Concateknit

Welcome to National Elisa Thinks Stuff Month, Version 2.0

Oh hi!

Some years ago, I decided that since every organization, person, or idea seemed to get their own special day and/or month, I should have one too. I've dedicated my month to all the weird things I think, and to all the reasons that the world would run better if I was the boss of everything.

I used to do my public thinking of things in February, since that's the shortest month of the year, and therefore requires the fewest number of posts, however I was in absolutely no shape to share any of the things I was thinking with you this past February.  So here we are, tomorrow is my birthday, and October will be my new month of thinking things. Since I plan to totally kick 37's ass, I figured the timing is right for getting back to blogging and getting back in touch with myself (and you all).

This month, we'll think about the usual things - flogic, my weird dogs, and why I will never support black and brown being worn at the same time, but we'll also be thinking about new things, like how I've developed even more complicated feelings about bananas, and how I'm very concerned that my hair will get too long and I will start to look weird.

So, y'know, it'll be pretty much just like always, with some new crazy thrown in for Super Fun Times.

I hope you'll check back with me throughout the month, and I hope you'll share your own special brand of crazy with me. Should be fun.

Also? I'm in South Lake Tahoe for the weekend with Kim and my friend Amy and my three goofy dogs, and it is Good. We're going to dinner tonight, and later we have a date with some fancy cheese, some hot salami (minds out of the gutter, people) and some sexy gluten free crackers. If we get really adventurous, we may throw a little honey in the mix. Who knows? We're very dangerous.

Photo taken by Kim. Dezi and Zorro helping me blog from our sweet little cabin in the woods.

  

It's Possible That I am Insane

 
I've drunk the Kool-Aid.

I started eating Paleo a month ago, and tomorrow I'm planning to start this.

Probably it's not just possible that I'm insane, probably it's just the truth.

What I can say after a month of eating Paleo is that I sleep better, I have more energy, a more positive attitude, I've lost weight, and I am eating So. Many Veggies. I'm also eating so much more meat than I have in the past 20+ years, but I've stuck with primarily lean cuts and I've actually learned how to make a pretty mean pulled pork. So, whether the diet itself is a fad, I think that in general I've gained some good tips on eating more balanced meals, and so even if I'm crazy, I'm a happier crazy, and being a HAPPY KIND OF CRAZY is my goal for my 37th year.

Goofy girl says "hi!"

 

Let's See How Things Go, Or NETSM, V 2.0

I've spent some time re-reading my archives, and let's just say that it's clear to me that I have been off my game for a long time. Like, for years. I have a birthday coming up in about a week and a half, and I am determined to say good bye and good riddance to 36 and to welcome 37 in with open arms.

So...how to do that?

I think it means I have to start thinking things again.

Make no mistake - it's not like I've ever stopped thinking things, but if I had tried to put thoughts to blog for the last...oh, like three years, they'd probably come out leaving you feel like maybe you needed to come visit me to make sure I hadn't totally lost my last hold on my sanity.

But, y'know what? Screw it. Let's start thinking (wierd, I mean fun) things again.

Because it is my month and I make the rules, this year October will be the month that I Think Things. I've been making lists, and taking notes, and even laughing to myself a little bit when I think of a thing I want to Think About.

Maybe by 37 I should be more of a grown up. But I've felt decidedly old and grown up the last few years and let me just say - I am DONE with that nonsense.

I certainly hope that you'll come along for the month of October - it should be...well. It'll probably be nuts. But a much friendlier kind of nuts that I've felt for the last few years. So, there's that.

Edited because SO MANY TYPOS.

 

Because Rhinebeck is 33 Sleeps Away

You know that I have Rules for stuff, right? One of my fiber related rules is that I can only buy half as much as I knit and/or spin. That means that if I spin 8 oz of fiber, I can buy 4 oz of fiber. With Rhinebeck only 33 sleeps away, I'm finishing up some spinning projects so that I can pick up some super awesome fiber when I am in NY next month.

Barnswallow Farms, I am looking at you (sorry I can't find a good link)!

ANYWAY - my last fiber purchase was at the Knit Addiction in Clovis, CA, in July, and before that, New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival in May. I'd say that I was feeling virtuous about it, except for the fact that the Knit Addiction is really my only local source for fiber, luckily, it's awesome fiber.

This past weekend, I finished spinning 8 oz of Gale's Art Black BFL in the colorway "Naked". I bought this at NH S&W, and I couldn't have enjoyed prepping and spinning it more. I now have about 500 yards of a sportweight yarn that will be a lovely small(ish) shawl.

The singles

The two-ply.

I love this so much.

Are you going to Rhinebeck? If so, what are you looking forward to the most? I'm looking forward to seeing New England in the Fall, spending a weekend with my best girls, and taking a cheesecation (I've not really been eating cheese these past few weeks and Rhinebeck will most definitely be an exception.)

Seven years? Wow.

I started this blog over seven years ago, which shouldn't surprise me, honestly, as I keep seeing all my OKFs (Original Knittah Friends) talk on their blogs about their seven hear blobby anniversaries. Of course i have not been the most observant or clues in person recently, so...anyway. Seven years. So much has happened (that is the wa life goes) so much good, a fair amount of bad, and a lot of it shared with you all here on the blog. My life has gone of the rails in the last couple of years, and after feeling like I've been in a shut-down emotional haze, I'm committed to getting my shit together. I can't ever recapture the life i had when i started this blog, but I can recapture the feeling of promise and contentedness i had. That's what I'm after now, and with any luck, you'll all still be here with me to reminisce seven years from now. Love to all of you, E

More than three years ago,  I decided to try my hand at quilting. My friend Sue is a phenomenal quilter, and the patterns, and fabrics, and seemingly endless possibility really sparked my imagination. I purchased a small fabric stash, a few quilting books, some basic supplies, and a sewing machine. I picked a large quilt, cut the fabric for it, put the cut pieces of fabric in a little bin, and then made myself forget that I had ever even considered making any kind of quilt at all.

See, I really suck at sewing. So, while I enjoy the idea of becoming a fantastic quilter, in reality, I always feel overwhelmed when I have to actually measure and or cut anything. And once I do cut the fabric, I get overwhelmed by the idea of pinning and sewing and everything needing to be perfect and LET US NEVER SPEAK OF THIS AGAIN.

I may get a little uptight sometimes.

It happens. *Ahem*

Anyway - two years ago (give or take a year) I decided that maybe my problem was that I was trying to start too big - and that maybe what I really needed was to make a few simple baby quilts instead of a bedspread sized monster quilt.

I finished one. I sent it off.

I finished another. I put it in a box.

I started a third. I procrastinated. I put it in a box. I moved it. I thought about it. I didn't think I had the right space for sewing in my little house. I ignored it. It nagged at me. I finally opened the box marked "Quilting", dug it out, and finished it last Saturday.

I'm so charmed by this that it makes me feel super cranky that I didn't finish it before.

And here's the quilt that I finished A LONG TIME AGO that is the sister quilt to the one above:

These two quilts are now wrapped, boxed, and ready to go. I've giggled and squeed over these two simple quilts more than is probably strictly appropriate, but, come ON - SOCK MONKEYS.

In Which I Also Spin

I have a rule about buying yarn and fiber (I know that you're shocked that I have rules about this sort of thing). The rule is that I can by 1/2 as much as I spin and/or knit between purchases. So, if I spin 8 oz, I can buy 4 oz, or if I knit 2,000 yards, I can buy 1,000 yards. At some point, I will have to re-think this rule, but for now it works well. I don't worry about the cost of what I purchase as much as I do the quality/quantity of what I'm purchasing, which usually means that I am much more selective about what I buy, and typically I love what I buy far more than if I just bought everything willy-nilly (not that I don't also love those willy-nilly fiber festival spending sprees).

Anyway!

In addition to having rules about knitting and spinning, I'm also incredibly predictable. What that means is - I want to knit socks? I grab some Koigu KPPPM. I want to spin? I grab some Spunky Eclectic. End of story. Me = Satisfied and happy, albeit predictable.

But - I don't just buy KPPPM and/or Spunky Eclectic fiber. I buy all kinds of little lovely things but I have a tendency not to actually use those things. Knitting shawls has given me a way to experiment with new to me sock yarns. Many Sundays spent in my pajamas watching season after season of the X-Files and Buffy have given me the opportunity to spin something other than the Spunky fiber that I love.

Enter this:

This is a little fleece I purchased at the 2007 Massachusetts Sheep & Wool Festival. I could tell you about the wonderful memories I have of this festival.

I could tell you how that was the last Mass S&W festival I've been to. How Kellee and Jackie and I stayed in the strangest Gingerbread House B&B in Western Massachusetts.

I could tell you that this festival is one of my absolute favorites. It's the one where I bought my first spinning wheel, Hank, my little Kromski Prelude.

Or I could just tell you that I have almost 900 yards of the most wonderful I can't remember what kind of little (130z) fleece this is and that I'm so happy with how the biggest spinning project I've ever taken on actually turned out (I paid lots of attention to plying, I washed all the skeins, and I did ALL THE THINGS you're supposed to do when you spin yarn but I never do).

I may not remember the fleece or who I bought it from, but I have wonderful memories of this weekend four years ago when I purchased this fleece, and now I have a beautiful worsted weight yarn to knit something terrific with.

Also? Now I can buy 6.5 more oz of fiber. Win/win/win/win.

It's difficult to explain how hard this year has been. I'm trying to understand and identify the lessons I need to learn, I'm trying to move forward and not get stuck too much looking back, but each day is a struggle. Some days are less of one, but still - I struggle.

I stopped knitting for a long time. I was so sad and I didn't want something that I loved so much and that brought me so much pleasure to be associated with such a bleak, dark time.

Then I realized, that maybe, just maybe...that was really lame.

This is my Limestone Shawl, knit for a dear friend who is battling cancer.

 

This is Ishbel #2.

This is the first Ishbel I knit, in Miss Bab's yarn.

This is one of the four or so Shapely Shawlettes I've knit. I think I finished knitting this in 2010, but I didn't block it or weave in the ends until last month.

Today I've decided to knit a little dishcloth (because they are awesome and I need a ton of them) and then spin for the Tour de Fleece. Yes, I'm taking on the Tour de Fleece, even though I'm starting a day late and will be travelling a fair amount during the tour. It might be a little crazy, but at least it's a crazy that feels like my own special brand of Elisa-crazy and not the type of crying all the time crazy I have been feeling. So, we'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes

Sometimes you have to be willing to hear and to listen. To what? To whatever the message is, from whatever the source.

One of the blogs I read consistently is Jon Katz' Bedlam Farm Journal. His photography is stunning, and he lives a life that I respect immensely as he struggles to define himself as an individual in a world that functions more and more like the Borg.

Anyway - after not reading blogs for a week or so, I returned to Bedlam Farm to find that Jon and his wife have decided to take in a donkey, Simon, who has been so neglected that he was near death. About rescue, Jon says:

"And I said I thought that when we looked at Simon, we were looking at pieces of our own lives. We were doing for him what we wished had been done for us. What perhaps should have been done for us. We were seeing his pain, comforting him, healing him. And in so doing, we were healing ourselves. This was our story. This is no longer our story."

Now I'm sitting at my desk, sniffling, because I know that's what Allie meant for me. I was doing for her what I wished had been done for me. I can see that now, clearly, but the pain and sadness of it is that I can't tell you for certain that this is no longer my story. I'm trying to change the direction of the story, I'm working on the rough draft for the next chapters, but I'm just not there yet.

For the full blog entry, go here.

Slowly, slowly

I took one 2 oz eggplant batt and one 2 oz mocha/cream batt from Barnswallow Farms spun them as singles and then plied them together. The fiber prep was lovely, and I think a simple little cowl would be the perfect project for this yarn. I've got approximately 300 yards to work with.

Started: 5/1/2011 - Finished: 5/20/2011

This is 4 oz of Fox Fire Farm's BFL with Angelina in the colorway "Honeysuckle". I loved absolutely everything about this - the fiber, the prep, the colors - it was a joy to spin and I'm so pleased that it came out the way I envisioned. I have about 236 yards of navajo-plied DK weight yarn, and I think this will be some fingerless mitts.

Started: 4/3/2011 - Finished: 4/10/2011

I'm home sick from work today, just trying to relax. I've cancelled most of my plans for the weekend, but should get to spend some time with Kim, so that's something to look forward to. Mostly, I think the dogs are just really happy to be tucked in on either side of me.