I Can't Get No . . . Purse Making Satisfaction

Why is it that I can't seem to get no purse- making satisfaction? This is the cabled purse that I tried to make but mine came out wider and squatier than Alie's version in the shop. Actually, mine is the right length, according to the directions - it's 10" deep but instead of being Alie's 9" in width near the top - mine is a wider 13" in width, and lacks the tapered look, even though I did the decrease rounds. Mine has a kinda squarish/rectangled shape. I should have knit more length and maybe it wouldn't have appeared so wide? Also, I should have perhaps decreased more toward the top of the bag.

Ultimately, it probably doesn't matter, because I don't like this bag enough to spend the effort redoing it.

I don't actually have the handles sewn on yet, I'm just setting them there on top the purse for display purposes. I will sew them on this week - maybe. I'm not honestly very motiviated to finish this thing - but I suppose I will. I want to have something to carry at Stitches for a regular handbag.


You can't see it well here, but my Grammy, as usual, did an EXCELLENT job of sewing in a very neat, attractive lining (complete with requested side pocket). But we didn't sew in the magnetic snap yet, because the one I selected was so darn strong, we were afraid it would pull through the fabric. Weird magnet - it is super strength. I'm trying to decide whether to find a less super-strength magnetic closure to attach inside the purse (which would require me snipping into the lining) or if I should just attach a pretty button to the outside? Not sure. It needs something to keep it closed, but what? Hmmm.

When I think back on it, very few bags end up turning out like I want. I don't know why. They are cute enough, I suppose, but somehow I expect them to be more USEABLE and no matter what I do, they end up disappointing.

Maybe this one will grow on me? Not sure. I think it's like my Mom said, while we both enjoy making bags, we don't end up carrying them a lot. I'm not sure why - is it because they are floppy and unstructured, unlike a regular handbag? Any theories or insights would be appreciated - especially before I blindly fall in love with another bag pattern, then spend hours and good yarn making another one of these shelf-liners for my closet. Someone stop me, will ya? Or else give me the secret to making a truly well-loved bag project.

Time Well Spent in St. Louie-Louie

I don't know why, but many years ago, Bob and I started referring to his hometown as "St. Louie-Louie." (Probably because of the movie MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS). But anyhow, that's where we sojourned on Friday afternoon. We spent Friday and Saturday night at the Drury Inn and came back this (Sunday) evening. We had such a good time. I can't say enough about that Drury Inn, they even let you bring a small dog, so Domino, our Shit-zu tagged along. Our teen girl spent the weekend in Branson with a friends' family so we went by ourselves.



What a nice, peaceful FUN weekend we had together. We visited a few friends there, but mostly just walked down Memory Lane - going back to many of Bob's favorite haunts, including his childhood home. We saw a young woman sweeping the garage, so we walked up and introduced ourselves and asked her if we could peek into the backyard. Soon the woman's husband joined us out in the yard and we explained why we were staring at their house. When we told her Bob grew up in that house, she became very excited because they'd just moved in and wanted to hear the history of the house. Bob told her about the entire neighborhood, including the best local restaurants. She seemed really happy. We didn't go inside, because they said the house was full of unpacked boxes. But we had a chance to get to know this lovely couple a bit and we promised to send them some old photos and segments of home movies that showed the neighborhood in the 1960's and early '70s.



Many of the homes in University City, where Bob grew up, are made up of brick - real solid brick! The one at right is just one we snapped a picture of while walking by, but it typlifies the brick that is seen EVERYWHERE in this older neighborhood. I love these homes and wish we had more like them in the Kansas City area. Ah well, we don't. It's wood siding around here, and what can you do? They just don't make brick anymore - too expensive perhaps? Housing prices in St. Louis have skyrocketed much like they have here.





To the left is a photo of Bob's Aunt Renee on the left and my mother-in-law, Syl, on the right. We went to see Renee over the weekend. She's one of the sweetest people on earth. I adore her. Renee and Syl are not actual sisters - but best friends. Bob has always called her "aunt." She makes the famous "Renee's Poppy Seed Cookies." This woman is the best Jewish cooks you ever met. Her home is always warm and inviting. You can show up on her door night or day and she'll always invite you in for a visit. You feel so at home, like you never left.



While visiting, we shopped by two yarn shops. One is called "Chris' Needle Craft Supplies" in Chesterfield. They have a website, which is www.chrisneedlecraftsupply.com. Very cute place! With knowledgeable knitters, including the manager named Wayne Davis, who is not only a talented knitter, but he also makes lovely handmade shawl pins such as this one I bought, in Bolivan Rosewood. And, as you can see, I couldn't resist buying my first skein of Tofutsie sock yarn in an aqua, green, lavendar, pink colorway. Very summery, wouldn't you say?






















My friend, Carol, has already made some socks out of this yarn, in a different color, so I know how soft and lovely this yarn is from touching her socks. I just HAD to have some. Who can resist yarn with shrimp shells ground into the yarn to make it softer? Mmmm.



Did I tell you that during the drive to and from, I finished the cabled purse? Well, I did. While in St. Louis, I found some cloth to make the lining. And I need to sew the lining, attach the straps and the magnetic closure -- do all those finishing things so that I can show you the completed bag - maybe tomorrow or sometime this week.




I started a new project, a summer sweater, but it's been a bugger-bear so far. I struggled with it, and finally visited yes ANOTHER yarn shop, both to buy a bit of yarn, but mainly to get advice on what I'm doing wrong on this bugger-bear dang sweater pattern. We all agreed, the Math just didn't quite work out - it was one stitch off. But I think this one will be okay once I get the hang of it.


"Knitorious" is the name of the shop where they offered their knitter's hand-holding service. Bob patiently waited in the car while the folks at "Knitorious" did a pattern analysis for me. I've been there before, and it is a "not to be missed shop" near the St. Louis zoo. Their website is www.knitorious.com and the owner is Sandy, a wonderfully helpful person - along with her colleague Lenora. Together, Sandy and Lenore are a dynamite team. I recommend them and the shop highly.

The colorway below with a mixture of brown/copper/peach and blue color elements is another Colinette Jitterbug find of mine in a colorway called "Copperbeach." Since falling in love with shawls, I may just HAVE to whip this into another shawl perhaps?

In a Blink

Book review Friday. Normally I'm not able to write blog entries on Fridays because I'm at work. But today it's "Book Review Friday" because I'm off work. Yay! (See last entry). Four days off is simply decadent! It really is. I got up at my usual time, 5:30 a.m. and hardly knew what to do with myself. It's such a luxury to poke around the house and not hurry.

I've been reading this book called "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell. It's about the realm of adaptive unconscious - where our minds process information very rapidly without our knowledge and allow us to make snap judgments that are sometimes more accurate and on-target than our more thought-out conscious decisions. He calls this instant knowing "thin slicing" because we only need to take a small sampling or "thin slice" of information to gather a much deeper and more "gut level" reaction that is often more accurate than our carefully gathered and consciously-analyzed decisions.

Gladwell's book is fascinating. It's really a series of almost vignette-style examples from various psychological research to support his conclusions. He's taken various research studies and research from other researchers and compiled them into a framework of supporting his conclusion that people have an unconscious decision-making process that operates much faster and more seamlessly behind-the-scenes than we ever realize. In many ways, if we could trust this "instant intuition" we might prevent many disastrous conscious decisions.

On the other hand, there are definitely circumstances where conscious analysis is more useful. He gives examples of "Blink" gone awry, such as the marketing of New Coke and one of the most horrible presidents in history, Harding. He also talks about how we have unconscious prejudices, such as the unconscious belief among most people that tall people are natural leaders, that can lead us astray in trusting people whom we should take a second look at.

While I enjoyed this book immensely, the one thing missing that I would have liked is a way of practicing the quick-thinking intuitive judgments, a way of honing your "thinking without thinking." It would have been to have included a series of exercises or something. I think I rely on my intuition a lot, and it most often steers me correctly (i.e. finding my husband and trusting my immediate hunch that he was a great guy) . . . but then sometimes I start second-guessing myself and screw up what MIGHT have been a great hunch and turning it into a great big clusterfuck. (Sorry but that's the only word for some of my contorted misjudgments).

I would recommend this book to those who are interested in learning more about how decisions - both good and bad - are made and how we should probably do more "thin slicing" that is, taking less time and a smaller sampling of information, to make reliable decisions.

One of the most fascinating research studies was about the marriage researcher who could decide, in 15 minutes, whether a new marriage would survive or fail (with 95% accuracy), based on a segment of conversation he observed with hundreds of couples. His method of research was very logical and rational, but through it, he developed a way to tell very quickly based on four behaviors he observed that doomed a relationship, namely: contempt (the most disastrous) along with stonewalling, defensiveness, and something else I forgot. Anyway, I've heard about this researcher before, his name is John Gottman. He called those 4 behaviors that doom a relationship "the four horseman of the Apocolypse" because they were the precursors to a failed relationship.

Just take a thin slice of this book yourself and let me know what you think. How about that?

I Live for Long Weekends!!!

Oh boy, I am as giddy as can be --- why? Because I'm off work tomorrow. That means a four day weekend!!!! I feel like I've been released from corporate prison. With all the tension there all this month, I thought if I had to spend one more hour there, I'd snap. (Remember there is a GOOD reason this blog is called, "Hanging By A Thin Thread.")

The song "Freebird" rushes into my frazzled mind.

Anyway, I'm not going to think any more about that place, I'm free to be relaxed.

I am free to knit, and roam, and shop and think, and lull around, and loaf. Maybe knit. Maybe read. Maybe I'll finish that cabled purse that has taken me FAR too long. Maybe I'll start on something else for Stitches. Maybe I'll stay sane for one more day. Doubt that.

I am so very happy to call four days in a row my own. Life is good. At leasdt for four days.

A New Way to Get Around

Well, we've been having this Plymouth Caravan that hasn't been of much use to us in recent months. It has a variety of mechanical maladies, including a slipping transmission and broken air conditioning . . . so I've been telling Bob, "We need to just get rid of that thing, it's not worth fixing." (Mainly because we hardly drive it - we've outlived our minivan days).

With gas prices going up, up, up and with our teenager growing increasingly independent, what we need is another driveable little "getting around" car that gets good gas mileage. Especially since I drive 22 miles to and from work each day (44 miles today round trip). So . . . we've been going car shopping lately. And you can see what we drove away with yesterday. Toyota Yaris.

Now the color, which is sort of a cross between navy and saphire may surprise those of you who know how much I DON'T like blue. Blue is the only color in the whole palette that I run, not walk away from. But here it is. It drew me immediately. I knew it was MY car. I love driving it. The handling . . the interior roomines . . . the cheap price . . . the great gas mileage. It just felt like mine.

Because of the skyrocketing gasoline price, these Yaris cars are selling so fast that they can hardly keep them in stock at our local dealership. This was the LAST stickshift transmission car that they had on the lot, and we wanted a stick. It gets 40 mpg on the highway, and I mainly drive highway.

I've always loved small cars - one of my favorites have been "Brown Bomber" - my old rusted out Toyota Corolla that ran until you could see the road beneath your feet, literally!!! It had like 218,000 miles on it.

Emily will soon inherit "Groovy Grape" my loyal and long-serving Dodge Stratus. It's been good to me and will be a good safe car for her to use while she learns to drive.

What is really funny about this is that when I got home last night, I was catching up on the many blogs I read. Guess what I discovered? My friend Kay bought the same kind of car last week in silver! This is so funny!

Post-Shawl Knitting Lethargy

The thrill is gone . . . .

Not with my man (see him at left, holding the knitted yarn cake he made a few weeks ago when he was spinning my Colinette Jitterbug yarn trove).

But the thrill is gone (at least temporarily) with the knitting. It's been 10 days since I completed my lovely Forest Canopy Shawl and I'm missing knitting it already. I want to do another . . . seriously. I'm really missing it. And I don't need another shawl, at least not immediately, I need instead to focus on creating a Stitches wardrobe, but my mind keeps drifting to yarnovers when I should be knitting . . . cables. Yes, my current project is CABLES, darn it, NOT lace.

See this lovely pattern by Ali of The Studio? It's a cute little cable purse, and I really want to do this. It should be a quick project, but my mind keeps drifting, not paying attention. I had half of it done last Sunday but then had to rip most of it out again when I discovered I'd missed cabling two cables. It's a really cute, easy pattern. It uses Noro Kureyon yarn and it is NOT felted. I'm going to need to make a lining in it. The purse at right is their Studio sample purse. The one I'm making is the same color, though. Mine is about 1/3 done.

Why is it that when you complete a project that you really love, it takes a while to feel the love for anything else?

So no matter how much I try to fix my mind on cables, it keeps drifting to:

Stop that! Yes, okay, I ordered that book. The last thing I need is more lace-induced daydreaming.

Back to the danged cables. Okay, I will bargain with myself: you can maybe start another shawl only AFTER you finish the cable purse. How's that for self-compromise?

Forest Canopy Shawl Adoration

Here's after blocking - now I'm wearing it.

Forest Canopy Shawl - It's A Wrap!

Here it is: the completed Forest Canopy Shawl in Colinette's Jitterbug/color: Tuscany. Size 7 needle. Started 3-17-07 and completed this morning 5-6-07.

Unblocked it measured 46" wingspan/23 inches center back. After being wetted and blocking it is 66X30. It's fairly large. Eeeks! I called Mary in a panic miscalculating that it was 76 but I added wrong, it's 66. I did 3 extra repetitions while knitting, thinking I wanted it larger, but now it might be too large. SIGH.

Lesson learned: next time I want to block a shawl, instead of immersing it in cold water and then rolling it in towels, I think I would do as Mary suggested and just pin it down and then spritz it with water so it doesn't expand quite so much.



It's been storming really bad all weekend here in KC. To the west of us, in Kansas, on Friday night, they had tornadoes that were so bad, one town of Greenburg was leveled. I feel so sorry for those people.


Twenty-five years ago, on June 7th to be exact, I was in a small house that collapsed from a storm when two trees went through my tiny house (no basement), with me inside! I was lucky I wasn't smashed to smithereens. So I can imagine the fear those people faced when another tornado front moved over that same area again last night. Everything here is fine - just a lot of storms and heavy rain, thunder and lightening. No tornadoes. Thank Goodness. We've been resting, staying in and cleaning the house a bit.



I visited The Studio yesterday and had a great time. Found a new pattern for a cable handbag that the storeowner, Allie, designed. I'll be making that for Stitches. I'm also going to be starting a new vest. These are the yarns for the Jane Thornley Sunset Bolero vest:





Isn't this cute?

If it turns out, then it will go to Stitches with me. It's one of those Freeform "not an exact science" kind of projects. I love the colors of this vest, and I hope it won't look like I'm an overstuffed sausage wearing it. You can bet that I won't be wearing it with my midriff exposed such as the young girl modeling this vest is doing. But it's my next project. Wish me luck.

Neil Young Makes a Spring Day Even Better

Today was a beautiful spring day. At lunch, after eating a grilled salmon salad at Panara's, I sat with the windows down in my car, a cool breeze drifting by as I sat knitting on the Forest Canopy Shawl and listening to one of my favorite musicians of all time, the Neil Young's Greatest Hits CD. What a treat! It was really relaxing and fun.

Best of all, it's Friday! Yes, an end to a long (too long) week. Peace and tranquility, please find me this weekend.

I did really really WELL on both the diet and exercise front this week. I didn't drink coffee. I didn't drink soda. I drank water, had hot lemon water or green tea in the morning instead of caffeine. My exercise was walking. Didn't eat junk food or stress-eat all week, even though it was a challenging week. I'm really proud of myself. Whew!

Now let's see how I do on a less-structured weekend. Neil Young, keep me calm and reflective, okay? Oh yeah, I need to do that for myself.

Am I Falling Apart or What?

Jeez, I joined this walking/exercise class with Mary and Carol that we're doing through a hospital. We've been doing this for about 4 weeks, and I've been trying to walk most every day for 2 weeks now. This week, we got back the results of our lab tests and I discovered that I really DO have motivation to lose weight and exercise. It seems that my overall cholestrol is 211 with the "bad cholestrol" being too high and the good too low. That's not a huge surprise, it's hereditary in my family.

But blood sugar is also higher than it should be, at 114. Bummer. I need to start watching that now too. It's time to really go low-carb - giving up pasta, bread, sweets, chips, white flour etc. I really can't eat that junk anymore.

After last Sunday's entry on addiction, I decided that for at least one week, I want to totally give up coffee for just one week. Why? Mainly just to see if I can do it, because I adore coffee more than anything. I miss it. Green tea just isn't the same. I don't care what anyone says. I drink my coffee black, without sugar, cream etc. I like it because it is rich tasting, thick, hearty, warm and comforting. I can sip green tea, and it's okay, but it's just not the same. So far this week, though, I haven't had any - not Monday through Thursday so far! I just wanted to see if I could do it - give up something I love for a week. Yes, I probably can. Do I want to continue this? Not sure yet.

Actually they say that coffee LOWERS the risk of diabetes, so considering my elevated blood sugar, maybe I should continue drinking it and enjoying it forever, who knows? Ah the ways we justify our addictions. Isn't it simply amazing?

Bits and Pieces

I've had such a busy month - it has just flown by. So I decided to finish up some things I've been doing. I finished this book.


A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. I am a slow reader these days. I believe I first started this book 6 weeks ago, the weekend of St. Patrick's Day and I just finished reading it last night! And it's a really good, fast-moving book. Only 400 pages, not 4000. In my childhood or teen years, even in my early 20s, I would have finished this book in one or two days tops. Now a days it takes me forever.


I liked this book. When it first came out a couple of years ago or so, back when it was a hot Oprah book club pick, I resisted reading it. Since my biological father was an alcoholic, and I have bad memories of him, I never had much sympathy for alcoholics or addicts in general. But after hearing Dr. Wayne Dyer (one of my heroes) talk about this book on his tape set - I decided that I really needed to read that book. I was resisting it - and whatever you resist, you need to find out why and face it.


I'm glad I read A Million Little Pieces. The fact that not every incident in this book is a true-to-the-letter memoir of his experiences overcoming his alcohol and drug addiction, (he twisted and bent some events for storytelling purposes) doesn't make the book less relevant or meaningful to me. After all, the guy is a recovering addict. He may not even KNOW for sure the truth of every instance. His mind was impaired during part of it.

In spite of the fictional licenses he took in portraying some of the events and people in the book, I still found it very heart opening and inspiring. And from what I understand, it has helped a lot of addicts in their walk toward recovery. I have to admire anyone who sincerely TRIES to overcome this kind of profound addiction.

I can't seem to even handle a food addiction. When I get stressed out - I crave comfort foods such as meatloaf, mash potatoes, country fried steak, homemade chili, and most of ALL, macaroni and cheese. Mac and cheese is my ultimate comfort food. When I'm really sad or upset, that's what I cook. In fact, I cooked it twice this week. Whenever I find myself craving it, I try to step back and look inside to ask, "What's going on with me and how can I address it in some other way than food?" But sometimes I don't come into that awareness until I've already ingested 2 soup bowls of mac and cheese. So addiction is addiction. I learned a lot about it while reading this book. James Frey has given me some insights into myself and how I suppress emotion through various methods such as eating and shopping.


One thing James points out in the book is the fact that these recovering addicts often GORGE themselves on food, even the bland tasteless food of the Rehab Center's food. They are trying to fill themselves with something - fill an emptiness that seems to be a bottomless pit in many ways. He comments that he thinks they'd eat the chairs and tables too if they could swallow them. One sign of his recovery toward the end of his Rehab stay is that he can sit down and enjoy a steak and lobster dinner brought in for the patients by a wealthy patient. He can sit down and eat ONE regular portion of steak and ONE lobster and ONE small baked potato and stop there. Just eat it, savor each bite, enjoy it without filling himself to bursting.

I am not doing particularly well with my weight lately. I've been walking a lot more since the weather has turned to Spring, but I am still feeling very hungry lately - eating comfort food. I can't seem to get away from pasta and bread, even though I know I lose the most weight and feel the most satisfied on a low-carb diet. I'm feeling very emotional and needy right now. I'm trying to get into a better, improved state of mind. Since I'm having trouble controlling the eating, I'm at least trying to exercise more.

Bob and I have been walking almost every day. This morning, we woke up early and walked to Panara's before we ate our Spinach Quiche Omelettes they serve there. It's a delectible pastry. Yum! Okay, enough of that.

An interesting thing about this book, too, is that James Frey overcomes his addictions in spite of the fact that he's not religious, and therefore can't accept the "12 Steps" principles that are repeatedly presented to him by the therapists in rehab. Since he doesn't have a "higher power" to turn to, he must marshall the strength within himself. His rehab coaches repeatedly warn him that this is a bad idea, that he is almost certain to relapse by depending on his own strength alone, yet he makes that decision. He read the Tao Te Ching a lot, the taoist teachings, and he does gain a lot of strength and inspiration from it. But he takes self responsibility and primarily uses self-awareness to find his own freedom and his own way out of the tangle of profound addiction. I think he's a rare person who can probably do it his way and succeed, but I have to admire his strength and continued sobriety, however he achieves it.

Atticus Finch Walks Among Us

For months I've been seeing him. A mysterious man, dressed to the nines, very proper. He looks smart, dapper and elegant every single day as he walks to work. He always wears a suit, a hat (wool in winter and straw in spring). I drive past him every day at exactly 6:50 as I make my way into work each day.

I've told my coworkers about him, and mentioned him to my husband. It's very strange, seeing this man, a seeming mirage from the 1940's or '50s, ambling past the traffic each day on a busy street. In the half-light of early morning, I've almost believed at times that he wasn't real.

Remember me saying that TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee was one of my top favorite books since childhood? Well, call me crazy, but I swear, this man reminds me so much of how I've always envisioned him as I read that story. This is Atticus Finch walking among us.

Today was "Bring Your Child to Work" day. So with my girl in the car beside me, and her half-listening to my Atticus Finch story, I was armed today with a camera and asked her, as crazy as it sounded, to capture Atticus on film so I could prove to everyone that he really exists! Atticus didn't disappoint, in fact, today his stylish red umbrella was fully open in the rain as we passed by. She snapped the photo. What do you think? Am I crazy or what?

Now in case you think, "What a school-girl crush she has on this guy." No, it's not the guy himself, it's the yearning for a bygone day. It's a form of nostalgia. Though I'm glad we don't have to always be stuffy and wear suits to work every day, a part of me longs for something in that time that is gone. But there still remains a remnant of that time gone by. Atticus Finch, and maybe others like him, hold to simple routines such as walking to the office, even on a rainy day, and keeping step with himself. He manages to do so with elegance, grace and style. Refreshing.

Knit Picks April 2007 Anyone?

Before I lose it - because I seem to be losing EVERYTHING lately, has anyone taken a look at the new Knitpicks catalog? The April 2007 copy? If not, do read through it.







There are so many "keeper" articles that not only am I going to buy a summer sweater's worth of Coral Knitpicks Shine Worsted Weight yarn, but I'm going to probably eventually get their blocking board for the "Approachable Lace" they have inspired me to want to knit. Wow! What a great issue. I love their article on Lace Chart Reading (p. 14); the article on Lace Blocking (p. 17) and finally there is an article on Lace Dying (p. 22). Makes me want to do it ALL. I am also getting their little chart magnetic board to make knitting lace easier. It was only $9.99!!! What a bargain. Sally Melville was just speaking last week about the need to have a good chart holder to knit lace more easily and ergonimically.













I am hoping to make the Cross-Over Top by Melville in the Knitpicks Shine yarn. The original yarn it was knit with, Classic Elite's Waterspun has long since been discontinued. So I'm substituting the Shine instead. I hope it works. I ordered the skeins for it this afternoon. It's cheap yarn, but it knits up very nice, as evidenced by my friend Laura who used it recently and showed it around the knitting group.













While I was originally hoping to mostly knit out of my stash for the Stitches projects, I did a full and complete inventory of all my stash this afternoon. I realize that most of the yarn I have in stock are the makings of heavy wool sweaters, but spring/summer weight cotton or blends are few. So therefore, what I have isn't so much.













I have this:










Lily Chin's yarn that I was originally going to use for another cardigan from Knitty, that I've long since decided not to make. I like the color and texture of this yarn and was figuring I'd make a short sleeve pullover out of that, but low and behold it is DK weight yarn which doesn't match any of the patterns I've decided to make. Plus, it would take darn near FOREVER to knit with that tiny, thin yarn.





Then I ran across this:






It's Pearls and it's pretty, I like it okay, but again, it is DK weight. What was I thinking? It was on sale . . . that's what I was thinking. But am I going to use it? Hmmm. Fast sweater - no, I don't think that one will whip up in a month. Maybe 6 months.



So you see, the patterns I have in mind are mostly worsted weight and one or two are Bulky weight. I have only one yarn in the stash which is worsted. It's Berroco's Cotton Twist.








Oh heck, I didn't take a picture of that. I will take the photo later, but it's a verigated pink/peach cotton yarn that is attractive and will make 1 spring sweater.

What I've learned from all of this angsting today and stash analysis is the following:

• I should avoid buying projects months and years ahead of time My taste CHANGE and projects that seemed oh-so-appealing then do not excite me now.
• When buying sale yarn, I should stick to the old tried-and-true worsted weight, in colors that always appeal to me, greens, browns, reds, oranges and rusts- just name a Fall color and I'm pretty safe to like it forever.
• Just buy one major project at a time so that I can more accurately gauge how long it will take me, and if I do need to buy more yarn, I can probably find it more easily close after buying it than 2 years later.
• I should stay away from KnitPicks catalog because there are so many delectible things I want to buy.

Another thing I did today was something I've been putting off for months, and that is clipping the patterns from the knitting magazines of the projects I want to do. I found a couple of ideas for other things that may knit up faster than the ones I've selected. The thing is: my goal is to get 2-3 knit tops done that I can wear to Stitches. I think I said 3-4 the other day, and if that happens then WONDERFUL, but I don't want to overwhelm myself so I'll start with a more realistic goal of 2-3 sweaters. Also, I give myself full permission to STOP knitting a pattern at any point if it becomes too annoying or hard for me to quickly whip up. Therefore, there may be some project switching!! Bear with me, folks.

I also want to get a couple of small accessory or other projects done to supplement my wardrobe on the days I won't have a sweater to wear. For example, I might have a cute scarf or vest to wear instead. We'll see, I'll just get done what I can get done and that's that. I've said my peace and I've counted to three . . . . now I'm going to go knit a bit.

Starting To Think About Stitches

I've had a bad case of Project ADD lately. I have way too many things going right now and it's starting to make me feel as if I am too fragmented. Since I have so little knitting time lately anyway, I'm really NOT getting anything done and not enjoying the things I'm doing, for the most part. Some projects have been a real joy, and the majority lately have been not-so-much. Therefore, I officially give myself permission to refocus.

Although I've really stretched my knitting skills on projects like the Not a Poncho, it is something I can't wear to Stitches and don't enjoy knitting, so I'm temporarily setting it aside. I'll take it up again in the Fall or Winter.

With Stitches coming in just four months . . . yay . . . I want to turn my attention to a more production-oriented but fun and DOABLE effort to make a wearable wardrobe for Stitches. My goal, like Carol's (who is going with me), is to create a wearable garment, accessory or knitted item each and every day of the trip. I will be there Wed, Thurs, Friday, Saturday and leaving early Sunday. So I really will need to have 4 or 5 wearables for the trip.

One project I know I am loving and will be the first on my TO BE FINISHED list is "Forest Canopy Shawl" by Susan Lawrence. I am dearly loving that piece and I'm up to the 165 stitch point on that. I think in order to make it as large as I am wanting, I'll probably have to go to around 249 stitches - and of course it's lace, so even though it is easy lace, I'm starting to have to concentrate when I work on that project so that I don't mess up the stitch pattern. Thank goodness for lifelines! I've knit and reknit that ninth pattern repeat about 7 times. Hopefully if I sit down this weekend with some soft music, maybe I can get farther ahead on it, maybe even finish it? Is that too ambitious?

Already finished to take: my Freeform Vest.

I have spent the past couple of days sorting through my patterns and finding things I just LOVE that I want to make, and hopefully most of the needed yarn is already in my Stash. I'm searching out fairly easy and fast-to-execute summer tops. Projects I'm contemplating are: a denim jacket with freeform sleeves - that way I'd just have to knit the sleeves and it would be pretty fast? A couple of Spring sleeveless/short-sleeve tops. Perhaps Bistro by Oat Couture; also considering the Twisted sleeveless turtleneck by Sally Melville; the darling Crossover Top, a Sally Melville design that I'm holding in the entry below where I'm standing with Sally.

Could I knit 2-3 short sleeve tops or sweaters in four months? It means I'd have to knit about 1 a month. That's faster than I normally knit, but maybe because they are short sleeve they'd go faster? Thoughts anyone?

She's Just as Cute As She Can Be

Sally Melville that is. I saw her. I learned from her. I ate lunch with her. She's as nice as she is talented. Excellent teacher. She gave us well written, easy-to-understand handouts.

My Mom and I went together to the Yarn Barn in Lawrence to learn from Sally Melville. It was a wonderful all-day workshop where we learned intarsia techniques in the morning and practical knitting advice about fixing project disasters in the afternoon. See the peachy crossover sweater I'm holding in the photo? That is from her Purl book, and I always wanted to make that when I saw it in the book, well now, I am determined I WILL make it. In fact, I'd like to get it done in time to wear to Stitches midwest this summer. It would be a nice summer sweater for me to wear in warmer weather, and then I can continue to wear it over a turtle neck in winter. That's my color, darl'n!!

The sweater Sally is wearing in this photo is the one that was made for the cover shot of her Color book. The sweater uses a combination of both intarsia and Fair Isle. It was one that didn't look nearly as cute in the book as it is in person. Now I'd like to make it too, but it uses Fair Isle, Intarsia AND duplicate stitch so I don't know if I'll get to it soon. Maybe it will be on my long-term project list. I need to update that list. I've been too scattered lately. If I'm going to have anything at all to wear to Stitches, I need to get moving and focused.

In the shot with her thumb, that is showing the backside of her work. It's almost as neat and flawless as the front side. In the next photo, she's showing the small knitting bag that inspired this design.

This workshop was wonderful because I didn't feel overwhelmed. I learned a TON of information that was actually usable in my every-day knitting. Things like: how to fix a wonky stitch and get it tamed into the right tension, how to prevent holes when switching colors in intarsia, when you need to twist a colored stitch and when you don't need to bother. How to pick color and design for a sweater. How to work Intarsia without using bobbins - banish the bobbins Sally says! How to work with a chart and read it more easily. How to use graph paper to chart out your own picture design.

How to do duplicate stitch and the ways you can use it, not only to change color but to add dimension and remove mistakes. How to secure floats, how to figure out what length a sweater should be for our particular body. (Most women wear their sweaters way too long). How to fix a sweater that is too long, too short, too wide or too narrow. How to make sleeves the right length. How to fix my messed up seed stitch border on my Plain Vanilla sweater (I shouldn't have chosen seed stitch as an edging on a stockinette sweater because seed stitch is wider than stockinette and that's why it wants to flip up!). How to get the right tension in intarsia and Fair Isle and keep it from puckering. How to use art magazines as design inspiration.

All in all, it was a day well spent, and a very inspiring class. Plus, best of all, I see, in person, many of the key projects that are in Sally's books. What a fun day we had! Thanks Yarn Barn, and most of all, thanks Sally for giving so much of yourself to make it a fun and learning-packed day.

Old Friend

Well, she's not really "old" - but she's a true friend who has remained a friend since I was 5 years old. Does that count as "old" - we're middle-aged, but aging together. She's been my buddy since kindergarten when she grew up living 2 houses up the road from me.

In many ways, I'm amazed we were ever drawn together - really only by the fact that we lived within shouting distance of one another as children. We have absolutely nothing in common on the surface. Even now, she's slow and relaxed, I'm full of energy and frantic need to be somewhere other than where I am - on to the next thing - fast!!! But she's dear to me. She slows me down for a bit, let's me kick back and be a kid again. In many ways, when we get together (once in fall, once in winer, once in spring and once in summer) - we spend 3-4 hours together catching up on old times and new musings.

Pam remembers me back when I was a scrawny, really bird-like kid - always with a book in my hand and a loner "weirdness" that always made me seem like I was the new kid on the block, even when I wasn't. Pam was one of the few kids who immediately drew me into her nurturing and accepting middle-class family. I remember her when she was a tan, athletic girl who was as horse-obsessed as I was book-obsessed. Her parents were older and had been married FOREVER, mine was a fractured family. She brought me into her circle and always made me feel like I was a part of SOMETHING.

And it's really been Pam who has always made sure to write letters, make phone calls, arrange quarterly visits, even though we live in other states. When I was younger, I used to wonder why she bothered, since we really didn't seem to have much in common. Well, I'm so glad she's stuck with me and made the effort all these years. I don't always know how to be a friend, although as I'm getting older, I'm learning.

Now, in middle age, I value the friendships I share with many people, and each friendship brings me different gifts. Pam is definitely a treasure. Yesterday, we had breakfast together at International House of Pancakes. She had the strawberry crepes while I had eggs over easy with bacon, toast and a never-ending stream of black coffee.

Never of us are "skinny" anymore, but every time we meet, I think we're little girls again. We excitedly chatter together and giggle like school girls. Each racing to the next punchline of the funny things we did when we were young . . . why did we ever like HIM? Do you remember that hairstyle, oh gawwwwdddd! Remember when I first become a mother? I thought she was going to be a little doll I just carried around . . . . oh no, you were an excellent mother. And what are we going to do with these men of ours now? Jeeshh!! Why do they fall asleep in front of the TV and snore? I dunno. You gotta love it, Pammy. See you again in July. Love you.

Goodbye to A Personal Hero - Kurt Vonnegut

I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
Kurt Vonnegut

I call this blog "Hanging by a Thin Thread" for a reason doncha know? It's been a weird, oddly schizophrenic and unproductive week. Though I've had a really good selling month at work (March was excellent too), I have felt scattered, dissatsified, and scatterbrained all month, and this week was the worst. I get so darned frustrated with myself when I'm in this disordered state of mind. When I'm overly tired, like tonight, I tried to take a knitting class and I was just so tired I couldn't focus on anything. I could barely knit in stockinette, and I kept having to start over.

I think the weird/wacky reversion back to winter weather may have something to do with it. Last weekend it was so cold that all my flowers froze, and we've been plunged back into winter. I have been coming home from work every night exhausted.

Tuesday night I went to a walking class that our local hospital is supporting. My friends Mary and Carol are doing with me. It was a cold, rainy, weird night. I wanted to back out of it altogether and stay home and knit in front of the fire, but I didn't want to whimp out on them, so I went along. Honestly, it was so damned cold. I was hot and sweaty on the inside and freezing cold on the outside, where my hair was dripping wet and my clothes clung to my skin. It was a weird hot/cold feeling. I walked 2 1/2 miles . . . yeah but . . . gripe, gripe, whine. At least I didn't catch a cold from it.

I just mentioned a few days ago that Kurt Vonnegut is one of my all-time favorite writers. He died at age 84 after suffering a fall several weeks ago. The Kansas City Star's headline read something about his having a "dark, morose vision" of the world. Gosh, it didn't seem that way to me. True, he'd been a young soldier (a prisoner of war) in Dreisdan during World War II , but I didn't think his vision of the world was dark and morose - he took a cynical view at times. Like most talented writers, he held a mirror up in front of society. I will really miss him. I think we desperately NEED some reflection and pondering how we can improve.

Having read his novels as well as his essays since my high school years, I feel like another little light in the world has gone out. I am glad I will always have his books to speak to me. It's true that writers have a bit of immortality that few others ever have. He lives on through his work. My favorites of his are his earlier works, especially Cat's Cradle and Sirens of Titan as well as Breakfast of Champions. I also really enjoyed his collection of short stories called Welcome to the Monkey House. Who else could combine science fiction, social commentary and cutting edge humor altogether like that? Amazing man.

Books I've Read

Here's a little MEME I did on the books I've read. My favorites among these are: To Kill a Mockingbird; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - those two books I've read over and over many times since childhood. They have a very deep and special meaning to me. They are probably my two favorite novels of all time.

I also really like anything by Barbara Kingsolver, especially The Bean Tree and Poisonwood Bible.

Sue Miller (especially her book THE WORLD BELOW) but it isn't listed here.

The Secret Life of Bees was one that I especially enjoyed.

I used to adore the novels of Herman Hesse (especially Siddhartha). I loved Kurt Vonnegut's novels. Also Douglas Addams.

I also really enjoy Amy Tan's books and don't see them listed on here.

You'll notice that I have never read Harry Potter. Don't know why, but it just never appealed to me. I generally avoid reading things when they are a big craze. For example, I'm just now reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey even though it was a big bestseller a year or two ago. I waited until he fell out of favor to read his book. I really am absorbed by it so far.

Ironically, one book on here that many people love but I never appreciated (in either book or movie form) was GONE WITH THE WIND. Scarlett's personality irked me to no end! I found her quite annoying. So go figure, my taste in books is out of the norm.

One more thing, I've noticed that while I used to be what I'd considered a slow but avid reader, I notice that since 2003, when I started knitting, I've been reading quite a bit less. I try to always listen to books on CD in the car to make my drive-time productive, but I don't get to sit down with a book nearly as often as pre-knitting life. I miss it!

Try this book quiz if you wish. I own (or have owned) many of these books in the past, but have had to purge my bookshelf quite a bit in all the moves we've made.

In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck) +
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

A Little Wine Would Have Helped

Last night, my Mom and I decided to stretch our minds by (at the last minute) signing up for a Color Work class at the Studio. There were a bunch of people in the class, probably at least 8-10 and it was a **** class in level of difficulty.

With this class, we are not really doing a specific knitting project, but just learning an overview of the Color Work technique itself, learning how to manage two colors at once. Last night, we did the Braided cast on. That was new! I guess they do it a lot in Estonian knitting. On the swatch I did you can see the braided cast on on the right side of this swatch. It creates a lovely braided v along the edge, see that? Interesting. The teacher, Karen, also talked about a two strand, two color cast. They were both totally different than I've used before. Very stressful to learn (at first). I think a glass of wine prior to class would have helped immensely!!!!

On the left side of this swatch, you will see the corrugated ribbing that we started to do just before class ended.

You know how I always say I'm a "loose kniter" -- well one of the things that Karen kept saying during the class was how she really hoped we'd practice knitting LOOSE - WAY LOOSE over this next two weeks until we meet again. Apparently with color work such as Fair Isle, it's very helpful to be a loose knitter. Those of us who are "loosey goosies" like my Mom and I actually have an advantage in color knitter. Wohoo!!! There's finally an advantage to be a loose woman. Since we were all so tense last knit before the big "aha!" moment happened, it might have been helpful to have been slightly buzzed before we went to class, but oh well, it all worked out in the end and I think I actually learned some new techniques.

We were motivated to take this class as an intro to color work, since we're taking Sally Melville's one-day Intarsia class on April 15th.

Our teacher, Karen, designed some darling gloves which employ some of the techniques we'll learn, namely knitting with two colors, developing a "hold" that allows us to knit Fair Isle comfortably, and also to read a chart - see picture here of her gloves. They are a two-color project that I might be able to do as I play along with this two-color technique. I couldn't resist buying the pattern. You can buy the pattern through The Studio. I still need to select my yarn.

Just what I need another project, right? I'm getting project schizophrenia right now. But who can resist these?

Make a Wish

Go ahead . . . dream big. When Bob and Em were on vacation last week, they didn't have many beach days . . . but one day they were out, they happened upon a creative artist who had an inventive way of panhandling. (See photo at left).

So what do I wish? Ah! Sigh. I wish it weren't the end of a nice spring weekend. Aunt Eve was in town visiting and we had such a good time. It ended all too quickly.

Even though she was our houseguest, she can't stay out of the kitchen. She had to get involved in whipping up some delicious meals.

She's been on a "low carb" lifestyle for nearly 4 years now. She looks fantastistic and is so fun to be around. Let's see if she's influenced me to eat better and get more exercise. Hmmm.

It was just a beautiful weekend, with lovely weather. Yesterday was on the windy/chilly side, but today was simply beautiful out. We enjoyed the fantastic weather and had such a good time.

I don't want my good time to end . . . do I really have to go to work tomorrow?

Here is the way my Ocean Waves Not a Poncho currently looks: I am at 50 inches wide now, so I think it's finally time to start adding the arms. Mine is a strange looking triangle, the increases weren't exactly done evenly, but it's okay for a fist-time effort.

Laura was kind enough to make me a little mini-Not A Poncho to help me get a better idea of how this garment will end up going together. I have a mental block on the mechanics of how things fit together. Unless I have a full schematic, it's hard for me to picture it.

I'm also still working on my lace shoulder shawl. I'm up to 131 stitches on it. I'll show you that another time. I'm tired now.

Have a good week everyone. Make a wish . . and remember there's always a creative way to do everything - just put the request out there to the universe and watch your dreams materialize.