Knittishisms at The 33rd Annual Jewish Book Fair

Koffler Centre of the Arts presents:


THE 33rd ANNUAL
Jewish Book Fair
October 24 to November 1, 2009

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Sunday, November 1

The Zen of Jewish Knitting
2 PM $5
With a Master’s degree in Art and Popular Culture and having worked within the worlds of museums, marketing, broadcasting, education and business, Rosanne Bernard was destined to write a book about knitting, Knittishisms: The Zen of Jewish Knitting. Given the fibre name, Rebel Knitter by her knitting comrades, Bernard does not follow a pattern out of an eccentric wish to make “one-of-a-kind” masterpieces. Bring your knitting and spin a yarn with the Rebel Knitter herself.

www.kofflerarts.org

Conference Centre, Lipa Green Centre for Jewish Community Services, 4600 Bathurst St.The annual Jewish Book Fair, one of the largest in North America, has been bringing the best of Jewish literature to Toronto for 33 years, with world-class authors, school programs and engaging programs from panel discussions to intimate concerts to films to live cooking demos and more. Don’t miss this celebration of Jewish books and culture as it debuts in the brand new Lipa Green Conferencing Centre on the Sherman Campus!
Click here for full event details.
Click here to download the Jewish Book Fair Event Guide (PDF 1 MB)
ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Tickets for all events can also be purchased in person at the Jewish Book Fair, starting on Saturday, October 24. Get yours early to avoid disappointment! Certain workshops where indicated require advance registration.

It's at times like this, I'm glad I'm a knitter

I'm not a big shul goer -- that's more my hubby's shtick (which is really funny, because according to all accounts, he spent every able opportunity skipping Cheder (hebrew school) to play soccer in the park across the street as a kid). We go to the Minsk in Kensington Market. (Remember The King of Kensington? Yup that market) It's old... drafty... very haimishe... perfectly Kensington.

AND so here we are, Yom Kippur... they started Kol Nidre almost an hour late, the gentlemen that ALWAYS open the ark are somewhat late, blah blah blah -- you know the rest... Hello? Don't they know I have a 10 & 5 yr old here with me? So, by 9:45pm when Kol Nidre was still going on, I'm trying to keep my daughter from falling asleep on my prayer book and I think to myself, I'm a bit chilly, but at least she is wrapped up all nice and warm in my mohair sweater, thank G-d she at least is warm... Then, I think, wow, I'm surprised I haven't heard more kvetching from the downstairs (men's section) from Ziggy (the 5 yr old).... so I gaze down, and there he is... STANDING ON THE BIMAH next to the chazzan, my little dude's kippah is inside out & backwards, but what a gorgeous drunken little smile he has on... well that's okay.. then he spots me... starts waving wildly... ALL THE WOMEN stare at me and giggle... and then... then... then... Ziggy starts channeling ELVIS, with the wild hip shaking girations & EVERYTHING... Arms swinging like he's in the final top 3 playoffs for Air Guitar Hero of the World... and that's when I say to Zozers, "Sweetie, come... let's go... we're off to home"...

So, what does all this have to do with knitting? Well! They looked something special szhlumping out of shul, One in a bright green Che Sweater with funky Righteous Lid & the other in a wild hued mohair sweater... They looked an ad that would read "Don't you wish your mummy could knit like mine?"

Reviews of Knittishisms

• Canadian Jewish News, August 13, 2009

• The Eyrea>> http://the-eyrea.blogspot.com/2009/01/book-review-knittishisms-by-rebel.html

To purchase Knittishisms, The Zen of Jewish Knitting

contact: rebelknitter@gmail.com

Healer... heal thy self

I performed a yarn intervention the other day.

Yes! A yarn intervention. Every knitter should have an emergency contact person (yes, GK -- a Yarn Sponsor) when they are in the midst of a knitting crisis.

Wednesday P.M. ... An emergency distress e-mail is sent out by my good friend Woolly Mammoth (to Guerrilla Knitter & myself); but, alas, I am arm deep in the oven trying to save an under baked quiche. Luckily Guerrilla is more techno wired-up than myself. "Rebel," she exclaims through her cell phone, "... you need to call Woolly ... it's yarn intervention time... it's an emergency and I have to walk into a meeting just now." Could you say no? This is the stuff MITZVAHS are made of... Baruch Hashem! So, two minutes later, with oven mitts removed (you know it's hard to dial in those things!), I'm on the phone with Woolly. The details are this: W was in Ottawa, great yarn, divine pattern, but WRONG great yarn for pattern. Does Woolly do gauge swatches? NO! (and I quote: "I have perfect gauge, I don't ever do a swatch.") Yes, and she never blocks either... enough said!

So, how does one actually perform a yarn intervention, you might ask.

Does one force the crisis (not yet forsaken) individual to take a good long look at their increasingly abundant stash, due solely to incorrect purchasing and label reading? Perhaps.

Does one hold their hand sweetly and let them cry a cathartic yarn howl? Perhaps.

Or does one patiently go through the label instructions: located sweetly right there on the back of just about every gosh darn blessed label for all to see -- except for those who forgot their bifocals in their gosh darn Ottawa hotel room? Perhaps.

Every yarn intervention should be treated on a case by case basis. You must see yourself as a facilitator in this situation. This is about yarn, sticks, instructions and the psyche to balance all three in a holistic creative way.

I found out that when dealing with sweet sweet Woolly, yarn intervention means SHE'S JUST TOO LAZY TO DO THE MATH! So that's me. The human yarn abacus..... what a treat.

In the end, I sent her to Romni Wools for therapy. And Woolly was kind enough to buy me new set of 4.5 mm dpns ...ain't that just the sweetest thing you ever heard! Problem was, they were the wrong size... so I went back to Romni this A.M.

Confession: Now I need a yarn intervention.

I went to their sale section as Woolly mentioned they had some variegated Butterfly Cotton on sale... that was dangerous ... I can't even bring myself to relate to you all the $$$ I just spent... even if it is a phenomenal deal... 14 skeins later... well... you know....

So, Nu? What's New?

It's amazing. No matter how many things I cross off the knitting to-do list, the list just never gets finished. It's probably a combination of the fact that I keep adding to the list, and that small matter of the fact that the stash keeps growing. I really don't know how this happened, really.

NB: Always have one credit card that your partner neither knows about, nor sees the statement of -- this is the VISA or MASTERCARD on which you buy their gifts (they don't need to know how much or how little things cost). And your gifts. I call my personal VISA my yarn card. Miraculously, this card was recently upgraded to Platinum, while our joint card is still at the 'regular' rating. I really don't know how this happened, really.

Here are some of the tchatchkehs (thing-a-ma-jiggies & whatzits) that have been keeping me from finishing my not-finished-yet cardigan & my IDF hats.

First: the cast cosy I made for Jodi, who really was the coolest mum on the hill that Sunday afternoon, snowboarding for the first time along side her 3 spunky boys, until she wiped out and broke her wrist.

And then there was this knitted bunny I made for me sweet little buddy Harry who turned 1 this month. The H.W. are indeed his monogram, although, I like to say they stand for "Hawwy's Wabbit".

Ziggy. My darling son goes through the knees of his jeans at an alarming rate. Here's a new trick I figured out. Knit a little intarsia square/rectangle in a good quality DK cotton. And Voila: Really cool knee patch. He calls these his Star & Pirate pants, respectively. And yes... I too think it's really interesting that, so far, it's only the right knee of every pair of pants I have had to repair... sharper knee cap on that side? Actually, I have the Superbowl to blame. Ever since Ziggy saw the Boss slide across the stage during the half-time show.... he's been a rabid Springsteen fan. But, man, my kindergarten kid sure can ROCK!

And now what?

Well, I've been called up for jury duty selection and plan to get a lot of knitting accomplished that week. I really don't feel like I have the time to sit around determining the fate of another human being. Besides, who am I to decide Guilty or Not? To date my only judgements I have passed has been Knitter or Not?

To expedite a prompt dismissal as an unfair and unjust juror, I plan to shlep a really big bag of knitting along, mention often that I like pigeons & kittens and that I like to knit them little sweaters. Or I shall use Madame Defarge as my prototype as see how far that gets me. More to follow. Hey, maybe I can finally finish that Aussie-Merino sweater now that the weather is turning warm. Talk about not fair!

When you feel like your world is coming down around you. Yarn can save your life!

For those of you who know my thoughts on the health benefits of knitting. You will love this story.

In the horrible aftermath of the recent Italian earthquake comes this report: 98 year old Maria D'Antuono was retrieved from her collapsed bedroom alive 30+ hours after the initial quake -- how did she spend her time while waiting to be retrieved from the rubble? With her yarn & hook! Yup - crocheting! AP & CBC reported that she knit to pass the time, but alas all other news reports stated it was crochet; whatever -- another reason to cross-train, Wooly!

Yarn can save your life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/08/98-year-old-woman-found-a_n_184751.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/08/italy-earthquake-survivor-crochet

Maria, you rock!

They articles never said if they rescued her needlework as well.

I think she should frame it!

Plus -- re: Health Benefits of Knitting/Crocheting -- the woman is 98-years old - nuff said!

The Knit and Kvetch - Victorian Style

"Gossip" by George Agnew Reid, 1888

I love this painting. I finally managed to get to the newly re-jigged AGO.... Frank Gehry, you did a fine job! I had heard there was a fantastic installation of a giant knitted piece, but alas... "This area is currently blocked off for a new installation" Darn...But, yay, my favorite George A Reid painting "Gossip" has been reinstalled in all its glory. I'm not a massive fan of late 19th century Academic Painting, although the odd Paul Peel & A Bougereau can make me smile... but this one is so plainly intimate and real... I just love it.... Wooly... Guerilla... I recognize us, how bout you? Swap the aprons for some LuluLemon lycra and I'd say... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, Guerilla! And me? well I've been know to drop my yarn on the floor, much to the dismay of many my fellow fibre-floozies! Doesn't this look vaguely reminiscent of a last thursday of the month on Seaton Street? I'll say!Gotta Love it.