Bigger

This was a very easy knit. The main yarn is Bendigo Luxury. The pattern is King of Confidence from Knitty.com. I used 2 balls of Habu A-29 tobi moire, that I bought several years ago on a trip to the US, around the yoke.

The yarn is just too heavy for the pattern - for the larger size anyway. And the Habu, although quite delicate adds weight to the cardi too. It will be great for wearing out on very cold days but I won't wear it for dressing up at all - it makes me look even bigger than I am already. I would try again with a finer yarn someday maybe, if I need another mindless knit.

Now I think I am in the mood for difficult.

Approaches

I just wrote a little piece on The Approach over at my Bookviews Blog. I am interested in knitter's approaches to new projects. Do you have a ritual approach or do you just dive in without much forethought?

I always read the pattern through and swatch. Usually the knitting goes smoothly but sometimes, even though I've read the pattern, it gets squirrelly on me. I like that about knitting. I like solving problems. I like less the mundane and predictable.

I also love thinking about approaches. Maybe I'll write a book.

Something small

I got tired of knitting something big.



So I knit something small.



A whole bunch of my son's friends, who I have known since they were 15 years old, are starting families so I thought I would stock up on some neutral baby knits. I'll make them into boy or girl cardigans with buttons. I really love knitting baby clothes.

Contentment

Today, thanks to a young friend, I got a great lesson. I was complaining about the fact that 3/4s of my family are overseas and I just can't seem to get past it to happiness. My family is really important to me. She said maybe this striving for happiness thing is over-rated. Maybe I should go for contentment. Well, it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I know how to make myself content.



There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment.



If I go for contentment I will succeed and then be closer to happy. Knit, quilt, read, watch movies, cook and eat tasty and healthy food, ride my bike, see my friends, listen to great music and hang out with my dogs.

Table cloth is finished - now time to find the quilt pattern for my feedsack material. I am leaning toward modern quilt style - lots of white. Sigh. Contentment.

Oh, and the pattern for my red and white table cloth is from Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal.

Clean or Quilt?

Well, I could say a little of both but actually there has been a little cleaning and a lot of quilting. I feel a little obsessed. I don't mind feeling obsessed with craft, especially when I don't have any homework to do. I have started out small and am gathering ideas for big! Something to think about besides Othello and ancient architecture (although I am still thinking about that too - so interesting!)




This is my small project - a table cloth.

More Promises

I had a really lovely day last weekend with Nettie and a another friend drinking tea and knitting, talking about books and knitting, making decisions about life and knitting. I am doing a year of me knitting out of my stash. And the best suggestion of the day for me was knitting the Sock Wool Blanket. I love it. It is fun to knit, doesn't take too much concentration, really colourful and portable (well, right now anyway). It will be my Masterchef knitting for the winter.



And I promise to weave the ends in as I go!

I promised.

I promised myself that I would finish things. I have the same problem that a lot of people have - I don't always finish things. Sure, I finish my essays because I have a deadline and I need a grade. I finish cooking the whole meal and I mostly finish a book.
But my craft projects often sit by the wayside for way to long.
So! I am going to finish at least most of my projects before I start others - and I have got some great ideas for the 'others'. (I am going to reproduce my Granny's 1930's feedsack quilt that I have the unfinished top of and was told by the expert quilt lady at Addicted to Fabric not to finish or it would diminish the worth of the quilt - whew! I have started collecting material but that is for another blog)






So here are the projects (mostly quilts) that I am going to finish before I start another one - except for the Baltimore Quilt - I gave myself 10 years to finish and that was 5 years ago - five years left (it will take at least 6 months to hand quilt it so that makes it only 4 1/2 years to finish the top!)

Hopefully, soon, I will be blogging about projects that I started years ago - 30 years for the burgundy baby quilt - that are finished.