The Dream

This is the dream- or at least a small representation of it (It's actually a picture of a dish cloth I knit and some of my husband's cookies fresh out of the oven). 

I dream of someday owning a little yarn store with an attached bakery/café. I would run the yarn store part and my husband would bake and run the café. He’s a really good baker. Seriously, the only reason I’m not obese is because of my genetic makeup (thanks Mom and Dad).

Here is my vision:

I would love for my yarn store to have all the yarn you expect to find in a yarn store but also have a whole section of local handspun and hand-dyed. And the café would be a cozy little place where you can knit and enjoy some homemade cookies, muffins, cupcakes or whatever was baked that day. My husband has had a great time thinking up what his rotating menu would be like: Sunday scones, Monday muffins, and of course, cookies everyday.

In order to make this dream a reality I think there a couple of things I need to do:

1.     Think of an awesome name

2.     Learn how to run a business

Now, I’m not planning to do this anytime in the near future. I like my job and plan to keep at it. I think of this as my post burn-out career. So, I have some time to figure things out, which is good because I think it will take me a while to think of a name that’s awesome enough.

"To One Thing Constant Never"

Shakespeare really knew what he was talking about.

I feel a little bit like I’m cheating on knitting. It is my first love after all. But I feel the pull, the siren’s call, if you will, of the spindle. It’s new, exciting, primitive even. But knitting and I, we’ve been trying to work on it. Keep things fresh. I started my first lace work- a cute triangle shawl that I’m working up in some lovely 100% linen. That worked, for a while. But now it’s languishing on the needles, neglected. I figured maybe knitting and I should just take a break, just for a while, just to explore, have some new experiences. It would be good for both of us.

So, I put down the needles and picked up the spindle. And here’s what happened:

I finally had the guts to bust into this beauteous BFL top. I’m quite pleased with it and I love how the obligatory glamour shots came out. It’s about 3 ounces and 92 yards. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get more yardage out of it. But, ah well, that’s the way these things go. In the immortal words of Echo and the Bunnymen, and about a million other bands, singers, and writers, “nothing ever lasts forever.” And now I’m plumb out of any spinable fiber and feeling a little lost.

So, maybe I’ll give knitting another go. We can try to get to know each other again. Get back to basics. Maybe knit up a nice and easy dishcloth. We’ll see how it goes.

Saturday in the Park with Yarn

In just a couple short weeks I will get one year closer to the third decade of my life. One year down, just one to go. I’ve always been a little, shall we say, hesitant about getting older. Not so much getting older though, but growing up. I’m very lucky and very thankful (to my parents mostly) that I can say I had a great childhood. I’m the youngest of five kids and in my memory everything looks like old photos taken with a 35mm Minolta camera- all warmly lit and high key. We would all pile into a station wagon for camping trips in the summer. We swam in lakes, picked strawberries, carved pumpkins, got into fights, got into trouble, fed the dog under the table, climbed trees, fell out of trees, and basically had all sorts of adventures and misadventures (although I’m not entirely sure what the difference is). It’s hard to leave all that boisterous, carefree fun behind and turn to more serious, reserved adult-type stuff.

I’m definitely still in the midst of this weird, at times exciting, at times spirit-squelching, process of growing up. I’m reminded of two songs, in particular, that tackle this subject:

I Don’t Want to Grow Up by Tom Waits (although the Ramones version and the Petra Haden version are both great.)

New Kind of Love by Plants and Animals

If you haven’t heard these songs, please, look them up and take a listen. Both perfectly express that whole clinging-to-childhood-by-your-fingertips thing. They will make you smile while a little tear ekes out the corner of your eye. They do my heart good.

So, all of this has been swimming around in my head of late. But today the sun was shining and there was a cool spring breeze. I took some bright yellow cotton yarn, my husband, and some milkshakes (of course), and went to Central Park for a few uninterrupted hours of peace, knitting, and general lazing around in the grass. That did my heart good too.

So, maybe I haven’t solved my 1/3-life crisis. But who cares when you have yarn on your needles and the sun on your face?

You spin me right round baby

My second skein! I spun this from Cormo roving I bought at Rhinebeck. I used my super basic top whorl drop spindle. It was very nice to spin. Much more earthy and rustic than the first wool I worked with which was dyed BFL top. This had some vegetable matter in it and maybe a little lanolin left over. It had a nice sheepy smell. I tried to spin a little more evenly and was able to do so to some extent. I'm guessing it varies between fingering and heavy worsted.   

It's not a ton, but I have 3.2 ounces and about 107 yards. I've been trying to think of what to make with it. Maybe something like this:                                                         or this:

I think I have enough to do something simple like these. What I really love about this yarn is the color. It's totally natural and is the best soft, creamy white. It made me never want to work with dyed fiber again. But then, as I was putting my spindle away in my spinning bin, this braid caught my eye:

This is BFL top I also bought at Rhinebeck from the lovely dyer Into the Whirled. The color way is called Curry in a Hurry and it is so warm and yummy. I've been saving it until I'm good enough not to make a total mess of it. So, my decision to only spin natural wool flew right out the window and I'm itching to get started on this.

Dreamcatcher Recipe

Download PDF here

A Dreamcatcher is supposed to snare nightmares in its net and let good dreams pass through the holes to find you. Some people say they work the other way around by letting the nightmares pass by and catching the good dreams to send down to you. Whichever way you think about it both ideas mean good dreams in and bad dreams out. I’ve been a vivid dreamer my whole life so this is an idea I like.

A Dreamcatcher should be personal to the dreamer. So, when I set about making mine, I decided to knit as much of it as possible. This pattern is more of a recipe than a pattern as there are a lot of non-knitting steps. Pictures are included to help you along the way. The great thing about this project is that you can personalize it any way you want. Choose your own yarn (great stash buster) and beads or buttons. I knit little leaves to hang from my Dreamcatcher, but maybe you prefer flowers. In that case, look around for flower patterns to adapt. Have fun and let me know if you have any questions. Happy Dreaming!

Helpful Links:
There's a great video on making an I cord here.
And the leaf pattern is based of a pattern found here.

Can we talk about time management?

Ok, so I've been really struggling lately with this whole time management thing. I did a WIP round up and here are my results:

On my needles:

1. Linen Stitch Mitts which have been frogged and restarted.
2. Cowl that is all knit up but still needs me to sew in its ends.
3. Double Knit hat that is taking for-ev-er.

In my queue:

1. Sweater (my first!) that is currently still wound up into seven balls of beautiful Quince and Co. Osprey.
2. Hat requested by my husband.
3. Fingerless gloves requested by my mother-in-law.

On my spindle:
1. Natural Cormo roving trying desperately to become yarn.

Other:
1.Pattern for my men's fingerless mitts which is only half written.

So, I'm trying figure out when to cram all this stuff in. I mean, there's this pesky thing I have to do everyday where I get up and go to this office for 8 whole hours and do a bunch of stuff there. Plus, there's all this time I have to spend sleeping and eating and commuting (although I can squeak out some time if the subway isn't too crowded.) And then I have a dog and husband whom I would like to spend some time with.

How does one find the time to actually make progress on a project? Other people seem to be able to do it. And other people have kids! And husbands/wives who don't cook (Thanks Matt!). So, any suggestions? How do you make time? I've already switched to audiobooks so I can knit and get my lit fill, and I've pretty much given up cleaning or other housework because that is just way too time consuming. But the sleeping/eating/working stuff I can't see give up (at this point anyway).  And yes, I must add, that I am fully aware of the irony of me asking for time management help via my blog which, let's face it, is a time killer.

So, any ideas are welcome! I know there are some masters of time management out there; drop some knowledge on me, please.

Check it: Handspun

 

That's right. I did make this. And I have to say I'm feeling pretty proud. My very first handspun yarn. I can't wait to knit a little something up with this bulky bad boy.