OFF MY NEEDLES

Acai Berry
Photobomb courtesy of Josie
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. William Shakespeare
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OFF MY NEEDLES

Acai Berry
Photobomb courtesy of Josie
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. William Shakespeare
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OFF MY NEEDLES
Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.
But – I have a photo of the most precious grandbaby on the planet!
Worry gives a small thing a big shadow
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ON MY NEEDLES
The second Tulip is ready for the heel and so am I. I have raging sock envy, seeing so many amazing sock projects other knitters are working on. This happens on every project, the bright “new” wears off whatever I’m working on and my head is turned by other, “shinier” yarns and patterns. The only thing keeping me from having an untold number of unfinished second socks is my obsession with finishing whatever I start, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon which side of the obsessive fence you happen to stand on.

Candyskein Yarn Acai Berry
PAGES
So many books! Here’s what I’m reading:
I’ll Drink to That by Betty Halbreich
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Kentz
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Genius on the Edge By Gerald Imber
I don’t know if I’ll finish all of these, I’m as easily distracted by new books as I am by new knitting.
THE BUG
Whatever respiratory bug that’s been bugging me is hopefully on its way out, with the cough hanging on. I’m just glad to be feeling better. Babydiva has had the same bug at the same time, glad she’s on the mend too.
I’m linking with Ginny’s Yarn Along and Frontier Dreams today, don’t forget to visit!
Never mistake motion for action. Ernest Hemingway
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Curious? Learn more here.
ON MY NEEDLES

Red Bird Knits Tulips
Candyskein Acai Berry
Just for the record – the top of the sock isn’t really wonky, it was twisted, which I didn’t notice until after the photo. 😋
I HAVE A QUESTION
I’ve tried to start a Wednesday WIP linky party, Whatcha Workin’ On? Wednesday, since Tami’s WIP Wednesday has gone by the board, with no success. Here’s my question: Are linky parties an idea that has come and gone? Am I doing it wrong? Why no response? What can I do to make it successful? (That’s more than one question, I know.) While the idea of expanding my reader numbers is attractive, I really just miss the inspiration of seeing what others are working on and touching base with other knitters/crafters. So, any answers or suggestions? I’d love to hear them.
Linking with Frontier Dreams and Yarn Along.
We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon. Konrad Adenauer
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Whatcha Workin’ On? Wednesday Participants
| 1. Sarah 2. Heather @ Townsend House |
3. Plutonium Muffins 4. Jenna K @ HardKnitLife |
Learn more about Whatcha Workin’ On? Wednesday here.
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Curious? Learn more here.
OFF MY NEEDLES
Here’s the secret knitting I’ve been talking about over the last month or so:

Clefton’s Christmas Socks
Yarn from Spud and Chloe
They fit and he loves them!!!
Wise Hilda’s Basic Socks
Children see magic because they look for it. Christopher Moore
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Curious? Find out more here.
ON MY NEEDLES
Red Bird Knits Tulips, after some cat vs. sock in progress drama, but, it’s coming right along.

BOOKLOVE
The Alienist, by Caleb Carr, a library book that I’m enjoying enough to renew. There hasn’t been much reading going on the last week or so. Hopefully this will change for the better this week. I miss reading, but I do have to sleep sometimes! 📚💤
MORE MIXED MEDIA
I started this yesterday.

So far, acrylic paint, stencils, stamps and hand drawn and colored flower.
I’m linking with Yarn Along, Frontier Dreams and Gracey’s Goodies today.
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. Kahlil Gibran
Happy New Year!
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Curious? Find out more here.
ON MY NEEDLES
After a bit of drama last night, finding that Big Mac had discovered the Tulip Socks and the ball of yarn that was birthing them, after he apparently went zooming around the den with the yarn trailing behind and getting wound around table legs and chairs, I salvaged what I could and frogged what was left of the socks and started over. I wasn’t really pleased with the toe and the heel also left something to be desired anyway. Actually, this was right on the heels of another wip incident regarding the Mini Mania Cowl I started on Friday. Overcome with the excitement of getting a treat, Josie leaped off the couch and tore into the kitchen with the cowl yarn looped around one of her back feet and the rest, as they say, is history. The needles were pulled nearly all the way out and I decided it would be more efficient time-wise to just finish what she started and cast on again. Oh, and for the record, the cowl called for a cast on of 555 stitches….sigh.
Tulip Sock 2.0


This is Big Mac. He’s not a bit sorry.
BOOKLOVE 12/24/14
I’m still reading Jodi Piccoult’s The Storyteller; I’ve not had a lot of reading time this past week, but I hoping for an hour or two of uninterrupted quiet the next few days, mostly while the grands are napping, or at least pretending to nap. 💤
At Christmas play and make good cheer,/ For Christmas comes but once a year. Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Good Points
COLOR MY WORLD
I have color!!! 😄🌈🌸🎇🎨🍭. You heard right! Christmas knitting has officially been completed and I’m now busy stalking sock patterns to go with the new yarn that Ms. Postalcarrier brought yesterday. Which will it be???
Acai Berry
Candy Skein Yummy Series

Glacier Mist
Fiesta Baby Boom

Fliederduft
Would I be nuts to start three pairs of socks today just because I can’t choose?
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Benjamin Franklin
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MAYBE TODAY
I don’t have anything finished to post knitterlywise, but have high hopes that by the time the clock shows 12 midnight tonight, I will. I made a crucial mistake this morning. I stalked did some research on Zauerball Sock Yarn online and, well, we all know how this movie ends, don’t we? I’ve been knitting gray for way too long. I NEED COLOR!!!!! Thus the push for gray to be over and done with.
SOMETHING IS FISHY
I’ve been seeing fish everywhere these last few days, maybe due in part to the trip to PetSmart last week with Bigmommy, the Papoose and the Sprout to purchase some fishy stuff for their new aquarium, after winning a goldfish at the Stuttgart Carnival, which promptly went belly up. All this leads up to this new mixed media project –

Acrylic background, handcarved stamps, ink, gel pen, painters tape and bookpaper
I had absolutely no plan when I started this one, other than “I wonder what mixing a bit of black and blue iridescent paint and pouncing it on would look like?”
I love the way it turned out!
As an aside, I’ve been told that I have an “intuitive style”. Having no clue what that means, I googled it and this is what I learned:
Intuitive painting is a creative practice that releases impulses usually corralled by the logical part of the brain to make a work of art. People who use this technique employ their intuition to paint automatically without stopping to plan for the outcome of the piece. Some practitioners like Chris Zydel, who leads workshops on intuitive painting, believe it is a spiritual experience that can help free the mind and heal the soul.
Interesting. I’ve always called it flying by the seat of my pants. 🚀✈️🚁😋
We are all of us imaginative in some form or other, for images are the brood of desire. George Elliot
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ON MY NEEDLES
Christmas knitting continues, but slowly. Next year, I’m starting holiday knitting in January! My rule of one knitted gift per year will stand, I’m just trying to minimize the stress of “down to the wire” knitting. We’ll see how it goes. Once again, my WIP is this:

BOOKLOVE
I’m immersed in Ann Hood’s An Italian Wife, which I’m enjoying very much and have The Night Circus at the head of the queue when Wife is finished. After that, who knows???

JUST TWO MORE!
I can hardly believe that the 2014 Documented Life Art Journal has just two more weeks, two more prompts and bang, 2014 shuffles off stage and the brand spanking new 2015 project will take its place. Know what I’m most proud of? I stuck with it, even with only the vaguest idea of what an art journal is, and learned more than I ever thought possible. The most amazing thing I learned? I’m an artist and I love art! This is a huge take away for me, who has always had problems with “staying in the lines” and always “marched to the beat of a different drummer”.
I’m linking with Ginny’s Yarn Along and Frontier Dreams today. Visit and be inspired!
At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want. Lao Tzu
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It’s that day again!
Click below to add your link then link back here to share the love!
NOT SO BLACK FRIDAY
I don’t go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Standing in line in the middle of the night, in the cold, in a crush of strangers doesn’t appeal to me, not even a little bit. If they were giving stuff away I might think about it, but only for a second or two. Is it the thrill of the hunt, like spending hours in a duck blind or a deer stand, to bring home a trophy or two? Just curious. I like to know what makes other people tick. Turning it around, though, I bet people are totally flummoxed by my yarn/knitting obsession and the lengths I’m prepared to go for THE PERFECT FIBER. Wait, on second thought, I totally get the Black Friday standing in line in the cold, in the dark to bag the perfect whatever your heart desires. Never mind.
THE DOCUMENTED LIFE
Just a few more weeks left for the 2014 The Documented Life Art Journal/Planner Project. Here’s a look at the Week 48 challenge, Depict Gratitude in an Artful Way –

Hand drawn and colored flowers, fabric cutouts, Copic markers, watercolors, washi tape
SOMETHING NEW
I’m starting a new Wednesday meme called Whatcha Workin’ On Wednesday, a place for crafters/artists of all kinds to show off what they’re working on. Stop by and add your link – I bet I’m not the only crafter to loves to see what others have going and always looking for inspiration!
I am a part of all that I have met. Alfred Tennyson
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IT’S A NEW ONE ON ME
I’ve been playing around with the idea of starting a new Wednesday meme for works in progress, for crafters/artists of all types. So, this week I did more than just toy with the idea – I did a little research (with emphasis on little) and decided to just jump in and give it a whirl. I’m calling it Whatcha Workin’ On Wednesday and if you have a work in progress, or, like me, several works in progress, and you’d like to share, jump in and join me! I bet nearly all of us are familiar with the little form thingy, especially if you’ve been sharing all along, just remember to be patient and gentle with me, this is new territory and I’m learning as I go. Oh, yeah, I love love love comments, but don’t feel like you have to leave one, no matter whst Mr. Linky tells you. A link, though, a link back to Whatcha Workin’ On would be greatly appreciated.
FYI – I had no idea what a meme was until I googled it and I’m still not completely sure I understand. Can someone explain in words of one or two syllables?? 😋
One more thing – don’t hesitate to let me know if something is wonky. Again, I’m new at this and always up for suggestions.
ON THE NEEDLES
Christmas knitting is continuing. I won’t post anymore about it because it’s a gift, but here’s another of my WIPs.

Socks of Kindness
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn
Watercolor
A Pinterest Pattern
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams
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