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The Crafting Journey (Part N)

Today, it hurt my heart, but I frogged my whole purple and pink shawl. That which I could not salvage went in the garbage because the yarn kept tangling. I was knitting it for a long time. There was lace and I kept coming to the second repeat and my stitch count was off. I frogged the whole lace portion (noticed on the 11th row, which was the first row of the repeat) twice! Finally, I made it past that point, and guess what happened? My stitch count was off again! I tried to knit back but my yarn was getting ratty and my nerves were fraying. The fact that I had to frog so many times reminds me that perseverance is essential. Not just when we are talking about knitting, but in life as well. Keep on- and keep on keeping on.  To everything there is a season and a time (Ecclesisasties 3:1). I did my best to keep on, and to fix but I just couldn't fix it anymore. There is a time to frog and a time to refrain from frogging. It was time to frog and even though my heart and soul ached beca...
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The Crafting Journey (Part M)

 Hi Friends, This week, I was looking into doing a blog to make some money. I did a bit of researching and found out that to do that, you have to post affiliate links or do marketing. I am not interested. Also, it is recommended that if you are going to do a blog, it should be 1500 words or more. I love to write, it is not crafting, though it is artistic self expression, but 1500 words seems like a lot to me. Often when I read food blogs, I feel like they go on and on- and I am only interested in the recipe portion, not the process of how the person ended up making the recipe. That is just my opinion, but perhaps one reason why trying to make money as a blogger isn't my thing. Last weekend, I didn't knit at all on Saturday. My son graduated from highschool. I am so proud of him! I did do some catch up starting Sunday and all through the week.  That pink and purple shawl, I put it down for a while. I decided to get back to it and made some real progress. That is until I got to ...
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The Crafting Journey (Part L)

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This week I was looking at my knitting board on Pinterest. It made me realize how much I have grown as a knitter. There are many items that I have made (unfortunately I don't have pics because I didn't always take pictures of my stuff). Anyway, it made me think of my knitting accomplishments. I made a shawl which I thought would be the death of me, lots of yarn overs and lots of frogging- but I did it (it's the pink one that I showed when I started the blog). There are also patterns that I have made more than once, like the Higher Love Hat from YaYa Loves to Knit and hanging dishtowels from the Michaels website. I once made a round rug, and when I was finished with it, I thought it looked like a pointesettia in the middle, so I made one for myself that was red and green, then I sewed some gold buttons in the center. It is a lovely addition to my Christmas decor.  Speaking of Christmas, I long for it and while I do love summer, I look forward to Christmas items being in the ...
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The Crafting Journey (Part K)

 This week I got a lot of crafting done. I finished a dishcloth, and then I started a new shawl- which is coming along nicely, though the colors- well I don't know about that. I also continued on a shawl that is pink and purple. Unfortunately, when I started the working on the lace part, I ended up with two extra stitches! So I frogged about 4 or 5 rows and started again, I am back on track and the lace is looking great! So about that shawl... I am making it with some yarn I was given. The yarn is varigated and as I started knitting with it, I realized that it looks like I spilled a bag of mixed veggies! As if that isn't bad enough, I decided to use a solid color with it too, and now it looks like mixed veggies in pea soup. What have I done?  I shared this with the Craft for YEG group and we all had a good laugh, some are now looking forward to seeing my finished product which I am hoping will actually look good. I am glad for the kinship in being a group of people with simila...
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The Crafting Journey (Part J)

What is your love language? Do you even know what that is? If you are wondering where I am going with this, hang on, I will show you. A love language is the way a person prefers to express love or recieve love. According to Dr. Gary Chapman, the author of The Five Love Languages, those languages are:  Words of Affirmation Quality Time Gifts Acts of Service Physical Touch Generally, love languages are connected to how we want to give and receive love within a relationship, but I want to go a little deeper. I think your love language(s) can translate also into other worldly experiences. For example, I am a gift giver, gifts is one of my love languages. I think I would be remiss if I didn't share my Christian experience here... I love to cook. Previously, I often would cook or bake and then take the food to my church for the pastoral team to enjoy. That is an act of service, but also is gift giving. I believe we have been given gifts from God (who gave the ultimate gift of His son) to...
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The Crafting Journey (Part I)

Last week, my husband came home from work and said there was a bag at our door. He brought it in, and to my surprise, it was a bag of yarn! I looked for a note, and it said "I hope you can use this for your knitting." It was from a lady at my church who happens to live in my neighborhood. She is a crocheter, and the yarn was too fine for her to use (she makes chunky blankets). Anyway, I have lots of stuff on my needles, but I am more than happy to have been the recipient of the yarn. I have now been looking for patterns to make with my new stash. I finally finished the multicolored shawl that I mentioned last week. I wasn't sure how it would look when finished because it is varigated but it doesn't look too bad, so trust the process. Believe it or not, I actually weaved in the ends as soon as I finished! I learned how to do it properly and now I don't mind weaving in the ends. I know it is every knitter's nightmare, but it is not so bad- it is easier than seam...
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The Crafting Journey (Part H)

So this week, I finally made some progress! I have a lot of projects on the needles, but that is okay, it helps me when I get bored with one thing to switch to another.  I am making a shawl and I think I am on about the 4th try with using this yarn. It is colorful and I realized that making a shawl with multicolored yarn probably isn't a great idea, though I am going to continue with it. It will be a knit that I am donating to charity and although I am very critical of my own work, I am sure someone will appreciate it. Note to self, try in a solid color next time. Then, I picked up some yarn that is ombre, and I am making another shawl with that. It starts as pink  then gradually turns into purple. It will take a while to make this one, the needle is small (3.75 mm).  I did finish another dishcloth this week. I am trying to have a large stash of them. I have promised to make a few for some ladies in my church. I do not charge for this stuff, but it does take time so I lik...
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