Hesitant

I'm hesitating and not completely sure why. The yarn is fantastic, the pattern was easy to follow. I've actually made great progress on this one.

I've gone from this:

to this:

In just under three months which for me is cheetah fast.

But since then it's been sitting on my table taunting me. All that's left is the edge trim, which is a pain but not horrible. There is the fact that I might not have enough yarn to complete the trim, I did add extra repeats but it's not like I cant get more yarn. I've invented worse excuses to visit yarn stores.

There's also the worry that after all this effort it wont wind up looking good on me. What if i guessed wrong and it doesn't fit? This is a big one. After all I'm not happy with my shape right now, yet not unhappy enough to force me to do anything about it. But three months is a long time to work on something that might wind up unflattering. So it sits there in project limbo. If I don't finish it I don't have to try it on.

Even more, this is the first non scarf/hat project I've come this close to finishing in years. I really should be more excited. Yet there it sits taunting me.

Only thing to do is sit down and finish it. So that was to be the focus of the weekend yet even with that I'm stalling. Oh I justify it by writing about here, I'm sure others have been in similar place with their own projects so that makes it ok for me to talk about it and continue stalling.

So no more stalling, I gather up my needles, what's left of my yarn and in my favorite comfy chair by the window with plenty of natural light here I go...great now I'm hungry, lunch first and then right back to the vest...yeah right.

what happens at craft night...

For those who missed it we had our second craft night at the new location, Barnes and Noble in Deer Park. The new location seems to be working out just fine.

Here's some pics from the last few sessions:

Renee works on new fall cards

Cole experiments with luminaries

Stacy embroiders a onesie

Progress on the blue vest

Completed scarf, first project done on the 35mm needles.
5 strands of yarn knit together as one

Tasty treats
the real reason
we show up :)

Current plan is to do two a month till the new year to give people plenty of time to work on those holiday crafts. So if you've got some free time come join us there's always room for one more.

Doing it in Public

Doing It In Public is a gathering of like minded fiber folk who want to share their interests. They meet several times a month at various Barnes and Noble stores in the northwest area. This month they happen to be meeting at the one not 5 minutes from my house, so I had to attend. Only problem was i still had almost two weeks left of driving restrictions. So I did what any good fiber person would do, bribed a friend to come along and drive. Fortunately Rene is a stamper and had expressed a desire to learn to knit before, so I didn't feel too guilty asking her. And most importantly a good sport.

We only planned to stay an hour, meet everyone, check out all the cool projects people are working on (my favorite part) and see how things went. The women we met were great, super friendly and very supportive of Rene's first knitting attempt. Yes that is her in the pic knitting like a pro, so proud of her.

An hour goes by. We are having fun chatting, knitting and getting to know the group. Rene is still knitting away so we decide to stay a bit longer. Next thing we know they are starting to close up the cafe and it's time to go home. On the way out one of the women complemented me on my teaching style, saying I was a very good patient teacher. This was especially cool since there were several real teachers there, some were even teaching at the Midwest fiber and folk fest coming up in June.

As we are driving home Rene says "so you want to go back again for next weeks meeting?" I just smile and say sure. She's hooked, it will be fun to watch her progress as a knitter as well as a stamper.

Back to the beginning

This is what started it all. A skein of hand spun yarn. Not really all that remarkable, except that it is the first skein of yarn I've ever made on a spinning wheel. Now I've been a knitter for years, also a glass bead maker, miniature painter, baker and what ever else strikes my fancy, but it was this skein of yarn that made me want to clean out my studio, made me rethink my value as a crafter. 
I've only been spinning for a total of 10 hours now, but both shop owners as well as my fellow students have complemented me on the yarn I've created. And if that many people are telling me something is good I'm not going to listen anymore to that lone voice in my head filling me with doubt.
I've still got a long way to go before I get anything I consider usable for outsiders, but the act of creating the yarn is very satisfying. And I've been neglecting the creative process for too long. Lately I find myself just contemplating the idea of making something and then not following through.
This blog is an attempt at following through. I've set aside some time this next month to focus on cleaning, and reorganizing my studio. We'll see just what happens but I've decided to try and document the process in part to keep me motivated and in part as practice for later when I start making production pieces again.