I am starting to put together the class options for the spring. There is always a lot of "gnashing of teeth" during this time, and I have the dental bill to prove it.
Anyone good at reading a crystal ball? Yeah, me neither.
So I do the next best thing. I create a survey and send it out to my mailing list. By doing this I take a lot of the choice out of my hands and into theirs. So far this has worked pretty well.
I love January. It is such a quiet month. The house feels quiet after putting away all the christmas decorations. Outside feels quiet with the cooler weather. My knitting feels quiet after the mad dash to get everything done in time to mail and to put under the tree. My knitting is so quiet I am having a hard time finding something that I really want to knit. A bit of a stooper I would say.
Camera to the rescue. Time to take pictures of finished projects and show them off.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring-not even a mouse: The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
This year I had intension of felting soaps and then giving a wash cloth to go with it.
But I had done something similar a couple of years ago.
Then I thought I would just buy something. But alas, I just couldn't. It isn't hand made and seems not as personal.
Then I went on a hunt for something easy, fun, and useful. That's when I rediscovered The Ringwood Glove Pattern in the current Knitty and the rest is history.
I decided that I would knit a pair for my mom and if all went well and quickly I would add two more pairs for my sisters. Good news, these are fast, fun and the finished product is wonderful. Just the right ingredients for gift giving.
Here are mom's. (no worries, she doesn't read the blog).
I used Caper, a cashmere/merino blend Dk yarn from String Theory. I love love love this yarn. It is really nice, soft, and cushy to knit with and the color is wonderful. The finished project is just so nice. I still need buttons on the cuffs but I have one set done and 2 more to go.
On to the second pair. These are for the sister that loves color. I used "Socks that Rock" light weight that I had in my stash.
{this moment} - A Friday ritual (inspired by soulemama). A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
I have often thought that I should make myself exercise before knitting. Did you know there is even a Blog with that name?
So far I have not been able to hold myself to that ideal.
I do set a timer when I am knitting for any length of time and get up and do something around the house for 15 min out of each hour. I actually love spending an afternoon like that. I get a lot of knitting done and I get house work done. The best is that there is no guilt spending the afternoon knitting.
Over the past years I have set another boundary I have lived up to.
Thou Shalt Not Look at or even Think about Spinning.
I do know how to spin using a spindle. I learned as a Waldorf Teacher years ago and taught it to the children.
I Love spinning.
I Love working with the fiber and the colors.
I Love the peace it give me as I spin.
After years of other crafty endeavors I have become self-aware enough to know that I would be Obsessed with spinning and it's wonderful supplies would fill my home and time would be even more fleeting.
But thanks to Cat Bordhi I may have found the perfect justification to break my self-impossed exile without guilt. After all, if there is no guilt there is no problem, right?
How does someone come up with these things as they are drifting off to sleep?
So here is my idea:
I could knit for 45 min. and then spin for 15 min. and have it all!!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 10:25PM 
