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Hi there. I got a new haircut. Yes, it's short. Much shorter that I wanted. I went in with a photo of a choppy chin length bob, and I walked out with this. Huh? I probably should have been seen a red flag when my stylist started talking about how he was feeling weird now that his doc upped his medication. Oh well, it'll grow. It really is a good hair cut, just not what I had in mind. This will take some getting used to.
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This is the question that Lily has started asking me every night. I usually have an answer like "tomorrow is dancing, or tomorrow you have catechism, or tomorrow is FRIDAY". The problem is that when I can't come up with something, she gets very upset. I was talking to my therapist about this (yes, I've been going to therapy to help battle depression, but that's a topic for another post), and she suggested that I encourage Lily to come up with her own thing to look forward to. This didn't go so well last night. So, I suggested to her that she come up with something that we can do as a family. More tears. My first thought was to suggest we make a craft together, but that doesn't always go so well, especially on a school night when it's just me and the kids and we have all our usual school night activities to tend to. After a little thinking, I suggested that she help me cook supper, but it has to be something that she wants to cook. This seemed to help, but as of this morning she hadn't decided on a menu. When I picked her up from school, we talked a little more and decided on nachos. Much to my surprise, supper time went much smoother with my helper - she's so eager to learn! I think our cooking together will become a usual thing. At least tonight I have an easy answer when she asks, "what do I have to look forward to tomorrow?". It's FRIDAY, of course :)
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Yep, another day. Another day that I'm grateful that my family is safe and healthy. Another day that I am able to be around my friends and the people that I love. Another day that I am able to take comfort in my usual routine. Another day that I get to hear my kids giggle in the bath tub. Another day that I'm happy for the life that I have.
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Yes, I'm still on a bag kick. I returned to my first love, the pleated bag. Unlike my short & sassy, this one is bigger, roomier, and has a shaped top. Above is my first version. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking with that middle bit of fabric trim. My original thought was some orange piping, but I didn't have any. When I asked Lily what she thought, she confirmed my thoughts. Oh well, you can't win them all. After loading all my stuff into this bag I quickly realized that the opening needed to be a bit wider.
So, on to version 2. I really, really like this one. In fact, all my purse contents are in it now! There's still tiny bit of tweaking to do (see how that that line isn't straight between the top and the body?), so I'm sure there will be yet another version, but I'm pretty happy with this one.
In the near future I''ll be uploading all these "versions" to my etsy shop, because really, I don't need them all! I'll let you know when I get around to it, but don't count on this one being there :)
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I got a little bit behind with 12 square, but I'm all caught up now. Kristena wanted a scrappy log cabin block, so scrappy log cabin is what she got. I really didn't have to add any fabrics to what she sent, but I wanted add a few for a little bit of a surprise. I like how it turned out. I had forgotten how much I enjoy making this type of block.
Next up was Leslie's block. Her instructions were "anything goes". She included lots of girly pink fabrics that really spoke to me. I LOVE girly pink fabrics! I happened to have been working on this bag at the time, so some of these fabrics made it into the block. I tried my hand at applique, which went okay. I enjoyed the hand stitching, but my biggest fear now is that the flower will fall off in the wash! I think it will be okay.
These blocks were a nice little detour, but I quickly returned to bags...more tomorrow.
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The other night I had a somewhat strange, vivid dream. As I was Matt all about it, he said I should write it down, so here it is.
The dream starts with me going to lunch with my friends. I'm in the backseat knitting, not paying attention to where we are going. When we arrive at the destination, I am confused at to where we are. I generally have a pretty good sense of direction, to this threw me off. Some things seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place where I was. We all went inside to some sort of waiting room. The chairs were all very close together. At this point, I am with a child. I think maybe it is Lily or Ava, it isn't clear, but it is definitely a female. This child needs to go to the bathroom, so I get up to take her. I see what looks like a restroom, but it isn't. I ask a lady behind a desk where the restroom is and she points me in the direction. I start wandering around looking for the restroom. The interior of this building is very large and dark. It looks almost like a theater, but there are many levels, stairs, and doors. I end up going in a loop, ending up where I started. I go a different direction and come upon some people sitting at a round table. I take a seat with them and we start discussing dreams. I tell them about a dream I have where a small animal (cat? dog?) keeps nipping at my legs. The lady at the table tells me that this is symbolic of my family needing me, how I can't go anywhere overnight because my family needs me. We discussed some other dream symbolism, but I can't remember what that was. Another person at the table was some sort of worker at this building, a guard maybe? I asked him where the restroom was and he points me where I need to go. I begin wandering around this large building and end up outside, in a courtyard. There is a fountain. The child walks along the edge of the fountain, playing, and for some reason we both get in the water. We then start drifting along a stream. A fairy? spirit? is talking to me. I then arrive at a destination, a beautiful studio/shop with arched windows and neat shelves and large tables. This fairy tells me that it is all for me, that my journey had brought me here. I am overwhelmed that this beautiful studio is all mine, then I wake up.
I dreamed this a few nights ago, and it still with me. I wonder what that's all about?? Weird, huh??
(just so you know, I haven't knit or sewn anything in days, but I have high hopes for tonight :-)
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After carrying around this bag for a few days, I came to realize that it was a bit too big for my everyday use. You know what that means - I need a new bag. But not another version of that round yoke tote, I wanted something different. So, I played around and came up with this.
I took a chance and made first version in the good fabrics. I pretty much liked it - LOVED the fabric choice, the size was right on, but it needed a bit of tweaking. It was just a little bit off.
So, on to no. 2. My goal was to make the straps a little wider and angle them a bit, as well as make the sides a little wider near the top. I don't know what happened, but I ended up making the whole thing too wide. Yikes! Too big. Back to the drawing board.
This time, I went back to the original size and made the mods that I was trying to make on the second version. I also made sure that I wasn't distracted while doing this, which is I'm sure what happened on my second go round. You know how it goes, as soon as you get deep into thought you hear "Mama, Ava peed on the floor", so then you have to stop what you're doing, go take care of that, then when you return you're not quite sure where you left off. Ah, this one is just right.
*For the record, I'm carrying around version 1 right now because I love the fabrics so much. The bright punch of color is just what I need right now to carry me through to spring.
Oh, one more thing - I think I've finally figured my little obsessive streaks. I obsess over something until I get it right. Once I made no. 3 of the round yoke tote, I was okay with it. Same with this new bag. Now I'm ready to move on to something else. Will it be another bag? quilting? who knows!!
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This is the last one. Maybe. You know me, once I start something I get a little obsessed.
The body is a soft natural linen with a patchwork inset. I really like the look of this one. I'm sure the linen will get nice and wrinkley the more it is used. Wouldn't this be the perfect carry all to use while antiquing out in the country? What, don't you come up with scenarios for your bags?
I think the inside is just as sweet as the outside. In case you were wondering, my knitting has totally gone on the back burner now that I'm stuck on bags. I have to trade one obsession for another :)
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Here it is, on me, not on my table blocking with my stuffed bra :) (which totally worked, by the way) I LOVE it! I wore it all day today, so I can honestly say that. It's comfortable, soft, warm, and best of all, it FITS!!
I made this using Blue Sky Alpaca Cropped Cardigan pattern. Instead of using a double strand of sport weight yarn, I used 1 strand of malabrigo (LOVE). I also cast on more stitches for the fronts because I wanted more coverage, lengthened the sleeves to 3/4 length, and lengthened the body a bit. These mods worked for me. Yay, I finally have a hand knit sweater that I adore!!
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These past 7 months or so I have been a crazy knitting lady. Out of control knitting. I started 13 sweaters, most of which were for me. I finished 9 of them and gave 2 as gifts. Of the remaining finished sweaters, I’ll probably only wear 3 of them, and of those three, I’m only happy with 1. Those numbers aren’t too great, are they? I don’t mind, really. It took all of those ill fitting sweaters to get to where I am now. My last finished sweater fits (this is the one I’m happy with). I haven’t worn it yet, but I look forward to it.
As a recovering perfectionist, this is BIG. I made mistakes. I went into it knowing that I’d make mistakes. There was a time when I wouldn’t try something if I couldn’t do it well – it saddens me to think about all the opportunities I let go by, but that will happen no more. No, I am no longer afraid. In fact, I look forward to new challenges.
Along with my quest to enjoy the process in 2009, I want to explore new mediums. Right now, painting is calling me. I've dabbled here and there, but never really took it seriously. This year, I'd like to take a painting class. I've found a few that just might fit into my schedule. I may totally suck at it and fail miserably, but that's okay. I'm up for the challenge.
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