Zeneedle...needleart as life

Kookaburra Sits In an Old Gum Tree...

How fun is this cute guy who flew in all the way from Australia courtesy of Donna?!  Since I have no Gum Tree, he is sitting in the old Ponderosa Pine that is outside my back door.  Thanks you so much Donna! I can hear him 'laughing'!

Big Ol' Pile a Knitting

Now what you you call this?

• Chaos?
• Knitting mania
• Startitis
• Overwhelm
• Delusions of Grandeur
• What the hell is she thinking?
• That's a good start
• She's out of her mind
• My WIPs look about like that
• Why talk about it in public?
• It's a disease!
• You should be able to knock all that out in a weekend
• Is that all?

No, that's not all! There is a bag of sock yarn near by that will become the next Six Sock 'Team Sock' and I need to start the BWA jacket, Chinatown.  But, that's all I'm admitting to right now.

You can see the pink sleeve of the Eyelet Cardi, the start of NBT, the Leaf Lace Shawl, Alpaca scarf (well that one could wait), and the Spearfish sock.

The problem is that I want them all, WANT them all NOW, especially the Cardi and the T-shirt.  Judy’s yarn makes the shawl so much fun to knit (and I need to finish it by May for my sister's birthday). Both the cardi and the T would be great to wear right away and I love working on socks (and need to get the Team Sock done by the end of May, but first comes Spearfish.)  Priorities need to be set...it IS all too overwhelming.  I need some sense knocked into my head (now be kind) handed to me. Do I sound like I'm raving?

Ok, taking a deep breath, it's time to decide on which project(s) to consentrate on (now) and which should take a time out. So, it will be the Eyelet Cardi and the Leaf Lace (for now).  Ah, I feel much better but, I wish I had four arms and four eyes. Enough about me...

Some people are just too talented.  First it was Knitty and now THIS!  Isn't it the cutest idea for felting?  You could make this basket in red and green for Christmas, spring colors for Easter, use it to give gift baskets for any reason, or hold your own spinning or knitting.  I tell you, that Susan is going to get a big head.

Go get your button! I'm not bitter....(just a bit envious).

I so need the weekend!  Enjoy yours.

It's Not What you Know But...

...who you know.  And in Blogland it could be anyone!  How many times have you asked a knitting question, a parenting question, a question on the meaning of life and someone, a fellow blogger or blog reader, has answered?  It happens everyday somewhere in Blogland, right?  Cassie talked about her experience in yesterday's post.  My comment was that she was smart, when given help from others.  But isn't that true for us all?

Help comes often just by reading blogs and sometimes the answers to questions you didn't know you had come to light.  Laurie had some creatively technical knitting information in her post yesterday, including how to incorporate the Fibonacci sequence into knitting. (Wish her a speedy recovery, ok?)  Another trick, kind of an 'ah ha' moment, came while reading Claudia's blog a couple of days ago.  She is knitting a fun, springy sock with a picot edge.  She tells in the post how to do the picot edge and mentions that when picking up the cast on edge you should pick up BOTH stitches and not just one as 'this could cause the picot edge to flare out unattractively'.  A....a...ya...it does.

Now, I don't believe that grrls should beat themselves up and use terms like 'dummy!', 'you are so stupid',  'how can you knit for 30 years and not know that?'. So I just said...'grrl, you just learned something new, something you can use NOW!' 

On the needles is Alison’s 'Nothin’ but a T' from MagKnits. It was up to about 3",  the hem 'flared out unattractively' and when I double checked my gauge it was 1 1/2 stitches to small (it is difficult to not call one names, but I am kind to myself). Yes, I swatched, but my knitting usually tightens up when knitting the project, therefore, the gauge recheck. How unfortunate that the opportunity, nay necessity, to dip into the frog pond was written all over this lovely 'T'.  And yet, it was fortunate in that I could not only make the sweater fit (what a concept), but also utilize this newly found technique.

I am thrilled to report that after spending my morning, lunch time and after work knitting time, this 'T' is back on track.  The gauge and hem are both 'perfect'. That Claudia is a smart cookie.

Did you notice who was under Weekly Zen?  Ann and Vicki celebrate 4 weeks smoke free today.  You are two awesome grrls in my book!  Congratulations and keep up the good work.  And Neena has a new name and look on her blog. Watch for pictures of So. Utah on her blog this summer.

More Spring, More Lace

Now, are these just too cute?  Don't they say SPRING in a big way?  Shannon sent these darling stitch markers as a true RAOK, as I have never been to her blog, and haven't been aware of her visiting mine.  Thank you for such a fun gift (and the chocolate, too!).  I can't wait to bring out my own flip-flops to wear.

Also, in yesterdays mail the yarn I HAD to purchase from Judy arrived.  I 'had' to have this yarn to because it was just too beautiful on her blog and it need to live with me. (Other colors are available here.)  This silk and merino is such a lovely yarn and I couldn't wait to dive in. Judy dyes and spins this herself!  The 'oh so lively' green, which Judy called "Pond", is knitting up beautifully into a Leaf Lace Shawl.  The pink 'Peony' is for me, project undetermined.  It looks so gorgeous posing with my tiny little squill flowers.

This year I'm knitting a shawl for each of my sisters as their birthdays come around.  It is an idea, something that grew into a reality, after Neena stole my Charlotte’s Web. So far, Melanie has received my first Flower Basket Shawl,  Leeann's has another FBS and Karen will be the recipient of this beautiful Leaf Lace. One more sister and a sister-in-law to go.  I'm enjoying knitting with your yarn, Judy!!

Yes, We have No Chickami (So it's Socks!)

Sunday was promised to be mostly sunny with warmer temps. Well, it was not! In fact Saturday, which was to be snowy and cold was mostly sunny. Go figure.  Sunday we headed to the LDS Church gardens, for our photo shoot, as they are spectacular this time of year.  The head gardener calls it "controlled chaos".  The colors and flowers are mixed in the most magical and creative ways.  But, the beautiful gardens did not, could not help with our endeavor. It was so windy, so cold that wearing a Chickami was out of the question.  Wind blown hair, squinting eyes from the figid wind, goosebumps (oh my!), our attempts were quickly stopped.  We shall try again, closer to home ground, on a warmer day.  The pictures of the gardens turned out to be wonderful so, the Conwy Sock starred as my toes need protection from the cold.

Because I only work 6 hours a day, lunch time is only 30 minutes. I usual bring something to eat and it is quickly wolfed dispatched, leaving me 15-20 minutes to knit. (Sometimes longer if I’m anxious to get to the project as I can eat in 5 minutes flat!). Those few minutes may not seem like enough to amount to much knitting, but when I was doing needlework, the only time I would knit was during lunch. In a month, with only 15 minutes a day, one sock would be finished. One sock a month turns into 6 pair a year.

Now I knit MUCH more frequently and a sock only takes a few days, most of the time. There is never a time a sock (or two) doesn't grace my needles. The poor Conwy sock, was thrown over in a fit of Spearfish Madness, and it sat forlorn and neglected. Every time I walked into the room it would whine. It made my heart ache! This sock was so colorful and springy, and  with one and a half socks already done, I finally gave in. The Spearfish became my 15 minutes a day sock and Conwy got all my 'at home' attention. Within a short time it was done and I am so glad to have them on my feet!  Happy socks, happy feet! 

Pattern: Conwy Sock from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: KnitPicks Sock Garden in color Star Gazer Lily

The yarn is soft and comfortable, perfect for socks, and I'm tempted to try some of the other colors. But now, back to Spearfish which is coming along swimmingly. 

Run over the the Jenla Blog and support La in her 'Revlon Walk/Run for Women'.  There is a button on her side bar (right side) where you can click to sponser her with a dontation (or click here).  It's a very worthy cause.

Once Upon A Time...

...in the far off land of Utah, there was a place that addicted knitters loved to visit. It was affectionately known as "The Haunted House". 

It must have first opened in the 1950's and Mickey Burdett was the owner of the Knit Craft Cottage. After she pass on, her daughter took over and has touched nothing...only adding new items from time to time.  If you find an afghan that your grandmother started to knit, and never finished, or a piano bench your mother needlepointed and left with only 2" until completion....this is the place for you!  You might even find the same dye lot in stock and then you can finish the project.  Each and every room is stacked to the (very tall) ceilings with yarn, yarn and more yarn. Each room has a large center island of yarn that you have to navigate around, too. 

Saturday, Susan, Laurie, Emily and I left Salt Lake, took a quick side trip off the freeway for Larisa, and headed to Ogden, 40 miles to the north.  The Needlepoint Joint, which carries knitting and needlepoint, was our first stop.  After shopping for some time there, we took a little nourishment, and then headed to the wonderland or wonders.  Hidden treasures, such as Noro tucked into a cubby hole near the ceiling, were in every room. It was impossible to not hit overload, but we persevered.  Laurie and Emily came home with amazing stories that you better not miss and someone still has yarn in my trunk! It was a fabulous day with grrlfriends and we had a super good time.

Spinning and Questions

Look at this!! It is a beautiful roving from Kim!  I was able to try it out and it worked up fairly smoothly for me.  It seems I just can't draft worth a darm (not quite a damn), but this roving is small enough that I was able to get it to 'sorta' work.  BUT, this is not second nature to me...I need to really think about it and my hands don't want to work, the spindle goes too slow or too fast and it just becomes a mess.  In the middle of the night I woke up and said "You can be such a silly grrl!  You were spinning backwards!"  What's a grrl to do?  Practice, practice, practice.  I shall keep trying...if only because there are too many beautiful rovings out there that I want to fondle. Thank you Kim for sharing some of your gorgeous bunny wool. I hope to do it justice someday (soon!).

Katy is one of my long time blog friends.  She is a woman of strong character and seeing her comments each day brings a smile to my face.  It was a thrill for me that she was first to say 'Interview Me'.  Just remember rules and answers should be on your Blog along with the answers.

1. You have lived in Alaska and speak of it often in comments on my blog. Would you like to live there again?
2. Your mother is a knitter extraordinaire and most likely taught you to knit at a young age. When did you decide you love to knit and that it would be a part of your everyday life?
3. We have the same philosophy on housekeeping. Does it bother you or (like me) do you think a 'lived in' house is A-ok?
4. If you decided to work outside the home what would your dream job be?
5. What is one thing you would love to do that you haven’t done as yet?

And because Jackie has become a great blog pal, too. I decided to grant her wish and have her answer a few questions.

1. You only have one brother (as do I). Was he a big part of your life while growing up and is he now?
2. You eat ice cream every night at 9:00. Is the rest of your life that organized and scheduled?
3. You don’t have number 99 and 100 on your About list. Please add them here.
4. You kept Shelby’s secret very well, but are you usually good at keeping secrets?
5. If you could live anywhere on earth where would that be?

More snow tomorrow!  It's spring in Utah...warm one day, cold and snow the next.  Where am I going to take Chickami pictures?

Check This Out!

Knitty's up and Susan has a very cool pattern perfect for a first time lace knitter or just anyone who loves lace! Congrats, grrlfriend!

Knitting Alongs (?)

It's so easy to become swayed by great patterns, fun friends and, well, the need to belong.  More Knit Alongs seem like good ideas (especially when the sport cool buttons) but then you have to KNIT the item.  It isn't that I don't want to knit the items, it's just that there are too many items to knit. (I'm wishing for four hands and four eyes.) Plus, there are more than a couple of non-KAL projects on the needles now that I want to wear soon.

Spring knitting really has me excited and I'm making good progress on the Chickami.  A photo shoot has been scheduled for the weekend and, if all goes well (they predict more snow this weekend!), she'll make her debut next week. The color is very purple, not blue like this photo shows.  (And I have a sleeve started for the Eyelet Cardi and thoughts of other 'cool' warm weather projects. Spring, spring, spring on the brain. I'm so ready.)

I'm not complaining about KALs...you don't have to join them if you don't want to and, of course, you can drop out if you need/want. BUT, I'm enjoying my Spearfish Socks even if I don't have a chance in hell of winning. It's a great sock and fun to knit.  You can read more about them on the KAL page (link above).

There is a new Six Sock pattern out and it's one I like. At least it's something I can change into something I like. It's a 'Team' sock, knit in colors of your school. I'm going to make it a 'Margene' sock.  I have yarn in my stash (yay!) to make it.   (The Suck has left the house, thank you very much..onward and upward.) And I have the Conwy Sock on the needles, too!  Socks, socks, socks...it's the Year of the Sock and even if they aren't worn until next fall, so much the better, I'll have several new pair ready for cold weather.

And then there is the Black Water Abbey Along. The yarn for the Chinatown Jacket has arrived.  This is where I'm stalled.  The colors are beautiful and I like the yarn, even if it is feels a little 'rustic'.  It will be a very warm jacket....for next fall....but I'm in the mood for spring. The weather has been beautiful here the last couple of days and it's hard to think of knitting with wool.  This is going to be a BIG jacket to knit. All that wool sitting in the lap during the heat of summer doesn't sound inticing.  I will get started soon, however and just take it as it comes. That may mean lots of breaks during warm weather and a rush to finish come fall. 

The long and short of it is....I'm knitting as fast as I can.

That Interview Thingy

You grrls are trying to make me gain all the weight back!  Thank you, Melissa for the very decadant Godiva's.  Oh la la!  You all don't need to send chocolates. I love that you all want me well and I will be soon. I even made it to the gym and rode the bike for 30 minutes! On to today's post....

You must have seen the Interview meme going around. Please forgive me for not knowing where this all started. Last week I finally gave in and asked Jen to 'Interview Me'.  She came up with some good questions.  This meme may have about run it's course but, if you are interested in playing along I will interview the first person who asks....one only.

Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment saying "Interview Me". (Remember first one who asks gets the questions.)
2. I will list your questions on THIS blog.
3. You will give answers on YOUR blog.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. You should ask 5 questions.

Here are the questions that Jennifer asked along with my answers:

1. Have you always been a calm, pragmatic, zen person or is that something you learned over time?

   The truth is I'm not as Zen as the persona you see on the blog. It's something I strive for...a daily process. My world as a child was volatile and so was my early adulthood. When I learned about Zen it spoke to me. Practicing it brings balance to my life.  In learning that nothing should be taken personally, life is a journey, and to accept who we are as we are, has helped me keep my sanity. The start of my Zen thinking came about when we closed our family business about 8 years ago and our livelihood vanished. You either feel sorry for yourself or learn to accept what is and move on with the journey that is your life.

2. What one color comes to mind when you think about your natural local scenery?

   By local scenery I'm going to take the whole of Utah as my backyard. It's how I feel anyway.  It is the uncommon beauty of this whole state that keeps me here.  Even though I live in northern Utah my 'local color' would be the red/orange of Southern Utah, the color of Arches, Zion and Bryce Canyon.

3. How do you find the time to visit every single knit blog in existence? (I've never been to one that you haven't been to already.)

   I WISH I could visit more blogs but I do make an effort to get to as many blogs, in a day or week, as I can. My job is boring, especially during the first couple of weeks of the month, and blogging (reading and posting) has been good entertainment. By visiting blogs I like, like yours, I find other bloggers who are interesting and like minded. It would be wonderful to be able to get around the WHOLE knit ring but that hasn't happened, as yet.

4. We share the affinity for the occasional finger or two of whiskey.  Beside that and the whole fiber thing, what other vices will you admit to?

   Blogging is a big vice for me.  I love posting and reading both.  My camera goes everywhere with me, just in case.  Blogging eats up time and that's ok at this point in time, as long as it's not knitting time.  The community of knitters, my knitting and stitching pals here at home, and all my other friends, may not be considered vices but, it is hard to imagine living without them. I'd rather give up whiskey.

5. OK, so I know it's the process, but how does the accompanying yarn amassment and the busting of the stash figure into the process?

If I was truly Zen, there would be little, well, NO stash.  The only yarn necessary would be for the project in hand. Only when that project was finished would it be time to buy more.  There would be no need to worry about the future, knitting would be in the moment. Therefore, you see, stash doesn't figure in to true Zen thinking. But as stated in the first question, I'm not truly Zen. Stash is a hedge against a future where I may not be able afford much fibery goodness or there is a need to sell it for survival (I did just that after we closed our business and made some good money) or for the simple reason of liking it.

Thanks for asking some great questions, Jen and I hope you do come this way after the movie so we can meet face to face.

Next?

The answers you gave to yesterday's question were very interesting.  Our yarn purchase reasonings seem to come from age old motivations.  It seems, we buy out of fear...it's going to be discontinued, color will be gone, I'll never see it again.  Love is the other reason...it's too wonderful, love the color, texture, fiber.  Love and fear, the only two things that motivate us throughout this life. And, that's knitting....a metaphor for life.

A  new feature here at Zeneedle will be to spotlight a blog each week. The blog will be under the heading "Weekly Zen".  Annie has had this feature under "Cool Blogs" and Bonne Marie also has one special blog a week. So I'm taking my cue from them. This week my pick is the Almost Felted blog because Lauren has been churning out the FO's almost everyday!  Go check her out!