Friday, January 13, 2017
If You See My Marbles
If any of you have seen my marbles, I would like some back. I have decided after liking the Virus Shawl to make several as gifts. Okay, no problem, they only took 2 weeks to make. Except I want to make at least 3, possibly 5 more, so there goes about 2 months. I found a great pattern in a book called Afghan Extravaganza. Now I want to make 3 of those as gifts. By estimation, that's another 2 months... Each. So there goes another 6 months. Make that 8. That doesn't count my granny shawl, my corner to corner blanket, OR my cross stitches. Nor does it consider the other 2 blankets I have going. Oh good gravy! Can someone please find my marbles for me, I have absolutely lost mine!
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Great (Crafting) Expectations
Ah, New Years. Time to make resolutions you never keep, plans that always seem to fall through, and goals that don't quite get done. Or, maybe time to stop thinking in terms of resolutions, and start thinking in terms of things I would like to get done.
I'll admit it. I'm a WIP collector. I have a cross stitch project, a thread crochet project, a knit scarf, three crochet blankets, and two crochet shawls going. What can I say, it's a thing. Now, one of those blankets is meant to end up king size, and will be completed with the help of my lovely wife, who is currently sitting beside me working on her own c2c blanket. One is a ripple I'm just not sure I'm thrilled with how it's turning out.
I do have a fair few items I would like to start this year too. One of my shawls I'm working up is the Virus shawl. It's extremely popular at the moment, and it works up quickly, which is nice. I love how it's turning out so much I've decided to make not one, but THREE as gifts. Which is why I'm teaching Chris how to make them too.
The other thing I want very much to get started on is a project I got permission for from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. One of the stipulations is that I cannot show you the pattern, and the finished piece is for my home only. What this means is that this piece, though beautiful when finished I'm sure, will never appear on this blog. I mentioned it because it's going to end up a large project that takes a lot of time, and I've been putting it off.
What I am sure I want to do is learn techniques for my art. In my life, a lot of dreams have slipped through my fingers as the circumstances of life have taken me so much farther than I ever thought. I will never be an architect. I will never build the house of my dreams. I will never go to college. These are the realities when the dreams of youth have passed. All we have is the future. I can't go to college, but that doesn't mean I have to stop learning. I can still learn new crochet and knit stitches. I can still learn new cross stitch and beading techniques. I can teach myself to paint, and better my drawing skills. At almost 40, a formal education may have passed me by, but I will never be too old to try something new, never too old to learn new things about age old art forms, never too old to start a new project.
So here's to 2017, and letting the little goals and little hopes take the place of the big dreams that cannot be.
I'll admit it. I'm a WIP collector. I have a cross stitch project, a thread crochet project, a knit scarf, three crochet blankets, and two crochet shawls going. What can I say, it's a thing. Now, one of those blankets is meant to end up king size, and will be completed with the help of my lovely wife, who is currently sitting beside me working on her own c2c blanket. One is a ripple I'm just not sure I'm thrilled with how it's turning out.
I do have a fair few items I would like to start this year too. One of my shawls I'm working up is the Virus shawl. It's extremely popular at the moment, and it works up quickly, which is nice. I love how it's turning out so much I've decided to make not one, but THREE as gifts. Which is why I'm teaching Chris how to make them too.
The other thing I want very much to get started on is a project I got permission for from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. One of the stipulations is that I cannot show you the pattern, and the finished piece is for my home only. What this means is that this piece, though beautiful when finished I'm sure, will never appear on this blog. I mentioned it because it's going to end up a large project that takes a lot of time, and I've been putting it off.
What I am sure I want to do is learn techniques for my art. In my life, a lot of dreams have slipped through my fingers as the circumstances of life have taken me so much farther than I ever thought. I will never be an architect. I will never build the house of my dreams. I will never go to college. These are the realities when the dreams of youth have passed. All we have is the future. I can't go to college, but that doesn't mean I have to stop learning. I can still learn new crochet and knit stitches. I can still learn new cross stitch and beading techniques. I can teach myself to paint, and better my drawing skills. At almost 40, a formal education may have passed me by, but I will never be too old to try something new, never too old to learn new things about age old art forms, never too old to start a new project.
So here's to 2017, and letting the little goals and little hopes take the place of the big dreams that cannot be.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
The Holiday Hustle & Projects That Are "In".
Apologies to all of you. I'm well aware I have not posted since before the holidays. Things got rather hectic around here in a push to finish all my projects in time. Alas, I did manage to pull off everything with just days to spare.
Why is it the Holiday Hustle you ask? Well, between October and December 22nd, I made 5 hats to sell, 3 for my family, three sets of wrist warmers, 3 cross stitch projects of varying sizes, made a tree skirt, AND finished a blanket for my wife that was 4 years in the making. Holy cow, having written that down, no wonder I was exhausted after Christmas!
Now that that's done, I can sit back, relax, and work on things at a much slower pace and not feel stressed. The funny thing? I've already started on two new projects. Go figure right? I didn't intend to start anything new till I finished the other 2 blankets and granny shawl I have going. Yeah, that was before I asked for, and got, my first Caron Cakes yarn for Christmas.
Ah, Caron Cakes. Probably THE hottest yarn right now for users on Facebook. What's the big deal you say? Well, Caron Cakes are an exclusive to Michael's stores, made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Caron company. They are an acrylic wool blend yarn that's super soft, and so great for wearable items. It's variegated, but the colors change abruptly, leaving stunning changes in your pieces.
Well, if you know me, I couldn't resist getting started right then. So I picked up my purple one, and started in on a virus shawl. I have always thought they were beautiful, but was never sure if I could pull one off. I can. In about 10 days I have gone farther with my virus shawl than I have in 4 months on the granny shawl. Fortunately, at the speed the virus shawl works up, think 4 simple repeating rows, it should be done in far less than 4 months.
The other thing I started? A corner 2 corner (C2C) blanket in the blue. Surprisingly easy, and it looks like it will make some stellar stripes. So now I'm back to having 3 blankets and 2 shawls in progress, and that doesn't even count the cross stitch project I have going too. Uh, can we say I have a slight problem with WIPs?
Why is it the Holiday Hustle you ask? Well, between October and December 22nd, I made 5 hats to sell, 3 for my family, three sets of wrist warmers, 3 cross stitch projects of varying sizes, made a tree skirt, AND finished a blanket for my wife that was 4 years in the making. Holy cow, having written that down, no wonder I was exhausted after Christmas!
Now that that's done, I can sit back, relax, and work on things at a much slower pace and not feel stressed. The funny thing? I've already started on two new projects. Go figure right? I didn't intend to start anything new till I finished the other 2 blankets and granny shawl I have going. Yeah, that was before I asked for, and got, my first Caron Cakes yarn for Christmas.
Ah, Caron Cakes. Probably THE hottest yarn right now for users on Facebook. What's the big deal you say? Well, Caron Cakes are an exclusive to Michael's stores, made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Caron company. They are an acrylic wool blend yarn that's super soft, and so great for wearable items. It's variegated, but the colors change abruptly, leaving stunning changes in your pieces.
Well, if you know me, I couldn't resist getting started right then. So I picked up my purple one, and started in on a virus shawl. I have always thought they were beautiful, but was never sure if I could pull one off. I can. In about 10 days I have gone farther with my virus shawl than I have in 4 months on the granny shawl. Fortunately, at the speed the virus shawl works up, think 4 simple repeating rows, it should be done in far less than 4 months.
The other thing I started? A corner 2 corner (C2C) blanket in the blue. Surprisingly easy, and it looks like it will make some stellar stripes. So now I'm back to having 3 blankets and 2 shawls in progress, and that doesn't even count the cross stitch project I have going too. Uh, can we say I have a slight problem with WIPs?
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