So many ideas, not enough time

When I moved from MN to KS I was able to see how much crafting stuff I actually had and for how many different types of crafts.  What follows is not an exclusive list of what I have the supplies for.

• Knitting
• Spinning
• Crochet
• Quilting
• Embroidery
• Beading
• Paper crafts
• General crafting

I have the most volume in the supplies for knitting and spinning, with the amount of yarn I have surpassing everything else by a wide margin!  When I organized my yarn stash I found that I had enough yarn to make four different sweaters, and at that time I was waiting on yarn for two more sweaters.  I'll write about that yarn later.  I also found that I had enough sock yarn for over 12 pairs of socks.  I have since gone through my sock yarn stash and matched up yarn with patterns.  I also have odds and ends of yarn for baby hats and misc projects. 

I also have a sewing machine and a stash of fabric.  I finally got my sewing machine out of its box this past week.  It was so dusty!  I thought about it and realized that it had been in its box for a year.  About time I got it out!  I've been wanting to make some pillow covers for my love seat and pew, and some pot holders.  But the first project I will start on will be a sewing machine cover.  I picked up the book Fresh Quilting and will be making the sewing machine cover on the front of the book. 

 Now that I'm finally settled into my new life and Christmas is over I've been feeling the pull of all my crafting supplies and knitting projects that I have already started.  I feel a bit scattered and need to come up with a plan to tackle it all, balancing completing old projects with starting new ones.  Time to dig in!

What to do

I"m not sure what to do with this here blog.  Sorry, had to use some down-home lingo now that I'm back in KS.  I can't delete it because I still get tons of hits for the  Two Color Brioche Stitch Scarf Pattern , at least 200 a month!  Last month the blog got over 1,200 hits and I'm betting that at least 99% were for that pattern.  So, no deleting the blog. 

On the other hand, I'm not quite yet comfortable with using to to journal daily life with pictures, stories and projects.  Ever since the divorce I have been very protective of my personal life, specifically not wanting my ex-husband to know a single darn thing about me.  I already resent what he has to know because we have a daughter together.  I do know that he used to search the internet for stuff about/from me and I got some of it thrown back in my face during an argument. 

But being realistic, it has been almost a year since the divorce was final.  The ex has had the same girlfriend for the past year and has moved in with her.  So, the odds of him regularly searching the internet for me are low.  I would bet that as long as I kept pictures of our daughter off of the blog that he wouldn't even care about anything else here. And I would have to make sure to keep anything off of the blog that could come back and bite me in the rear.  That is what my twitter account is for!   

I know I could keep it just to knitting/craft projects, but I'm not sure I couldn't let some personal stuff slip through.  I need to be ok with the occasional personal stuff being out there before I start writing.  And how boring would a blog be if it was just about X project, Y yarn and Z modifications.   I want to write a blog that I would read myself! 

So, all that to say that I think I am going to, cautiously, start posting again.  As I have time of course, and after the whole privacy issue, time is the next biggest issue.  Overall, I think it would be good for me to start blogging again.  I do need to lower my expectations on how I blog and the quality of the pictures that I post. I tend to be too much of a perfectionist! 

Hopefully this space will have lots of new stuff soon!
                                                            

Minimum

Right now I can only keep up with the bare minimum. But I thought I should let the internet know I'm alive, if it cares! I found this meme at Posie Gets Cozy, and thought it was perfect. Take care, I'll be back eventually!

Where is your mobile phone? Pocket

Where is your significant other? Georgia

Your hair color? Brown

Your mother? Constant

Your father? Recovering

Your favorite thing? Audrey

Your dream last night? None

Your dream goal? Peace

The room you're in? Escape

Your hobby? Knitting

Your fear? Loss

Where do you want to be in 6 years? Together

Where were you last night? Home

What you're not? Calm

One of your wish-list items? Wheel

Where you grew up? Kansas

The last thing you did? Lunch

What are you wearing? Jeans

Your TV? Escape

Your pets? Cuddly

Your computer? Work

Your mood? Erratic

Missing someone? Desperately

Your car? Reliable

Something you're not wearing? Dress

Favorite shop? Yarn

Your summer? Short

Love someone? Cautious

Your favorite color? Purple

When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday

When is the last time you cried? Yesterday

Laugh for the day

Two Post Office employees showed up at work today to hand deliver our mail. I thought that was very nice of them, seeing as how we normally pick up our mail at the PO boxes downstairs. I didn’t think much of it until they asked if we had any outgoing mail. When I replied that we normally drop it off downstairs they gave each other this “huh” look. I told them that we normally pick up our mail downstairs as well, more confused looks. One said they had been dropping off mail as they went through the building, seven floors of offices and many floors of apartments. I then explained where the mail drop off and PO boxes were. They thanked me and went on their way. As I was shutting the door I started to laugh. I probably should have waited until I had closed the door, but it was just too funny. Either management at the Post Office isn’t very good at giving instructions, or someone decided to have fun with two employees on a new route. Either way, it brightened my day!

Life has been crazy, some knitting, lots of stress, not enough down time. Audrey is wonderful and I can't believe she is already a year old! Hopefully after the next couple weeks are over I can get back to blogging and Ravelry on a regular basis. How is your life going?

Happy Weekend!

It is Friday, and I am in a good mood! I think I've been in a little bit of a hormonal funk lately. (Using the word funk always seems odd to me because my Great Grandparent's last name was Funk, so it has a different meaning for me than just the usual usage.) My cycle has returned and I'm still getting used to all the hormonal swings I haven't had to deal with for a year and a half.

Has anyone else checked out Twist Collective yet? It is a new online magazine with both knitting patterns and articles. The layout took me a little while to get used to, but I immediately bought the Come Together and Jaali patterns. The checkout process was very easy, I used paypal, and when I checked the e-mail address I used with paypal I had already received a link to download my patterns. You can download them for 100 days, or 3 times. The patterns I received seem easy to read and are beautifully laid out.

If you want to see pictures of my beautiful baby girl, check out my photographer's website. Click on Babies. On the first page of pictures, her picture is in the top row, middle square (all in white, standing next to a white chair). On the second page of pictures, her pictures are in in the top row, middle square, and bottom row, right square. Nicole takes beautiful pictures and we have always enjoyed our sessions with her. If you are in the area I highly suggest you check her out. If you do, would you mind telling her I sent you? I get a free picture with every referral. I feel ok having Nicole post Audrey's picture because her site has way more security measures than mine does, so I'm not as worried about someone stealing her picture.

And because I can't have a post without a picture in it, here is a small flower we found during one of our evening walks. Have a good weekend!

New Blood

When I started my job here in Minnesota I was the youngest one. When I came back from maternity leave we had three employees who were barely out of college. It has completely changed the atmosphere of the office. And I have to say, other than feeling old, I am enjoying the change. There is now much more social interaction and new ideas thrown about. They take some things for granted, and have no clue when I mention certain subjects, but their energy is infectious even when they make me feel ancient.

One of those new things I have been introduced to is new music. You may have already heard of Vampire Weekend, but they are new to me! I am especially enjoying One(Blake's got a new face). Imagine my surprise when listening to Cast On to hear Oxford Comma! It is a small world.

The Livin' is Easy

We are enjoying summer time over here.

How about you? And yet another reason to enjoy summer time, the weekday St Paul Farmers Market is open. Beautiful flowers for cheap!

Contrast

A storm passed close by tonight. I just love the pink against the dark blue sky. Have a good evening.

Ramble

I’ve started composing this in my head many times, but have yet to actually post.  Time to knuckle down and finally write something!  I have been debating on whether or not to continue this blog; it is pretty obvious that I haven’t been doing much with it.  I originally started this blog as a running blog because I didn’t have a running community to share my trials and accomplishments with.  Then I started knitting and included that because I didn’t know anyone else who knit.  I think knitting took over the blog, and I laugh every time I read that description under the title.  Running?  What running?

 

So it really isn’t a surprise that I have backed off of the blog now that I have found a community of knitters.  The group at Knitter’s Palette (I spelled it correctly this time!) is just wonderful, and I really enjoy meeting with them.  I’ve also gained a community of friends through church.  I feel much more connected to people than I have in a very long time.  It is nice!  But the more I think about it, I would really like to continue this blog, but I need to have more realistic expectations of myself.  Yes, I know that my blog is what I want it to be, but I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist.  Plus it doesn’t help that I tend to impose standards or ideas on myself that are unrealistic. Not every post needs to be a detailed description of what I am doing and how I am doing it, have the most beautiful pictures ever, or have perfect prose.  I need to do something like Knit-Whit, short, to the point and she posts often!  I love reading her blog (her pictures are wonderful!), and I love reading those blogs that are longer.  I just need to find my own “voice.”

 

And about the running.  I’ve wanted to start running again, but now is obviously not the right time to start a running program.  Before I became pregnant I drew up a plan to get me from not running at all to being able to run a (slow) marathon within a year.  I wasn’t going to be legalistic about this plan, but it gave me a goal to work towards.  After the baby is born I would like to start on this plan, with a slower ramp up, but I am going to need a goal to work towards to get my butt off of the couch!  I am going to give myself roughly 3 months before I start anything.  I know I will be overloaded by all the changes coming and I refuse to put too much pressure on myself to get back in shape.  And I’m sure once I do start running again I am going to want to write about it.  Right now I need to do a lot more walking and once the pool opens (and I’m brave enough to buy a maternity swimsuit) some light swimming or water walking. 

 

I’ve made some changes to the blog, mainly so it won’t be so obvious when I e-mail a post, and to make it a little easier to read.  The colors aren’t quite right yet, so be patient!  I also wanted to mention that I won’t be posting pictures of the baby here.  There are just too many strange people out there and I’m not big enough of a blog to have tons of people watching out for me, or have enough clout to get them removed from wherever they have been used.  Thanks for understanding.  I have been thinking about using one of the online photo services and just making them viewable to people I know.  But that is still up in the air. 

 

Thanks for slogging though all this and for still sticking with me!  Hopefully you will be seeing more from me in the very near future.

New Start

Welcome to the New Year! Yes, I know I am a few days late, but being a procrastinator is one of my most endearing qualities. I am looking forward to the next year, lots of new ideas for things to knit, places to travel and new friends to make. I also have lots to talk about and quite a few projects to show off.

I had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas off work and a great time spending time with my family and husband. But now it is back to work. You would think after having a week and a half off work that I would be energized and ready to go. But no, I am having such a hard time getting any work done.

But I do have a lot of goals for the next year, and if I get just half of them accomplished then I will consider it a successful year. I have always liked New Years, mainly because it feels like a fresh start, full of possibilities. My birthday is another new start, but New Years seems to have more impact for me, more possibility for change.

I hope the next year is full of bright and happy things for you!