17 posts tagged “knitting”
*note: there are a couple of links in this post that link to my projects list in Ravelry. If you aren't a member of Ravelry you won't be able to see them but if you are, well, there ya go.
this may or may not be the reason i have frogged the beginnings of a lace scarf about ten times now. i finally rolled the yarn back into a ball and put it away. I've been spending what creative time i do have knitting, a craft that has forced me to simply enjoy making for making's sake all over again. It's the rare person that can make and sell a knitted item (for what it's really worth, at least), and so I'm forced to simply knit for the sake of it, thinking of the people who'll receive finished objects. I find it a bit hard to reconcile, being the kind of person that I am, but perhaps it's good for me (or, as I've suspected, it's bad, because I simply don't care to make any jewelry right now, which is why, perhaps, i'm scraping by and my Etsy shop is all but inactive).
as it good to do during mercury retrograde, i picked up a pair of socks i've been needing to finish and neglecting, and i'm on the home stretch - i had to undo the toe of the first one i knit up and redo it, and that's what i'm doing. i was nearly through, again, when i looked back over what i'd done and with some obviously twisted stitches and a hole, i had to rip back to where i'd started... that's what i get for starting ANYTHING (even if it's something i've already started) during Mercury retrograde.
when i finish i'm going to wash them (as a "blocking measure") and then package them up and get them to mom. they were supposed to be for mother's day but the woman lives in north carolina, anyway, and it's hot there, and i'm sending her a pair of wool/bamboo knitted socks.
thing is, as i mentioned somewhere in this blog before, it's more tradition than anything. mom gets the first pair of socks i ever knit... and i, i get to send them far away to the one person who will appreciate getting a gift like that.
so it begs asking then... it's either mercury in retrograde or the universe helping me avoid "the sweater curse" of sorts, maybe, that's kept me from knitting this scarf, this blue/black silk/wool blend scarf i'd been intending to hand off to a musician about to leave for tour -- which is it, do you think (or maybe it is just that knitting lace isn't ever going to be my thing?)
yes, the musician i've been smooching for the past four months or so is about to leave to tour for the summer and i thought it might be nice to send him off with, ya know, a little piece of something soft to get all bittersweet about (yes, bittersweet, because neither of us is expecting the other to wait around or pass up opportunities for love, fun or excitement while we're apart and we have no idea what things will be like when he gets back (there's also the fact that he'll roll back into town in August, and I roll out sometime in September; first to make some money down in California and then on further south. While you really can't ever tell what the universe will bring, I feel pretty strongly that I will be spending next winter somewhere warm and south of the border, most likely renting an apartment in San Cristobal or Guanajuato as a home base.
still, homeboy ain't gettin' that scarf at the moment and I'll have to think a little harder. what i do know is that he'll be wearing boots in Ireland. Maybe he can have the socks I'm casting on, since they're getting cast on anyway. Maybe they'll get done in the two weeks before he leaves. I'm a bit bummed that the end result probably isn't going to be something soft and luxurious (and in colors he'd wear) around his neck, but something both crazily-patterned, invisible and utilitarian instead.
yes, world, this is the biggest of my worries at the moment (okay that's not true - i have to get new car insurance and i'm having some horrid dental issues right now i can't afford to fix without a serious, SERIOUS campaign to raise money). but anyway yes, even driving an uninsured car around with teeth i might lose if i don't find a way to fix a bad, bad problem soon, it appears my next biggest woes involve, simply, what i'll knit next.
meanwhile in the world there are things like Asia, where it seems the planet sees fit to make its population adjustments on a regular basis. Thinking about the problems of the world is enough to make me wanna throw my yarn stash out of a window in shame sometimes... At least until I touch a skein of yarn again and remember what kind of comfort it can bring me (as long as I'm not trying to knit lace).
so, normally when i start getting bent out of shape every month, i get extremely productive. minor details get taken care of, inspiration strikes, new ideas form, production happens. i hide in the house because i'm not fit for social activity. i cry at commercials. i bang out a series of ten.
everything is topsy turvy right now. i am quite possibly the most unproductive i've been in months. i have not had a creative-productive "flow" moment lately - not a single new idea - and i want to blame it on PMS (I also want to blame it on knitting, too, because I am starting to question whether it's good for me).
the party does not stop until i tell it to though (and oh it was a fun party saturday and another beautiful outdoor jam on sunday) and until then, well, hmm, i need to think about this - it would be healthy for me to spend the social, outdoor part of the year outdoors being social. it would also be healthy for me to formulate real plans and produce real things (specifically, real pieces of writing as that's where my life priorities really lie - though I seem to forget here and there that while I'm working for a millionaire/writer here in Portland and doing a day a week as a tattoo shop girl, I'm learning more valuable skills I can use in my life and take anywhere).
in the meantime i practice putting on eyeliner and blogging and feeling oddly guilty about not celebrating Cinco de Mayo (i don't know either - I'm not Mexican - but, I do get a guy who comes door to door once a week selling tamales here in Portland and he came tonight, so perhaps i'll go eat the whole bag and call it a party).
tonight i don't feel like doing anything. not any of my usual stuff - i don't feel like knitting, and i don't feel like watching a movie, and i don't feel like reading, either. not jewelry, not yoga or pilates, either (though I know if i get started i'll be happy I did, and i kind of hate myself right now for having a few days off). strangely (or maybe not so much) i don't feel like hanging out with my favorite man tonight either (lthough when i finish that thought by saying "because we've been spending a lot of nights together" you might blame all my lack of productivity on him instead, which may or may not be true - it's very hard to say no to him right now. at nights i spoon him, throw my arm around him and bury my hand in his patch of chest hair and on my fingertips is a feeling i'm convinced will stay with me forever - it's like that, it is).
i want someone to tell me it's okay to eat chocolate and tamales before bed. i want someone to tell me it's cool to want to sleep alone sometimes with no one else in it but a big fuzzy cat. i want someone to tell me what these awful pangs in my gut are here and there and why today, of all days, i suddenly feel as if i have no close friends. and also why i'm bloated, why suddenly i can see very lump on my thigh, magnified, why all my jeans are tight (it might be those tamales before bed, eh?)
i want someone to tell me it's okay to do NOTHING for a second when there's really just so much to do and so much that i need to accomplish, to tell me it's okay to set a few other things aside for a moment while i wallow in this beauty and ultimate distraction that is sunshine and fresh love.
i want to relish the turbulence, not fear it.
can you blame me?
I spent last night in a garden on a warm, sunny Portland late afternoon (yeah, those are rare around here right now) hanging out with my favorite new local band, HyDrive. Apparently they were planning to record yesterday until everyone woke up to the sun shining - instead, they decided to find somewhere great to do a last minute show and it just so happens, Tin Shed has happy hour ALL DAY on Sunday. Lord help us.
I've got such a creative group of friends I'm running into the same problem I had when I was here before - everyone's got something going on that I'd like to support and in the meantime, I forget that I'm here to do that, too.
I've been working a lot, too, and gettin' in some good loving but I let my own self go for a bit - yesterday I ran home and blitzkreiged my room, which had turned into an unbelievable disaster - I had an epic goodwill score earlier that week, which turned into basically a giant pile I didn't address due to busyness (my life last week involved a lot of running home, grabbing a shower, and running back out - everything, sadly, got neglected - not least my yoga practice).
On a bright note - among a million other things I scored these amazing Italian leather boots in just my size - it amazes me that someone would want to hand these off - the leather on the boot leg is the softest, butteriest stuff ever - feels like kid skin! I probably paid about a dollar for these.
Because of all the chaos, I guess, I've been completely uninspired to make much - I've been sneaking some knitting in here and there but the jewelry hasn't been coming to me at all. When I finally get a chance to sit down alone really all I want to do is pick up the needles and get these socks done for mom on mother's day. Sit, be alone, watch a movie and knit. And to think I complained about a lonely winter...
The fortunate thing is that I realize this sort of thing happens to me periodically, and when it ends a whole new round of inspiration will kick in. Still, it's kind of a bummer - i was going pretty strong this winter but with no new product, well, that means several things, including one very important one: without new product, there probably won't be any new sales.
I guess I can look at this positively and accept it as a break. Because I need one.
In the meantime I discovered yet a new Etsy shop that I absolutely love this morning - meet HerbanDevi, who makes amazing clothing for girls like me - you can yoga in 'em, dance in 'em, or go out in 'em. And they're ecologically sound, too.
I'd be right into these pants were I not a financial disaster right now - perhaps the biggest reason I can't seem to create anything is that I'm out of most of my silver sheet and wire - and I can't afford to buy anymore at the moment, since I had to spend my most recent Etsy income on a new digital camera.
Love how that works, huh?
I have PMS.
i say this only because it's actually one thing that isn't causing any drama in the world right now, lol...
there's drama in the knitting world (which bums me out if only because i've had a few patterns bookmarked at magknits for ages - and of course, Ravelry's forums are all abuzz). Too, there are usual worldly indicators that we're going to hell in a handbasket, but my little life bubble is pretty fine at the moment. There have (all too recently, in fact) been worse times for me.
only two more days left on my job - the one thing i will actually miss, i think, is the bus ride. i actually enjoy this small piece of routine every day. I bought this little journal while i was out on the coast (the weekend i dropped my camera in the waves), and i make a point of filling it out every morning as soon as i get settled into my seat.
It's simple and uncomplicated - almost like a guided meditation - which is about all I can handle at seven in the morning. Once I'm done musing on things i'm thankful for, who needs prayer, random acts of kindness and ideas for a better tomorrow, i knit until it's time to head in.
On the way home I walk about twenty blocks and pick the bus up right before the bridge over to the east side. Both ways, I grab some of the only time I generally have to knit. I've made a lot of progress on mom's socks, as you can see.
And, today marked the day! I made a more researched decision this morning and opted out of the 12-megapixel Olympus stylus I'd been eying for a while, based on some user reviews making note of too much proprietary stuff (this is also the reason I decided not to go for another Sony this time). Instead, I bought this amazing little Panasonic Lumix.
I ordered mine from Beach Camera and got a fantastic price for a camera and a 2 gig SD card, along with free shipping - all in all, I spent $20 less than I thought I would - in the end i walked out minus a couple of megapixels but with twice the memory and a wide-angle Leica lens . Within about two hours of placing my order, I got a shipping notification and a tracking number, too. Good lord! Supposedly though, it will take 7-9 days to reach me. I'm so dang excited, I hope wishing it here makes that go a little faster...
I can't wait to start taking pictures again!
And just for kicks, I'm going to continue my 15% discount to Voxers for the next few days. So, if you place a purchase, just let me know you read it here and I'll refund you the discount via paypal.Great... Gotta love Portland, jeez... Fifteen minutes before I clock out of here and it starts pouring down rain again.
How are your Saturday nights different now than they were five years ago?
ha ha ha! well i'm currently house-sitting out in the country about 35 miles east of portland, oregon - i don't even care what's going on back in the city tonight, as long as i can find a decent couple of movies to stream while i work on these socks i've started for Mother's Day.
yes, that's how my Saturday nights differ from what they were like five years ago - I was still living in New York City back then. It's sad, too, because Portland is a consistent stop on every good band's itinerary and there is never, ever, a lack of things to do here - generally, you actually have to block stuff out or you'll find yourself angst-ridden from inability to get to it all.
Mind you, I'm not always like this. I've definitely got some PMS at the moment - I retreat from the world a week every single month - I know myself well enough to know that when I'm like this, social activity isn't really what the doctor's ordered and not something I'm even capable of, anyway. Hot baths, movies, and creative expression are about all I can, or want to, handle.
And, here's some happy news!!!! With the sale of the two items to the left today I am getting closer and closer to my camera goal! I am only about seventy dollars shy of what I need to get a new digital camera. I'm currently offering a 15% discount to members of Ravelry and I'd like to extend that to my Vox.com readers as well. This sale will continue until I've raised enough to buy myself the camera at right (as you may or may not know, I dropped my 3-year-old digital camera in the ocean last weekend).
All you need to do is make note of your Ravelry profile URL or your Vox.com blog when you place your order in my Etsy shop and I will refund the discount different via paypal.
As for me, I'm going to resume my current Saturday night activities and find a new movie to watch. I'm about to enter the difficult part of sock-knitting territory - apparently I'm going to feel really smart after I figure out how to do it but in the meantime, I'm living in a bit of fear.
I've been temping. It's only been 4 days, but the step on my soul is hard - my biorhythm doesn't involve a 6am wake-up time, usually. my soul hates offices and "business casual" and suddenly I am surrounded by commuters from the suburbs, people who live DRASTICALLY different lives than I. I don't so much mind the bus though, generally, as it's giving me time to sit, knit and meditate.
I am, however, searching for my creativity in all of this - it comes in spurts, this I know, just like my shop sales, but I seem to have lost both for a second. I've finished up the last few custom jobs and gotten all my current orders out into the world and now... there's this lull, and once again, it's time to pay rent. seems like it was just yesterday. Too, I suffer a new detriment - i've dropped my digital camera into the ocean. I use my camera regularly to photograph product and thus, generate income so there's a bit of a catch-22 scenario now taking place. Might be time for you to get that SCRAPZ pendant you've been wanting!
Yemaya expects her thanks and I suppose mine wasn't good enough, long enough, or strong enough yesterday. I drove out to the Oregon coast and let the shock of a blizzard in spring, the sound of the waves, the infinity of the horizon, lull me back into the bigger picture. On the way home I hit a patch of black ice. My life did flash before my eyes but soon enough I was sitting in a snow drift off the side of the road and shortly thereafter that, someone else towed me back out onto the road. There was no damage to me, my car or my friend, but i drove 30mph in 4WD for a while until we hit the suburbs. I was never so happy to see urban sprawl.
Today is my day of rest, my day of refusal to everyone but myself. There was a time when I believed moving to Portland, Oregon from New York City would clear my life of the 'distractions' that kept me from achieving my own personal goals. That never worked out - this is a vibrant city despite its much smaller size and alarmingly random weather and there is always something to do - I spread myself a bit too thin this past week and started suffering the consequences.
I do believe it's time to clean and clear my space and hope for the best. time to pray. Tonight it's going to be an early one so I can start the 6am routine all over again tomorrow - pathetically enough, I am a single woman who's looking forward to solo time and an early bedtime tonight. Yes, tonight, I am having a date with myself. Tonight it's me, my pillows, and a movie, and those damned yoga socks I've been working on for a month.
As for those things, after frogging and reknitting the instep at least six times I think i've finally jumped the hurdle pattern-wise (though I'll have to frog and reknit the instep yet again to find out). I'm both loving and hating the challenge - Mac'N'Me makes beautiful patterns though I've scribbled all over mine in hopes that I'll remember all the stuff I had to figure out on my own when I eventually get around to the second sock.
For now, however, I'll have to put this project aside to get started on a Mother's Day gift. Since it apparently takes me over a month to knit a pair of socks, I should get started on hers, using some incredible yarn I got off another knitter on Ravelry for half the price. I'd first discovered Zitron Trekking Pro Natura at Twisted, a yarn shop here in Portland that has quite the focus on socks and sock yarn. I'm not sure why anyone would want to give this yarn up, especially since I discovered moments ago that the colorway I've chosen for Mom's socks is named "New Mexico". Jeez, I hope I don't have a hard time giving them to her.
I've been spending a lot of time recently evaluating where my time is best spent on the internet - which methods are effective for me as far as introducing myself to the people who will appreciate what I do (thank you!), and which methods are more of a waste of my time. With every single thing turning itself into some sort of social network these days, it's easy to lose hours on the internet, and that's no bueno unless it's doing you some real, actual good. Otherwise, you're losing time, and time is such a valuable thing. Rather than waste it or lose it, in my opinion it's time best spent elsewhere - like outside.
I love Vox for the community aspects, but the design restrictions and lack of stats are actually detrimental, making it difficult to evaluate which areas of the internet best serve me by bringing the most attention to my efforts in the shortest period of time. Etsy also suffers this detriment - sellers cannot view stats or easily and privately figure out where our customers are coming from, generally.
And as much as i love the internet, i want it to absorb the least of my creative time as pertains to faerwear, or to yarn, or even to my writing (because the internet itself is such a distraction to my writing process - as ADHD as I am, i get sidetracked easily - one step off to fact check on wikipedia, and it's all over with. Very soon after that I will be cleaning my closet).
Two things that I have noticed have brought me an increased amount of internet presence recently are BlogCatalog and The Talent Database. BlogCatalog, however, is almost overwhelming to me (I'm actually having the same dilemma in my personal life as well, as I don't know if I can handle any more social networking, as it's frankly become a distraction from the real purpose of my presence here - to make a living creatively, by doing things I'm good at. Knowing where my time best spent is part of that).
So far, I've rather liked the new and varied network I'm becoming a part of at The Talent Database, and it is fairly simple. Much more simple than BlogCatalog. I've been adding one or two new items daily to my portfolio there, though not spending an inordinate amount of time there otherwise (as well, I might eventually have to divide this into two profiles and showcase my writing and jewelry design separately).
In the meantime I am starting a one month long temp assignment tomorrow - a couple of regular paychecks to take the sting out for a second. It's necessary, though I'm not looking forward to an 8am-5pm schedule as my own personal biorhythms don't quite match up to that sort of early morning regularity but it's not forever, and I've scored a new and far more interesting gig after that.
After this temp job ends, I'll be helping the author of this book to the left with distribution, getting it into libraries and onto bookshelves of appropriate stores. It will be a lot of fun, I think, and I will be learning how to do this. I'd say that at this current point in my life these is a very, very important thing to be learning.
I'm pretty psyched, and in the meantime I'm just going to suck it up and be thankful. By the way, do you think a temp in a business casual environment can get away with wearing a nice, new, denim skirt with black tights and a black sweater? I have a feeling I'm going to have to stretch the limits here.
I have stacked my iPod up with a bunch of new music and meditation mp3s, i have a portable knitting project (yes, I'm still working on the same Yoga Sock (yes, SOCK, as in NUMBER ONE and due to actually needing a pair of these i cut up some old sweat socks to stand in, and I'm at a complicated hump I really should pass through before I try and knit on a bus). Now, too, I have this book to read, which is presented from a down-to-earth, Jungian, Taoist perspective I wholeheartedly relate to (much as I enjoy blaming almost anything otherworldly on faeries). The author, Paul O'Brien, is an i Ching expert and is creator of the website Tarot.com (it has since been sold). The book discusses both tarot and the i Ching as well as numerology, astrology, and runes and presents divination not as a method for predicting the future but for tapping into our deeper selves and our intuition to define the now and future for ourselves by using these ancient and thought-provoking tools.
Speaking of tools, here's my personal favorite method of "divination", though I mostly use it to determine chakra and other body-energetic activity and not so much decision-making or consideration-weighing. I just made this pendulum from a rutilated quartz bead I have been carrying around for a couple of years. It's the only bead I have like it and once the pendulum was completed I resonated with it pretty strongly, so once again I've put off offering them in my Etsy store (in the meantime, as I haven't been able to get an order together for a local shop and now don't have the time, I put all my woven and stone clusters back up for the time, too).
Anyway, I'm thrilled that I'll soon be doing some work for a foundation whose mission it is to, in part, "research ancient spiritual traditions worldwide; teach people and institutions how to make better decisions by developing intuition; promote practical spiritual systems that help people attract and manifest their heart's desires that are in alignment with the collective Good; and to support the cultivation of wisdom toward making better personal and institutional choices."
I can so absolutely champion that!
The necklace on top is from a series of ten or so that I made for the barter fair at a lovely festival called the Oregon Country Fair. It's crystal and freshwater pearls with sterling silver accents, on satin.
I took the picture of this necklace on a slat of redwood I found at the Goodwill. It was plastic-wrapped and, at one time, sold for $1.50 at a Fred Meyer (a grocery chain that still exists here, owned by Kroger). Most interesting to me, which is one of the reasons it came home in the first place, was the label on it, which read "ADCO Redwood, Inc. - Willits, CA".
Willits is a crazy little Mendocino town. I have a love-hate relationship with the place so there was no way in heck I was gonna leave this piece of wood at the Goodwill. As it turns out, too, it's a good photographic resource for jewelry pictures since I'm not willing to, right now, build another lightbox.
Tonight's going to be an early one for me, wherein I just sit in my bed with my easy knitting project and "Once", so I can see what all the fuss is about. And, ya know, be all PMSy. Too bad I don't have any chocolate. I'm gonna get right to that, as soon as I stop tonight's obession with this blog - Hobostripper.com - and yes, it probably *is* what you think it is.
How did I arrive at that? I've been chatting with this amazing fiber artist on Etsy, who lives, works and travels out of a converted veggie oil bus up and down the west coast along with her partner, their beautiful baby and... five birds!!!
What a dream! The life is not for everyone, but for someone like me, when I came across one of her photographs, where she was dying fiber out in the woods (naturally, of course) I almost cried. It moves me, this life - I understand it. Right now, though, I'm happy to live vicariously through these guys as I'm doing exactly the opposite - attempting to pay rent and dig through an accumulated pile of bills and write a book - and then work my way back out of the system again.
In the meantime, time to knit.
I can work with this. I can improve on this, but I can definitely work with this.
I'm moving into more limited editions and production pieces - the piece to the right, which sold this afternoon, I recently reintroduced to my shop, because it was popular and I still have the materials to create it. It is a limited edition.
The collection of hematite beads I've been using to make them contains some of the first beads I ever bought to start making jewelry with seriously. The collection is dwindling, however and soon I won't have the beads to make it anymore.
That's what makes a limited edition (that, and how many times I'm actually WILLING to create a piece - thankfully, I really enjoy making the SCRAPZ pendants).
Regardless, I think I might feel another fit of knotting coming on. I had a lot of fun with it in Mexico, where I learned how to do that macrame netting thing. I wasn't interested in learning much of the rest of the knotwork, but I liked using the netting to hold loose stones and other found objects. Here are some of the pieces I made while I was traveling in Mexico. There were a lot of really sophisticated knotting/macrame artists traveling around but I just kind of took it and did my own organic thing with it, and I loved the results:
When the next phase of knotting came on I was back in the states and had once again run out of silver wire. The hematite necklace at the beginning of this post came from it, and then after that, I made these bright, summery ones below which never even made it onto Etsy. I made them right before I did a Richmond Craft Mafia event and didn't come home with any of them. In fact, they were gone within two hours.
I'm getting ready to put out some similar designs for summer, for sale through my Etsy shop and my favorite local Portland boutique - they are simple, fun to make, and organic. They are also less expensive as they are strung on silk and nylon, making them more accessible to more people (my brain is flying all over the place with possibilities, but in the meantime I need to get started filling orders for the stuff I've already sold!)
I've run into a packaging dilemma, by the way. I just didn't expect to start selling so much and I ran out of jewelry boxes (I also ran out of a certain gauge of sterling silver wire!). I took this opportunity to order some more wire, as well as some more professional, customized packaging - I'm having this Etsy seller print up labels for boxes for me. I'm not generally too big on sharing sources for things, but... I know no one's gonna order MY boxes and besides - the customer service I'm receiving from this seller is really, truly, out of sight.
SIDENOTE: Last night I started a new knitting project - an easy one because the Yoga socks I'm working on are just too difficult for my fragile (PMSy) state of being right now (I've frogged the instep every time, five times). I'm doing the chunky version but as it turns out she's just posted a 'smaller needles' version of the pattern, too. It is the easiest beret pattern EVER, either way, though I wish I would have noticed this post before I started as I like the smaller needles version better and I myself am running through the chunky one instead.
I knit half of it while watching this movie - which was so artfully done, so visually stunning, that I was sad when it was over. it has earned a place on my list of favorite movies. Yes, I found it that good. Just for the warning, though, subtitles. It's not a good movie for complicated knitting endeavors.
Tonight, unless I'm swept off to snuggle, I'll be watching "Once" - everyone's been raving about it, but apparently it's a tear-jerker. I'm not quite sure I need that tonight!
i've been inspired! well, motivated, at least... in preparing an Etsy sale, I discovered I was running out of antiquing solution - so, I decided to have a run at it and make a bunch of new SCRAPZ pendants at the same time, so I could use the same antiquing solution on all of them. It has a short and stinky shelf life, that stuff.
Anyway - photos forthcoming - I've got a new numerical series of SCRAPZ pendants, based on dice sides. As well, I'm taking some photographs of my first pendulum - I've been saying I was going to make these for my shop for ages, and I'm finally getting to it. The only thing is, this first one is one-of-a-kind, extremely simple, and I'm personally resonating really strongly with it - I won't be selling this one, either, but eventually, like everything else, I'll get around to offering them in my shop.
In the meantime, here's a new necklace. It used to be an earring. When I lived in Mexico and Guatemala, I had a bunch of these amethyst crystal points. They're from Vera Cruz, Mexico. I used to wire wrap them and make them into single earrings. Yes, only one, because no two crystals are alike anyway. They sold like hot cakes and I used to love seeing pretty travelin' girls wearing them somewhere on the trail.
I came home with these two and I've had them packed up for at least a year. Yesterday, going through my pile of stuff for potential pendulum weights, I came across them, took one look and thought to myself, 'these would make really cool necklaces instead.'
So, here's one. There's another one coming. In the meantime, I have a quiet night to myself planned - I'm going to put the jewelry down, pick up the knitting, and start season 1 of Prison Break. I'm not sure I'll survive much of it, but I've seen the commercial a couple of times and those guys are easy on the eyes.
To write and make jewelry, I love to listen to music but as soon as it's time to knit, I need some television trash. I'm not so sure I'm pleased with that. People talk about how meditative knitting is - and it is, at least when you're not trying to figure out what, to you, is a complicated pattern. As well, television can be mind-numbing, which is sort of a synonym for "mind stilling" - which is what you do when you meditate. Right?
Screw it, can't justify it no matter how hard I try. Meditation, the real deal, is still much better for you.
What do you like to get creative to?