It’s that time again.

Time to take a good look at yourself and say,  “Oh my God, where do I begin?”

You didn’t get to living, feeling or looking the way you do now overnight.  No, darling.  You indulged, splurged, luxuriated and procrastinated your way to today.  And all of that takes up a lot of your time.

But you know what?  I have a wonderful secret to share with you since I, too, need to do something besides write those silly New Year resolutions.

All of us have a list of big life transforming goals like – learn Portuguese,  read all of Charles Dickens,  lose twenty pounds forever.  These are things that will take a long time to do.  Hours, days, years.  Chunks of time that are not so easy to find.

But you can change the world in five minutes.  How?

Look at your list of small things that make a big difference

take a picture of the sunrise and send it to a friend (too early for you?  how about a sunset?)

put every pair of your favorite shoes that need some TLC in a bag for the shoemaker

research a new foundation

do two simple yoga stretches

call your mom

look in your medicine cabinet and toss out anything that is expired

pair up your knitting needles

sew on a button

put coupons in your wallet

eat a crunchy apple

All of the above and more can be done in five minutes and give you a spark of accomplishment throughout your day.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

I cannot help myself.  If someone asks me for help with something that has to do with knitting I have to get involved.

And make a video.

Beatrice, from my Grantmakers in the Arts Knitting Circle, issued an impassioned plea for assistance in knitting the baby booties we started in Chicago a few days ago.

I thought it best to make a little video for you.  Well, what are you waiting for?  Grab your needles and find a baby.

Oh, if any of you want to knit a pair of booties and donate them to a charity, please let me know.  Frances and I will be collecting donations up to December 1st and if any of you out there have been more naughty than nice – And You Know Who You Are! – this is an excellent way to position yourself higher in the gift food chain.

Email me.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Beware of women roaming the streets of Chicago carrying pointy needles and a reckless desire to knit booties.

The rumors are true.  Two cabloads of needle clicking women left the Westin Hotel, site of the Grantmakers in the Arts 2010 Conference, pulled up to Loopy Yarns on West Polk street and invaded the premises shrieking with delight over the wonderland of cashmere, silk, wool, buttons, notions and every tchotchka (Yiddish for thing.  Usually means more dusting and who needs that?) you could ever imagine invented for knitters and crocheters.

Thanks to my dear friend and nonprofit knitting ninja, Frances, we gathered a small group together for a Monday night Dine-Around/Knitting Circle.

Our mission:  to meet at Loopy Yarns for a yarn store hit, and then dinner at Bar Louie to knit a pair of Rockaway Beach Booties.

Frances, Janet and moi

Our circle included Fleurette, Rose Ann, Janice, Beatrice, Frances and me.  Seth came along as eye candy/honorary knitting circle cheerleader.  Vicky, the owner of Loopy Yarns, was warm and gracious.  There were several knitting groups in session in the store while we were there.

“I can transfer all the money I have in the world into my checking account and spend it all on crochet hooks which I know is a bad idea but I’ll do it.  Someone please take me out of here quick!”  Beatrice’s eyes were glazed and her voice robotic as she added more and more tchotchkas into her basket.

Janice and Seth

Frances nudged all of us out of harm’s way and into Bar Louie which was thankfully right next door.

Rose Ann’s hands

Over drinks and food, we sat around a table knitting and doing way more laughing than knitting.  I think Janice must have ripped out and started her first bootie over at least three times.  Of course, I gave everyone my cell phone number should they need knitting 911 during the conference.

Fleurette and moi

Something magical happens when you are happycrazy making something with your hands and your heart.  A little bit of knitting, a small group of nonprofit knitters, a tremendous amount of fun creates great energy among good good friends.

display of knit altar pieces at the National Museum of Mexican Art

As Tommer says, “The knitting circle is a Grantmakers in the Arts Conference tradition.”

See you next year in San Francisco!

Is it me or are there a lot of babies being born?  Nicole from the office across the hall just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  Mikki, my daughter who is in love with Pierre, told me a friend of hers is expecting a baby girl very soon.  Seth’s friend, Nakeba,  is due any day with – what else? a baby girl.

Later this month I am going to be hosting

GIA Knitting Circle: Rockaway Beach Booties for a Cause

a dine-a-round type thing at the Chicago Grantmakers in the Arts conference with my friend Frances Phillips of the William and Elise Haas Fund.  Yes, we will be knitting and dining in high style and what will we be knitting?

So glad you asked.  Baby booties.

Frances liked the idea because we could finish one during the session and complete a pair by the end of the conference.  We could be furiously knitting grantmakers, baby booty buddies and check up on each other’s progress in between sessions and workshops.

“Ooh, your booty came out so cute!  Let’s cast on the next one together.”

“Do you think its rude to knit during a panel?”

“So, who’s pregnant in your life?”

She also said the project was perfect because she has a lot of pregnant friends.  And if a knitter in our group doesn’t have someone to give the booties to, we can find a local Chicago charity to donate them to.

I just so happen to have a pair to donate.  They are the sample booties I made in a steely baby blue for the knitting circle which, of course, I wouldn’t dream of giving a baby girl.  I am actually dreaming of something uber fabulous for their precious feet.

OK, OK, I know, but don’t you just love them?

Rockaway Beach Booties are simple to knit and simply adorable.  Grab your needles, here’s the pattern.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Seth and the finished booties

I am in love with my latest project.

These are a pair of booties with a little cuff knit in a bouncy bright red microfiber that are easy, quick and so Wow! that I just had to share them with you.  My friend Frances at the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and I are going to present this project at our knitting circle in Chicago for the upcoming Grantmakers in the Arts Conference.

Now I have to tell you that I really have no use for directions that make me do all kinds of extra verkcockte (Yiddish for stupidcrazy) steps that can be done more simply and elegantly executed.  I am absolutely insulted by poor design that lacks thoughtfulness in the details.

What do I mean by that?  Listen, now I’m on a roll.   The original design for these booties had no cuff to keep them on a baby’s feet and as any new parent will tell you,  “Who needs another thing to keep track of?”  I cut down the number of steps, simplified the process and creating a set of little videos to accompany a slide presentation so anyone can follow along whether you are in a knitting circle or knitting on the beach. 

I want all you nonprofit and ninja knitters to be able to knock out a pair of these booties whereever and whenever you find some spare time.  They will keep a baby’s feet warm and bring a smile to new mommies and daddies. 

Frances happens to have a lot of pregnant friends.  If you are like me and do not, maybe there is a charity you can donate them to.  Let me know if you find one.

Stay tuned!  More to come.

Get more Wow!
 

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out: 

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good 

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit 

Style Notes from me, your artspy 

Hoong Yee 

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day  

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested 

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer) 

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update 

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.  

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?  

You have to pick your moment.  And there is a time for everything.

If you want to create a moment, a Wow moment – what, is there another kind of moment? – you will need to create time to make that happen.

Here is something that gets me to Wow every time I wear it.  My golden bronze mohair scarf.  It pours over my shoulders like afternoon sun.

Love it around my neck on cool spring mornings and late summer evenings.

Here’s the secret sauce:

You will need-

One skein of fabulous Italian baby mohair in any color you desire (500 yards)

One skein of equally fabulous bronze, gold or silver silk (500 yards)

One pair of size 12 wooden knitting needles

Directions:

Cast on 15″ worth of stitches using both yarns.  You will need to knit a swatch to find out how many stitches equal one inch.

Knit first row. Then knit every row.  Every few rows, double wrap the yarn as you knit the row and drop the loops on the next row.

Cast off when you get to the length you need to to drape it luxuriously across your shoulders.

This is well worth stopping time for and making for yourself or someone you want to wrap your love around.  I suggest you get used to people stopping for a second look.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

photo by State Library and Archives of Florida

Honestly, if I get any lazier I will simply calcify.

I love knitting lace.  No, what I really love is wearing lace that I have knit.  The peek of shoulder through the openwork, how it seems to float around you.

What I don’t love is following those verkockte patterns with long repeats to remember.  I have not been able to retain large amounts of information in my head with any success since I took the SATs in high school.  So, how does a lazy, impatient, train riding knitter do lace?

Listen closely:  Think thin yarn, pick thick needles.  Knit all rows or purl all rows.  Voila!

Lazy Hoong Yee’s Purly Girl Lace

This is glorified garter stitch done big.  This is easy, no remember, no pattern, no goofing up garter stitch that says lace over your shoulder with a wink that says,”  OK, OK, it’s not doily worthy knitting but it got you to look twice, didn’t it?”

This is knitting designed to move when you move.  No stitch patterns to keep track of.  Just purl, girl.

Here’s a little video to show you how.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

photo by crazymf990

Which is exactly why I knit sweaters

I can’t imagine anything more deadening to the spirit than a roomful of well cut white shirts on well dressed people.  When something like that becomes universally accepted good taste, unless it is worn with a dash of the unexpected, it quickly becomes uniform to the unimaginative.

Which, I repeat, is why I knit sweaters

To be more specific, I knit white shirts.  Sweaters with the same impact as a sexy white shirt.

The sweater I am making is made with a copper colored cotton gima that knits up into an edgy stockinette stitch with a slight roll at the hems of the body and sleeves.  It skims my hips, sports a low rounded V neck, long slightly flared bell sleeves and is knit loosely without any border ribbing.  I intend to wear it whenever I feel the urge to wear a white shirt.

You know you want to look good, no, you know you want to look drop dead fabulous.

If everyone is wearing what everyone thinks is to die for, then how the heck do you stand out?  If everyone is doing what everyone thinks they should be doing to be stylish or to be successful, how much of an impact could you possible make?

The laws of the universe are simple:

• If they zig, you zag
• Go where the puck isn’t
• Create a need then fill it
• Don’t be a big shot, wear a sweater

No matter what you do, what you strive for, what you wear.

This will take some creative thinking on your part.  You need to figure out how to stand out from the madding crowd and maximize your position.  With style, of course.  As you can see, I am still working on my Don’t Need A White Shirt design.

Take the design of your impact into your own hands!

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

What should I knit at my next conference?

As I continue on my journey getting to Wow! I look forward to seeing good friends and new friends whenever I travel to conferences.  I like the energy of gathered thinkers and gamechangers who are passionate about the arts in our lives.

OK, so I’m registered, I booked my hotel, I know what sessions I am going to, who I want to see.

I just don’t know what I want to knit.

Daughter of an Engineer

You would have liked my father.  He had a thing about camping in Maine, Chopin mazurkas and figuring stuff out, like pigtail bridges and cooling systems for nuclear power plants, usually on the back of envelopes in blue ink.  But what he loved best was coming up with an unusual solution to a problem:  “Why, we can hang those plants up with some fishing hooks!”  or  “Those file cabinets will make terrific dressers!”

Function, not form.  I silently pinky swore to myself that I would never live an unexpected, undesigned or unWow! life.

DNA,  more powerful than my pinky promise, coupled with a stack of DIY magazines  overcame me in a yarn shop.  Without a second glance at the pretty cottons and cashmeres, my eyes found a delicate blend of wool and steel and I fell in love.   “This will look fei cheong (Cantonese for totally) fabelhaft (German for fabulous) knit up like a loose neck sculpture thing!”

You could get a little crazy like I did and string a few clear crystal beads before you start knitting and space them here and there, to look like morning dew suspended in a spider web.

Beads on steel wool.  I am my father’s daughter.

How to make it

Here’s what you do if you want to create a stunning scarf that can stand on its own:

Get some of this steel wool stuff

Get some beautiful glass or crystal beads

Get a pair of  #5 knitting needles

Directions:

1. String 30 beads on the wool before knitting.
2. Cast on 28 stitches.
3. Knit one row, purl one row.
4. Knit in a bead here and there.  Think of what a spider web looks like in the morning.
5. Repeat until desired length.
6. Bind off loosely.  Weave in ends.
7. Expect second looks

Can’t wait to get started?

Grab your needles and get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from

Hoong Yee

me, your artspy

For those of you in the nonprofit world, I’m sure Blue Avocado needs no introduction.  But if  you are new and want a taste, these are some of my favorite features –  Board Cafe, Nonprofit Finance and Strategy, and Word on the Street.

And to Blue Avocado readers stopping by, I hope you will feel right at home.   Take a peek at some of my style notes I have posted for people who change the world.  Or visit the archives to read about how to get into an art gallery, why confidence is sexy and knitting social media strategy.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee