Trash the illusions

I have always wanted to be a painter. I have tried so many times to paint. I have half a box full of supplies in our tiny basement.

I'm not a painter. I always wanted to be a painter, but I'm not one. My creative medium is mainly fibre. I do a great job with fibre, not so much with paint.

It is time to accept this as a fact and enjoy the time I spend with fibre even more, since I'm not feeling guilty because I never use the paint stuff.

It is time to let go of the ideas and pictures I have of myself and find joy in the reality. To stop trying to be something I'm not.

It is time to trash the illusions.


Funny Stuff

I came across this George Carlin video on Cat's Meow and although I have no idea who the man is, I think the video was good and to the point. So take a look at this funny stuff:


Shawl on the go

I have a tiny photo diary of my brand new project to share with you today. As always the photos may not be the best quality, but they are what you get :)
The kit as it comes from the designer

I skeined and washed all of the yarn to get the spinning oil out. 
Then I wound all the yarn into cakes again, minus the border  colour
I then mixed and matched my own two cakes of all the colours..
and began knitting.

Going new ways..

Sometimes when you are stuck, you have to do something different. I have been so stuck in my knitting lately. Why? - Because I have no money for new yarn and no need for more sweaters... But I have missed having something between my hands. So I asked a family friend, who owns a LYS if I could knit up a sample for her. Anything.
Her eyes lit up as she asked, anything? And then she told me she needed a shawl by a great Danish designer and that I could knit which ever one I wanted to.
I have wanted to knit one specific shawl by this designer for a long time, but there were 3 things in the way: 1) it didn't come in my colours 2) the kits cost the same as the tip of a jet plane 3) I have no room and really no need for such a shawl.
Now I get to make it, to get the experience, without the cost and the added stuff. It is however a huge project and although I don't have a deadline, I would love to have it done as fast as possible. I'm not putting any pressure on myself to finish by any date, I just hope that I will enjoy it so much, that it will move along swiftly.


Knitting workshop

I have the awesome opportunity to attend a talk and a workshop with a Danish knitwear designer. She is coming to the island I was born on, so I get to go with my mum and have a nice weekend at my parents' home.

I haven't knit anything by this designer, yet. She works in fair isle with yarn cakes you make yourself of all sorts of colours, so that it changes colour at random spots in the pattern and not two items are ever the same. Her colour sense is slightly different than mine. She has a strong preferance for reds and oranges, I favour blues and purples. Most of her patterns are very bold, but some are smaller and more to my liking. Her designs only come in kits and sadly the shawl I would love to have, doesn't come in colours that match my complexion and taste.

I hope to not only improve my fair isle technique, but also come away with a greater sense of colours and how to combine them.

Her kits are a lot of money, so they are not in my immediate future, but I would like to knit one of her shawls some day. For now I'm simply excited to get the experience and to learn from a pro.

Why I'm taking off the comments...

...at least for a while.

I liked blogging a whole lot when nobody was reading my blog and when nobody was commenting. I still like blogging, but I find myself checking for comments and stats ever so often. This is not the point of the blog. I really enjoy the comments, but they are not the reason why I blog and they should not be allowed to act as a measure of success.

Let it be known to all, that very few people read my blog and even fewer comment, but I don't mind that at all. I blog to make a scrapbook and not to be caught up in comments, stats and if my blog is 'good enough'. As long as it gives me joy to write for it, it is exactly as it should be.

So I'm taking off the comments at least for a while. To rid myself of the feelings that are creeping up on me related to comments. I never say never, so the comments may reappear some day.

Feeling..empty...

Have you ever had the feeling of emptyness follow the feeling of joy you get when you reach a goal?

I recently became an almost stash free knitter as you might already know and that has left me feeling empty. I have worked so long to reach this goal and now I'm pretty much there. My plan was to have the yarn for the 1-2 projects I'm actively working on and then yarn for the next project in line so I never risk running out.
I'm there. I have yarn for the French Press Slippers (which I have yet to cast on for) and yarn for one more project. I have reached my goal and it feels wonderful. But then there is the emptyness. I don't feel tempted to buy new yarn, I don't miss having a stash...
I think the problem is that I have been working diligently on this project for so long and now the project is over. I thrive on challenges and now there is none in my knitting life. Most likely this feeling will pass, as I get used to being a stash free knitter. To battle the feeling of emptyness I've decided to spin up all the orange wool I have as my next challenge.