primitive

we lost power thursday night. we went to bed as normal but were awakened by the ferocious storm that came through. jon woke me up to tell me that the power had gone off. the children were soon awake and the waiting began. after setting up the generator, hooking up the pump and putting out the pvc piping, we waited. no one could go back to sleep, so me being the person i am, needed to have something to do with my hands. this is where the primitive comes in. I spun. for 2 hours I sat by candle light and spun. not even worried about what it would look like, I sat and just spun. I did not want to think about not having power, wondering what would be destroyed or if the trucks would start the next day. I spun. feeling the comfort of my foot going up and down, the wool slipping and being pulled thru my fingers to create a thing piece of yarn. listening to the rhythmic click of my wheel. all comforting sounds in the face of a stressful situation.

yarn stash

I went to Target the other day and they had plastic milk crates on sale for 2 dollars. I thought to myself "that would be cool to organize my yarn". so last night I started to Go Through the Yarn. Oh my goodness! You know its bad when you see yarn that you forgot you had! Proof that I have an addiction! I could say "well it could be worse" or "I really dont have that much yarn" but truly who am I kidding? Some of the yarn I have, I forgot why I bought it, or what I had in mind when I first saw it.
Which brings me to a comment that I said to one of my friends yesterday. She wanted to know how I came up with my ideas for the bread I bake. I told her its what happens when the right brain takes over for the left brain. Now for those of you who dont know what this means...here it is. The left brain is very logical, thinking along the idea of if this happens then I do this and so on. The right brain is more artistic, more able to think outside of the box and come up with creative ideas.
So the right brain is now taking over. Which is a good thing SINCE I HAVE SO MUCH YARN!!!!!

working on

I have been busy lately. I recently received an order (from one person) to knit 3 headbands, 2 throws and 4 twin bed blankets! Oh my! The task was daunting at first, but I have finished one headband and halfway through the second. She then added a cowel that I knit by saying "I want that!"
Simply saying, this makes me feel very good; that someone likes what I am doing, the ideas that I have come up with and how the product turns out. I knew when I was a practicing nurse, when I made someones day. And I always knew when I ruined. The kudos that I get now are similar to when I baked as a side job at a local coffee shop. The whole thing was self esteem improving. It does make me sad that the simple talent of knitting and crocheting brings happiness to people more than helping them and being there for them when they are in need. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like it.
So anyway, I am on the way to finishing the second headband (multicolored) and then starting the bright pink one. I have already ordered the yarn I will need to make the first of 2 throws. she wants the first one for a gift in Miami dolphins colors.
You may look at some of my projects on my facebook account.

knitting like a fiend

I thought that staying up late to knit would be a good idea. see I could watch Law and Order SVU without little eyes seeing all of the nasty stuff on tv. jon and the boys went to bed and here I am snitting like a fiend. I thought it was a Good Plan. yea. that Good Plan caught up with me yesterday. Now I could say it was the heat that was kicking my butt, or because I ate carbs for breakfast, but truly it was the fact I was staying up late. why do I know this you ask? well I went to be last night around 11pm and slept til nine like always and gee I felt better. Now if I stayed up late and then could sleep til like noon, that would be great. but my kids get up Early.
so I have one headband done, one halfway done and still blankets to do. back to snitting during the day. knitting like a fiend during the daylight hours.

knitting for cash

I had wondered at one point in my life if I could make any money from my knitting. I knew that I would not be rich by any stretch of the imagination, but that wonder was still there. My wonder has come true so to speak. last week I was "hired" to knit 3 headbands, 4 twin sized blankets and 2 throws. Now I was just sitting on my front stoop trying to finish one of the headbands, trying not to be too overwhelmed. Could I actually do it? could I really get them done within a fair amount of time? what made me think I can do this and have them all come out right> I dont doubt that it will take me some time and if I figure my days correctly, knitting will just flow where it needs to be and it will all work out okay. My problem is that I think about all that needs to be done and my mind goes crazy. It runs down the mountain, in the valley and up the other side again with frenzy. I create this world of stress that makes my knitting a mess, leaving me wondering if I should not even try. But God knows what I dont. He sees the big picture of what I am capable of and He knows that with Him I can do anything.
Releasing all of the stress in my mind takes practice, hard work, and letting go. Knitting is easy compared to letting go....

IT CAME

I went out to the farmers market today and then the yarn store to buy some pink yarn for another headband. ya and I walked out with 2 bags of yarn (cuz lindy is soooo evil!!! but I love her)the good thing is that all of the yarn I rescued from the yarn store was 50% off!!! they will become cowels for winter (and will be sold). I got home and my hubby said"theres a package from the netherlands for yoooouuuu". see because suzie got my hooking my her louet, I searched on ebay and found a louet for me. AND IT CAME TODAY!!!! jon was nice enough (because he loves me and knows that this will me Happy) to put the wheel together Without Directions. such a Good Man!!! so while waiting for the blog to come up on my dialup computer (Oh I wish I had highspeed) I started spinning on my New Wheel! Oh is it just lovely.and it looks so good with all of the wool I bought!

had to have help

last night I went to the first ever "meetup " at my friend suzies house. she and I sat spinning out wool and our stories of our lives. she and I are years apart; she with grown children, I with school age children at home. nonetheless, we are drawn together as friends having more in common than just our love of knitting and spinning. her studio is small but filled with dye pots, sleece, yarn, and rovings, yet big enough for anyone who enters to feel at home amongst her gazilion pounds of yarnstuffs.
which leads me to the point of the story. I bought 6 "bags" of wool that will be spun into something awesomely beautiful. check out my facebook page and you will see the colors. she even said this was the first time that she had to help someone carry out her purchases. how cool was that!!!
on another note, I was comissioned to knit 3 headbands, and 4 twin blankets. again how cool is that!!!!!
I treasure the minutes and hours I spend with my growing children, but I also find comfort in the wool I hold in my hands, the wonderful sounds of my children playing in the warm sunny days, and the knowledge that what I create with my hands and the yarn that I hold will someday make someone other than me quite happy.

spinning, spinning, knitting

summer vacation is in full force. the children are enjoying the hot summer weather and are outside most of the day. I cant believe it is july already, and soon I will say I cant believe it is august. With the children home, finding time to spin and knit has been slightly difficult. I am caught between paying attention to them and paying attention to what I need to get done. Since I have not been working, making time for my "yarning" has been important since I want to sell my projects. Not that it is going to make a rich, by any means, but the time I have spent under someones elses thumb is over for right now.
My friend suzie has been giving me her "junk" wool off of her carder to practice spinning. I have just finished all of the junk. She says I am "such a good spinner" that I could spin the Good Stuff that I bought at her shop. I am fearful that I am not that good and that it will not turn out well. But then there is that fear again; fear of the unknown and my own abilities. It is quiet overwhelming sometimes and I fight it daily.
Chances are that it will be spun into something beautiful and I will be feel good about the job I have done.