Catching up

A quick list of what I've been up to

I just realized that I have (several times) promised a truly stitchy post for my SubStack friends and family. I hadn’t written any musings really since September 10 and here we are, past Halloween and into November. This may or may not satisfy but the sun is shining and I really SHOULD go out and plant the garlic and onions. But it is pretty nippy. November 1 is the Irish first day of winter—and that’s why December 21st is considered midwinter, as referenced in the Christmas carols. And I’ve just been looking at photographs I have taken over the past two months so I’m in the mood to look back a bit.

While I was recovering from September’s surgery, I finished two summer tops for myself—one from Carol Feller and the other from Mary Annarella. I love them both and have regretfully put them in storage until May 1, the Irish first day of summer (because June 21 is considered midsummer—maybe there’s a theme building here.) I also completed the knitted Log Cabin throw (another Carol Feller design) I started back in May. I absolutely loved this one as my “go to” snuggle-up during my recovery when I simply had to be horizontal for a bit on the couch.

Summer Drops – Yellow Brick Rodeo – Log Cabin throw

In October I started (and finished) my Hudson’s Bay Blanket jacket (capot). I think I’ve mentioned the Hudson’s Bay Trading blanket before. I used the same bands of color used in the blankets I remember my grandmother had and that were recently included in the trading company’s logo. I believe I will be wearing this cardigan all through the winter. The knitting pattern is Carol Feller’s Chroi cardigan to which I added 16 row stripes of contrasting color interspersed with 14 row stripes of the main color. I put roomy front pockets on matching the stripes. The yarn is a merino/mohair aran weight so it knits up pretty quickly. What I love most is the very generous collar that you can pull right up to keep the back of the neck nice and warm.

For those worried that I was neglecting my quilting, you can rest assured that I’ve been tipping away (an Irish colloquialism) at the quilt for Owen and Liz. It’s one of the “see how many fabric scraps I can use up” quilts. I have a wall of fabric. Nearly all of my quilts started since COVID are scrap quilts. The constraint of not buying fabric for the top has really been pushing me into new horizons of creativity. And each fabric has a past, an association with other projects and people. In this one are the fabrics I used for Owen’s first quilt, made 30 years ago. It also had pieces from batiks my sister Nicki brought me from Bali, wedding quilts I made for my daughter and the other two sons, and even some dresses I made for myself and for my daughter when she was small. A real quilter doesn’t throw any fabric away.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

Lest you think that all I do is stitch day and night, I’ll bring you up to date on my other BIG project.

At the beginning of August, I became the “technical director” of the Robbie O’Connell Songbook. Robbie and I had often talked about getting a songbook together. I think the major stumbling block was the traditional idea of a songbook: a paper version of the songs with words and music. It would take a great deal of time and money, someone to write the musical notation, getting a publisher and then marketing and distribution. At least that was how we were thinking.

But then, back in January, I launched my own SubStack as a way to email friends and family updates instead of putting my musings on a website and sending out an email with a link to the latest post. All Stitched Up came into being and I’ve been very pleased with the experience (except when I totally shot myself in the foot by accidentally erasing my account.)

At the same time, Robbie was getting requests for the words to songs that were not up on HIS website—a site that had not seen much action since 2019. I admit, having just released myself from the burden of managing my own site, I wasn’t terribly enthused about taking on the task of updating and managing someone else’s—not for love nor money. But the songs were out there on YouTube, not always the best versions and none of them on an Official Artist Channel. And that’s a problem.

We hatched a plan—and the Robbie O’Connell Songbook was born. A few of my recent posts/newsletters tie in with our weekly posts of Robbie’s songs¹ —one song a week published on SubStack on Sundays at noon. The YouTube recording of each song is a link in the post. We usually release the YouTube on the Friday before so we can handle any technical glitches that might show up… or make any copyedits on the post once we’ve read the preview email.

Here’s the thing… While the YouTube song book (@robbieoconnellsongsandstories) SAYS it’s the official Robbie O’Connell YouTube channel, it isn’t an OAC—an Official Artist Channel recognized as such by YouTube—yet. We are trying to work through that but it’s a numbers and algorithm challenge. Robbie’s distributor, CDBaby, no longer facilitates this process (don’t know why). It’s the proverbial Catch 22.

“How can we help?” you may be asking yourself… Here’s how:

1. Go to Robbie’s YouTube channel and SUBSCRIBE (numbers). It costs nothing, you won’t even get notified of the next song video posted unless you click on the little bell.

2. If you do listen to any of the songs (we are up to #15), give them a THUMBS UP (algorithm). I’ve been told that when you get to around 1000 subscribers, the YouTube Partner Program starts to pay attention.

3. (Optional) Feel free to COMMENT! We read every one whether on SubStack or YouTube. You can comment on both platforms to your heart’s content.

It’s interesting that, while the Songbook’s SubStack is getting close to 200 subscribers, the YouTube channel has only 34 today. It appears that when you click on the video in the SubStack newsletter post it might not count as a VIEW on YouTube. I simply can’t figure that one out. But unless someone ALSO subscribes to the YouTube channel, we’re not getting any traction with the folks who can grant Robbie OAC status. And that’s kind of important in the current climate of AI and fake videos. Neither of us is looking for financial gain with this project. Robbie would just like the songs to get out there and be heard, just as any author would like their work to be read. We will be sending out a newsletter about that on the SongBook Substack in the coming week.

In the end, it’s very much like that old shampoo commercial… “and she told two friends…”

If each of you subscribe and tell two friends, and ask them to tell two friends… well, I’d have to make a spreadsheet to estimate how long it would take to make 1,000 subscribers. But I’m willing to bet it wouldn’t take long.

Here’s the photo we are starting to use in the videos… If you click on it, you’ll get the YouTube Songbook channel! I am so grateful to have you in my life. Sending you a HUG! Pass it on.

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