Tuesday, October 18, 2005

So I washed and ironed the lining to the Aran bag yesterday, but haven't actually done any cutting or sewing yet.  I did, however, take a "New Owners" class with my sewing machine last night (I bought the machine in January -- I was a little slow to sign up for the class), and with my rotary cutting expertise gained from the quilting classes I'm taking through my local community education program, I should be all ready to go.

I WAS going to write an entry on Knitting Camp this morning, but I think I'll go off on a quilting tangent instead, and save Camp for yet another day (sorry!).

And that pretty much sums up what's going on in my knitting life right now.  I'm off on a quilting tangent.

Did I mention I'm getting out of the custom knitting business for a while?  I always said I wanted to keep my business centered around teaching and writing, and preserve the act of knitting for my personal enjoyment.  But after six years of knitting for other people, the knitting has become work, and it's no longer something I can relax with at the end of the day.  The therapeutic benefit is missing (temporarily, I hope).  I'm always eyeing the knitting-for-hire projects that I feel I SHOULD be working on.

I know the knitting will become joyful again, but in the meantime, I needed something else.  I had the opportunity to take some classes that I'd been interested in for quite some time, and they seem to be doing the trick, although in unexpected ways.

First was Color Theory with Nancy McRay at Woven Art in East Lansing.  An excellent, excellent class.  I had studied color theory before, but only as it applied to knitting, and that's what I expected in this class, too. Well, I got that and much, much more.  There's way more depth to the subject than I ever realized, and Nancy did a fabulous job of putting challenging concepts in terms I could understand.  I went to sleep dreaming about color every night.  This definitely provided some of the distraction that I needed.

Second was Rotary Cutting, which was a prerequisite for the beginning quilting class I would be taking next.  I didn't even know what a rotary cutter looked like.  The class consisted of a very informative discussion on materials and techniques.  I was able to go to JoAnn's after class and knowledgeably purchase the supplies needed for my foray into quilting (and all at 40% off, too -- good timing!).  I dutifully practiced my rotary cutting skills at home until I got over my fear of the blade and could cut a straight line.

Here's a side story (a tangent within a tangent!):  During this time, there was a terrible smell in my house that only I could smell.  My husband, my kids, and my knitting students tried to experience the stink with their own noses, but it seemed to be my own personal nose-wrinkler.  I thought maybe the cat had used the houseplants as port-a-potties, so I dragged everything green and leafy out onto the back patio.  Didn't help.  Driving down the road one day, passing some roadkill that had once been a skunk, I noticed that it smelled like the odor that refused to leave my house.  Ick.  A couple of weeks later, at my first quilting class, one of the other students held up her rotary cutting mat and asked "When does this skunky smell go away?"  AHA!!!  My mat had been sitting on the dining room table the entire time, secretly stinking up the place.  Now that I know where it's coming from, the smell doesn't bother me as much.  My husband still can't smell it.  I think his sniffer is busted.

ANYWAY, back to the quilting story. 

I've only been to the first of two beginning quilting classes so far, and I think I'm hooked.  I've been trying to control myself, but there are three used books on their way to me right now, and there's a little pile of fabric that's getting taller every couple of days.

I'm hoping the act of quilting will provide the end-of-the-day relaxation that I'm looking for, but in the mean time there's something else going on that has taken me by surprise.

I'm not very good at quilting.  My piecing needs a LOT of help, and I'm having to force myself to try harder.  That concentrated effort is doing an excellent job of taking my mind off of deadlines and to-do lists and schedules and calendars.  What a relief!

I'm dreaming about color combinations AND quilt designs now.  And it feels great.

Sarah

Monday, October 17, 2005

Well, it's not QUITE finished, but here's the sample for my Introduction to Aran class:

Almost dry!  Today I add the lining (hopefully), and THEN it will be done. In PLENTY of time for Wednesday night's class.  I probably could have put off starting it for two more days in order to finish it a little closer to deadline.  I'll try to remember that for next time.

There's a major design flaw, which you may or may not be able to see.  We'll talk about it in class and see what we can come up with to fix it.  And no, I don't want you to comment or e-mail what you think the design flaw is, because I'll be really bummed if you point something different out to me and call it a flaw. 

Here's a hat knit by Susan, from the Easy Beginner Hats class I taught at Woven Art recently:

Cool! 

Wanna hear what I did last Friday? 

I woke up, got the kids off to school, took my time fixing breakfast and getting dressed, did a few household chores, and then I sat and finished the book for Sunday's book club meeting.  In other words, it was a nice, leisurely morning. 

I didn't have anything on the calendar, so I had scheduled a quicky salon appointment for 10:30.  I left the house a little after 10:00, and was home by 11:00.  Had an early lunch, and then decided to go find a quilt store that my friend Irene had told me was going out of business.  Found the quilt store, helped them go out of business, and returned home by 2:00. 

Son Number One came home at 2:30, followed by Son Number Two at 3:30.  By this time I was being a good girl and working on my Aran bag.  At about 4:30, Son Number One asked me if I realized the message light was flashing on the answering machine.  No, I hadn't noticed it.

The message, left at about 10:15 that morning, was from Kim at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte, asking why I wasn't there teaching my class.

Oops.

Huge sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I checked the calendar on my website, and nothing was there.  That calendar page is what I use to update my personal calendar, and both were blank.

I checked the class page, which informed me that Session 4 was scheduled for 10:00-noon on Friday, October 14th. 

Damn.

Well, there goes my sterling reputation for being an incredibly organized person.

I tried to blame the lapse on the giant ball of lint that currently passes for my brain, thanks to a busy schedule, lack of sleep, and a head cold, but I updated my calendars way back in August, before school had started and when I was still on vacation. 

Poop.

Sarah

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

My knitting today is dedicated to Jeannie Richardson (1942-2005).  Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Knitter.  I hope the LYS up there is a good one!

BREAKING NEWS:  I've actually got the first session's class notes written for my Introduction to Aran class, so technically it's ready for next Wednesday night's class.  I'm still knitting the sample, however.  If all goes well, it will be done, photographed, and posted by the end of the week, with DAYS to spare.  No problem!

I feel the need to clarify something, based on comments I've been getting from the rabble.  The fact that I dreaded working on the sample for my Aran class does not in any way mean that I don't enjoy Aran knitting.  Quite the opposite!  Texture is my first love, and cables are the cat's meow.  It's the self-imposed deadline that was bogging me down.  Knowing that I work best under pressure keeps me from getting things done early, but then I can only blame myself for the stress caused by the time squeeze.  It's one of them there Catch-22 things, I guess.

How am I doing on my to-do list from Monday?  Pretty well!  I've missed some (self-imposed again) deadlines, but nothing serious.

I didn't finish my Thrummed Mittens yet (maybe at the knit-in tonight?), and I didn't tweak the Christmas stocking charts yet, but otherwise, I'm completely caught up to the October 19 part of the list (the aforementioned Aran sample).  Not bad!

Here's the vest I added borders to for Kate:

After blocking, it was even better, but I forgot to take another photo before the vest left my house.

I had to monkey with my teaching schedule to open up some travel time, and as a result I've added, subtracted, and moved a few classes.  I'll update my website and send out an e-mail with the updates.

As a matter of fact, I'll go do that right now . . .

Sarah

Friday, October 7, 2005

I'm cracking myself up.

Here's how far I got on my research for my Aran knitting class . . .

. . . before I got distracted by breakfast and the new Sally Melville Color book . . .

. . . and then, of course, I had to blog about my attention span (or lack thereof) before I could get back to work . . .

(sorry, but I'm having some difficulty taking a picture of myself at the computer with my yellow tablet in the distant background, so use your imagination)

. . . which I'd better do, after I wipe the sesame seeds off of everything.

Hey -- the quilt class is definitely a "go"!

Sarah

Monday, October 3, 2005

Hello!

I'm still here.

In an attempt to put off designing and knitting the project for my Introduction to Aran class (which starts in 15 days) until the last possible moment, I've been getting a lot of other stuff done around the house.

I pulled every knitting book I own off of my bookshelves and sorted them into piles on my floor, where I left them for eight hours before I remembered that I'm teaching two classes here tomorrow.  They're back on the shelves now.  Sorted.  In a different order than they were before.  'Cause they were sorted before, but I'm desperate to NOT work on the Aran project. 

I spent the last week repairing and finishing sweaters for other people. 

Here's a well-loved toddler sweater that had a run in with a dog, I think.  Whatever it was, it ate both sleeve cuffs and the collar.

Here it was then:

And here it is now, with new cuffs knit with yarn from the old collar, and with a new collar thanks to a close color match in Lopi (plus some odd bits from the old collar):

Suzy was busy knitting sweater pieces.  I put this one together for her and added the neckband:

I added the neck and armhole edgings on this cute pink and green one:

Suzy isn't quite done with this top-down raglan yet, but I added the neckband and sewed the underarm seams for her:

I have another vest to add neck and armhole edgings to, for Kate, which I'll start tonight and finish tomorrow (Tuesday), hopefully.

Then I have some Christmas stocking graphs to tweak before sending them off to Judy B. for approval.

Other things I have to do (knitting-wise):

Before October 1 (okay -- I'm late for this one), and November 1, and December 1, and . . .

• Update my mailing list.
• Send out my monthly e-mail reminder of upcoming classes.

Before Tuesday afternoon:

• Get the house cleaned up before my Knitter's Choice classes arrive.

Before Wednesday evening:

• Write the notes for the last session of my Introduction to Intarsia class.
• Get caught up on my Intarsia class sample.

Before Thursday morning:

• Finish my Thrummed Mittens before my Easy Beginner Mittens class.
• Find all of my scarf samples for my Easy Beginner Scarves class.

Before Friday evening:

• Get caught up on the sweater I'm knitting along with my Sweater Design class.

Before Saturday morning:

• Practice using my new rotary cutter and mat.
• Learn how to use my new sewing machine.
• Iron my fabric again.
• Call to see if the quilting class I signed up for is still on, or whether it was cancelled, which would be a huge bummer since I've got a lot of money invested in it already.

Before October 19

• Design and knit the damned project for my Introduction to Aran class.
• Write the notes for the first session of the Aran class.

Before November 2, 16, 30

• Write the notes for the next three sessions of the Aran class.

Before the weather gets really chilly:

• Finish St. Brigid for Sister Number Two.

Before Christmas:

• Knit two Christmas stockings for Judy B.
• Finish Son Number One's Entrelac pillows, if he hasn't bugged me about them yet.
• Christmas gift knitting?  Probably not this year.

Before 2006:

• Is it realistic to hope to finish up all of my custom knitting assignments before the new year?  Probably not.  A girl can dream, though.

Before I completely forget:

• Blog about my trip to Washington D.C.
• Blog about Knitting Camp.
• Blog about anything.
• Add to my "100 Things About Me" list (it's been so long I can't even remember what number I was on).
• Re-vamp and update the Student Gallery on my work website.
• Write up patterns for purchase, for which I have very long waiting lists, for which I will receive $$$$$ (so what am I waiting for?).

Whenever:

• Re-sort my knitting books onto my new bookshelves from Ikea, which I haven't bought yet (Ikea's coming to Michigan!  Ikea's coming to Michigan!  Thanks, Jen!). 
• Finish organizing my notes from knitting classes that I've taken over the years.
• Go back to my own knitting -- Loll, Celtic Dreams, my Fair Isle cardigan . . . ooh -- maybe a new project!

Well!  Now that I've broken it all down and assigned due dates, it really all seems quite do-able, doesn't it?  (Just shoot me now, please.)

Happy birthday, Mom!

Sarah

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