Time? Where has it gone?

Obiously I have not blogged in quite some time.

When did I walk into that time machine that transported me a few weeks into the future?

I have been knitting a lot. On what?

Forest Canopy Shawl. Done! Doesn't Greg make a great model?

Modified Monkey with Socks that Rock lightweight. Colorway - Hollyday. I didn't like that the pattern and yarn were not playing well with one another. I decided to knit the foot plain. I like it better in stockinette because you can see the color nuance better. I also did Peggy and Rebecca's picot edge. Love the picot!



Kauni Cardigan. I feel the pressure to get this done before Madrona.

I finished the body, knit the shoulders together and finished one sleeve. I started the second sleeve yesterday. I am debating on re-knitting the sleeve over and working from the outside of the balls. I don't like so much yellow/orange. I have a devil on one shoulder saying I should tear it out and re-knit(me). Then there is an angel on the other shoulder saying "leave it". I must admit...the angel's voice is Ryan's.

Now this is the really, really good part. At my last Nihon session I learned this wonderful bind off for shoulder seams. Jean mentioned how it works well with fair isle. Take a look at this! Can you tell where the shoulder seam is? This is the "Where's Waldo" of shoulder seams! Pretty cool, huh?


Here is some actual homework. My v-neck swatch. The yarn is Berocco Ultra Alpaca. I just love this yarn. So soft. Although you can not tell from this photo, the stitch definition is good. It did blur a bit after washing/blocking. It is just yummy yarn and I am looking forward to working with it.


Yes, yet another NON Nihon project. Greg is going out of town "on business" for a couple weeks to Bonaire for diving. (Can you hear the sarcasm in my typed words? Cough. On business? Uh, yeah. Right. Honey - show me the money!)

This is his Christmas stocking. I said I *might* get it by the time he returns but....I have LOTS of Nihon homework to work on.

Speaking of homework....I just received a blocking board in the mail today. It is HUGE. It will be very useful. Waiting for the blocking board has been useful in procrastination justification regarding my homework. I say to myself "I can't do any homework because I need to block my knitting first". Unfortunately now it is here and I can no longer procrastinate...at least not using that excuse!

The raglan is completely done and as soon as I block it I will post a photo.

I do have to get going on my homework.

That said....I do have other homework to do. I'm taking a fair isle color class from Janine Bajus at Churchmouse. Oh my goodness. She deserves at least a couple of posts! (I will do one on the first session, soon)

We need to have some FI swatches done for our chosen design done in colors from our color story(I feel another reason to procrastinate doing Nihon homework). I'm stalled out on that. I need some dedicated time to sit quietly. That will have to wait till Saturday. I drop Greg off at Seatac very early Saturday morning so I'm looking forward to having alone time to be with my inspiration and yarn!

Did I mention I'm also taking a spinning class? I have "homework" to do for that too. I won't have time before Wednesday night to do what I need to do. Well I might get it done if I just didn't sleep!

I could choose not to take so many classes.

Hold on a minute. I think a better solution to this time management challenge is to stop working!

Happy Monday!

Dreaming

I knit. I cruise the internet. I read. I connect with other fiber artits. I shop.

Do you remember that one TV commercial where the guy is sitting at his computer cruising the internet and this message comes up "You have reached the end of the Internet". This is just a funny memory that came flooding in as I thought about my internet travels.

When I cruise, sometimes I get sucked in. I see something way cool, then say to myself 'I must knit this" or "I want to spin like that!" which then leads to an action.

One week I had received a good number of packages in the mail, my husband looks at it and says "Honey, how could you EVER use all this?". (Mind you he says this in a curious tone, not a condescending one.)

I realized that for me, it comes down to Dreams.

When I see something that inspires me, that prompts me to want to take the extra step of reading, researching and eventually purchasing an item(s), it really is the act of going towards fulfilling a dream.

As a fiber artist, I have come to realize and look at my stash as bridge to my dreams. All those skeins of yarn, all those rovings, represent some dream I had in the past and continue to have for the future.

My stash and my dreams can not be separated. When I look at all the different types of yarns and roving I have I see my journey through my chosen art. It is like a tale of where I have been. I may take a different path with a particular yarn or roving in my stash than what I originally intended. This is where I see my growth as an artist.

It also means that taking some of my stash and selling it or giving it away is a way of fine tuning what direction I want my art to take.

When I explained this to Greg in this way, he said "I understand that. Ok. I get it".

Go for your dreams. They can come true.

Overwhelm-itis

Work has been a bear this week. A C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E pain.

I don't usually allow myself to get this stressed. I know I'm stressed when I don't eat. Most everyone that knows me knows how much I love food. I have lost 3 pounds this week...

I can't sleep. I've been up at 3am. What do I do at that time of night?/morning?

Handmaiden Cloche in 100% cashmere

A close-up


Just 2 days ago I cast on the Forest Canopy Shawl. I have knit this before(remember? For Ruth who is coming to teach at Madrona? FYI the class schedule is up!) and it is a mindless knit for me. I need a mindless knit! When I come home after 10 hours with no lunch break(or any break for that matter) this is the kind of thing I need to take me away. No "Calgon Take Me Away" for me, it is Forest Canopy Shawl take me away! I go from tearing it up on the database to tearing it up on the shawl. It is hard to de-compress after an incredibly intense day. (Wonder why I'm on the computer after I've been on it for 12 hours at work? Like I said, hard to wind down)

The yarn I am using is Sarah's (Plucky Knitter) 100% cashmere in Sea of Change colorway. You can find her Etsy shop HERE. It is so yummy and dreamy. Now if I were in Hawaii I wouldn't have to use this as an escape!

I think I have a pattern going here - luxury knitting with Cashmere. I think *Sea of Change* (aka retirement) is what I wish I was experiencing right now rather than what I'm experiencing right now.

I also cast-on for the.......Modern Quilted Wrap. Could not help myself.

Funny thing about me and overwhelm-itis? Well...after putting in a 12 hour today, totally burned from not sleeping...I just feel overwhelm all over the place.

I have too much yarn, too many UFO's, the dogs need a bath, I have homework to do but I'm too tired. I need to work tomorrow but it is my day off and I need to do homework but work is waiting for me to do what I need to do so that the project can continue to move forward.

Oh, it's just plain shitty. (Can you say pitty pot?)

I have Nihon Class this weekend but I really need to be working at work. Work will just have to wait. The thing that burns me is this. The team was put behind schedule a whopping 2 weeks because of a foreseen, preventable issue but it did not get addressed in a timely way(in my opinion). Now because we are in a bind, time-wise I have to kick butt to make this next deadline. Through no fault of my own I am being put in between a very craggy rock and a very hard place.

I am mad, tired and I miss my husband.

While all this has been going on with me, my dear husband has been partying it up and lounging in Hawaii with friends the past two weeks. Ahhhh....the luxury of being retired.

Well I am not retired and I'm cranky.

I want to be able to enjoy my class this weekend but it can be stressful as well. A full 2 days of intense learning, then add on top of that I will have to come home from class and work into the night for work. I am NOT looking forward to my weekend!

I've very cranky. Oh, oops I already said that didn't I? I realize I'm also being whiny too, aren't I?? I just realized I've been up for almost 19 hours. No wonder I'm on overwhelm.

I better go escape to my forest canopy shawl before I vent even more!