Yellowbird Yarn Room

Let my fingers do the thinking

I need to decide on a new project, perhaps you can help.

The blanketswhich have consumed my life for the past few weeks are almost done, so I need to have something lined up to fill the void.  I have a few WIP's going on but it's not enough!

First off, there's the Clapotis.  Now, don't get me wrong, I fully intend to throw myself into this little beauty as much as possible because I have a goal of wearing it around mid-July and there is much to be done!  The problem is it's fuzzy.  Very fuzzy.  Not what I want to be working on in hot, sticky weather.  This is an air conditioning project, without a doubt, and I'm not always working in air conditioning.

Sometimes I knit outside.

Then, there's the hats.  I want to have as many as possible for the shop come fall, and I'm not entirely sure I've perfected the pattern.  I need to keep working on these, and I will, but again...hard to get motivated to work on cold weather gear when it's in the 80's and humid!

I need my summer project and it can be so difficult to find the right one.  I have several yarns that I love and want to use, and several items I want to make, but I've hit this major fear of commitment!

Yarns:  There are two from Dyeabolical that have been taunting me since I first got them in. 

The sock yarn in the 70's Dress Shirt has been in a project bag, with guage swatch on needles, since it came off the tasting...oh...a while ago.  I just love it so much!  I fully intend to use it for my first ever actual finished pair of socks.  It just has to have the ultimate pattern, to have and to hold, from this day forward, until wear do us part.

Then there's the cotton in Maude.  I absolutely adore the colorway, but it does lean toward the cute side of the spectrum with a bit of lilac-y purple and buttercup-y yellow.  These are not colors I tend to wear, as a general rule, but I do like to throw myself a curve now and then.  So, I would like an unpredictable pattern that counteracts the cuteness. 

If it's for me. 

Maybe it's for someone else.  Maybe it's for the shop.  Maybe it's not one big thing but a whole set of little things.

Hm.

Items:  Oh, gee.  Shall I list them alphabetically or in order of wanted-ness?  How 'bout just as they pop into my head.

Socks, tunic top, market bag, purse, tank top, pullover, drink cozy (for summer drink glasses, sort of an insulator/coaster thing), shrug, cardigan, coat, household items, items for me, items for friends and family, items for the shop, something to cover my calendar/notebook, something to felt, or crochet, or knit...

Beginning to see my problem?

On top of it all, this is the time of year I like to explore my alternative options.  Such as learning to spin so I can repurpose old clothes and plastic bags and even newspaper.  And I recently learned the Brioche stitch and am anxious to explore that.  I think it might even be my gateway craft to get me into colorwork, much like Tunisian got me into crochet.

Ach!  Decisions!    

I'm leaning toward the socks and just finally settling on a pattern.  There are several I've been eyeing for a while, and I have no doubt any of them would be gorgeous.

That's it.  That's what I'll do.  In about a week, then.  If I don't change my mind in the interim.

Enjoy a Spring Fling this weekend!

I heard a rumor...I don't know if it's true...maybe you heard it, too...

I heard it's supposed to not rain on Friday and Saturday!  Woo-hoo!!!  (knock, knock...is this desk even real wood?)

And do you know what's even better?  Those two days just happen to be the two days of River City Gift Shoppe's Spring Fling Flea Market!

Can you tell I'm excited?  I mean, come on...how lucky is that? 

Judy has quite a few people coming in for those two days, including people from Pampered Chef and Scentsy, but there are a couple of people in particular I'd like to point out.

My friend, Heidi, is renting space just on Friday.  Her booth is called Tea to Go and sounds like it's going to be chock-full of yummy yums!!!  Her bear breads (note:  not beer...bear) are just adorable, and if she has even half the goodies baked that she says she's going to have that day it will be a delicious booth to visit!

Also there, but both days, will be Michelle of Sugar House Creations.  Michelle is going to be joining the ranks of the River City crafters in June, so I'm looking forward to a little preview of her work this weekend.  I'm also looking forward to thanking her for the mention of my cup cozy on her blog! 

I wish I had links for everyone that will be there, but I did get a few more names from Judy as I left yesterday:  BeautiControl, Kids' Personalized Music, Polish Pottery, Flea Market Finds, and that guy (you know, that guy?) who makes the really nice cornhole boards.

And, hey, guess what?  As if all those goodies aren't enough, Judy's also offering a 10% store wide sale!  Sweeeeet... 

Oh, and the Flea Market will be from 10 until 5 on Friday and Saturday (the 20th and 21st), but the store will be open until the customary 6:00.  

I'm planning on spending a little time there Friday morning, myself, checking out the booths and maybe sitting in Judy's Ice Cream to work on my blankets for a while.  So if you see a lady surrounded by bags, covered in multi-colored wooly-ness and crumbs from Heidi's goodies, and with a crazed look in her eye as she shakes out the hand cramps...be sure and say "hi"!   

Back to the big tasks at hand

I go through my days knowing I'm busy. 

Sure, I take some time to goof off here and there.  Sit and stare at the TV or surf the net instead of being a contributing member of the household or society-at-large.  You have to sometimes to maintain sanity. 

But as a general rule my days are packed.

So when you run a craft-based business...and you're working on two large, time-consuming projects simultaneously...and you only have an average of an hour or two a day to work on them...well...let's just say that last week's eyeglass case was exactly the quick project I needed to shake things up!

Meanwhile, one project got set on cruise control while the other got parked all together.

I have been working on prepping this year's blanket squares for their final assembly, but am only as far as I am thanks to the wonderful ladies of Open Knit!  I have nearly finished washing and blocking out all 120 squares, and most of them now have a blanket stitch around their edges (thanks, ladies!).  

I'll be crocheting like a mad woman for the next (almost) two weeks.  Wish me luck. 

Then, there's my Clapotis.  I dove into that project with both needles and couldn't wait to see how the dropped stitches were going to work out!  But then things kept popping up.  Things like blanket squares, Book Club (have you read The Help yet?  I highly recommend it!), my eyeglass case, or the freakishly hot and humid days that made me cringe at the thought of knitting with fuzzy sewing thread.  But I have picked it up here and there for a row or two, just because.   

One really nice perk of a blog is the documentation of progress.

I told someone the other day that I had been working on it for over two months, but it looks like it just felt that way because the progress is so slow!   Thanks to the blog, I now know that I started it on April 7th, and this is (about) how far I have come:

 
I added about six more rows last night because I caved and turned on the air conditiong.

 

 
Not one dropped stitch, but two!

I really am such a happy girl now!  The blankets will be done in the next couple of weeks, then I'm all about that Clapotis.  My goal is to finish it for an event in July, and I think I might just make it!   

An accessory for my accessory

I just couldn't help myself.

When I bought my new glasses at River City last week, the only cases Judy had for sale had glasses already in them.  Glasses that were too strong for me.  So, as Judy rang me up, I stood there trying to think if I had a case at home and where I might find it. 

Then Judy gave me a verbal forehead slap:  "Why don't you just knit one?"

Oh.  Well.  Hmm.

I thought about it, and I have no doubt I will at some point, but I know myself well enough to know that to knit myself one would take time.  And planning.  I would want to know exactly how my case was going to look before I picked up my needles.

I was far too excited to be that patient.  I needed an immediate, spontaneous craft.  Something I could dive into and figure out as it went along.

So we had some felt laying around the house, leftover from a grab-bag I ordered a few years ago from Nasco for the boys to experiment.  Apparently the purple felt with the embossed butterfly design was not their thing (gasp!) because there was a whole sheet of it.

Throw in some gold-y/orange-y embroidery thread from the box my MIL gave me after her mother passed...a little Crown Royal-esque, but me likes.

A button.  It needs a button. 

Ooo!  Paper beads!  And cover the button to match!

Spend a little time here and there, over the course of a week or so, playing with needles and scissors and gel medium and watercolors...

 
The crochet chain wraps around the button to close...

 
...like so...

 
...and the other end of the chain hangs under the flap in the back.

I wish I could get a really good close-up of the button and the beads because I just love them!  I've had the paper beads left over from some book thongs I made almost two years ago and have been trying to think of other ways of using them.  

A combination of crafting and reading.

Perfect.