Yearly Archives: 2014

USA NOIR: Best of the Akashic Noir Series is out today!

Posted November 5 2013 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

My story, “Crazy for you,” along with those of T. Jefferson Parker, Susan Straight, Laura Lippman, George Pelicanos, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Joyce Carol Oates, and more, is in it. Page 155, if I’m not mistaken. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and said, “Readers will be hard put to find a better collection of short stories in any genre.” I love it!

We have a Pen on Fire Speaker Series event scheduled for Nov. 19 at Scape Gallery in Corona del Mar. (Click on the tab at top: Speaker Series, for more info on the event and how to register. The first 10 to register will get a free book.)

If you can’t make it, you can still order the book from all sorts of online sellers. You can also ask your local bookstore to order it. Order from Akashic’s website, or for ultimate ease, click below.

Dyeing yarn with Kool Aid: My newest obsession

Posted October 21 2013 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

We all have our obsessions, those things we involve ourselves in that have nothing to do with anything–not making money, not what others want us to do–that give us pure joy. My latest is dyeing yarn. I love playing with color and texture–because writing is black on white?–and right now, dyeing yarn is it. And when I learned (from Ravelry and websites you’ll find if you Google “dye yarn with Kool Aid”) that you can dye yarn with Kool Aid and food dyes, I became excited. I use to think you needed to use toxic dyes to do this, meaning all different equipment. But no. You can use whatever is in your kitchen.

Here’s how I did it, using a crockpot (microwaves come in handy, I hear, but I don’t have one).

Kool Aid dyeing only works on animal fiber yarn, apparently. So take a skein of yarn (I used Lamb’s Pride Brown Sheep worsted, natural). It can’t be in a cake or ball but in a long slinky hank. Soak it overnight. Then, fill your crockpot with enough water that the yarn will be covered with dye bath.

Lay in the yarn, cover it and turn it on high.

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When bubbles gather under the lid, it’s time for your dye bath.

Dissolve Kool Aid in hot water. I used two packets at first of Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade and then added another because the dye bath didn’t look blue enough. Pour it over the yarn. You don’t need to add vinegar as you would with food dye (to make the dye set) because the acid in Kool Aid makes the dye catch in the wool.

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Set the timer for an hour. At the end of the hour, turn off the crock pot and let the water cool. If you can’t wait, at least wait till the wool is cool enough to handle. Rinse in water that’s the same temperature, otherwise you will felt the wool.

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Hang to dry. Voila! Beauteous yarn, and it smells good!

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Two awards for writers

Posted October 10 2013 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Call for Submissions: William Saroyan International Prize for Writing
Entry Deadline: January 31, 2014

Nominations are now being accepted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Two prizes of $5,000 each are given biennially for works of fiction and nonfiction. Cosponsored by the Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation, the awards are intended to “encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan legacy of originality, vitality, and stylistic innovation.”

For more information — including entry forms, contest rules, complete guidelines, and press materials —visit the website at http://library.stanford.edu/Saroyan

Thank you for helping us spread the word!

Best regards,
(Ms.) Sam Petersen, for Stanford University Libraries
Tel: 650.854.5575; Email: sampetersen@sbcglobal.net

Journalists….

We are now accepting the applications for the 2014-15 Class of John S. Knight Journalism Fellows at Stanford University. The program brings together eight international and 12 U.S. journalists and journalism entrepreneurs who spend their year developing their ideas around challenges and opportunities for journalism innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership.

Information on how to apply can be found here http://goo.gl/2CUGsR

Please share this link with your friends, colleagues or anyone you think might be interested and a worthy candidate.

The deadline for international applications is Dec. 1, 2013; for U.S. applications, it is Jan. 15, 2014.

Find our tweets here: @JSKStanford and look for #JSKnet on Twitter for updates.

Thanks,

Robin Evans,
Outreach & Marketing Manager
John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships
Stanford University
revans1@stanford.edu
650-721-5955