Decisions, Decisions

I spent the morning languishing in bed. i woke up at my usual time and I was still tired so I lay in bed and thought about stuff. Stuff I wasn't doing with my days that I could be and stuff I could be doing and just about stuff. I am not sure I reached any conclusions but I do know that while spending time with the core folks of my knitting group that I had a good time last night. Being with people who mutually enjoy each other is a great gift and it was during that conversation listening to the fabulous Melissa explain how she has a plan to get herself moving again that I found the inspiration to continue moving myself.

I would take a photo of the item on the blocking board but it's really quite nondescript. We are getting new members in our church and the pastor wanted to know if I would make some spa cloths to be part of a welcome gift. I put this before my knitting group on Sunday and they thought book covers and book marks would be a good idea. I put that option to the pastor and she wanted the spa cloths.

So I made the book cover. I already have spa cloths made. I thought it would be a fun thing for them to have both. They take only a few hours to make and it does help go through the stash so as far as I'm concerned they can have the spa cloths with the book cover and everyone can be happy. I can even attach a bookmark to the book and make a trifecta!

The next square in the afghan is something of a challenge. It is intarsia and has some detail in it. I admit to being somewhat scared of it but I am going to go through with it. The block with the cables and beads is about to come off the blocking board and it does look better blocked - but we knew it would.

So, just to be clear I am working on:

2 book covers - 1 already made (just needs seaming)
4 spa cloths - 3 already made
an intarsia square

I have no idea what I'm going to do Saturday.

Blessings Everyday

This is the new collage of item's I've made for the year. The last one had 24 photos and this one has 28 and if you don't know how to use Picasa to make and alter photos, let me tell you it's a nice, free tool to have.

The wonderful Melissa snapped at me Wednesday night because I had what I felt was a real dilemma. If i sell a set of 5 face scrubbies - which the marvelous Chantal loved - did I make five things or one? Miss Vicki and I were pursuing this question when from across the table came a "Oh God!" OK, so I gather she doesn't think it's an important thing. I believe the word 'competitive' was bandied about.

I cannot explain why I think it's important but I do keep track of what I make over the year. So, I am going to count it as five different things because they are full projects and they didn't form themselves.

I spent the past two Saturday mornings at Lay Speaker Academy and can I tell you what a wonderful class it was. This year I took Advanced Preaching taught my Rev. James Preston and the man was born to teach. He clearly enjoys it and gives instructive, constructive criticism that will go a long way to making us all better preachers.

There were great people in the class and there are some churches who are very lucky. Maurice and Audrey stand out to me because they had the best presence in the pulpit. Audrey is a new pastor at a church a couple of blocks from my house and I look forward to visiting the church again to see her in service.

Maurice and I were in class last year and we bonded again this year. He gave a sermon (we all did} which reminded me of my father. That doesn't happen very often and I so wish to count him among my friends. Audrey, too. She's a sweetheart and it's impossible to have too many sweethearts in your life.

There was snow out there - imagine that in February - and I am ready for Spring. I am hoping to be here when Spring arrives. I am going to have to get a complete physical and I want to do that in the late season.

Tomorrow is a full day at church and some afternoon knitting in Evanston. In the meantime, I have to put together the sweater pieces which have been on the blocking board since yesterday and then decide what's coming next. I am looking at the intarsia afghan look at me and I have a special order hat that needs a second draft - maybe I'll work on those next...or not.

Hey, I'm competitive not decisive.

When You Believe

So, yesterday was the first day of the Pleasant Home Holiday Shop. There's about two dozen local artisans: jewelers, knitters, book makers, wood carvings, paintings and drawings and others. We are nestled into Pleasant Home which is a wonderful mansion. We are there for the entire week and the first day is always the most attended but folks do come in during the week.

For my group, it is the fourth time we've participated and we've been the top sellers for the past three years. I was a little worried (nothing new there) that we would not make the goal I have placed in my head. The truth is I have a goal for my own sales: $425. Yesterday I took a step towards that goal with sales of $185 - all to one person. Someone I went to grade and high school with who lived just a few blocks from me when we were coming up and who still lives in the neighborhood.

But that's not the great news. The great news is that Miss April sold a bunch of her stuff. Now I believe a seller should be able to price the way they see fit but Miss April seriously under prices her items. She does it for the love of it - in real life she is a real estate agent. She's thrilled at what she made and that is really the important thing. I'm thrilled she sold so much because it is the best she's done in a show.

Yesterday Melissa, April and I manned the table (it's the only day during the sale week we are required to do so) and it was a fun time. Saturday, April, Vicki, Chantal and I set up the table, then we (minus Chantal) went to eat some authentic Mexican food and went over to Knot Just Knits and spent a couple of hours - where the owner of the shop pointed out I was the only one who did not purchase anything - she does not know how great a feat that is. But I did vow to purchase something on Friday when the group goes there - and I am bringing donations to the lending library she has started.

Can anyone tell me where I put the sheet music to 'O Holy Night'? I pulled it out to rehearse it and now I have no idea where it is. I might have taken it to church already - since I have to be in Oak Park before Sunday, I will go and see if I stuck it in my music folder. Maybe it's in the car or the van. I didn't find it in the house and it didn't just disappear so it's somewhere - might as well be at church, waiting for me, laughing at me.

I really want some ice cream.

It's Only Fun After It's Done

They tell you about the road to hell. They tell you about it very early in life and it gets repeated in the knitting life. It is paved with all that good intention stuff. You are looking to do a project and you say to yourself: 'Self, make some squares out of stash yarn and when you get enough of them just sew them together and make an afghan. That would be cool.'
You know how the conversation goes and you get yourself all kinds of excited because this is a culmination of a bunch of knitting stuff.

First, there's knitting/crocheting: just the very act of it makes us giddy with delight and we are enthusiastic about what will becoming off the hooks and needles.

Second, using the stash. There's a love/hate relationship with the stash - you love to have one, you hate to use yarn out of it because then there would be no more stash and you love your stash but using the stash means going to the LYS or yarn section of the craft store to buy more yarn ( GOOD!!) and refresh/renew the stash - and we love that.

Third, the creativity - every square can be different. We can experiment with stitches and colors and mixing fibers together and almost anything goes because if you rim the square and then the entire afghan with an unifying color then the whole thing comes together and if it doesn't you can get away with it by calling it rustic.

It all sounds really good - and it probably really is - but what they don't tell you; what they save and make you discover for yourself is that there are details - details that you will have to deal with. "Oh, yes, all those squares will have ends you have to do something with." "You will have to sew or learn to crochet them together", "You will have to watch carefully so you match things up just so..." They don't tell you that and I think they leave it out on purpose. It's a test to see if you really belong in the crafter's circle. All craft genres have their little quirks that the crafter has to deal with. The very first person who discovered he had to deal with a yarn end decided not to tell the next person because he wanted them to have that unique experience for themselves and the when the second person discovered he too had to sew in an end, went to the first guy and said,"Dude."

To which the first guy replied," Yeah, I know." and the code was made. When women started to get into the guilds, you know they didn't share the code with them. So now, this discovery is something of a rite of passage but we never really learn it. We forgive the process because we like the end result. For all the swear words we say while we are making our projects as soon as the delivery is over we fall in love and forget about the pain that was with us just moments before.

We even look forward to the next one that's how sick we are. So, this one moves from the WIP to the complete pile. Now there are four WIPs in the hopper and I don't see a completion date in the pike for any of those and I'm looking two weeks down the road. I am running into a little snag with the biased crochet afghan and I hope I am working it correctly considering every row has a color change and this is the third time starting it. If it doesn't work, then all those color changes will become a granny square afghan. Hmmm, now I don't know what to hope for.

Yarndis - Redux

I was at a loss to explain it. Why I have WIPs up the wazoo now that I've cleaned up the living room. Why it couldn't stay uncluttered for a moment. Then just this morning as I was putting each project into it's own bag - Yarndis. The yarn goddess is playing with me. And not only does she have me working on 4 afghans - she has made each one of them hate me.

The first one - the 42 square afghan. I couldn't use the 12 inch squares because the measurements didn't add up but luckily I had more than enough of the other size squares. It just wasn't a good mix of crochet with knit squares but it all worked it self out and now I have just to add the last strip and then do an edging and it will be all done. It's trying to kill me because it was supposed to be easier than it's turning out to be. Don't ask me why I never learn the lesson that my imagination has much more energy than my dimensional self - but I never do. The last strip will be added in a few days when I get back around to the afghan. I know, I can just get it finished and over with but I am at the mercy of Yarndis who also wanted me to work on the crazy afghan.



This one really is trying to kill me. It's trying to suffocate me. It has grown since I started working on it and what started out as a cute little thing has morphed into a monster afghan. The pattern says to to until there are 85 shells across and since it's one increase per row, it should be 85 rows but that's not how it went but I couldn't bring myself to do one more increase so I am hoping it won't go wonky on me. I haven't even started the decreasing yet and the thing takes up the whole chair. I don't think this will be an afghan as much as it will be a bedspread. I went out to Hobby Lobby yesterday to purchase one more skein of each color just in case. The good thing is that I will be decreasing every row so it should so maybe the yarn will hold out. It took 6 skeins to get to this point but this one will definitely require an edge to it - I won't be surprised if it will need to eat another skein or two.

These last two you haven't seen yet but I have talked about them - the green crochet afghan and the knitted afghan that calls for duplicate stitch but I didn't want to duplicate stitch so I decided to do intarsia instead. Let me just say working with the bobbins are fun and the intarsia stitches are actually very textural. I expected them to lay flat in the piece and they are not. It's like they are being added on top - BONUS!!

The green afghan calls for front post stitching which makes for an interesting texture as well. While I was getting the yarn for the crazy afghan, I picked up three skeins of three different green colors (3 skeins total) just to supplement. I expect all the green I have will be used. These are trying to kill me by the sheer volume of it all.

Today I am working on the green afghan and I am tempting Yarndis by saying I am managing to keep the edges straight. I am grateful for that because it would just drive me bonkers - I am going to have to put an edge around this one, too, just to give it a nice finish so if it was a little off, edging could fix it but it would make me absolutely crazy and no one in the free world wants that.

Melissa noted Wednesday evening that I've picked up the crochet hook and I haven't put it down. Not quite true. Knitting remains my love but my world has opened up that much more and I have to admit I don't think of it as i did before - which is probably just the world correcting itself since I crocheted first.

Hey Jesse

I have no quarrel with LeBron James going to Miami even though the disappointment that he did not come to Chicago is almost like the first round when we lost the Olympic bid in the first round - I'm glad we're not getting the Olympics, either. And although I think Jesse Jackson's assessment that the Cavalier's owner has a slave owner mentality, I see how he got there. I just don't think it fits. I can't believe such a big deal was made over where a player wanted to play. On the one hand, sports shouldn't be that big. On the other hand, there are better stories to be found in sports.
In every professional ballpark in the country the number 42 can be found. In every one. Jackie Robinson's number flies in every ballpark because it is retired in Major League baseball. No player will ever be assigned that number. Ever. Once a year every player wears the number 42. It was the idea of Ken Griffey, Jr. who has the idea that one player should wear the number of Jackie Robinson Day but soon it was decided that every player should wear it.

Every player in the National League celebrating when Major League baseball became integrated. Every player on that day is one player. How wonderful is that? In Miller Park it is especially sweet because the 42 is hanging right next to 44 - Hank Aaron's number.

I imagine every game at Miller Park there is a kid who is attending their first game and they see the numbers hanging there and asks the grown up with them why they are there and they get an explanation about Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron. For my generation, when we were kids getting that explanation, we knew it was a big deal. For my nieces' and nephews' children, I see them wondering why it is a big deal at all that a black player is in the major leagues. Then they will learn about the history of their country and the strives we've made. We aren't even half way to where we need to be - but though the explanation of the generations are basically the same - the impact is different. And that has to be counted as progress.

What does this look like to you? Does this look like part of an afghan? It doesn't. And do you know why? Because it isn't. Last night, I was looking at the progress on the crochet afghan and I went stash shopping and didn't find a lot of white yarn - which I kind of expected, I don't often buy white yarn as a rule - when all of a sudden the urge to work on something else swept over me. Just like that. The afghan mojo was gone. It will come back when I go to the craft store and get more yarn to finish the afghan but at the moment I decided to use some of my 'better' yarn and do a quick little project. So this Misty Alpaca skein is turning into a set of fingerless gloves. They look like stockinette on one side and a 3x1 rib on the other side and if I do the stitching right, they will be reversible. I like this little distraction because I can finish off this set in a day and is a nice little respite from the bigger project.

Sometimes you have to take a breather from the bigger picture to appreciate the smaller, finer things!!

Mystical, Magical Moment

The 42 square stash buster afghan project doesn't feel like a project. I don't quite know why but I find myself thinking I need to pull out the books and look for a new project to start. Of course, that could be because the knitting of the 42 squares is about half done and considering most of the squares are just 8 inches with a couple of 12 inch ones thrown in for quirkiness, they don't take very long to knit up and an even shorter time to crochet them so it could be I am at that time when I'm ready for a project to be done so I can start a new one.

These 42 squares are going to be need steaming so they can set up at almost 8 inches square so I went to the blocking board and the new steamer. Then they are going to need sewing or crocheting together. I think because they are different colors and styles that sewing them together will be the best thing.

I don't know what it is about steaming..I like it. I probably steam the squares a lot more than I need to because I like the feel of the steam and the smell of it. The good thing is I can steam three squares at a time so it won't take very long to get them all ready for the sewing needle. But finishing, though a necessary part of the knitting process, is not knitting so my fingers will be itching to start something new.

I am in afghan mode and I'm getting ready for the holiday craft sale because..let me be the first to say it..Christmas is only 5 months away. For the sale, I won't be allowed to have my 200 items on the table as I did last year so I have decided on afghans and pillows. I also have to get the shop inventory back up to snuff in time for the gift giving season.

Time tends to run faster when you're older.

The day is full: a lot of working, maybe some gardening (I haven't planted a thing but the clean up of garden plots continues.) Pray that I don't give in to my customary laziness and that I really clean up the living room. All I have to do is give a real concerted effort for an hour but it seems to elude me and I make excuses. I can't do that today. I really need to do some serious housecleaning cuz I want to have a party!! If I make it through that - it will truly be a mystical moment!

Two Places at Once

There are some who make the argument that baseball is like life..I have probably been one of them. But I know now that life is like knitting. They contain some of the same paradoxes.

For instance..

We have a new minister at our church. I have been at this church for about eight months and I have seen some of the things we've done to insure we do not continue. With the new assignment we are either a dying church or a church with a new beginning.

The only thing separating the two is our attitude.

I have finished both afghans I was working on. One was given to the pastor last Sunday and the other one is packaged up and will be sent when the person who ordered it pays for it in the shop.

So, am I at the end or am I at the beginning? Yes to both.

Our church is a dying church and frankly, I think it should. I knew the reputation before I walked in the doors and I've seen with my own eyes and battled with my own tongue. What we've been doing and what has been done before I ever walked in the door has to end. It has to die in order to bring about the changes we need to incorporate so the new church can begin.

Likewise, i will remain at the end of the last project until I pick up the needles, hooks and yarns to make the new beginning.

The changes are going to be tough on some folks - not because they are going to have a hard time letting go of the last pastor - but because they are going to have a hard time letting go of the attitude they had. They think they've dropped it. That they were only acting that way because of one person and now that she's gone, they can be themselves. Like they were abducted by a righteous alien.

You act like you act because you are who you are.

I am praying for my church and trying to be unemotional at the same time. Emotions have not served us well while we've jettisoned reason and faith.

I've already started my new project. I've added more squares to the stack I showed you earlier. I'm moving away from the end of the old project to the beginning of the new and It's coming along. I'm still looking back a little - a lot of work went into those old projects. There are things to remember about them. And the best of what they offered will go into the new projects and the worse of them will have to be acknowledged then avoided.

Because that's how we learn and that's how life goes.

Gorge Jus

So here are the results of the Epais yarn and my favorite afghan pattern. Finished it just in time before the major part of the 'isn't this project over yet' feelings started coming in. And they were starting. There is some Homespun in the mix of this and it is much bigger than the photo shows. This can go on a small bed.

Now, I am project-less. Work on the afghan for my pastor's son? It seems as if his report date has been moved to August so now there's no rush - not that you all had anything to say about which one I should make. But now I can work on something else and you know - since I have to do a stash bust - I am thinking granny square and falling leaves central.
I'm thinking I should grab a tote bag and take it to the upstairs stash and fill it up with as many colors as it can hold, then grab one of the big pound skeins of dark purple that I no longer need for the afghan that doesn't need to be made for six months and start motif madness.

I found my inventory of crochet hooks and they are now sharing the ones from the M-I-L collection and they coexist peacefully and are asking very sweetly to be made into granny squares and I have about 12 skeins of Nuro Kureyon that would make pretty squares as well.

Then again, I can pull out a knitting pattern book or check out Ravelry for something in my queue....decisions.

I am curious..how do you decide what to make next?

Happy Friday!

I need your input.
The pastor's son enlisted in the Marines and will be off to basic training next month - almost one month to the day. We, OK I, cannot let him go without an afghan blessed by the congregation. His favorite color is purple and I have two skeins of Caron By The Pound in Deep Purple (because that's the manly purple. Can't send a Marine pleb into basic with lavender. I thought I would do squares and so pulled out my knit stitches book (one of many) and cast on and, well, I ain't feeling it.

But I don't have a lot time to let feelings get in the way, the lad needs an afghan!
So, off I went to my Ravelry cue (blbochenek for those that want to be a friend) and I looked over what I had in my cue and selected the following: Give me your input and I will do the one with the most votes:

Here's this one. I would do it in one solid color or add aubergine to the deep purple.
Then there's this one that also could be done in a solid color for texture.
And the final one that could also be done in a solid color.

The good thing is I think I've done all of these patterns before so the learning curve should be short and once I get going it should roll trippingly off the needles - to paraphrase Shakespeare.
Please give me your thoughts - I need to get going on the afghan and I have to put the green Epais one to bed and it would be easier if I knew where I was headed.

You think about it - I'm on my way to the yarn store.

Wait..where?

I Know You Are But What Am I?

It mocks me. The shawl that never ends. It mocks me. I took it with me Friday to the clinic when I drove Pastor Harriette to her appointment. I've worked on it yesterday and today. I measure it to see how close it's getting to the 32 - 36 inches. And it's still somewhere in the 20's.

And I swear I hear the fiber laugh every time I pull out the yard stick.

But it doesn't know me. Or it thinks it knows me all too well. I'm giving up. Everyone who saw it at the clinic thought it was a beautiful thing in progress and I will not be deterred from the finish line - I have no idea what else I would make with it.

I admit to not knitting a lot today but I am about to make up for that. I am going to whip that shawl into submission. I am about to kick some fiber tail. I will not rest this evening until it is somewhere in the 30s. But I am noticing there might not be enough stitches going across the top to stop at 32 which is why I am allowing that 4 inch range. Certainly 36 inches will provide enough width - I hope. I have a meeting at eleven tomorrow morning and I would like to get at least 4 hours of sleep.

Oh stop it - I'm going to check the gauge of the yarn, measure out what the gauge is on the needles and then count the stitches. I'm going to do what I should do so I don't bind off just to find i have a really long babushka instead of a shawl.

The shawl is going down.

Yarndis - The Goddess of Fiber

So last night was the first evening meeting of StitchCraft and we were supposed to have a Yarn Swap - the rules were:
get a skein or two of any yarn you like
put it in a paper bag (plastic would do the point is not to be able to see inside the bag
place the bag in a pile
pick out a bag not your own

it all went wrong at
get a skein or two of any yarn you like

April didn't understand that rule and she said she put in yarn that she wanted to get rid of. So, instead of a blind swap, we did more of a yarn exchange. Everyone opened up their bags to see what was inside.

April's yarn - which everyone else really liked - went to Vickie.
Lisa's yarn went to Betty
Betty's yarn went to Lisa
My yarn came back home with me

what?

Well, because I originally brought a skein of the Norville yarn in cranberry and April said she wanted it because she wanted to put it in the afghan she was making and she showed me the afghan.

Yarn did not go with that afghan. So I pulled out a skein of Homespun in Lagoon (One, the afghan she was making was in Homespun. Two, the lagoon was a much better color fit.) So April took my Lagoon

And I took Vickie's skein.

Let me take a moment right here to tell you about Yarndis - The Goddess of Fiber. She can sometimes play with people. Gods, being Gods, can do anything - which must make their existence somewhat boring at times. Where's the challenge? Where's the struggle? It is to be found in the mere mortals. Especially those who make resolutions and pronouncements. The challenge is to make them go back on their resolve.

I had resolved myself that the colorfusion Epais yarn was not going to be used in prayer shawls and the colorfusion parts was a little disappointing. So, of course, the yarn I got from Vickie was another skein of the Epais in another shade of green to go with the two shades of green I have already. I don't care how blue that ball on the right looks, it's green. (Got some blue in in it, but it's green.) That's the one I got from Vickie. The one on the left - that looks brown - is the camo, and the one in the middle that looks white - is a light green.
I cast on last night with the skein on the right. The color is - I kid you not - 'I Love You' - Yarndis must be having herself a good yuck over that. Didn't thrill me. It was good but it wasn't great. I am, what the Harlot would call a yarn pig. I wanted the yarn cuz it was big and fluffy. Never mind I wasn't thrilled about it's kin already in my possession. Yarndis doesn't mind making us suffer gluttony.

But then I remembered - I was going to do my favorite afghan with this yarn. I was going to combine it with the Homespun remnants.

Not any more.

I now have five..FIVE..skeins of this. That's nearly 2000 yards. I have enough to make that afghan using only this yarn. And I have a feeling I'm gonna like it cuz it's color blocks. April and Vickie also tore into the middle of the skein and we saw where the colorfusion will take place. Thus, I still have hope and I think this is going to be interesting at the very least.

Take that, Yarndis.

And so it goes

Yes, it's another prayer shawl..but come on, it's a beautiful prayer shawl. I started this in church on Sunday and it was finished as I was watching Serena Williams make the most stunning comeback in her tennis career. She was down one set (BTW, we're talking about tennis) and was losing the second set 4-0 when she got herself together, remembered she was the best tennis player on the planet. She won the second set in a tie break and then went on to command the third set. The fringe was put on as I watched Roger Federer get back to his game and defeat Davydenko - even though that dude has beat Federer in the past. I played high school and college tennis. Had a tennis scholarship. Played two years of college doubles and won all but two matches in those two years - don't ask me where my tennis racquet is today. It's a real shame how I've become so un-athletic.)

So I guess this is the tennis prayer shawl. I am also still working on the blue shawl that I have dubbed 'the shawl that shall never end.' I know my mistake - I knit it on the needles that were on the package. I am using size 5 needles on sport weight yarn. I wanted a tight stitch - I didn't want it lacy and I am getting what I asked for. But it will never end.

I went searching for a shawl pattern that used the Vanna Glamour and all the shawls were rectangles - and I didn't want to make a rectangle shawl because I'd been making so many (and there's another one on the horizon) so this is what I get for being ambitious. The shawl patterns I did find for sport weight says it will take at least 1000 yards - a little bit more than I calculated. Makes me happy i have about four more skeins. (I am about to finish with skein 2.) This is what comes from thinking like a designer. I don't have the chops for it.

I will continue on with it because one of the other 2010 resolutions is: 'start - finish what you start.' And I will make sure I note it in new knitting journal - yes, I have a handwritten journal of knitting projects. I started it with the shawl that never ends project. I will note the length and number of stitches on the needles before casting off (even number of stitches, of course.) And whether I choose to tassel or fringe.

Like Serena and Roger, I won't give up and I won't go back - that's how knitting champions are made.

The Boring and the Beautiful

I could place a photo of the WIP sequined beautiful but boring afghan here. I could. Except the laziness that I am currently operating under will not let me get more dressed, go downstairs, load the camera, place the afghan wip outdoors, take a photo (or five) come back in, attach the camera to the PC and download the photo.

I'm fatigued just writing about doing it. As an aside, I visited the Julie/Julia website; you know the one that inspired the movie about the woman who made all the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook? Not one picture. I went there thinking I would see photos of those creations. Nope. Nada. Rien. Nuthin'. Just saying.

I am on the third skein of yarn and the second bag of sequins. I did a little count of the sequins already in place and the count was approx. 350. I am about halfway through the project so there will be lots of bling. I have to say that is the most fun part - seeing the light hit the pailettes and they just sparkle like crazy. And since I vented yesterday, I have to say the project seems to be moving more smoothly so I expect I will be taking the photos of the finished object in a very short time.

To completely change the subject: I need your input.
I am a writer by profession - though I guess I am no also a knitter by profession, but first came the writing. Well, the knitting came first way back in grade school - no, matter, not important to what I need your input on.

I have three books crowding my brain saying they need to be written. I trust them when they say they need to be written; I just don't know which needs to be written first. I need you to read the synopsis of each and tell me which one I should work on.

My Father's Son is a historical novel about two boys: one born of a slave, one born of the slave owner's wife, both sons of the slave owner and how their lives take different paths as they both fight for freedom.

The Coffee Club is a novel about five friends (three black, two white) and the strong bond that gets them through a painful divorce, the death of a spouse, a surprising new love and living the single life.

Short Rows is a book about the connection of knitting and life. Short little musings about this craft we all love so much.

What do you think? Which one of these babies should be pushed through the creative canal first? Let me know your thoughts. In the meantime, I'm gonna throw some laundry in the machine and get back to the afghan.
031004

Footloose

I'm telling ya, this doing your own business thing can really get you going. Between Twitter, Etsy, Elance and all the things I have to check, it's a wonder I can remember to blog and sometimes even knit.

I have no pending projects.
Did you hear me?
No, pending projects..and the next thing on my schedule?
Start new project.

Believe it or not, I'm not complaining. I'm actually having fun. There's a reason I don't have pending projects: I finished them both last night.
It took all of a day to do the eyelash bangle. My bracelets arrived from eBay and off I went. I got involved with it, I forgot I blocked out the stripe bag and needed to do the strap. The eyelash bag is holding three CD cases and is holding up like a champ. The striped bag has a book and small portfolio in it and it stretched a very little bit.
I'm wondering myself when I will be out of this bag phase.
Truth is, there is this little pattern playing over and over in my head saying: "Make me, make me!" and I keep replying: "You're a scarf. You're a winter scarf. I can't make you yet!" But I see it in my head. I see the yarn, I see the completed image.

Well, I have to start two projects because I have to - I am thinking I may relent and give in to the voice.

One must trust oneself.

We're In This Love Together

Let me say how much I appreciate all you guys. I woke up this morning and went to my email and Twitter box and there were such lovely private tweets and emails that it just me smile with tears of joy. Earlier, I was talking with one of my very best friends on this planet and he said to me he was in the dumps and talking to me lifted him up.

You have no idea how much you've lifted my spirits especially after yesterday when someone tried to bring them down. (Don't worry, they didn't succeed too much.)

These forums have been such a great way to get to know some truly splendid people and I'm so honored you are part of my life.

Want to see what I've finished?


I'm in love with this bag! I searched and searched for the paillettes and finally found them at Hobby Lobby (that is going to be my new #1 craft store.) Come on, admit it, it's cute.
And I blocked out the cable afghan. I love my little steamer, I think I gave myself a facial when I was steaming the afghan. If someone can tell me how to make the deep purple photograph true in digital photography, I'd appreciate it.

This afghan is so soft and it blocked out to a very generous 54x64. That's a nice size afghan for anybody. It isn't something I would be placing in the shop now because it's more of a fall thing, but I'm thinking it might make a nice present for a graduate going off to school in the fall. And who doesn't love purple?

These will be both go on sale in the shop.

Less is Less

There should be a photograph of something to the left. Alas, there are no new photos to show. Oh, there's a lot to take pictures of. Like the scarf I knitted up in a day.
Or the progress I'm making on the cable afghan (which is haunting me) or
the little preemie hats I made or
the WIP cotton place mats.

Or how my yarn stash has grown even larger than before I had the contest that gave away dozens of skeins ( I replaced those with just what I bought yesterday.)

But I cannot bring myself to share my shame with you. Less is not more. Less is less and more is way more than should be allowed in such close quarters. Poor Joe. I believe he is overwhelmed with it all. And now I feel his pain.

Today is a pretty free day as far as any work going on. I only have some church and garden work on - the rest of the schedule is filled with colored blocks (which means nothing planned.) I usually knit during those times and I suspect I will again. But I will put down the needles and attempt to do something that even remotely resembles.....organization.

I am a complete goober when it comes to this stuff. My mother never really forced me to clean my room as a child and now that I can really get away with stuff, I have on blinders until one day when I walk into a room and say "What the he--?" Then I clean it. But I don't like it. Now, the living room is in dire need of an intervention because whatever is going on in there can't be called 'living' so I need to organize. I googled 'how to organize stuff' and up popped 'howtoorganizestuff.com. (Google is great! In fact, I wonder if anyone has tried to google Osama Bin Laden to see if his secret Facebook profile would come up.)

The site has a ton of articles that talk you through how to organize people, places and things. Alas, it does not have 'how to organize a yarn stash that has gotten so out of hand that only people who actually live in the house will come in the house and even the dog is considering moving."

So I had to settle to how to organize the bedroom and garage.
Wish me luck - I'm going in!!

The Road to Hell

is paved with good intentions.

Intent is a powerful thing. I believe in intent. One can tell the truth with the intent of bringing harm and one can lie with the intent of protecting someone from harm. I intended to make a cute little baby blanket and I have started it twice with two different yarns.

It don't want to be made.

At least not by me. Or at least not in the two yarns I've started it in. I cannot even force myself to take photos of the wip for it shall not be a wip for long. It shall turn into a frog and then perhaps into a hat.

SIGH. Has this ever happened to you? You see a nice pattern and think 'Yes, I shall make this (fill in the blank) only to have the karma of the (fill in the blank) stop you cold? I am sure it wishes to be made but not in the brown variegated yarn I tried first and not the rainbow variegated yarn I have tried again. I believe it wishes to be made in the solid grape colored yarn that has been peeking out at from one of the cubby holes from my desk where yarn should not be.

The yarn should not be in my desk and therefore should be moved and why not move it to the needles where the unhappy pattern is being worked by yarn it does not favor? I am not so far along that I would consider the time completely wasted and if everyone ends up happy - all the better.

Yes, that is what I will do. I will start for the third (and last - I try patterns three times before moving on) time to make the pattern fairy happy and get this blanket done. Thy will be done, little blanket fairy, thy will be done.

Two Down and More to Go

These pics don't do the projects justice. There are three colors in the afghan: orange, red and fire red and the shawl is a lilac color. I am considering retaking the pics with the items outside. I may do that sometime in the morning.
One of the things that happens when you have a bunch of wips on the needle and you alternate working them day by day - they tend to be completed in little sets or groups. These were done within a day of each other. I don't remember how the rest will shake out, but my guess is they will all be done within a week of each other. It's just how to goes. Yep, I will retake the pics. This is what I get from 3 in the morning.


I have no idea which one I will be working on next. I do know I got within a few cast off stitches before deciding there was a blanket I didn't like so it will be frogged and redone. Maybe I will start on that.

Well, it's late...and early. I need to get some sleep before getting up and doing some work. I'll get the new and improved pics up asap.

By the way - this is my 100th post!! I am going to use it to announce a yarn giveaway. I have to finish up the details and then I will do a formal announcement, but it's a chance to give away some yarn. (In case you don't have a problem receiving inexpensive yarn!)