09

May

A Knitter’s Tip

Don’t get too attached.

It’s probably a very common warning among creative types, but it’s something that I find very important in continuing to love my hobby. Many people when they start a project—any project—really just want to see it complete. Personally, I love knitting for the process. (Otherwise I would have gotten bored of scarfs and hats years ago.) But many people, once they’ve started something, and especially when it’s almost done, can’t bear to “lose” that progress. Some folks might even just finish for the sake of finishing, even if the end result is virtually unusable.

Don’t be afraid to rip it out!

A lot of projects you end up doing twice. If at first you don’t succeed, and that awesome orange hat you’ve made for your big-headed boyfriend is too small and pinches his head, rip out the stitches and start anew. It’s never a waste do something right, even if it takes a couple of times doing to get it there.

Love what you do.

As I said before, I love the process. I love yarn shops. I love yarn. I like the simplicity of knits and purls. It’s a quick easy meditation. It keeps my hands busy and my mind at ease. It’s beautiful, simple, and a wonderful thing to share. And if you love it, it’s not going to matter how many times you knit it.

And, yes, I have to knit that hat again. All told it was a few rows too short.

12 years ago Short URL Comments

Creativity/Life

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04

Mar

115 days?!?!?

Could it really have been a 1/3 of a year since I last logged a weblog entry?  How is it that almost 4 months have passed without me writing down a jot?

Oh yeah, working full time really does suck up days.

I had gotten so used to the “more casual work schedule” shall we say?  I had forgotten what it was like to work every weekday, each week, for months.  I hadn’t even noticed so much time had passed since I had last visited my thoughts.  The public ones.  Here.  I have had thoughts……

Anywho, it did occur to me that it’s been quite some time since I had spent any REAL time worrying about getting these particular juices flowing, and I have to say, I’m really glad I’m taking the time now.  Working the 9 to 5 (again) you forget sometimes to take a step back, breath in, re-evaluate, breath out, and move on, move forward.  It’s not a bad thing to be busy, but it’s nice to make time for other things besides life maintenance items and lists, the commute, and the constant chatter in your brain that is left-over stress from the daily grind.  (Note to self: that’d be a GREAT coffee shop name!)  Honestly, it’s also nice to have the holidays over.  They’re always……a mixed bag.

Now that it’s March, it is, of course, easier for me to think.  The winter hazy is fading away.  The spring sneezes have moved in a little, though.  I’ve gone to working somewhere between part time and full time, and I like it.  I’ve been crafting, hot tubbing, traveling, crafting, but no sailing yet.  I rode my bike to work almost every day in February.  Life has kept moving along, even if I wasn’t paying attention to the time that was passing.  Friends got married, others fell in love, I gained and lost 5 pounds in a week, 1 year olds became 2 year olds and 3 year olds became 4 years olds, I found new family and re-visited old memories, and still time doesn’t care if I notice it at all.  It just keeps ticking by, little by little, second by second, minute to hour, days, nights……but not for another 115 days till I meet you again.

 

12 years ago Short URL Comments

Life

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28

Jul

It’s time to get crafty!

So trying to sail again proved to be detrimental to the healing process. Apartment is FINALLY, mostly put away. Code school is in process, but everyone needs a break from school now and then, right? What to do . . . . . . . . .

GET CRAFTY!!!!!

I have to say, I’m a kind of loving the crafts I’ve been making the last few days. I haven’t had the opportunity (for whatever reasons) to really pull out the scissors and glue, knitting needles and fancy yarn, for quite some time. One, it feels nice to have them in my hands. I love the process of creating. I love working with my hands. I like being busy in this way. Two, it’s really nice to have the time for this little escape, a little break from whatever was keeping me to busy to get busy. Crafting.

I’m happy with the results, though concerned with issues of consistency. Possibly need to re-measure, re-make my template. But results are looking pretty!

12 years ago Short URL Comments

Creativity/Life

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06

Apr

A part of the playground

I took a big step today.  One of the many projects in the works for Modo is writing an iPad application.  Not knowing any programming languages (yet) should not be a deterrent.  Nor should having no idea exactly how the process of designing and developing an app make me in any way nervous about taking on such a project.  So today I took a big leap—I bought my domain names.

While many of you might not think that is such a big deal, to me it signifies being one step closer to a new self.  This new playground I’m forcing myself into—the programmer, the Etsy crafter, the Maker—all of that is big and scary and foreign for me.  I like comfort zones.  I like knowing what I’m doing and where I’m going.  I like having some predictability to life.  I would be a good Baggins: predictable, steady, perhaps a little boring to some.  This new playground, it’s in the dark.  It’s in a galaxy far, far away.  It definitely speaks a different language……

So while I search for a way to pay my bills (that’s going well, by the way), I’m still pushing forward into that new frontier.  Hopefully, it’s filled with fun and excitement and happy rewards.

Or at least donuts.

Mafl caap a shmeflpup

13 years ago Short URL Comments

General Stuff

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29

Mar

Success!

I’ve done it!  Well, I’ve nearly done it.  I’m just waiting for a few more things to come in that I ordered online earlier this week, and then I’ll have done it.  What?  Oh, “It”.  It’s envelopes!  Ok, it might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but here’s my thinking.  You know that large stack of really nice stationery you bought yourself 3 years ago?  And those dozens of cute notepads sitting around the house just waiting to be used?  I think for most people, it would seem the practice and fine art of letter writing has gone a bit the way of the dodo.  So my recent crafty endeavor is how I plan to solve that problem—at least, for myself.

The Woodgrain Collection

I think these beautiful new handmade envelopes are just the thing to get me charged up again for some handwritten missives, newsletters, and love letters. Break out those dusty pens and stationery paper, it’s time to get WRITING again!

And, if nothing comes of having them up on my Etsy shop, they’re gonna make great gifts. 😉

13 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

Creativity

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23

Mar

What time is it?

It’s time to get crafty!

I think one of the reasons I have been a little slow to craft this week is because all of my initial ideas from last week were put on hold.  Plus, my boyfriend’s apartment is too small for all my ideas all at once. 🙂

This past week I have spent a large amount of my time researching different items I need to complete my crafting “whims”.  I suppose hours of research on supplies might seem to take some of the whimsy out of it, but that work actually appeals very much to my left-brain paths and programming.  Being organized before I get messy makes me feel more comfortable with the idea of getting things done.  It helps me approach my failures—because there have already been some, hence the need for research and more supplies—with a feeling of exploration instead of mistaken or misused time.

Part of my research has led me to realize that what I want, and what I can get are probably going to be very different things.  As an example:  I’m looking for a closing agent—something that acts like the peel and stick strips that come on mailing envelopes.  I researched double-stick tape, but none of those seemed to have a backing that you could stick one side down and then preserve the other side for later use (the peel later part).  I came across bonding tapes, transfer tapes, mounting tapes (no jokes, please); fabric, rubber, or acrylic tapes; tapes with permanent hold, or ones that were repositionable; tapes for low surface energy or high surface energy (LSE/HSE) materials, ultra or very high bond (UHB/VHB) double-coated tapes; and, yet, I am no closer to finding something that works for my needs.  Well, I did find one thing by 3M, but the only place I can find to buy it sells it in 1000 yard rolls in case packs of 12.  Ummmm, I don’t need to cover my house in it.

Amazon did me a few things good, and those are all on the way.  Christmas gift cards from friends and Birthday gift cards from family make shopping there a lot more fun.  Delivery estimates say, Wednesday, March 28.  Until then it’s simply self-healing cutting mat wishes and pink X-acto knife dreams.

13 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

Creativity

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