The whole of 2010 so far has been a wheel barrow load of self-searching and evaluation for me. Not all bad. Some pain. Some stuff I already knew, some new discoveries, some reminders. Most important of all, I’ve gained some personal clarity. Which feels really really good.
The clarity really happened just within the last week or so. Last weekend my Mom called to tell me that my Gramma wasn’t doing too well. And then there was another call, she was in the ICU. And then doing a little bit better on Saturday, into Sunday… and then Monday she’d taken a really bad turn, was on life support. Monday evening she passed away.
Part of me still can’t really comprehend it, but I think I’m able to be at peace about it now. I know that she’s in a better place. Because of my parents, I was able to go and attend the service in Minnesota. My dad and I made this for her:
I think the whole process of finding the pictures, scanning them in, adjusting them, putting them in order and all of it helped me to process it all. I’m not 100% keen on the song, BUT that is one of my Grandma’s favorites, and because of that, I can’t seem to shut it off…. it just reminds me of her. I guess it will take a while to fully realize that she’s just not around in physical form any longer, but it’s OK; I can deal with that. I hope I can encourage my Grampa to deal with it too! I know he can, but I’m sure it’s so much harder for him! Anyway…
I also have some plants in paper pots that I made! They’re half made from phonebook pages, and half made from newspaper pages. But no pictures. Because I’m out of batteries. No good! 
I need a new camera, or at least some more batteries. Will pick those up asap!
As always, you can check in with Ms. Quicksilver and join in all the Craft Or Bust fun! 
That’s it for now…
OK so things have been a bit crazy in the TGL household… but I suppose, when are they not?
These 2 weeks have not been the most productive 2 weeks in terms of physical products, but I was able to figure some things out. I scrambled around an awful lot the first week trying to decide what project to work on. The second week I decided to try implementing a schedule (again) because of said lack of finished projects. So: Monday – Gardening and random crafts, Tuesday – Japanese study, Wednesday
– knitting, Thursday – spinning, Friday – web stuff, Saturday photos and Etsy stuff. Now I’m sure some of these days will really bleed into other days, but it’s not a rigid schedule. More, when I feel like I’m running around like a headless chicken, the schedule will just help me recognize which projects I should prioritize, unless there’s something I already know of that I really need to work on. In that case, I should already be working on that one anyway. So I did that… I also made myself a new banner for my store, made some yarn
made some seeds germinate
<==these are green onion seeds but I also started carrots, jalapeños, peas, and tomatoes. I have other seeds, but these are the ones that have the longest growing cycles so I thought I’d start with these first!
I also did the next piece of felt. I still used the wet method, but tried it out on a knitted square, instead of loose fiber. I think I do prefer this method, at least for the time being.
And finally, I did get some dyeing done, all with lovely squishy merino!
So that’s the end of this update, but as always: So, are you feeling crafty? The invitation is still open! Join us! Also, please do check out the Craft Or Bust 2010 Photo Pool! 
Goals for this next week:
- finish those gloves
- get store back online with all yummy new fiber listed
- something fun made out of felt
- progress on my sock
Ja ne! (Japanese for “See you later!”)
OK, so in case you didn’t catch it last week, I’ve decided to participate in Craft or Bust. This my Week 1 Summary, but you can find the total Craft Or Bust summary here.
I felt like a lot of what I did this week was preparatory. Which I don’t mind… Prep today to craft more another day. 
Or something like that, right?
So, for the week of Jan 3 – 9 I:
Spun:
Made myself a log book so I can actually develop a method to my madness (re: dyeing):
Got out my sewing machine:
Prepped a little bit for my container garden: (mainly just organized the seeds and looked up how much room, how much soil I’m going to need & planned out when I’m going to plant & everything….not much, but big steps for me, who is working on being more organized.)
Hung curtains (again, not much, but I’ve actually never hung curtains before. It feels so good!):
And finally I worked on a sock. It’s my first one. I messed it up… got through turning the heel, realized I did it wrong ripped it back & now here I am again:
So, are you feeling crafty? The invitation is still open! Join us! Also, please do check out the Craft Or Bust 2010 Photo Pool! 
Agenda for next week, Jan 10 – 16:
- Attempt 1 sewing project
- Spin 5 yarns
- Finish at least 1 sock
- Finish Fetching gloves (embroidery by hand)
- Hang curtains in kids room
- Make more felt
- Create sachet
- Start lavender germination (possibly snow pea as well)
TTFN!
Today I experimented a bit with felting. I’ve read this tutorial by Knitty.com about how to felt a knitted item in the washer, and also this tutorial about hand felting beads. I did a little bit of my own experimenting, and came up with my own rough little bit of felt!
I don’t know what I’m going to do with it yet, but I do know that I did produce felt on purpose (woohoo!) and that I will be able to do it again.
And then, also to update you – here is today’s (*ahem* Day 6 ) 365 picture: my Christmas Cactus:
My friend from work gave me the greatest present! She copied her worksheets and resources from her Japanese class for me. Totally made my day!
Pinto beans, okra, cilantro, chicken, chive onions, and some spices.
When I saw @Impstar and @velmalikevelvet chatting about #craftorbust it got my cogs turning… hmmm crafts… 52 weeks of crafting. I should do that! Can I do that? I can do that! But how? What do I do? @Impstar explains it all here and invites us all to join in and sign up to be ‘official’. You can also find the rules of said #craftorbust challenge here.
So, without further ado:
I hereby challenge myself:
– to work on at least one craft project per week in 2010;
– to capture photographic evidence of said work;
– to post a weekly blog update containing the above evidence written testimony as to What Has Been Crafted.
OK! It’s official! Woohoo!
Personally, this challenge encompasses many of my own New Year’s resolutions, so it’s a great fit. What better way to stay accountable to those by turning it all into a fun game, with fun people? I couldn’t think of a better, honestly.
My Resolutions: [b/c I haven't formally listed them out yet, and I need to so that everyone else knows too, and can call me on it if they see me slacking]:
(in no particular order)
- no soda
- no buying drinks on the way (ie gas station stops, @starbucks, etc.)
- no buying fast food this year (gulp)
- 4 blogs (or more) a month
- 365 yarn activities of some sort
- 365 pictures
- church every Sunday (my spiritual life has been kind of empty lately, I want to change that)
- only 1 absence a quarter from my day job
- Running 2x a week (& hence the weight loss that should follow)
- #SCA involement this year
- 1 letter a week to friends and family who I used to write to
- Hosted parties! Like knit parties and so on and so forth. Because no one else around here has them. At least not really close! So I need to start throwing my own.
My Week 1 project is a pair of socks. Updates to follow soon!
Tags: challenge, craftorbust, i can do it, inspired
OK, so I’ve been doing a lot of learning. Learning about yarn, how to make it, how to use it, various stitches… and also about myself. One thing that I have learned about myself and yarn on this journey: it has to be fun and not stressful. Otherwise, it’s not really worth doing it. Not for me. I do a crummy job at it. I don’t like it when I do a crummy job! (Really, does anyone?) I am not a fan of frogging. I’m such a perfectionist sometimes, that it takes me months to finish a project when I’m not stressed. Stressed = nothing gets done… I have too many other things going on in my life right now for something that I enjoy to become stressful. So I have been letting the craft of yarn take me along for the ride, on the scenic route. And I’m OK with that.
Right now: I’m currently working on knitting a hat for my coworker’s baby.
I’m not 100% sure it’s coming out right yet, but I’m going to keep on going just in case. If worse comes to worse I will frog (in a completely non-stressful way ).
Tags: forbaby, frogging, knitting, pretty hats, Ravelry, takingiteasy, technique
Recently, I journeyed out to Athens with my pal @ladygrainne, to attend a Spin Day, thrown by her friend.
We arrived, and before we found out exactly where everyone was, I was able to capture a few shots of the beautiful grounds of the TFFC.
As I was looking at these purple ones, a little friend came up to say hello and welcome.
And then he went on to do his work.
It really is quite gorgeous there!
We finally figured out where we were going (everyone was set up on the porch outside the gift shop), then we settled in to spinning! I hadn’t ever seen so many spinning wheels in one place.
I think that is most of the wheels that were present. I don’t know what kind they all were, though I remember one of the ladies saying something about a lot of Polish wheels so I imagine she was talking about Kromskis. Can you help me confirm what types of wheels were there?
And there were a couple of drop spindles… mine and another girl’s; @ladygrainne took a try at it! All in all, a fantastic day. I was able to finish most of this yarn that I was working on for my friend Amy:
Here it is, finished:
All in all, it was a fantastic day!
Tags: athens, cajunfiberco, dropspindle, friends, kromski, love of yarn, merino, sca, spinning, trade, wheel
Summary of events over the last month or 2:
-Got to hang out w/ a whole slew of spinners… was AWESOME to see all the wheels in action!
-Started dyeing again. I like some of the results, some not so much….
-I’m also playing with some new fiber types: bamboo, mohair, BFL, superwash merino, and silk noil even. I have really enjoyed this exploration so far.
-Got a wheel!!! It used to belong to @Spazzyyarn, and then she sold it to @Springtree, who graciously sold it to me. I am in LOVE!
-Since receiving my wheel I have been able to spin 3 yarns so far! Pictures coming soon.
-In the mean time, I am recruiting knitters. Bahahaha! So far @wittygirldreams, @ladygrainne and also possibly @jtmac.
Posts in detail coming up on all of these events. Pictures too, even.
Tags: bfl, friends, hodgepodge, mohair, pretty hats, sca, silk noil, spinning, superwash, wheel
