I Love To Felt!

Tonight I finally buckled down and made up the two purses I had waiting, and wove the ends into a couple of coffee cup cozies!

That means just one thing...

FELTING TIME!!!

I love doing this!

I Need To Go On A Diet...

...a yarn diet, that is!

UFO Sightings

There seem to be a lot of UnFinished Objects lying around my room of late...

I have so many projects with deadlines that I keep trying to work on all of them at once, rather than finishing one as quickly as possible and then moving on to the next.

If I finish them one at a time, the worst thing that will happen is that the last due one or two won't be finished and I will give an IOU.

However, the way I'm going, they will all be ALMOST done and everybody will have to get an IOU.

I need to get organized!

Gifts Given

Belle's baby shower was today.
(For which I made oodles of petits fours...not knitted, but still crafty!)

I gave her the sweater for Blossom.

She loved it.

I also delivered the first completed set of baby burp rags...for Baby Peaches.

They were appreciated as well.

Knitting Nay-Sayers

It is odd to me when OTHER people have an issue with my constant public displays of knitting.

When I am out with friends at the movies, or a restaurant, or on public transportation...I try to ask them if they mind if I knit. Most of them don't. Some I no longer even need to ask. Still, I recognize that other people have not reached the same comfort threshold for being stared at that I have. (For example, if SoCalGal's husband is out with us...the needles stay in the purse.) This doesn't bother me.

However, when people make fun or mock me at private gatherings in my own home, or the homes of friends or family...I am a wee bit perturbed. If there are no strangers around to pass judgment, why does it matter?

It is that singular group of people who not only don't knit, but that seem averse to my knitting, that really irk me. Especially when that same group of people reads things into my knitting. Examples:

1.I am being anti-social. Nope...I am actually able to fully engage in conversations, movie watching, game playing, and general frivolity while knitting.

2.I am wasting time.Nope...I am actually being productive while doing other generally time-wasting activities. (Such as watching tv.)

3.I am acting old. Nope...the stereotype of old knitters is ridiculous. Yes, your grandmother knit when you were younger. But guess what, she probably knit when she was my age too!

In short: I knit because it calms me, I knit because it helps me focus and retain information, I knit because I have no patience and it gives me something to do with my hands, I knit because it is a way to connect with people, I knit because it is a charitable work that I can do, but mostly...I knit because it's fun.

And what do I do about all those knitting nay-sayers? I make them scarves!
(If you can't convince them with words...win them over with warmth and wool!)

I'm Just A Girl Who Can't Say No!

I have been commissioned by the branch manager at work to make...fanfare please...MORE BABY BURP RAGS!

Apparently the library assistant who was in my position before me just gave birth to twin boys...2 1/2 months early. My manager wanted to get her a Babies 'R Us gift card and some handmade items. I am the only person at the library who makes handmade anything. She asked how long baby blankets would take, and I told her that I honestly didn't know...that I usually make burp rags for people since they are both utilitarian and speedy.

(Thankfully the Miss-A, the children's librarian, reminded my manager that in addition to working full time, I also have personal projects I work on, AND a full graduate course load. Bless her!)

My manager agreed at this point that burp rags would be lovely, was overjoyed to learn that I make them out of cotton instead of acrylic, and requested that I make a couple in blues and white. She said that I would be reimbursed for supplies and time.

So now... in addition to the SEVEN friends/family members who are pregnant and deserving of handknits...I have MORE baby gifts to make for someone I have never even met!

(Bright side: burp rags make good brainless knitting during school lectures, and I don't have to have them till the end of May since the babies are in NICU till then!(not that the babies being in NICU is a bright side, just the far off deadline.))

Argh! And An Ugly Picture!

I finished my beautiful sweater...as rhapsodized about in the previous post.

I went to the Great Mall to find a dress to wear with it on Easter.

Nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

Actually, the style and cut of the sweater was unflattering with the style and cut of dress I had envisioned (sheath or tailored). I ended up looking like a bunch of little boxes stacked on top of each other. I think that perhaps a more flowing dress would work. The problem is finding a dress that looks right on the bottom, but also has a neckline that works.

I ended up wearing the sweater to work on Saturday and wearing something else on Easter. I did get lots of compliments on the sweater, though. It looks stunning with slacks. The children's librarian wears a lot of sweaters in a similar style, and asked how much it would cost for me to make her one. (Actually, not that much materials-wise since she would want acrylic due to her wool allergy.)

I DO NOT LIKE THIS PICTURE OF ME THAT WAS TAKEN AT WORK. BAD ANGLE. END OF DAY WEARINESS CLEARLY SHOWING. YET I AM PUTTING IT UP ANYWAY.



I promise that a more attractive photo shoot will soon take place and be posted.