Knitalong: a Celebration

I ordered my book and it came in the mail a couple of days ago and I waited till I had a chance to go through it a bit before commenting on it.  My assessment is:  go get it.  For real, it is a must have for anyone who loves to knit with others.  I bought it because I think Larissa is brilliant and motivational and because the book is really a reader, full of stories and accounts from actual, factual knitters.  You know, like you and me. . . it is hobby verging on the brink of obsession and yet we have real lives that consume us as well (jobs, kids, obligations).  It has 20 of the most useful and yet visually appealing projects you can imagine and each can be worked on while chatting, drinking, watching t.v or the kids run around.  It is full of resources and tips, too.  Highly recommended.   Oh, and the pictures are stunning. Hell, just go get it and see for yourself!

Peace~ Dawn 

WIP the Lace Edition

This is the progress on the long lost lace project on the sidebar. I have made slow progress but it has not been abandoned. Fear not! I just need undisturbed time when working it because the repeats are not conducive to memory. Well, I am close to half finished with it.

Now, this is the progress on the newly started Shetland Triangle. I am really enjoying this pattern. Very easy to memorize and this yarn has such a nice weight and drape to it. It is some hand painted silk/rayon I bought on Ebay awhile ago and I got terrific yardage out of it. Something like 1200 yards or some craziness like that.

Now for a couple of add ons. First off congratulations to Christian Siriano for winning this season’s Project Runway. I love this guy and have been rooting for him since the beginning. So talented and confident at 21! BRILLIANT!! Second, did you notice the book in the corner of the Shetland Triangle photo? That is The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak. A wonderful novel that I started a couple of days ago. I love how the yarn and the book are a perfect match for each other. Let me just say that the Chapter titles are so wonderful in this book (ex: Cinnamon, Garbanzo Beans, Roasted Hazelnuts, Vanilla, Sugar, Orange Peels, Dried Figs to name just a few). Don’t they sound yummy. Makes me wanna eat. I leave you with this from the book:

“With that Grandma Shushan took up her knitting needles and sat down. The first skeins of a cerulean baby’s blanket dangled from the needles with the initials A.K. woven on the border. There was silence for a moment as everyone in the room watched her hands move gracefully with the needles. Grandma Shushan’s knitting affected the family like group therapy. The sure and even cadence of each stitch soothed everyone watching, making them feel that as long as Grandma Shushan kept knitting, there was nothing to fear and in the end, everything would be all right.” page 52/53.

Enjoy the day and tonight, get LOST!!

Today is Thursday, Pretty Cut and Dry

This is what our place looked like yesterday morning!  Snow.  My sister called and said, “okay, so WHEN are we moving to Florida?”  If I could have mounted an escape plan then and there, believe me, I would have.  Thankfully, today looks a lot different.  Most of the snow is gone and the sun is shinning bright.  It truely is a new day.

It is also my day off.  Love Thursdays!  I put dinner in the crock pot and then got down to business.  I have my Spinach Scarf blocking on the dining room table (finally) plus I am blocking the dishcloth for Larissa’s art project” so I can get that in the mail.  I made a new herb heat bag for my clients at work plus a fragrant eye pillow for me (full of lavender and clary sage essential oils–heavenly).  Now, it is the afternoon which means time for me to wind down and do some reading, knitting and journaling.  I am going to get a pot of tea on and then relax.  

I hope you all are having a most delicious day, too.  Here is the latest quote from A New Earth:

“Spiritual realization is to see clearly that what I perceive, experience, think, or feel is ultimately NOT who I am, that I CANNOT find myself in all those things that continuously pass away.”  pg. 78 

The paragraph above that one talks about discovering your true identity, that which you truly are and not what your ego would have you believe yourself to be.  My take on that section boils down to: you cannot obtain Presence (Awareness).  You cannot set it as a goal or strive for it.  You have to Practice it, every moment of every day.  Awareness is a process, always unfolding.   You are either aware, present or you are not.  Pretty black and white.  

Class dismissed.  Peace~ Dawn  

Textile Knitting

There be knitting going on in these parts, I swear.  As an example of said knitting, behold the above photographic evidence.  I have taken the rest of the “Felicity” yarn and made a nice square fabric piece and I bought this nice SWS yarn in “natural earth” and am making another piece of fabric.  Together they will be a pillow.   

 

Now, on to other subjects of interest to me.  I have begun reading Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth”.  I am so engrossed in it that I would like to post quotes from it from time to time and invite anyone else reading the book (and this blog) to post comments, question or suggestions for comments and questions if they feel the desire to.  I don’t think I will join the whole Oprah’s book club online discussion thing because I really don’t have time on Monday evenings (I’m usually not here) but we shall see.  I am kind of open to opinions in the blog world verses a virtual classroom.  I am a black sheep that way.  But anyway, here is my quote from the book for today:

 

“The past has no power to stop you from being present now.  Only your grievance about the past can do that.  And what is a grievance?  The baggage of old thought and emotion.”  pg. 66 

 

Hmm, how many times can you think of that you got stuck on thinking about what someone else did or said to you.  How many days did you waste on thinking about old emotions.  Emotions that came and went except in your head.   I have several vivid examples in my own life.  Times when I stalled myself out and only when I forgave and let go did I free myself.  It was like suddenly my life was flung forward and I began moving again.  It was amazing to me how re-living ONE thought pattern over and over made me stay in the same place.  Life was going on all around me and yet, I was standing still.  Grievances have no purpose but to keep you in one place.  Forgiving or letting go, serves to put you in motion again, back in the flow of life.  

 

Today:  recognize a grievance you have, see how it is holding you back.  Once you recognize that, you can let it go and move on with YOUR life.  Peace~ Dawn   

 

DIY Weekend

Well, we had a very eventful weekend. We took out the carpet in our diningroom and put in new flooring. Pictures to follow when I weed out the clutter from moving the furniture back in. A couple of weeks ago we took out the “yuck” pink carpet in the oldest sons room that has permiated this house for 20 some years and put in hard wood flooring. We painted it a gorgeous blue, added crown molding and moved in son #2. So now this huge room is like a dormroom for the older two college boys. My youngest has his own room and now he wants it painted. Guess the color? ORANGE. He has a weird obsession with the color orange. It has been his favorite color since he could name them. UGH!

Next up is reflooring the kitchen. Maybe in a couple of weeks. We need to recover.

We went to see Stardust this weekend, too and it was GRRREAT! if you want to see a fun fantasy movie this would be the one. Too me it runs along the lines of The Princess Bride and The Brothers Grimm (which are among my most favorite movies). So go see it if that kind of movie is your thing, you won’t be disappointed.

Also, I finished a wonderful book called “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman. Great read! fantasy, mystery, comedy. I have given it to my son and told both of the older ones that they will like it. It reads like a movie. You can see and experience what is going on as you read it. I love that kind of book.

In knitting news: I am plugging along on the Chevron scarf and I have a finished object that I need to line (probably tomorrow) plus I started another “quickie”, it is a cool cable hat. No pictures till it is done. You’ll have to stay tuned. Hope you all have a great beginning to your week. Peace~Dawn