In The Mood

Susie says she wasn't that fond of granny square afghans until she saw mine. Awwww. But I know what you mean, Sus. I wasn't a great fan of them either until I was surrounded by some made by my mother-in-law and when the fabulous Vickie showed me how to make a granny square I found them addictive. I have a couple more in the works and they have a relaxing quality that's hard to explain. (By the way, you all should read Susie's blog - it's a hoot!!)

The good news is we were confirmed for two craft shows; one at the end of October and one the first week of December. The bad news, though not so bad, is that we were confirmed for two craft shows.

The practical side of my brain (known in some circles as the Minority) is beginning to pick at the other side of my brain (can't give it a name, maybe, creative, fun, irresponsible - something like that.)

It is saying perhaps I should leave afghan mode and get into hat and scarf mode and that will accomplish a few things:

One - hats and scarves are faster to produce than afghans so the inventory will increase to cover two shows that are six weeks apart.

Two - it will clear away the stash and after being in the office and trying to sort through the yarn and having come up with even more yarn that was hiding behind other yarn and finding completed items we forgot we had clearing the stash wouldn't be a bad idea.

Three - can't believe you're still in the afghan making mood. You don't usually focus for this long so I'm just trying to maintain the status quo.

Well, hats and scarves would be easier to produce but the thought of having to do something as opposed to wanting to do something has always been problematic for me - maturity issues aside. But it does make sense to start making things people may actually buy. Scarves and hats are decidedly less expensive than afghans and in the search of inventory, a lot of my hats sold last year so I don't have that many. I probably need to make some as a good business decision.

As far as the office is concerned, every once in a while I go in there to do some work. My blocking boards are in there and I got it in my head to do another homespun afghan and that's when I found all the yarn and items I forgot about. I told Joe I thought I would have to give away some yarn and he actually stop his fork half way to his mouth and looked at me as if in that very instance some alien force had come down and taken away his wife and replaced her with a sensible being.

I started separating the stash into whole skeins and partial skeins so I would know what I have. If I thought that would do something other than tell me I had a lot of both then the experiment has failed. I do have a lot of both. Hats and scarves are a more practical solution as it doesn't require as much of one kind of yarn to do a hat or scarf while an afghan takes up a lot more.

So, of course, I am working on an afghan and it is clear I do not have enough of this color to complete it. But I will only need one more skein to finish it off so I will get it and finish it off. I'm just not in the mood to do hats and scarves right now. I like doing what I'm doing and that's going to win the day because I know I will lose interest and want to start on something else so I will ride whatever project waves rolls in. It's one of the perks of being able to make decisions for oneself. I am certain between the 38 days to the first craft show and the 50 some days to the next one that I will hit a hat cycle such as I did last year and create hats out the wazoo but until then, I'm going to stick with the afghan run.

The only downside is that I was surrounded by so much fiber (just in my office not what's in the basement) that it was a little depressing but all that means is more granny and square afghans which are also popular and sell every year. I've already told Joe that in the event of my untimely demise he should call the wonderful April and the marvelous Melissa to organize the massive yarn sale that should take place. Someone is gonna get a really good haul.
He agreed a little too fast but can't really blame him. The garage is the only place where yarn isn't - and I can't say that for certain. I should throw a ball in there just to make the invasion complete.