Monday Musical Musings 2

Where am I?  Somewhere in the Caribbean, and far from ivories/ebonies and the world of church music, and unlimited internet.
Therefore, here's a late report about last week's musical offerings:
My background information here.

This Sunday was preceded by a 24 hour retreat for the women's ensemble.  It really paid off.  All 6 of them were really on, and confident with their singing.  Lots of compliments.  And the Brass Ensemble played lots of wonderful pieces all arranged by the trombone player.  


The Music:
Hymns

#1  Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.  Three verses and refrains, accompanied by the brass.  A surprise V7 chord lead up a half step for the final verse.  I often do this because I can.  Instead of going into a completely new key, I take the music and imagine the two key signatures which would work.  Today's was Ab and A.  Holding the Ab in the melody, I step the bass line down (Ab Gb E) and the melody Ab becomes G# or the leading tone to the key of A.  The brass followed right along and came in on the final refrain.  They're GOOD!

#2  Now the Green Blade Riseth.  French Carol, and often heard at Christmas time. Nice and lively tune, even though it's minor.

#3  It is Well with My Soul.  I didn't have much to contribute to be creative with this one, except on the final refrain I held the long melody notes while the brass played the echoing chords by themselves.

Incidental Music

Pre-Service, Prelude, Offertory and Postlude were played by the brass.  They are 2 trumpets, trombone, euphonium and tuba, and they practice every week for at least an hour with a brass coach (my favorite hubs).  All of these pieces were new and arranged by Don Allen.  "The Blessed Son of God" by Vaughn Williams, "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" by great great uncle Jeremiah Ingalls, "Hodie" by Sweelinck and Fugue #13 by Shostokovich.  I particularly liked the Sweelinck who was a Dutch composer and organist at the turn of the 17th century. There were lots of meter changes which were done beautifully.  (Thanks, guys!)

The vocal music was provided by Women of Worship Ensemble.  They were, indeed, WOW'sers and sounded great.  They sang "Be Thou My Vision" in a Jay Althouse arrangement which was lovely and dynamic.  A nice variety of unison and harmony with great crashing chords in the accompaniment from high octaves to low.  It was a bit of a challenge for me.  One of those pieces that I can sight-read and then realize the end bit will take a bit of memorization.  The "girls" didn't like to hold their notes for 12 beats while I took my time, so an accelerando was added.  They also sang "Joy Comes with the Dawn" as a "response".  
Thanks, Team!

And the winner is....

It's a challenge...
Criteria:
1.  Portable
2. Interesting
3. Mindless
4. Useful

Socks?  Lately  I've been making such complicated socks that I'm never sure if they are going to be "keep your eyes on the chart" interesting or repetitive enough to be a challenge yet not boring.

Kristi - Keep your eyes on the chart

Sunshine - repetitive, not boring

After I'm more than halfway finished with the first sock, I make that determination.  Therefore, I rejected socks.  I didn't want to take one halfway finished... I might run out of knitting.
Shawl? I looked at other, longer, half completed projects and came so close that it actually touched my carry-on:

Europa Shawl - well traveled

It certainly is light-weight, and has traveled across the Pacific Ocean (twice). But I never feel relaxed while knitting this, especially on open water... plus there's the chart holder, and the charts (2 more needed) and chart C is a two page'r taped together... so I decided it's not mindless enough. (It appears that I'm approaching a section of no nonsense knitting, but I can't risk it.)
Instead, I cast on (to check gauge) a little something I had put on my Ravelry project page with "zzz" attached.  Yes, this will work.  And my bag holds all the accessories.  Yes, the clear jar (plastic) is going in my carry-on.
The winner: Girly
For a little girl. <3

Pattern: Girly by Mags Kandis from Mission Falls Wee Knits 3

Yarn: Cable Cotton by Elsebeth Lavold Aran / 10 ply 100% Cotton 93 yards

Link to my Ravelry Page

O' Possum

O O O
XXX
I love that yarn, and the pattern... not shabby either!
I imagine wearing them out.  In fact I wore the first sock while knitting the mate.

Bought the yarn in Auckland, NZ, where possums are considered a pest.

Pattern: Eunice by Cookie A. from Sock Innovation Yarn: Waikiwi Prints by Naturally Fingering / 4 ply 55% Merino, 20% Nylon, 15% Alpaca, 10% Other (198 yards)

Slippers!

AGAIN, slippers.  Like other knitters who get requests and sort of end up in a rut, slippers seem to be the popular item around here.  One lucky friend has a family of a dozen or so who all got slippers for Christmas.  She's ready to go to the funny farm... Another Canadian from the northern climes has been on a hat binge. (Each one is a masterpiece!) Everyone wants to be HER friend!
I started knitting slippers in mid-November, and noticed hat my slippers were worn out.  How difficult is it to knit selfishly for oneself? Well, after 3 pairs, I started on these.  All mine!

The pattern:  Felted Slippers by Midnattsol from Midnattsol's Blog, women's (medium) size. Used US#10 needles, 19 stitches wide blocks.  Pre-felting size: 13 inches long; Aprés Felting: 9 inches.

The Yarn:  Classic Wool Merino and Classic Wool by Patons Worsted / 10 ply 100% Wool, Merino 223 yards.  The Classic Wool (red) felted more than the Merino (blue) not really distinguishable in size, but the Merino has a softer, more flexible texture.

Even without the finishing soles in place, I'm enjoying them. Truth be told, I can find only one of the soles...Bring on the cold!


PS.  I cheated... I tucked in the pointy toes with a few stitches before felting.

Follow-up Mission

I used 9 safety-pins to mark places needing repair.  The worst place is on the back, where there was a cluster of broken threads.  Surprisingly, the repairs went rather quickly, and although there was no matching yarn, it depends on the light.
Here's natural light from the window:

This was the worst patch, in the middle of the back.  A fine pullover if you can stand the heat while wearing a jacket!
The no flash picture indoors:

Most of the other places to repair were not so obvious:

Why is it so difficult (for me) to duplicate stitch on the reverse side of stockinette?  And after I sweat bullets over it, I wonder if it would have been easier by stitching from the inside?  Hmmm.  Anyone tried that?  I feel like I learned something about the structure of stitches in this project and maybe I'll say NO next time.  It wasn't that much fun, and of course, IF it was a garment I was creating, I would have ripped back to the offending area.
It's done for now, and I'm back to finishing up other small projects.  What should I take on my next cruise?

More Ivories than Yarn

Spent an overnight in a secluded B&B with 7 other women who enjoy music.

We were together from 5 PM to 12:30 PM the next day.  Two meals and a GOOD night's sleep left about 4 hours of uninterrupted rehearsal time.  Uninterrupted, did I say? Interrupted by bouts of rolling on the floor.

Phones ringing to announce the progress of a birth.  Very spotty cell service, and discussions of childhood speech impediments and the best "howling" we could do.
I arrived first to set up the keyboard to find the hubs forgot to put in the stand.  Telephone books!  What will happen to the future generations when those become obsolete?

Mission Impossible

I love my neighbor.  He does so much for us, and I really "owe" him...  so when he brings a "great yard sale buy" like a wool pullover, with numerous moth holes, and asks me if I can fix it... ?? What do I say?  I'll give it a try.  I did request that he have it dry cleaned (how happy would I be to infest my stash...?) and find appropriate wool to do said repair.  I figured if it really was going to be meaningful to him, he needed to invest a little time and $$ too.  And he did!
So here's what I have to work with:

The "matching" yarn isn't a match at all, but considering we have no LYSes less than 60 miles away, I'm working with an off color, and acrylic yarn.  There are probably a dozen places to repair, mostly on the back, and I warned him about my sock darning skills.  He had a look at my first attempt and I have the nod to continue with the rest of it.  The caveat is that when he wears it, expect other places to pull apart, and I'll see what I can do.
Here's the first attempt.

I know:  If it was my purchase, I would throw it in the washer on hot, and make beautiful mittens.