All Projects Big and Small

Again it’s been too long between posts. In pondering this, I wonder if perhaps I should resign myself to only composing once monthly blog posts. Maybe removing the expectation of more frequent posting would free up my mind some to allow for, well, more frequent posting. I am still trying to accept my own propensity to have a rebellious spirit, even though my habits and tendencies consistently show it to me. I think it has a lot to do with my rigid perfectionism when it comes to my expectations of myself. I decide that I want to do X or much accomplish Y by a certain time, and before I know it, I’m overwhelmed by my self-imposed deadlines and rules and am then paralyzed, unable to move forward despite my best intentions. Or rather I find myself so distracted by other projects or events, and I’m too scattered to focus on the one or two things I really wanted to accomplish. Isn’t it funny how some lessons we must be taught over and over again before we really learn them? I’ve already seen how emptying my Ravelry queue has enhanced both my creativity and my enjoyment in my knitting. It stands to reason that the concept would be applicable and beneficial to all my creative endeavors. I certainly consider blogging to be one of them. Writing has long been a companion of mine. Tucked away amongst other precious mementos, I still have a folder overflowing with my writings, some from as early as age seven or eight. I would love for my blog to be a continued documentation of my writings, and what better to write about than my creativity? After my family, it’s what occupies the majority of both my waking and sleeping mind. Do you dream about your crafting? I do, regularly. But I digress…

So what have I been doing since my last post? TONS! The month of July was filled with Tour de Fleece spinning and other spinning-related activities. My hope was to use up some of the fiber stash I’d accumulated and to work on my overall skill in producing consistent, balanced hand spun yarns. I’m very happy to report that I accomplished both of those goals with great success. I have one pound of some breathtakingly beautiful silver merino pencil roving left from my original stash, and I purchased eight ounces of some hand dyed South African fine from a local dyer that I began spinning last night. You are welcome to head over to my Ravelry page to see pictures of the yarn I’ve spun. I’m really happy with how my skill has progressed with daily spinning, and I plan to continue to spin on a more regular basis. I’m already dreaming up projects to knit with my hand spun yarn, and I anticipate it being quite a treat.

Speaking of knitting, I’ve been doing lots of that too. I still have my Tea Leaves cardigan on the needles and am stuck a bit in the endless back and forth of the stockinette body. It’s gotten to be large enough that it is rather uncomfortable to have it in my lap while the weather’s been so hot here. Today the heat index is predicted to be as high as 112! In the meantime, I’ve been working on a knitted baby quilt based loosely on a Denyse Schmidt quilt called Stacking the Odds. I stumbled upon some new colors of Caron Simply Soft one afternoon while in one of the local Walmarts that still has a craft department, and inspiration struck. I’m not usually one to knit with a lot of acrylic, but I’ve always liked how Caron Simply Soft knits up and is so easy to care for, especially for baby blankets. The quilt is all garter stitch, and it’s been the perfect project for that zen knitting I crave.

My biggest project as of late has been refinishing and reupholstering a glider rocker I bought on Craiglist. One morning I was thinking how nice it would be to have a glider to relax and knit in, so I cruised over to Craigslist just to see what was available. Lo and behold, there was a listing in my town for a glider and ottoman for $20! There were two broken spindles on the left arm, and the fabric was worn and dirty. I spent an entire day sanding every surface of the chair and ottoman and another day painting it all black. A friend helped me replace and repair the broken left arm. Then I ripped out all the seams on the cushion covers so that I could use the pieces as patterns for the new fabric. I found some gorgeous black and white fabric on Fabric.com, and it arrived in record time. A trip to JoAnn yielded medium- and high-density foam for fresh new cushions. I even sewed up an accent throw pillow with piping on the edges! In the end, I am over the moon with how the chair turned out. I wish I’d taken a before picture, but all I have it the picture the seller sent to me via text before I picked up the chair. Still, you can see before and after pictures here. It’s been such a nice addition to my living room and so wonderful to sit in at the end of the day. There’s just nothing as soothing as that rocking motion. Add a good audiobook and some great knitting – heaven!

Actually, that sounds pretty good right now.