dyes on wool–is worth $1,000 or could be sold for $1,000. That’s just want it would take to change my plans for what comes next.


And I’m already slightly changing those plans. I thought I’d do the copper penny afghan next, but I still have so much yarn from this afghan in the way that I think I have to do the flower one–which is going to use up a lot (or hopefully all) of this yarn–next so that I have room for the copper penny one.

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Published on November 03, 2018 07:09

November 1, 2018

The Puffy Round

Y’all, the variegated yarn looks so good in the puffy round. I just… ugh. I’m so happy with how this is going.


I’ll try to remember to post some pictures, later.


I slept well, for the first time in weeks. Partially it’s just because we’ve moved through a lot of the disasters at work. Partially it’s because I complained and it made a difference. And partially because we went down and toured Lightning and, man, there’s something very satisfying about seeing books made.


I’m trying not to be too optimistic, because it seems impossible that the blues might be wrapping up and I don’t want my hopes crushed, but maybe… maybe.

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Published on November 01, 2018 05:21

October 31, 2018

Late in the Year

I’m late getting started on my usual nine nights. But tonight’s the night for opening wide the door so tonight I’ll get on it. I think I also resent how little I’ve been able to enjoy one of my favorite times of the year. I’m just a seething ball of resentment.


On the other hand, I got all my second-to-the-last rows done on my squares.


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The pieces of yarn are to mark the corners so that when I do the fancy, puffy round, I don’t miss them. It’s an excellent tip I got on YouTube. I think I’m going to do a braided join, even though they’re kind of hard and a huge yarn hog. They’re just really beautiful and I want this afghan to be beautiful and have a lot of visual interest even if it starts to fade over time.

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Published on October 31, 2018 05:20

October 30, 2018

Sad and Tired

I think the thing I resent most about the work situation at the moment is that I should still be floating on air and thinking about a professional wrestler introducing me and just basking in the glow of that good fun.


And instead I’m up all night fretting about work and wondering what I could be doing differently to alleviate my stress.


And I forgot to show you my first complete square:


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How cute is that?! I love it so much.

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Published on October 30, 2018 05:26

October 29, 2018

Launched Successfully!

You guys, it was amazing. The other authors Chet put together were fantastic. Sara was delightful. I mean, who tells a ghost story and gets people in the audience nodding and cheering in agreement?


Then Chet introduced me, said something about wrestling being fake, and a wrestler came out and put him in a sleeper hold! And then the wrestler introduced me.


As I read, Death came out and just hovered next to me. It was fantastic. Every part of it was so amazing.


And the book looks so good!


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(You’re not allowed to take pictures in the back room at Third Man, so please don’t tell anyone you saw part of their rug back there.)


And look at the cake!


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How is this real life? Really.

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Published on October 29, 2018 05:16

October 28, 2018

5…4…3…2…1…Book Launch

Or, as it’s known this time of year, Boo-k Launch (tip your waiter, no need to applaud).


Book is up on the Third Man website.


Snazzy, celebratory cake will be ready for pick-up at 2.


I don’t have what I’m going to read picked out yet, but I’m mulling.


Costume made:


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Dire, yet humorous, warning posted on Facebook.


I am as ready as I can be. I am nervous as fuck. I am so nervous it won’t sell well and then I’ll be humiliated. I’m worried that my inability to pull my head out of my ass and get over this small depression is going to hurt the book. But I’m also super excited because the stories are good and I saw a copy of the book and it looks so great. So very great.


It has these cards that go with each story that look like… I don’t even know. Like Victorian goth trading cards? And the cover has this gold foil treatment.


It’s so great.

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Published on October 28, 2018 07:20

October 25, 2018

An Excerpt

Chapter 16 posted an excerpt from Jesus Crawdad Death. And they knew all the right places to put the links to things.

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Published on October 25, 2018 15:33

Five Left

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Every day this week, I have come home and thrown myself into the making of this afghan because I need something beautiful and I need to feel like I am capable and have good ideas.


It’s not possible in real life to have as much done on this afghan in as few a days as I have it done, but I’m clinging to how happy it makes me that this is even better than I had planned, how it works and looks good and will be so satisfying to see done.

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Published on October 25, 2018 05:22

October 24, 2018

And Now There Are Twelve





I went back and did another round of pokeberry. I just love it so much. I really hope it’s fairly colorfast, because, whew, I like it. I’m really hoping that a benefit of this design will be that, even if/as colors fade, it will still look nice.


Work continues to be terrible and heartbreaking and hard. I’m really ready for things to settle back down. I feel like I’m barely holding it together.


Which is not a great feeling when you need to be exciting and charismatic in order to sell your own chapbook coming out next week.


My doorbell rang at three in the morning, Saturday night/Sunday morning. I was up, with my glasses on, my phone in hand, and my body positioned so the door wouldn’t open more than a few inches without the person on the other side having to push my whole weight before I was even remotely awake.


Like I’d trained for what to do when a stranger comes to your door in the middle of the night my whole life.


Which, I guess, is a way I’ve always been. I feel weak and incompetent, but in the moment, I usually know what to do and can handle myself. I just fall apart afterward. And before. If I’m being honest.


But in the case of work, the “during” has been so long that I’m crumbling.


Anyway, at my door, it was a woman. She was cold. She’d been walking for six hours. Her car broke down. The whole thing was sketchy as fuck. She wanted to come in. I asked her if I could call someone for her. I ended up talking to “Darryl,” her friend’s husband. He was confused and pissed and he told me she didn’t even have a car. Which made her even more sketchy. But he said he’d come get her, if she kept walking. He had a kind voice, so I shut the door and locked it and went back to bed.


I hope she ended up somewhere safe.

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Published on October 24, 2018 05:34