Weeks of April 5th - May 1st

I've been hard at work in one capacity or another for the past couple of weeks, but what else is new? To a certain extent, I live for my work. Much of my life is devoted to creativity, and always has been - I know I'm not alone in that.

Last week I was excited to see my Afghans for Afghans sweater pictured in their blog. When it was posted, I had already pooled my wool and alpaca yarns once more and was almost finished with another sweater, this time in a more subdued color scheme:



So now my leftover wool stash is sufficiently depleted and I can move on to other things.

I'd been wanting to do some more crochet designs, so I came up with a pattern for a small blanket using three colors of Vickie Howell Sheep(ish). It was originally meant to be a baby blanket, but then Teddy claimed it as his own, placing his handsome self right in the middle of the photo I was taking. What else could I do but make it a cat blanket?



I have one more design to show for April - a knitted cloche-style hat. I'd picked up some lovely tagua nut buttons at Fine Points a while back and was looking for a way to integrate them into a design. I liked the idea of taking an adornment and building a garment around it. It's a fun and simple pattern, and I might go on to make some similar hats for sale later.



And it occurs to me that I should post more photos of my sewing projects, especially as they seem to be getting better these days! I finished this skirt last week (sorry for the lousy picture):

Week of January 1st-8th

For several mornings over the past week at Joann Fabrics, I've been helping set up the new seasonal merchandise. Currently, we have sections for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter, plus a fair amount of spring and summer product lines. Add to that the nice sunny weather we've been having the last two days, and I'm increasingly confused about what season this is. Wait till we have another snowstorm.

Still, it is only the second week of January, and I've made four distinct plans for the year. (I hate the word "resolution" and prefer thinking of them as "plans.") Two are professional:

1 - Design something new every week. (I don't have to make it, just design it.)
2 - Start a line of sewn project bags and hook and needle bags. (Now that I have a working sewing machine and, conveniently, work in a fabric store.)

The other two are personal:

1 - Read at least 52 books. (One for each week of the year. Luckily I read quickly.)
2 - Cook more "real" food. (Boxed meals don't count!)

So far I've been doing better on the personal side than the professional. I haven't had time to start a new line because I've been so busy keeping up with sales. I did finally write up and list my newest pattern for a baby blanket toy - my first pattern of 2013!

For my first book of the year, I reread The Hobbit. My parents had read it to me when I was little and I listened to it on tape a few years ago, but it occurred to me that I'd never "read" it in the eyes-on-print way, which is how I read best anyway. My husband, a friend and I saw the movie the other week, and it made me remember how much I enjoyed the book. Here's a funny thing that struck me about the book this time around, though: there are no female characters in it whatsoever. It doesn't offend me, because it's a delightful book and I don't think having a woman or two in there would have improved the story necessarily. (In the movie, they stuck in Galadriel; I suppose that's their right. They added several characters from The Lord of the Rings and from Middle Earth mythology.) It does bug me slightly to think that if the opposite were the case - female characters only - then only a few people, mostly women, would have read it and it would never have become a classic. Anyway, I doubt it was a deliberate omission on Tolkien's part and so I just find it amusing.

8 Sales, and My Current Projects

I had enough sales and custom orders coming in last week that I actually started to feel some works stress relating to my shop. Life is really good!

I'm trying to balance several projects at the moment; here are the primary ones:
1. Dad's sweater. I'm done with the shoulders and almost done with one arm; thus I have an arm, the body, and trim to go. After his, I need to make Mom's. I'm hoping to get them done by January, when both their birthdays occur.
2. An Afghans for Afghans baby blanket. Yes, I know I just made one, but I'm onto another one! I've got some lovely bright-colored wool and I'm knitting a double-thick garter stitch blanket. It should be super warm.
3. A blue lace scarf like the orange one I've got listed in my shop here. I've had it on the backburner for months, but I really need to get going on it now before scarf season is over.
4. A capelet made of deliciously soft bamboo yarn.
5. Knitted roses for my wedding bouquet. I found an amazing free pattern online.

I've also got a bear going, as usual.

Afghans for Afghans Blanket *Couverture pour Afghans for Afghans

Here's the baby blanket I made for Afghans for Afghans, following Elizabeth Zimmermann's pattern for a garter stitch baby blanket made by knitting four right angles. I worked it in stripes to highlight the design. The weird color variations were due to the fact that I kept running out of a certain color of yarn, so I had to keep changing colors! I think the overall effect is okay, though, and it's very warm and comfy. I put it in the mail on Friday, so it should be getting to the collection center soon.

I think I'm going to have to take it easy with the French, since I've realized that I haven't been blogging as often or as extensively now I've committed myself to a bilingual blog. I do want to keep it up some, but I can't let it start feeling like homework - so it'll have to be a sometimes thing.

Resting up from the weekend's work (and from the effects of the flu shot I got today). Going to have tea with my favorite kindergartner and her mom tomorrow - so it looks to be a good week. :)