Yellowbird Yarn Room

I know it's not normal...

 

...but I am so excited about my new accessory!!!

I have wanted glasses ever since I saw Bailey on WKRP in Cincinnati.  I wanted to look smart, just like her.  By best friend had glasses and I was sooo jealous.  I was always trying them on to see how I looked. 

Of course, once I had them on I couldn't see a thing.

At Open Knit today I was talking about how my eyes seem a bit slower to adjust than they used to be.  I'm fine when I'm reading or knitting, but when I try to look up at the clock or tv everything looks all blurry for a few minutes.  So Judy jumps up and runs to get me this pair from the display to try.

I sat there knitting a few rows on my Clapotis while wearing them.  I even stayed and did a few more rows, just for good measure.

Sooo much better!!!  Yay!!!

I need more!  Lots more!  In all different colors!  And with funky chains to hang them around my neck!   

I've already started whipping up a felt case so they don't get all scratched up in my purse.

tee-hee.

I am downright giddy!

One more reason to "Like" Metro Parks

Gray days make me a little spacey.  I have a bit of trouble staying focused.  Remembering what it is I need to be doing.

Good thing I live in NE Ohio.

Anyhoo... 

So I sat down a bit ago to send an email to a friend and was checking out FB when I saw this really cool repurposing craft that (although completely unrelated to yarn) I just had to share!  Apparently, yesterday at one of our local parks they made jump ropes out of plastic bags.

But that's not even the really cool part.  This is the really cool part:  they used old markers for the handles!!!

I love that!!!!!  The use of plastic bags I have seen before.  (And done before!  And will likely do again someday.)  But the idea of using old markers was just a slap on the forehead for me.  I mean, do you know how many markers I have had to throw away over the last 10 years of mommy-hood, and how many more I should sort through and throw away right now?!?

But here's a question for you:  what else could you do with them?  I have two boys and a gravel driveway so this particular craft will only take me so far.  Have you seen any other uses for old markers? 

And even beyond that, have you seen any other repurposing ideas that were a slap on the forehead for you?  Something you can't believe nobody ever thought of before?  Did you hear about it from someone else or did you have an a-ha moment and come up with it yourself?

Comment here or on FB, gimme all your eco-thrifty-crafty good tips!     

Just in case.....

I know I already posted this on  Facebook, and updated the info on the Open Knit page, but I felt this morning I should also put a post here just to be on the safe side. 

Don't know why.  Guess I'm just silly like that.

Anyway, I will not be at River City tomorrow, the 14th, due to a meeting at the school.  Also, I'm chaperoning a field trip with my son's class next Tuesday so I won't be in that day, either.

As always, you are certainly more than welcome to come on in and knit without me - you never know who might find their way in or when Judy might have a few minutes to sit and chat over coffee!

Kismet, at long last! (I hope.)

During Blog Week, there were several times where I could have written about this yarn and the way it has haunted me for nearly two years.  I don't know why I didn't.  Shame?  Remorse?  Wistful longing too intense to face?

But it's okay.  I'm ready now.  And it's all thanks to one of the most popular knitting patterns around.

Clapotis.

At the time of this writing, Clapotis has 17,454 projects listed on Ravelry, making it second only to a sweet little pair of fingerless mitts by the name of Fetching, which has 17,678 projects.

Now, I'm the type of gal who will often dismiss something simply because it's popular.  I'm just a rebel like that.  I usually try to show some love to that which is more obscure and under-appreciated for its value.  But sometimes (okay, frequently)  I'm forced to admit that something is popular not just for popularity's sake, but because it is just.  That.  Good.

I have tried several times to knit something from the fuzzy sewing thread that is Filatura Di Crossa's Baby Kid Extra Print.  The first couple of times I couldn't make it past the guage swatch.  Then, I found a simple top-down sweater pattern that it would have been lovely in, but I made it only an inch or so along before setting it down and forgetting where I left off.

I needed something simple.  Something I could work on when the mood struck me without having to spend 27 minutes re-familiarizing myself with the pattern.  And Clapotis fits that bill perfectly.

So at Open Knit yesterday, when I found myself in great need of a break from preparing blanket squares for assembling, I set to work.  Of course, I sort of forgot that it's best to get into the rythm of a pattern before sitting amongst friends and chatting so I didn't get very far then.  But I picked it back up when the kids went to bed and found I had to force myself to put it down and go to sleep before I made any mistakes!  And I didn't want to cry once!

 
Yes, I totally meant to frame it around the coordinating splatters of paint my artistic children have left upon my table.

I am fully aware that this elation is likely to change to frustration when it comes time to drop the stitches.  The fuzzies with snag and catch, I know.  There will be much sighing and counting to ten with eyes closed as I very delicately and intentionally put run after run down the lovingly created fabric. 

But I believe it will be more than worth it in the end.  I will no longer be haunted by fuzzy sewing thread and the promise of all it could be.  Instead, I will have myself a light and airy vision of romantic loveliness. 

Cuz that is so me. 

Note:  The colorway I am using has been discontinued and I no longer have it in stock, but at the time of this writing I do still have two other choices available.  Please contact me for more information.       

Embellish the story - 2KCBWDAY8

 

Okay, so technically the Blog Week ended yesterday, but there was a Wildcard topic I just couldn't resist throwing in for today because...

Embellishments come in all types and forms.

hee.

But I will do my best to keep this bonus post as "ornately simple" as my embellishment style.  If this phrase seems a bit oxymoron-ish to you, please allow me to show you what I mean.

I love embroidery.  A simple design.  Free-form.  Simple colors.

 
Pic of the fam getting our Christmas tree two years ago, back when the ear warmer was new...

 
Sorry, best close-up I could get!  It's three rows of cables with the embroidery running between. 

And I love needle felting.  Same theory.

 
Hot pad.  Sold.

 
Neck warmer.  Still available.

See what I mean?  Ornately simple.  Pass it on.

Your knitting and crochet time - 2KCBWDAY7

 

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

One of the biggest perks of owning your own craft-based business is that you have to schedule time to be crafty.  You just have to!

So I can be found (almost) every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 10 until noon, sitting in Judy's Ice Cream at River City, with at least one knitting-filled bag by my chair and my cozy-covered travel mug on the table.  I am all by myself on occasion, but there is a rotating band of friends that come and join me and I am more often surrounded by laughter and fun. 

And if I'm lucky...very, very lucky...my friends have brought yummy snacks! 

It doesn't happen often, and it is never expected, but it is always appreciated!

Now, aside from my time at River City, my favorite knitting time has always been at night.  Like my momma always said, "after 8:00, you're on MY time!"

I totally get that now.

For us, though, 8:00 is normally reading time and the boys shuffle off to bed around 9:00.  That's my time.

Ideally?  I've got the remote to myself, puttin' on a dvr'd soap opera or a little Masterpiece Something, knitting in hand and Chamomile with Lavender by my side.

Normally?  My husband's got the remote and these days it's either Triple D with Guy (which I'm good with!) or something related to logging, surviving, or gambling.  That's okay, though.  I always figure that I can work on something simple during the things I want to watch, and save the lace patterns for the things I don't.  He does go to sleep before I do, so at least I get that remote eventually!

What's interesting to me is that before I started Yellowbird nighttime was about my only knitting time.  I created the environment for knitting, prepping myself for the zen experience of it and relishing every moment.  I made sure I had at least an hour blocked out.  Designated knitting time.

Now, however, my knitting creates the environment.  It goes with me nearly everywhere:  soccer games, scout meetings, carpool lines...  If I have a project and more than five minutes to work on it, out it comes.  And I still relish every moment.  My five minutes of zen.  And I'm grateful for each and every one.

Something to aspire to - 2KCBWDAY6

 

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

My immediate reaction to this topic is along the lines of "Anything!  Everything!  I want to do it all!  Except colorwork of any kind!"

Because the strands and I...umm...well, let's just say there are holes in our story together.  Holes that are just not worth it to me to fix, and a story I will tell another time.

I prefer to focus today's topic around what I do want to do, not what I don't.  And to be honest, there is so much that I want to do that it can be hard deciding what to do!

What's a girl to do?

Go where the inspiration takes you.  That's what I do.  Maybe I've found a particular pattern or yarn that I love and pushes my limits but I just can't resist.  (I will make something out of that fuzzy sewing thread someday cuz the colors are so purty!)  Maybe there's a friend or customer that wants to learn a given skill that I haven't mastered myself so we put our heads together and figure it out.  (Who woulda thought I'd enjoy granny squares?)  Or maybe I've heard so much about a given technique that I simply say "alright already!" and try to find out what all the hype is about.  (Yay, Tunisian!)

Virtually every project I do is based upon the direction I'm inspired to grow at the time, and I am constantly thinking about this direction.

I am currently immersed in the assembly of squares, but my mind is in search of what's to come.  Entrelac?  Two socks at a time?  Spinning???  Then, of course, I hear summer is on the way (though I have a hard time believing it right now) and I need to find something quick and easy to make for the shop that doesn't scream snowy weather.

This sweater has been in the back of my mind for two years and would be done if I could just find the perfect heathery chocolate brown.  I have wanted to design my own purse, because I'm just so picky about what I want in a purse and it doesn't exist right now.  I believe I will do it someday. 

After all, I've finally stuck my toe in the waters of design with my ponytail hat (which is an idea that goes back to childhood, really...long before I ever thought of knitting and designing my own). 

In the meantime, allow me to leave you with one final link.  Thisis a blanket that completely blows my mind, from I blog I look at only occasionally for motivation.  Because more often than that would make me wonder what I've been doing with my time.  

And now for something completely different - 2KCBWDAY5

 

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.

There are no rules of a topic to blog about ... but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog.  This can take one of many forms ...

 
Hooray, it's opening day!!!

 
But it looks like Mother Nature enjoys a good April Fools joke.

 
So if you're headed to a game, you might want to forget the needles and yarn...

 
...and stick with the finished product to keep those hands "Toasty"...

 
...and your head cozy!