SuperGirl modeling the French Press Felted Slippers. She didn't want to take them off either.Sunday, January 31, 2010
Stepping out
SuperGirl modeling the French Press Felted Slippers. She didn't want to take them off either.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Adventures in felting
(... or I should call it "where in the h*ll is that &*%$ing tapestry needle!?!?")Excuse the language. I just had a serious lesson in "Don't Believe it Will Necessarily Be a Short Piece of Cake When Everyone You Find Absolutely Loves This Pattern and Doesn't Have Any Problems With It." It's not even that I had any real problems with this pattern. It could totally be the fact that I don't like seaming things, I'd never felted before, the instructions were rather vague for someone in this situation, I kept losing the yellow tapestry needle under my rear on a colorful bedspread, and a 2 year old was trying to help. All that combined doesn't make for an easy process.
The pattern is "French Press Felted Slippers." You can find it on Ravelry and buy it on Etsy. I even follow the blog and you can find references there. In all honesty, the pattern is nice, true to size, could use some clarification on what "m1" technique to use (along with a mystery stitch marker on the sole that's not mentioned in seaming directions and only 1 stitch marker on the top while knitting but 2 stitch markers mentioned in seaming directions), and since it's felted you can just about totally do whatever and knit horribly and everything looks fine in the end. That being said, along with my personal situation statement above, I am refraining from any more criticism of it because the reason of my frustration might just be me.
That morning wasn't going well anyway and I realized first hand that not only did I have lots of curly noodle looking things (see Pic. 2) that were 2x the length and width of a foot (ah, the magic of felting), I had them in 2 colors because I was knitting 2 pairs. (I don't recommend knitting 2 of anything the first time you try it out.) It was nice because I used one pair as a "trial and error" pair and the second was "lessons learned" but even after felting they looked pretty much the same. It took several days for the slippers to dry once felted which was not my brain's allotted time for this to take. The brownish pair you see above is a demo for the knit shop and I had told her they would be ready Tuesday. I was doing all the seaming Monday, another lesson in not thinking in real time, not to mention allowing for the unexpected to happen. The needing to dry for several days was written in the pattern, I just didn't read that far when planning. Oops.
This one I had to pull out chocolate to make it through. For that I might thank it. I did finish the last few steps this morning and the puffy paint pattern on the sole for a non-skid bottom is now what is drying. Will have the final pictures up soon.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Two for them, one for me
For some reason Blogger is turning the sock picture on it's side. I'm not sure how to change it (and I don't feel like finding out at the moment) so just lean 90 degrees to your right and you'll see them a little clearer. The rainbow effect is still there and they look even better in person, as in a little brighter. It's Crystal Palace's Mini Moochi sock yarn: part merino wool, part nylon, very silky, and so far great wearing. When I was knitting it I was concerned that it would be too fragile for socks due to the single ply slight fuzziness. Once knitted it's much stronger and doesn't show any sign of problems.These pictures have me considering full spectrum light bulbs... I had a full detailed conversation with LMSS's Hubby about those over the holidays. Probably not the best idea cost-wise and I could always start taking pictures outside anyway.
The other picture is a scarf for a friend of ours from church (I did a Noro hat for him last summer and he wanted a scarf to match) and the hat is for his wife (she has no idea about this; I felt she deserved some sort of surprise after knitting so much for her husband) out of [sigh] baby alpaca. She had admired my hat done in the same pattern out of the llama yarn spun by and given to me from one of my former sock class knitters (will post soon; that was the picture with Hubby unintentionally exposed) and I had a single hoarded skein of this baby alpaca with no idea what to do with it. It is a dream to knit (so so soft!) and I can't wait to see how she likes it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Glorious!
The paperwork is finished. It is in order, filed, and the files have been purged allowing everything to fit in one filing cabinet. Anything that allowed me to go paperless I and anything I haven't needed since 2006 is in the bin to be shredded. (Don't worry, I kept the major stuff; I know better than to do away with past tax returns.)
Anyway, it is a load off and the air has cleared in the house. I'm still a bundle of nerves but that little kernel of chaos has been shaken out, ironed, de-knotted, and put away neatly with everything in it's place. I told Hubby that it's been a gremlin sitting behind that door for the past year, giggling at me everytime I walked past. He simply nodded and asked me what the next gremlin will be, he was sure I'm going to find one. I said probably cleaning the floors.
In the meantime, I am taking deep breaths of everything being fully cleaned out and nothing remaining. I can honestly tell you where everything is in the house. Well, except for that darn car satellite radio. Still can't find that thing after all this! Grits and gravel! But I finally have a system of dealing with the paperwork immediately and it should work as long as I keep up with it. (Isn't that the case with anything?) But really, I think this one will work. For one thing there is no crate for "to be filed." That gets me in so much trouble because it allows me to put it off. There is a crate for "to be shredded" and that is on top of the one filing cabinet we are down to where everything fits. As mail comes in they go in the "to be paid" space or immediately filed if they need to be kept. As receipts come in along with the paid bill statements they go in a bag for me to look over and throw away/shred when I pay bills and reconcile the check book at the beginning of every month (I dispose of it only if it clears). Whatever is left from that gets filed immediately. Whatever is tax deductible has it's own little file folder next to the "to be paid" space. I am so visual I have the "tbp" stack in a spot that is under my nose most of the day so I can't forget about it.
Hopefully this all works. I would like to put that timer on for 15 minute intervals of whatever projects I need to get finished rather than book keeping. You know, that's a great idea: 15 minutes of knitting the baby blanket, 15 minutes of that hat, 15 minutes of the quilt I'm planning. That just might move things along...
(By the way, found out who Venus D'Milo is. I also found out my Art History knowledge is lacking.)
Anyway, it is a load off and the air has cleared in the house. I'm still a bundle of nerves but that little kernel of chaos has been shaken out, ironed, de-knotted, and put away neatly with everything in it's place. I told Hubby that it's been a gremlin sitting behind that door for the past year, giggling at me everytime I walked past. He simply nodded and asked me what the next gremlin will be, he was sure I'm going to find one. I said probably cleaning the floors.
In the meantime, I am taking deep breaths of everything being fully cleaned out and nothing remaining. I can honestly tell you where everything is in the house. Well, except for that darn car satellite radio. Still can't find that thing after all this! Grits and gravel! But I finally have a system of dealing with the paperwork immediately and it should work as long as I keep up with it. (Isn't that the case with anything?) But really, I think this one will work. For one thing there is no crate for "to be filed." That gets me in so much trouble because it allows me to put it off. There is a crate for "to be shredded" and that is on top of the one filing cabinet we are down to where everything fits. As mail comes in they go in the "to be paid" space or immediately filed if they need to be kept. As receipts come in along with the paid bill statements they go in a bag for me to look over and throw away/shred when I pay bills and reconcile the check book at the beginning of every month (I dispose of it only if it clears). Whatever is left from that gets filed immediately. Whatever is tax deductible has it's own little file folder next to the "to be paid" space. I am so visual I have the "tbp" stack in a spot that is under my nose most of the day so I can't forget about it.
Hopefully this all works. I would like to put that timer on for 15 minute intervals of whatever projects I need to get finished rather than book keeping. You know, that's a great idea: 15 minutes of knitting the baby blanket, 15 minutes of that hat, 15 minutes of the quilt I'm planning. That just might move things along...
(By the way, found out who Venus D'Milo is. I also found out my Art History knowledge is lacking.)
Monday, January 18, 2010
Monday, Monday
What is it with folding laundry being paired with 70's game show reruns? "Match Game" was on this morning and, speaking of that, who the heck was Venus DeMilo?
Did I mention that I had put off the previously discussed paperwork a whole year? I had thought it was just 8 months. Never again. This is way too stressful. I start again with my 15 minute intervals at 0:900 hours.
Hubby's closet decided it needed to be cleaned out yesterday. It convinced us under the disguise of us trying to find the satellite radio. The satellite radio (last seen when we traded in the old car for the current car) was not found but now I have a house where every nook and cranny has been cleaned out/gone through and dealt with within the last 6 months. Hubby's closet is clean and has more room than our bedroom and everything to donate is having a party in (where else?) the dining room with my paperwork.
The kids are home and it is 9:00. Time to start. I also have a stripey Noro Silk Garden scarf calling my name (the 3rd I've knitted so far; they are so pret-tee!) waiting patiently for those 15 minutes off.
Ready, steady...go!
Did I mention that I had put off the previously discussed paperwork a whole year? I had thought it was just 8 months. Never again. This is way too stressful. I start again with my 15 minute intervals at 0:900 hours.
Hubby's closet decided it needed to be cleaned out yesterday. It convinced us under the disguise of us trying to find the satellite radio. The satellite radio (last seen when we traded in the old car for the current car) was not found but now I have a house where every nook and cranny has been cleaned out/gone through and dealt with within the last 6 months. Hubby's closet is clean and has more room than our bedroom and everything to donate is having a party in (where else?) the dining room with my paperwork.
The kids are home and it is 9:00. Time to start. I also have a stripey Noro Silk Garden scarf calling my name (the 3rd I've knitted so far; they are so pret-tee!) waiting patiently for those 15 minutes off.
Ready, steady...go!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Medusa in the house
So, it's a new year and that means actually organizing that paperwork that has been sitting around in crates behind the 2 year old's bedroom door. I hate that stuff with a passion, especially with how volatile the last year has been, and now it's time to face it, clean it up, and move on. When it's over, it still means meeting with my tax accountant but at least everything will be in order and she only tuts over us some.
The paperwork was waiting for me, sitting in the dining room in it's crates while I was trying to sit on the couch and work on my knitting. I had moved it in there because I knew I needed to do it: New Year's Day was over and reality hath set in. There were still craft projects to do but this was the priority now. It being in the dining room made me face it every time I walked through the house and it was making me cranky. I was having a hard time dealing with it being there, even starting the process, and it was making things in the house tense. The good thing is there is still a rational part of my brain telling me quietly a better way to tend to things and thank goodness I finally listened to it. I am following the advice of a smart woman (Snakewoman, actually) and setting my timer for 15 minutes, working on the organizing really hard, and when the timer goes off I set it to another 15 minutes and do something I enjoy. As a result I have things in smaller piles: personal, bills/tax docs, to shred, office supplies; and a rainbow colored sock that is halfway through the foot. My stress levels are still elevated but not to the degree that I'm eating rocks and spewing pea soup at anyone who asks me "what's wrong?"
It's really sad because I'm going through all the stuff when things were easier financially, all the recipts of the trips, the dinners, the shopping fun, the school purchases for SuperGirl's first day of Kindergarten, everything. I remember how I loved my job, I loved the travelling I did this summer, loved the times I spent with everyone. The beginnings of the projects are there, the finishing of our quilt, the Christmas gifts, everything in it's entertwined creations. During this, I'm fishing out the not-so-nice things to remember: the surgery, the doctor's visits and emergency room visits, the larger than normal bills, the reminders of how things were going to have to change whether we wanted them to or not. We did change, and did the right thing, but there are some things in there I didn't feel like looking at. Those recipts are tax-deductible at least. The fun-time recipts are the ones being recycled. Hopefully that means so more fun times are to come because that's what we are putting back in the mix.
So that's what is going on. Knitting is going on too, but not at the pace I would like it to. I've started a new sock knitting class and I think that will help the birthday present for Ph-i-l be finished in time. I have a pattern to puzzle through and figure out the mistake for my Quilting Knitclass Lady (she's the one who quilted for me and I met through one of my knitting classes I taught; I'm now helping her with some of her knitting projects, i.e. knitting lace.), a baby blanket (the blocks are so cute! Can't wait until it's gifted and I can finally talk about it!), a baby sweater, a s-i-l cabled wrap to start, rainbow socks nearly finished, and all those other projects still sitting around enjoying each other's company. I actually took the yarn for the block baby blanket to "The Princess and the Frog" earlier today. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked (knitting in a movie theater is tricky) but I did enjoy the knitting time and really enjoyed the movie. Didn't think I would but I really did. I recommend it, especially if you have any ties to Louisiana. I also relate more to that heroine than any of the other Disney heroines but don't get me started on the subject of Disney. I'm not every nice when it comes to it.
I did have pictures to upload and talk about but... um, Hubby took them and I didn't realize that in the picture his bare torso showed up REALLY well in the mirror behind me. (he did have his pants on, at least!) Those pics have been trashed (even though he's pretty nice to look at!) and I'll be taking new ones with no possibility of reflection anywhere.
The paperwork was waiting for me, sitting in the dining room in it's crates while I was trying to sit on the couch and work on my knitting. I had moved it in there because I knew I needed to do it: New Year's Day was over and reality hath set in. There were still craft projects to do but this was the priority now. It being in the dining room made me face it every time I walked through the house and it was making me cranky. I was having a hard time dealing with it being there, even starting the process, and it was making things in the house tense. The good thing is there is still a rational part of my brain telling me quietly a better way to tend to things and thank goodness I finally listened to it. I am following the advice of a smart woman (Snakewoman, actually) and setting my timer for 15 minutes, working on the organizing really hard, and when the timer goes off I set it to another 15 minutes and do something I enjoy. As a result I have things in smaller piles: personal, bills/tax docs, to shred, office supplies; and a rainbow colored sock that is halfway through the foot. My stress levels are still elevated but not to the degree that I'm eating rocks and spewing pea soup at anyone who asks me "what's wrong?"
It's really sad because I'm going through all the stuff when things were easier financially, all the recipts of the trips, the dinners, the shopping fun, the school purchases for SuperGirl's first day of Kindergarten, everything. I remember how I loved my job, I loved the travelling I did this summer, loved the times I spent with everyone. The beginnings of the projects are there, the finishing of our quilt, the Christmas gifts, everything in it's entertwined creations. During this, I'm fishing out the not-so-nice things to remember: the surgery, the doctor's visits and emergency room visits, the larger than normal bills, the reminders of how things were going to have to change whether we wanted them to or not. We did change, and did the right thing, but there are some things in there I didn't feel like looking at. Those recipts are tax-deductible at least. The fun-time recipts are the ones being recycled. Hopefully that means so more fun times are to come because that's what we are putting back in the mix.
So that's what is going on. Knitting is going on too, but not at the pace I would like it to. I've started a new sock knitting class and I think that will help the birthday present for Ph-i-l be finished in time. I have a pattern to puzzle through and figure out the mistake for my Quilting Knitclass Lady (she's the one who quilted for me and I met through one of my knitting classes I taught; I'm now helping her with some of her knitting projects, i.e. knitting lace.), a baby blanket (the blocks are so cute! Can't wait until it's gifted and I can finally talk about it!), a baby sweater, a s-i-l cabled wrap to start, rainbow socks nearly finished, and all those other projects still sitting around enjoying each other's company. I actually took the yarn for the block baby blanket to "The Princess and the Frog" earlier today. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked (knitting in a movie theater is tricky) but I did enjoy the knitting time and really enjoyed the movie. Didn't think I would but I really did. I recommend it, especially if you have any ties to Louisiana. I also relate more to that heroine than any of the other Disney heroines but don't get me started on the subject of Disney. I'm not every nice when it comes to it.
I did have pictures to upload and talk about but... um, Hubby took them and I didn't realize that in the picture his bare torso showed up REALLY well in the mirror behind me. (he did have his pants on, at least!) Those pics have been trashed (even though he's pretty nice to look at!) and I'll be taking new ones with no possibility of reflection anywhere.
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