Sunday, March 09, 2008
Hey, what do you know, I'm still alive and kicking. It's been quite awhile, but I promise I am still around. There a few reasons I haven't been posting. First, part of my new work responsibilities include blogging on a new craft community website my company is starting. That is taking up just about all of my creative writing ability and energy. I'm in charge of the quilting blog for the site, which is a bit challenging as I haven't quilted in over five years. However, it's good to get back into that world because 1. I love quilting and 2. I'll be editing quilting books, so it's good to increase my knowledge again.
Second, life has completely kicked my butt over the last month, and I haven't been able to write a blog post without totally excessive whining. I'm even getting tired of listening to myself. My problems are so ridiculously first world that they're embarrassing to write about, but they are still my problems, and this has been (subjectively) a very rough month. Work is crazy, but the problem is more that I am crazy and can't help taking all the crap home with me in my head. The qualities that make me good at my job (crazy anal perfectionism) make me suck at life sometimes. Now is one of those times. Really, though, the only reason I'm able to write about it now is that it's getting a little better and I don't feel like I'm teetering at the edge of an abyss. I swear that one of these days I'll learn how to not be quite so crazy. That, or one day you'll hear on the news what a nice, quiet girl everyone thought I was until...
Anyway, just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean I haven't been busy. I've actually been quite productive. I finally finished up Ice Queen. I tore out the unfinished picot cast off and used a plain cast off, which I ended up having plenty of yarn for. This is not the sharpest picture, but it's the best one I have on my laptop, so it will have to do for now. Mark was the photographer and he had me hamming it up for the camera.
I also started and finished a fun, cute little scarf in Colinette Isis. I saw this worked up into a seed stitch scarf in my lys, and I just loved the look of it. However, as much as I adore the look of seed stitch, it drives me crazy to knit it. So, this yarn marinated in the stash for a long time. I finally broke down and started the scarf and was very surprised to find that I LOVED knitting it. It was the perfect totally brainless project after a long day at work. It was just 17 sts per row, so each row was super quick, I loved watching the colors change and it went so quickly. I loved working on this. And now I have a scarf I love, too. Again, a crappy picture, but you get the idea. I looked so terrible in this picture that it required a little editing. You really don't need to see me all pale, tired and puffy, believe me. 
And that's not all! I'm also working on a pair of socks for my mom's Easter basket. These are a great retina-scorching colorway in my usual 2x2 rib formula and they make me think of the Caribbean. I could use a big dose of sandy beaches right now, but these socks are about as close as I'm going to get. I think they're a great colorway for an early Easter, when it seems like spring may never arrive (the 12 inches of snow we got on Friday and Saturday didn't help me feel any more positive about the arrival of spring, either!)
Besides those projects, I've also been spinning yarn and planning projects for my book. My latest project attempt did not go well and I had to scrap my original idea (along with SEVERAL alternative attempts... grrr). I have a new idea though, so now I have to spin for that. My first deadline is starting to feel quite close, though (even though I do have awhile still), so I need to get a move on.
I've also continued working in my craft room/studio, cleaning, sorting and organizing my overwhelming amount of STUFF. It's looking good, and what's more, it FEELS good to have a better idea of what I have and feel more in control of it. So far I've gotten rid of very little, but just the act of organizing has opened up so much room and made the space much more livable and useful. Everything is easier to access and I have much better working space now. One of the things I was most looking forward to with a house was some real studio space where I could spread out and work, but I'm enjoying making do and getting better use out of what I have here. There's still more sorting and decluttering to do, then some selling and gifting to do, but I'm off to a good start.
And that's life in my corner of the world. It's not everything that's gone on in the last month, but believe me, you don't want to hear it ALL. Just too much whining :-) How has your month been?
|
|
