Category: Thoughts

Etsy Heaven

by Tracy, posted in Thoughts

It’s a week before my mother’s birthday and once again, I have no idea what to give her. First thought, Amazon gift card! But, is a gift card, even one from amazon with those billions of books to choose from, tacky to give your very own mother? Second thought, something to do with socks. Until recently, she only knit socks. Yes, this is one of those rare cases where I taught Mom (from a distance for the most part) how to knit because she saw me wandering around my apartment with my red and green homemade socks at Chirstmas time. She decided, I want socks.

Three months later, she realized that I wasn’t about to make them for her like I said I might, and she went on her own journey to learn how to make them. In my defense, I learned how to make gloves for her. Yes, I sent her hand-made gloves (two right-handed gloves but a pair nonetheless!) Then, for years, she only made socks. Now she’s onto hats but she’s not the diversifying type. I went on to knitpicks and looked up sockblockers. But, a women who likes to collect so much probably already has a set. Do I ask? That will ruin the surprise. I remember last year I went onto Etsy.com and found sock shaped stitch markers and she loved them. I won’t post what I found this time (although I did make her swear she wouldn’t read my blog. . . but that’s a story for another day!)

Etsy is a great site to visit if you are out of ideas and need a gift. These are handmade or vintage items that have a unique flair to them. They don’t scream ‘I ran into Walmart at the last minute and got you this lint-remover.’ It’s a great website to just browse around as long as you haven’t had three glasses of wine and a paypal account linked to your credit card. Then it is a bad, bad, bad site. Go to the Etsy Showcase and browse around. I found the flowers for my hairdo on my wedding day off there and they were absolutely perfect. The picture is of the three plumeria hairpins created by Butterfly Enchantress on Etsy. I’ve also bought beautiful unique earrings from Lowcountry Beadworks. They have everything from jewelry, to fabric, to toys, to pet collars. Take a look and don’t blame me if you charge up that visa bill.

Goodbye Summer

by Tracy, posted in knitting, Thoughts

I am very sad to say my summer break is almost over. While I’ve still been working full-time, it was very nice to have the break from the classes. As I’m taking another accounting class beginning Tuesday, my juggling begins again. I really enjoyed getting to hide in my books, knit a few pillows and a sweater that came out completely wrong and a first draft of a novel that I’m down on now. Okay, so some of this summer’s projects failed miserably. However this summer I:

1. Completed two pillow patterns and began a third.

2. Finished a first draft of a novel.

3. Made my first homemade linguine.

4. Finished the entire Sookie Stackhouse novel series (yes 10 books!)

5. Read and listened to numerous more books.

6. Made chinese dumplings from scratch.

7. Made potato parathas.

8. Went to a wedding and got to visit the central timezone for the first time without realizing I was showing up to said wedding an hour early!

I’m sure I did more than that, but those were the things that I came up with. Summer is and always has been my favorite season. Things will get busier soon but I will try very hard to keep up the blogging and keep the patterns coming. I’m looking forward to the Florida Fiber In coming up. This year it will be taking place September 17-19 in Orlando. http://nomadicfiber.yolasite.com/ I look forward to learning how to use my spindle.

Friday

by Tracy, posted in Thoughts

Tomorrow is Friday, the day I most look forward to. I’m not feeling well and have been playing the ‘should I go home sick?’ game for the last few days. Needless to say, I have done my eight to four-thirty sentence and am welcoming the upcoming two day reprieve.

At what point in our mundane office worker lives did life begin revolving around the weekend. It’s only two days! I wake up early Monday morning groaning with a bit of extra coffee in my cup,dragging my lifeless self in. I force a smile on my face as my coworkers smile friendly and ask how my weekend was. But I haven’t had my pot of coffee and my brain is not functioning. Of course, my social skills have been going down the tube since they put me in the glass box by myself.

Tuesday comes and I am doing a little better. I remember a teacher in high school telling our class the Tuesday is the most productive day of the week. But I’m still dragging thinking of the four whole work days before the weekend.

Wednesday. The midpoint of the week. I’m still in depressed, staring at my green wall, wondering what the outside world looks like. I wish I at least had a window.

Thursday is here. Tomorrow is Friday. I can get my work done, try to ignore the hideous green wall, and wonder what I should do on Saturday. I think I just want to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Friday. Heavenly Friday. I count the minutes, with hope in every step. It’s only a matter of hours, then minutes and finally I am smiling as I wish everyone a happy weekend. It’s better than a pot of coffee!

Respite

by Tracy, posted in books, knitting, Thoughts

I have a two week respite from classes before returning to the overwhelming summer schedule.  I have been focusing on school and other things and have taken a break from knitting.  Like all hobbies, sometimes people just need to take a moment to reorganize.  My felted bag has an issue that I have to fix and the chunky shawl is short of yarn.  A lot of times when you have a large project and run into a problem, it is easier to simply put it aside and take a break.  Most of the time, that problem remains in the corner for months or even years.  Then, all of a sudden, the light will go off and you’ll pick up the needles with fervor, onto the next great idea. 

Instead of writer’s block, this seems to be more of a knitter’s block.  It’s easier to leave everything alone until I get that desire back.  In the meantime I want to indulge in books, movies, writing, and guiltily- the Sims 3.  I know it is terrible and unproductive- but I love the game.  I’m trying to keep this to a minimum because it is easy to get lost in the imaginary world of the people I create and control.  Why put all the work into writing myself, when I can make my character do it and make money on it in my world.

Right now, I am enjoying The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.  I am only about 150 pages into the grandiose novel but I am enjoying it.  His story is set in 12th Century Europe.  The characters are interesting and fluid.  The plot is thick but intriguing.  Tom Builder and his family are traveling across England trying to find work, preferring to work in Cathedrals.  Prior Phillip is a genuinely pious priest but also a proven leader despite his youth.  He becomes engulfed in the politics of his day.  I still have a long way to go in the novel but am looking forward to it.

Spring Cleaning

by Tracy, posted in knitting, Thoughts

Spring has sprung in Southern Florida.  However, down here, April feels more like summer than spring.  The weather has finally turned and the days highs are in the mid eighties.  About once a year, I go through this period when I really don’t want to knit.  I take a vacation.  I have the chunky shawl sitting on a chair covered with shirts, books, and my ten thousand nightshirts because I can’t possibly rewear them or wash them and put them away.  I have the bottom of the felted bag that I’m working on sitting in my work purse, waiting to be continued.  I have textbooks, regular books and library books surrounding me.  My vacations from knitting usually don’t take too long; two weeks or so.  Sometimes I may stay away for as much as a month.  My hands need a vacation.  I usually come back with plenty of ideas. 

I have to clean up now.  My stash is filled and a mess, intertwined with other yarns in the gigantic plastic containers.  Part of hurricane preparedness in this part of the woods is keeping that precious yarn in water proof bins that can be covered just in case.  It’s also good to have something that can be thrown in the car, especially something that can distract you from the chaos of an oncoming storm.

My wonderful knitpick harmony needles are strewn about the house.  I even have one sitting outside on the table of the lanai.  It seems to be calling to someone to knit, but I’ve lost interest for a little while.  Maybe my cats will make me something pretty instead.  I’ll come up with new ideas soon enough to post. . . I promise.

Time

by Tracy, posted in knitting, personal, Thoughts

I am afraid I have been overwhelmed of late and my knitting has been neglected.  Working on two group projects with school, busy work week, and trying to write for another personal project is taking up so much time.  I still have the shawl on the needles because I ran out of yarn.  Yes, I know- I should have gotten enough when I bought it.  I think I might just pull the whole thing off anyway.  I have another project a few rows in.  I want to make another felted bag, but this one in brown.  I have so many tan and brown items of clothing and no bags to match.  I have a few shades of galway yarn that look good together.  Now, I just need time.  I think my idea in my head would make a great pattern that I can’t wait to share.  I love felting bags.  The great thing about felting is that the gauge is really unimportant.  I can even knit and read at the same time without having to focus on an intricate steps of a pattern.  Of course, now that I’m listening to books, I don’t have to do that. 

I’m trying to cover knitting topics little by little since it takes so much time to get a pattern/project done.  Please let me know if there are any topics or questions you would like me to cover.  I’ll get to more about knitting needles in the next post. 

Happy Knitting.

The Yellow Brick Road

by Tracy, posted in Thoughts

I’ve been thinking a lot lately.  I’m an introvert so this shouldn’t be much of  a surprise.  I’m going back to school, hoping to get a second bachelor’s degree in Accounting.  I’m working hard with the two classes I am taking, Principles of Marketing and Computers, Software and Technology.  I used to be very intelligent and caught on to anything.  I feel like I’ve lost my edge.  I’m not as smart as I was ten years ago.  I wonder if I’m on the right path.  Maybe I am Dorothy, skipping away but staring out into the fields, wondering if Munchkinland might be just as good as Oz, if not better.

I’m not sure what I want.  A few years ago I decided I needed a path and I chose one.  It has taken me a while, but I’m finally stepping ahead.  Part of me wants to go back to writing, never knowing if I’ll find happiness, nevermind money.  Another piece wants to open that knitting shop with used books, coffee and tea and hope to turn a profit.  Reason and rational says that I will inevitably burn out from that even if I managed to succeed in finding the resources to start such a venture.  Imagine not sleeping because the rent is due and I’ve only sold a half-dozen hanks of yarn and a few cups of coffee.  Oh- and don’t forget, that shop doesn’t come with health insurance!

I don’t know my path, but I’m following it anyway.  It’s off to see the Wizard. . . wish me luck.