Craft related reading.

Whew! I'm a little overwhelmed in the craft relating reading department right now. Only a couple of days ago the library finally got in the book, "Knit and Crochet With Beads" by Lily Chin.

This morning I received a message that another book I requested is now in. This one is "Arans and Celtics". I first heard about it on Michelle's blog. She has pictures of her lovely "A Vest Of Many Stitches" and I just HAVE to add it to my "must do" list. I walked to the library to pick up the book. (Yes, WALKED! That "my model" feature from Land's End somehow had a way of waking me up to the reality of my "fluffy" frame more than looking in the mirror does!......I went for a walk last night too.)

Anyway, when I returned home a package marked "Craft Supplies" was waiting for me. It is the felting kit I ordered for my daughter's birthday. Yay! I am very impressed with the folks at Beary Cheap Bear Supplies. I got the package in only 12 days. It arrived all the way from Australia in less time than my parcels from the United States. There was also no duty charged.

So anyway, in the needle felting kit is the book of "how tos" and I already warned Kristy that I would be reading/borrowing it from her. Actually, we will likely attempt our first projects together. I couldn't resist getting the Felting Pack for myself when I ordered the Beginner's Felting Pack (with book included) for Kristy.

Yup, that's right Kris.....your kit is in.

My Model

I've spent (tsk!...was going to say wasted) the entire morning over here at Land's End playing. I was doing fine...moderate amount of time spent looking at all the clothes that were so ME.....until I found the "my model" button. Well, there went the rest of the morning! I had so much fun "trying on" my various selections that I really lost track of time.

Well, I can't let all that time go to waste so, at the very least, I can show you my "finished outfit".



Note the accompanying Knitting Bag!

Now wouldn't it be GREAT if we could use the "my model" feature to try out potential knitting patterns......complete with yarn colors, substitutions and alterations! You know...get an idea of how the finished sweater will REALLY look on us.....and not some super thin, 6' tall model!

Beaded Beginnings

I couldn't resist! I HAD to start yet another project. This one should be quick and easy and I was able to use some of the yarn from my stash. Last winter I bought some scrumptiously soft alpaca lace-weight with the intent of making myself a lacey scarf. I tried many different pattern stitches and was not happy with any of them. Sadly, I put the expensive ball of yarn away hoping that someday I would be able to use it.

That day has come! In the Lily Chin book I wrote about yesterday, I found a crochet pattern I was able to adapt to making a scarf. The alpaca lace-weight jumped from the closet and said "pick me, pick me" so I did. A quick trip to Walmart for a couple of bucks worth of beads and a new project was born.

I figured it was high time a new photo was added to this blog so here, in all its glory, is the beginnings of the beaded alpaca scarf.

I must live to be 500

It's amazing how I can spend so much time in knitting related pursuits and yet not knit a single stitch! I spent much of today babying my computer through the printing of the Rogue Pullover pattern. I ordered it from here. It comes instantly in a 19 page PDF document that then took an eternity to print. (Not complaining about "the girl from auntie"....I KNOW this is just a problem with my computer/printer speed!) Really, it took HOURS and two computer "freezes" before it was completely printed. Next step is to buy the yarn.

Oh yeah. I guess the REAL next step is to finish all the projects I already have on the go. Why is it that our imagination-creativity-desire is always at least two steps ahead of the needles?! With all the projects I have "in the back of my mind" I'll have to live to be 500 years old to finish them all!

A l-o-n-g time ago I requested that my local library add "Knit and Crochet with Beads" by Lily Chin to their shelves. I got notice this morning that it was in and rushed out to pick it up. What a delightful book. It might even go on my "must buy" list. She has very detailed instructions on how to use beads in your knitted and crocheted items. Along with some very lovely patterns (my favorites being "Afro-centric Vest", "Ethereal Lace Tunic" and "Suspended in Space Stole"), she also explains how to use beading in your own pattern designing.

Of course you know this means my "must do" list has just gotten longer.

Whew! I made it.

I got ALL the way around the KR Blog ring in one sitting. I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed? Usually I just visit a few each day after I am finished adding to mine, but today I decided I had time to "do the route". "Doing a route" is a funny little phrase my mentally challenged daughter and her friends use to refer to riding an entire bus route for "fun".

I am still plodding away on the Twisted Rib Tank. At that fine gauge it takes hours of knitting to see much progress. I desperately want it finished. Our hot weather seems to have disappeared as quickly and as completely as if someone flicked the FALL SWITCH so my thoughts are turning from summer weather and tank-tops to chill-chasing sweaters. Next WIP to get intense time and attention will be the partially completed Bed and Breakfast Pullover. When that is complete I am treating myself to the Rogue hoodie.....done cardigan style. Check out Claudia's in her March 14, 2004 entry here.

Contributing in a meaningful way.

I spent yesterday happily puttering about the house, cleaning, cooking and baking.....content in my role as "Domestic Goddess". There were no pressures, no deadlines, no boss or supervisor to please. I spent many hours "working" yet had no set schedule for breaks or "quitting time".....I simply worked until I didn't feel like working any more. While it's true that there was also no paycheque at the end of the day, I realized that I no longer feel a need for outside validation of my "worth".

At one time in my life I really did feel the need for some sort of concrete, outside, validation of my worth. I felt underappreciated as a "housewife" and went questing for an outside job where, at the end of each two week period, I received monetary proof of my value. For nearly nine years I worked primarily for that confirmation of my value to society. Sure the money was a nice perk, and quite necessary at the time, but looking back I can truly say that my motivation was more one of improved self-esteem and a feeling of contributing in a meaningful way.

I've been Unemployed By Choice now for over a year and I am LOVING it. Yesterday I had a big aha moment. I realized that in following my bliss and contentedly caring for my family I am providing a peaceful and loving environment for them. I AM "contributing in a meaningful way" even if a paycheque is not the end result.

And at the end of the day, I still have the time and energy to be creative! Ahhhh, BLISS.

Add another to the list.

Today's entry is a tad late.....(this fact was indignantly pointed out by my daughter).....because I have been surfing the net with dreams of a Rouge. I seem to be late to the gate in admiring this one as there has been plenty of talk about this hoodie pullover at KR and I have only just now investigated. Wow, what an impressive design!

As Kristy and I discussed which of us was actually going to knit the pattern (she suggested that perhaps I would like to knit it for HER while I insisted that she was now capable of knitting it herSELF) it came up that I prefer to have zip front sweaters rather than pulling the darn things over my head. (THAT time of life seems to be sneaking up on me where I go from being too cold to suddenly being WAY too hot and the need to be constantly yanking a sweater on and off over my head is unappealing.) I was saying to Kris that it was too bad that the pattern would be hard to divide down the middle to modify into a cardigan. Well! Upon further investigation I find that Claudia has already done all the work for me. Yay Claudia! Check out Claudia's instructions for the "Cardiganizing of the Rouge" at "The Girl From Auntie" under "mods".

So now I have to decide where to fit the "Rouge" into my "must do" list. I am thinking perhaps it will be AFTER I finish ALL projects currently on the needles* but before the "Giant Lativian Mitten Cardigan" is designed and knit. The rather vague instructions for the GLMC are more than a little off-putting and I find myself looking for excuses to delay its start.

*Currently on the Needles* = One pair of Kroy socks, Twisted Rib Tank, and the Bed and Breakfast Pullover.

Four rows forward, 20 rows back.

I lost it. 20 rows frogged. *sigh* Just when I thought I was really getting somewhere with the Twisted Rib Tank I realized I had a mistake way back 5 pattern repeats. At first I tried just dropping back the stitches involved but the yarn is slippery and difficult to manipulate and I eventually admitted to myself that it would be faster, and look better in the end, if I would just grit my teeth and FROG IT. So frogit I did. I've managed to re-knit about 6 of those rows and with each regained row the pain/anger subsides some. Please!.......don't weep for me. I'll be fine.

Magic Eraser

Here is the promised photo of the progress so far on the Twisted Rib Tank. I have completed the front piece and the back is now well on its way.


It was a strange weekend. Saturday I had energy to burn and not only got the dreaded grocery shopping done, but also washed floors, walls, cupboards and appliances. If you haven't already tried a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, I highly recommend it. Wow! It got my kitchen cabinets dazzlingly white again......and I thought they needed to be repainted!

Sunday was the exact opposite. I had taken a heavy duty muscle relaxant for back pain and it did me in. I slept most of the day and when I was up I was in a mental fog. Definately NOT worth the little bit of pain relief it gave me.

27th Anniversary

Today is our 27th anniversary and my wonderful husband brought me these:

and took me out for a lovely dinner.

The doily in the picture is one that I crocheted over 20 years ago.

Did I get the grocery shopping done yesterday? Well.....not entirely. I went to a department store, bread outlet, butcher, and produce market, but no grocery store. Luckily the places I DID go provided enough food for dinner and I decided I would go later for the rest......meaning "later in the day". Didn't happen. So, I postponed until today. Did I go today? No. Tomorrow. Yeah, that's it. I'll go tomorrow.

Procrastination and Avoidance

I finished the front of the red Twisted Rib Tank last night and cast on for the back, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for a picture because I REALLY MUST GO. I've been reading postings at KnitReview, touring through blogs, clicking on links, checking email, etc.....all in an effort to postpone the inevitable! I wonder if there is anyone else out there who hates grocery shopping as much as I do? I would put it off, and put it off, and put it off, for eternity if we didn't all go hungry because of my neglect. *sigh* Well, the time has come. Gotta go. Wish me luck?

Under and Over

Shelby just seems to know that if she sleeps under here clumsy human feet won't be able to step on her.


On TOP of the table is the Rainbow Doily where it is resting while waiting for sufficient framing funds to magically materialize. I am estimating that it will be well over $100 to have it professionally framed. In the meantime, I am trying to "store" it flat. The vibrant colors certainly "catch the eye" in our mostly beige/brown living room! A little TOO much I think.

I didn't get as far as I had expected on the red Twisted Rib Tank yesterday. I got into an energetic mood in the morning and spent most of the daylight hours humming happily while accomplishing a lot of cleaning. Yes, happily and cleaning, all in the same sentence! Shocking but true! The house practically giggled with pleasure with all the unexpected attention.

It wasn't until about 8pm that I finally picked up my knitting and forged ahead. I got through the decreasings on the second side of the neck and now have only a few inches to go (on rows of a mere 22 sts). Should be finished tonight.......well, the FRONT anyway. I still have the back to do.

Back to knitting.

After that rather long break from knitting (almost two weeks?) to crochet the Rainbow Doily, I am back at knitting again. I've picked up the red Twisted Rib Tank again and last night finished the first "neck side" of the front. I usually knit both sides at once using seperate balls of yarn, but seeing as I am working from one large cone I have elected to do them individually this time. Everything looks good so far and I should be able to get the other "neck side" done tonight.

When I was blocking the Rainbow Doily I also finally took the time to block a little knitted doily I did a long time ago. It will likely be my first AND last knitted doily. I never was really too happy with this one and that is why it hid in the back of my closet for months. Here it is in all it's "ho-hum" glory. The colors are WAY off.......that background is actually a snow-white tablecloth!

Picture NOT worth a 1,000 words.

I took dozens of pictures of the Rainbow Doily last night and not one of them truly represents the correct color of the doily. I experimented with backgrounds, lighting, flash, angle......everything I could think of, but the color kept turning out wrong. The doily is FAR prettier in real life than it is in this photograph. It's disappointing to not be able to show you the real thing.

Knitting Elves

What kind of knitting elf "takes care of" your projects while you sleep at night? According to my daughter she has a benevolent knitting elf who comes in the night and works on her projects. I apparently have a malicious elf who frogs my hard earned progress when I am not looking! Well! That certainly explains a few things.

She has drawn a couple of hilarious cartoons of this situation and placed them on her blog. She'd love it if you came to visit!

At the end of the Rainbow.

The Rainbow doily is completed. That last row took WAY longer than I expected. Although I didn't time myself I would say it was at least several hours! Complicating matters, every one of the three spools of blue thread ran out. I had even gone out and bought a fourth spool and it too ran out. In the final row I ended up taking a spool of Koban thread I had on hand (identical color) and reeling off three long lengths of thread and winding them individually on seperate empty spools, so that I could finish the row. That makes for lots of ends to sew in now.

So, for those embarking on this project, be sure you have enough thread. The first colors are fine, but by the time you work your way out to the longer rows you could very well need a lot more thread.

On another subject, this heat is truly getting unbearable! At 5:30am, the house had still not cooled from the previous day. That means that today's heat will be added to that which accumulated yesterday. I am getting crankier by the hour. I find myself longingly counting the days until Fall, hoping that come September the temperature will drop and I will be able to move about without basting in my own sweat!

That's my girl.

I am about 3/4 of the way finished the final row of the Rainbow Doily. It looks great and I can't wait to get it pinned out, starched, and photographed. This last row is taking forever though. Nearly every stitch in the final row has a picot. It is very finicky and time consuming! TODAY. Yes, today I will finish it and hopefully find some "ridgid insulation" to make myself a blocking board.

That special term for the type of foam board I am looking for comes courtesy of my daughter who is just finishing up a year at college where she has completed the C.A.D. (Computer Assisted Drafting) program. She has already been hired(and it looks like a good job too!) and I want to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of her. (And she knits too!) Way to go Kris!

Here she is with her drafting portfolio.

Ahhh, back in the craft chair again.

It felt so good to finally sit quietly and work on my doily. I managed to complete several rows, bringing it ever closer to completion. Another four rows (about four hours of work) and it will be done. I should be able to get it pinned out, starched, and photographed in the next few days. I am finally going to break down and make myself a blocking board. Usually I just pin out the doilies on a towel on my bed, but I want this doily to be blocked perfectly round so that the framers don't have a difficult time cutting the matt to match. I once had an heirloom doily framed and it was slightly off round, invisible to the naked eye, but enough of a variance that the matt had to be carefully hand cut.

Crafter's Horoscope

Does this sound like a horoscope custom designed with a crafter in mind? This is my custom horoscope for today, exactly as written, straight from Astrocenter.

"It is time once and for all to tie up all those loose ends of projects left undone. Much as you may dread it, think of it this way, MARLENE: by completing these tasks you clear space for exciting new projects to come your way. Know that all bodes well today for all things financial and professional. Perhaps you'll get that bonus that's been due you!"

My house guests are on their way today so I will likely put my feet up and focus on crafting for most of the day. Whether it will be knitting or crocheting, I haven't decided. I have many "loose ends of projects left undone" in both crafts!

Giggle-Snort

With dinner guests last night and company breezing in some time later today, I won't have much crafting time over the next few days but I'll leave you with this.


Isn't she a sweetie? Best dog ever! What a love-love.