color, texture, yarn

So I have been experimenting lately with different things...mostly with sock patterns...since it is the last few days of the fire element for project spectrum, I thought I would post a picture of some red socks I am working on using Eva - a blend of silk and cashmere - from Posh Yarn. When I received the yarn it was so soft and the color rocked. It is supposed to be sock yarn -- it is the most disappointing yarn I have ever knit with!!


First I tried to make the marina piccola socks from this yarn. I got a good chunk done and figured out I was knitting the pattern all wrong (so, okay, my fault), but the pattern was the worst ever for a yarn that basically has NO STRETCH at all. I ripped it out and tried again using one of my own patterns...the yarn kept splitting, it had no give...I cursed, and I am still cursing. That beautiful color .... is all over my hands, under my nails, on the pillow I lean on when I knit...At this point I am not certain if I should finish the socks, except that this pattern looks pretty nice, however, the yarn is a nightmare.

Lessons learned:

• I figured out the marina piccola pattern so I won't have issues next time - I will do it in a proper sock yarn


• Don't judge a yarn by its color


• Don't buy that yarn again
  

hear me so i blog

I never read a blog until about a year ago. The first blog I read was a link from my LYS site to indigirl. On that blog were links to other blogs and so on...you can picture it. Slowly the blogging world emerged to me and now I read many of the same blogs all of you read. Some blogs seem to appear again and again as favorites on people's side bars.

As a communication specialist, blogs fascinate me. I started reading the archives of many bloggers and most wrote that they started blogging to keep a record of their knits or sewing projects and to chat about life. However, as time went by the blogs became a forum for others to join in the conversation, celebrate victories and commiserate the sad times. I noticed that some of the established bloggers have a community of people surrounding their occasional musings and all these voices stitch a tapestry of thoughts and connections.

I realized how attached we get to our blogs. One of the first people who left a comment on my blog was Lin. I read Lin's blog whenever she posted and enjoyed her projects and thoughts with her. Lin took a little break from blogging and is still on her blogoholiday...I actually experienced this little twinge of loss for a while, a let down feeling that something was not quite right in the world - someone was missing. It sounds funny, I know, but I realized that we get used to hearing the same voices and when they go away, we are impacted - at least for a while - by the gap left by that individual.

Most bloggers say at some point that their blogs are for themselves, however, again, now that I blog, I must admit that when I see comments from others, it makes me happy. Simply happy. Comments mean that others are reading, listening, and sharing. I don't think that we as bloggers can honestly say that we don't care if someone is reading or not - for me personally seeing that new little comment at the bottom of my writing gives me a lift each day and enables a connection with people from around the world. For many of us, our blogs are our voices, they are our 15 minutes...hope you are having a wonderful time off Lin, I miss you.

happy easter

Happy Easter to all. A few weeks ago I decided to treat myself to a little green bag made by this talented woman. It is perfect for my small knitting projects like socks. I have been buying a few things off Etsy lately. I have always believed that it's worthwhile to support small business people and buy from independent sellers as much as possible. I also prefer to buy from local, independent stores however, I don't often get the time to go out and shop so on-line shopping has become the convenient method of buying for me.

Etsy is a community of artisans and I love supporting the people that put their talents and efforts into producing unique objects that give people like myself (who don't have time to make these wonderful things) the opportunity to buy something unique made with care.

the stress of knitting

I think I am one of those people who stresses out about everything. I stress out about my job, my house, my weight, my school work, about my kids, about other people, about the weather, about my car, about my cat...everything. My sister is like that as well. We both happily blame our parents...eastern European imports.

Eastern European parents have certain mantras they recite to their children...go to school, save your money, open RRSPs, don't do anything weird because what will people think of us, get a job with a pension plan, plus a thousand other things that most north American people never make chants out of. Us children of eastern European parents like to put these drones in the back of our minds - unfortunately these things come and haunt us in our sleep. Our parents can't help it...they came to a new country with nothing and rebuild their lives and the only thing that no one had taken away from them in their old country is their education and their ability to be frugal...well, except for my dad...he is not frugal...he likes kitchen appliances too much, and computers, and his sailboat, and his power tools. I must say though, that it is this propensity to stress and feel guilty about everything that directly contributes to my doing well in life. I have a good job, a great house, decent kids...you know - I have a small life but a meaningful life, I feel lucky.

Knitting is supposed to be my zen...my escape from all that is necessary, but slowly my type A personality is starting to creep in. I have FOUR projects on the go right now and it is stressing me out. I have decided that I am one of these people who can only have one sweater and one pair of socks on the go. Right now I have one sweetpea sock, one toe up sock, one endpaper mitt and a small portion of Mr. Greenjeans completed. I can't handle it. It is keeping me up at night. So, once I finish off on the socks, I am NOT starting anything new until I get everything done.

You know, I am minimalist...I don't like junk and too many projects to me is mind clutter. Of course one needs to knit and get into knitting to discover this side of herself. I know there are knitters out there who have many projects on the go...I can't be one of those people. I know that now.

frustrations

I was reading Kirsten's lament on her sock frustrations...it must be the week. Everything is frustrating this week - publishing deadlines for my writing projects at work, writing deadlines for school assignments, people on edge, putting out fires, soothing egos...and - well - sock issues.

The thing about my taste in clothes is that everything I own is black - however, all the yarn I am buying is pink, red, blue, green...curious!

Finally, I found a beautiful steel grey Koigu; the perfect color. I found a pattern - Sweetpea. I have knit and re-knit...frustration...I wanted to frog the sock; I decided to block the sock while still on the needles. I changed my mind about frogging. Now one is finished so the other one has to follow. I hate the socks, I love the color, maybe I love the socks. I don't know.

the raven and the yarn

Rebecca of poshyarns had the most interesting and striking image of a little metal sculpture on her blog. I decided to photograph my own metal critter guarding my new bit of stash. The little raven was made by an artist in Nelson, British Columbia - a little hippie town full of character and talented artisans. The coldness and hardness of its metal is a complete dichotomy of the softness and warmth of Eva - the cashmere and silk blend from Posh Yarn . The color -- Bite Me!

green week

Can't believe the week is almost over. Time is just flying by and life seems so hurried right now. With work and school, papers to write, bathrooms to paint, and just everyday tasks to take up my time, it seems like hours are seconds.

I remember my mom writing me a letter on my 40th birthday and in it she said that life is a bit like a clock - it takes forever for that clock hand to hit the first half hour and that last half hour just moves so quickly. Same with our time on this earth - that first 40 years seems like a long time, but the years after that just move at lightening speed. Emily at shining egg is hosting green week this week. Conveniently I finished some green socks for the Babe. Sometimes when life is a blur, it's nice to knit some simple socks.

...but will they let me in the colony?

I am in the process of completing my university degree, along with working a very busy, corporate job as an investor relations advisor to an oil company. It's what I call one of those self-actualized jobs...corporations have people like me to fulfill their communication programs because they are large enough and successful enough to offload these things to 'a person'. Start-up companies, short on money and resources, cannot have people like me because we are not necessary to the basic existence of a business - hence a frivolous cost. The job is interesting, involves travel and writing but the downside is that I would be the first one to be deleted, ejected, packaged-out (whatever pleasant term one wants to use for being got rid of) when a company is acquired by another or starts to run into difficulties.

I always think about my relevance in terms of...what if there was a nuclear war and resources were limited, and the remaining survivors formed colonies...would they let me in the colony? What do I have to offer? Can I do anything practical? I am getting (ahem!) to that age where procreation is not a pleasant thought! For sure they will let nurses and doctors and engineers and house-builders into the colony. But, what about people like me? I don't think they would let me in, along with lawyers, accountants, and insurance salespeople,...oh, and telemarketers - they are definitely not getting in. The Babe was listening to me rant on about my insignificance in the post-apocalyptic world and said...."You're wrong babe, they would definitely let you in the colony because you know how to KNIT GREAT SOCKS!"

Yes everyone, I have been saved from extinction because I can knit socks...and considering I just started a new course, socks are probably the only thing I will be able to mentally focus on knitting for the next five weeks.