No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth...

So, it's been a while - almost two months. But like I said in the last post, I'm trying to figure out where to go with my non-school psych life. I threw out a few options: freelance writing, photography, knitting design, maybe even some travel stuff thrown in there for good measure. So I don't know if this is going to be a strictly knitting and crochet blog anymore. But I will start with what I've been doing, fiber arts-wise.

I've gotten plenty of knittting projects done since February. Jenna's dress is finally done - although now, it doesn't belong to Jenna. She has declared that she doesn't like dresses anymore - too girly, I suppose. Now it's Nicole's, and luckily she loves it. I'm also making here next one, and another after that. Jenna's willing to wear sweaters, though.

What have I done for myself lately? Well, there's this pullover from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard (one of the best knitting books around, IMHO):



And now the emphasis is on vacation and gift knitting. At least two of my projects are aimed at having something for our trip to Hawaii in late July, and I'm making three different gifts for friends and family. One is actually a combination of vacation and gift - a table runner for my friend in Kauai. More pictures will be forthcoming!

New Beginnings

I've had to make a very difficult decision during these past few months. Maybe it was hubris to start a freelance copywriting business for fiber art companies in the middle of a recession, but that's exactly what I did.

So now, I've decided to end that business, KnitWit Copywriter, because it just isn't the time to make it happen. It may never be, but for the time being, I'm setting it aside and will instead pursue knitting and crochet, and try my hand at design, especially for my two girls, Jenna and Nicole. Designing for a six and soon to be eight year old will be a much less intimidating start than trying to do something Norah Gaughan can do wonderfully in her sleep.

I'm also going to be doing more with travel and fiction writing, as well as photography, so stayed tuned! It's going to be a fun and interesting next step.

Happy New Year (and I'm still here)

Whoa...what happened? Half of November and all of December whizzed by, and I didn't even know about it! Holidays have something to do with that, of course, but I've also had some personal family-related stuff to deal with, too.

So as far as knitting is concerned, I gave up on the blanket and restarted my Charlotte's Web shawl, which I'm getting through with amazing progress. I also tried to finish two other shawls. Obviously, I'm in a lacy/shawly mood now, not to mention some full-fledged garments with lace patterns.

More to come, very soon!

Lazy Knitter Syndrome

Ay caramba! It's now midway through November, a little over a month until Christmas, and I haven't made significant progress toward getting my gifts done. Especially that damn blanket or Rob's vest. And don't get me started on the girls' dresses, which will now make their debut sometime next spring. Here I thought I was in a zone and getting everything done, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. I may not even have enough yarn to get the blanket done, so I'm a little panicked right now.

Maybe it's inertia - I don't want to find out if I don't have enough yarn, only to know for certain that I don't, then I'll have to run up to Boulder to Shuttles and get some more Manos, if they have all the colors I need. With Niki's dress, she now may be too big to wear it...and I really don't want to start again.

I'm actually home sick today from my half-day at the school, but am I knitting like a crazy person?

Nope. I'm doing my freelance copywriting work and trying to get my self-marketing efforts off the ground. It would be nice to have some writing clients help fund my yarn addiction for a change :-)

I do knit, but I'm only getting little things done. Maybe if I'm up to it, I can get something accomplished this afternoon and evening, while watching Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddown, Jon Stewart and/or Stephen Colbert.

Panic (kinda sorta)

I'm still working mostly on Terry's (Rob's mom's) blanket, now into the second of three 5-foot panels. The work is actually going along fine, but I'm a little scared that Christmas looms in less than two months, and I feel that I should be further along. So I'm mildly panicked...but I still think I can get it done. It may take pulling an all-nighter on December 24th. Oh well, that's the price I pay.

Now that I'm returning to copywriting and travel writing - and also possibly adding photography in the mix - I don't have the time to obsess about knitting like I have for the past 23 months or so. That's probably a good thing, really :-)

One thing I realized is that I don't think I can project monomous for the long-term. It just isn't in me, because I get bored too easily. But I can no longer go off and cast-on 20 projects with abandon. Finding that happy medium and getting my WIPs done is an early resolution for 2009

Pics on Terry's blanket will be in the next post!

Want to get something done!

I don't think I have knitting doldrums now, but it's hard for me to feel gratified by what's on my needles. I guess that's what happens when you get into making an blanket that's actually really cool, but everything else falls by the wayside.

So here's a partial list of what still needs to get off the needles: Rob's vest, Jenna's linen dress, Niki's cotton dress, my fair isle mitts, Edna's scarf, Blair's scarf to match the hat she got for her birthday (which hasn't been cast on but needs to pretty soon here), my and Rob's socks (two different pairs, not a shared one), Patsy's mini-shawl. Eeek!

Luckily, I do not have to start Rob's niece's socks or his nephew's hat yet. My sister in law (their mom) said I could make them birthday presents for next year. Dodged a bullet there, Thank God.

Another thing: I haven't been on Ravelry for a while now...I think the novelty of it is wearing off. I still check it everyday to see if there's a topic that strikes my fancy, and every so often I do respond to something. But I guess other things are just kind of taking over, like my writing and wanting to get it going, once and for all. It's all a matter of priorities, right?

Project monogamy

When I first started this blog, I wrote about project ADD, more commonly known as startitis. I once has 20 WIPs going - that was simply insane.

Now it seems I've gone in the other direction. I can't seem to do anything but get Rob's mom's Christmas blanket finished. And it being a blanket, it's not exactly an instant gratification project. And there is a non-negotiable deadline: December 24th.

I'm almost done with one of three 5-foot long strips that need to be sewn together, then crocheted around the edges for a border. As you can see, it's quite the colorful project, reminiscent of a Mexican serape. I hope it's not too gaudy for my mother-in-law!



I think I'm doing this because it's simple mindless knitting, and it's relatively fast. There's something to be said for doing one knitting bit at at time.