Month: April 2022

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Knit Storm

It’s the beginning of a knit storm here in Knitsville. I am in design mode. I just have to finish the neck on the poncho – which I have done and undone three times but I think I’ve figured out where I’m going with it – and then I will be order free. Since Robin’s doesn’t have to be shipped and she’s headed for Hawaii, I can start on the design trail. 

I am getting items ready for my GoImagine store. I’ve set the launch date as August 1 and I don’t have anything ready to go but you can see I have things started. Something is bound to be finished before August 1. I hope.

We have two hats and one prayer shawl on these needles. There are a couple of other things that didn’t make it in the pic. There is a pile of yarn in front of the yarn closet. It won’t make it in the closet because there’s no room but it may be organized as we move the sofa out of my studio and into the living room. I Maxine I will be getting some clear containers to put them all in and having stacks of yarn around me. My recliner is coming in the studio. So that will kick up the comfort level a notch.

I have a system in mind. We’ll see if I can put it in action. This is a store building from the ground up and everything else starts with it. Let’s see if something good comes out of the storm.

 

 

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I Need A Hobby

I need a hobby. I mean, for some folks knitting is a hobby but not for me. So, I am thinking I need something to do with my spare time. I do have spare time worked into my schedule. I have some free hours and that’s usually spent playing June’s Journey on my iPad. I’m thinking that’s good for some of the time but there should be something for other times.

Reading. I used to love to read. That’s something that can come back and I’ve chosen what it is I want to read. A long time back, I purchased a lifetime subscription to Simplify Magazine. I haven’t looked at it for a minute and I recently logged in to start back. I also purchased a digital pack of Radiant Magazine – a digital magazine written with Nigerian women in mind. 

In this renaissance of my life, I want to take care of myself in all areas. The physical is coming along and I want the spiritual and mental to come right along with it. I am going to need all that in order to make the physical work. There is a great big mental ‘game’ that comes with the procedure. For the team that supervises my care, there is not enough of it. The psych eval was realtively easy and it doesn’t really prepare you for the mind explosion that happens.

What is helpful for me is a great support system. I am willing to do the work. The trick will be to sustain it. I have to begin making self care a part of the every day. I have showering as part of my schedule and for those times, it’s more than just running under water; it’s a time for taking time to make all of me better.

That also makes for better knitting. It makes everything better. Looking forward to enjoying this hobby.

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Starting Over Again

Starting over again can be rough. Especially if you have to select a new yarn to remake your most popular hat. I’ve made this hat a staggering number of times. The most being made with the yarn in the first photo.

The yarn that is discontinued. Well, these are all discontinued. But the first hat sold hundreds of times. It was a replacement for the yarn that was discontinued and also sold a lot. Can the third time be a charm? Or will it be going to well too many times? 

It took some time to come up with the yarn I was going to replace it with – so I came up with two, maybe three. This is the winner. I think this is a relatively new color so it shouldn’t be going anywhere soon. But I boat a big bunch just in case. And just in case it become popular. This is the second winner. This comes kind of close color wise. They are both beautiful and bring their own vibe. It will be interesting to see if either of them take off and sell like the first two did.

Tomorrow is Easter. Some say it is the most important day of the Christian liturgical calendar. I don’t have an argument one way or the other. But I know God is good all year round. We are also in the seasons of Passover and Ramadan. Whatever faith brings you closer to God or if you feel that closeness without organied religion, this is the season of renewal. Whatever blessing you need for the fulfillment of that second chance, I pray you get it.

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Knit or Miss

 

Do you see all this yarn? This is a knit or miss kind of thing. All of these skeins will never be used to make Mr. Honey anything. 

Mr. Honey announced at the beginning of my knitting/crochet career that I might as well not think to make him anything because he will not wear it.

Now, for the sake of disclosure, this yarn was purchased in 2019 from JoAnn and I don’t think any of it has been made into anything. It is sitting in the domesticated yarn area of the craft room. That area is located behind the doors away from the free range yarn. We can’t have the breeds intermingly. That would be disastrous. So, it’s not like this was purchased with the idea that I would whip up something for my man.

What he meant was, I shouldn’t make him a sweater because he doesn’t wear them. This is somewhat true. My mom got him a sweater that looked really nice on him and he wore it once in a while when we used to do winter family get togethers but those were rare. So he has a dresser drawer filled with sweaters he doesn’t wear.

Yet, I had the thought I could make him that sweater that he wore once a year and that would be enough. Both our birthdays are in the cooler months so he could rock it on his birthday – or on mine. That would fulfill the requirement of having something made with love.

Nope.

However, he will, upon occasion, raid my scarves. Though he would not wear a sweater I make, he has no problem building up a tidy scarf wardrobe. I will say, he only has a couple. He takes extremely good care of his things so he doesn’t need an annual scarf. I fear those would meet the same fate and the sweaters and see the inside of the drawer more than the inside of the coat collar.

I’m working on a scarf now that I don’t think he’s be interested in. It’s not very manly. But it is interesting and I like it. It’s called the Bamboo Stockinette Scarf and the item and pattern are coming. It’s not his thing – but someone out there will love it.