Why Do I Do This?

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Why do I tell myself, One More Row?  Then I am dead tired and can barely write?

Well this will have to be quick because I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.

Today, I finished the heels of my Socks For McGonagall, the Coupling Socks by Deb Barnhell.

I did an Eye of Partridge heel instead of the ribbed one in the pattern.  Or should I say "modified" EoP Heel as I got off on one sock and you can see where I ribbed for 2 rows.  I am not fixing it. 

Since these are toe up, I can try them on and so far they fit beautifully.

I finished one of my Spa Washcloths, using the idea from Liz Marino's Gift Knits Club.  I didn't get a photo of it though since I finished it after dinner, and it was too dark to take a decent photo.  I'm not necessarily using her textured patterns, but am riffing a bit on them.  I plan to make 10 more of these, well 9 more now, for Christmas gifts for Sisters and Sisters in Law.  Also, for the HPKCHC, I proposed those 10 new ones for my BROOM project.  AND, I just remembered.  I am in a group that is doing a group project for the Marauders Mission Thread in Gryffindor.  We have taken on a "Relaxicrafting Mission."  I kid you not.  We will win a shiney badge by crafting something that is relaxing every month.  It needs to be something that is for a class, and these washcloths are super relaxing.  They are not boring because they have some pattern to them, but they are easy and small and I can take them just about anywhere.

Life
was good today.  Not much happening here.  My daughter, Moogie, has taken off with my car on a driving adventure with a college buddy to visit some National Parks in Utah and Arizona.  I hope to post photos from her trip, perhaps with a bit of a guest blog.

My son, Himes, the dancer at U of A, called and sounded great on the phone.

And I bought a new Roomba, from iRobot.

 I splurged for the model that is programmable.  Right now, I have it vacuuming the living room/dining room every morning at 8.  I love it.  It is totally taming the cat hair.  The cats hate it.

Got to get some sleep.  Just want to say that I walked 1 mile today.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with a clean rug.

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Barefoot Contessa

Chihuly glass from Chihuly Garden and Glass

Hello!

Life

Today I went to Seattle's Benaroya Hall to hear Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, speak with  3 of my neighbor friends.  Totally enjoyable.

She entered the large symphony hall to a standing ovation.  It was amazing to see the response to someone who writes cookbooks and hosts a cooking show.  But she was lovely.  The former head chef of Canlis Restaurant, Greg Atkinson, and Ina sat in comfy arm chairs in the center of the stage, and just chatted about her life, her cooking, her books, and her TV show.  And about cooking and food in general, of course.  It was funny and fun.

One of the things I liked the most about the talk was all of the encouragement to follow your dreams;  the understanding that you don't always know where you are going, but sometimes you just have to leap and learn to fly on the way down.  I think this applies to my stitching.  No, really.  There are times where I have no idea where a pattern is going, but I just have to trust in the instructions, and keep going.  This happened on the latest square I hooked, the Crocodile Flower Square.  This is an amazing looking square, and actually the instructions are fairly easy to follow, but it doesn't look like much until almost the end.  You just have to believe and keep going.  The designer, Joyce Lewis, Dunnica on Ravelry, has given me permission to post round photos and a tutorial if I want.  So, maybe this week I will put that together. 

The talk also made me think about my stitching in another way, and not just because I was knitting a Spa Washcloth while I listened (much to the amusement of my friends who commented on the fact that I am NEVER without my knitting.)  It made me really want to try to design a pattern.  The thing is, you have to do what you like.  You have to find something you really want to do, then do it.  I have been wanting to write some patterns down for a while, and well, I WILL.  Before Christmas.

Ok, I said it.

Knitting
I am almost finished with the first heel turn on my Grey Coupling Socks.  No photos, as I was away during the best photo time today.  I promise to take some tomorrow.  These are knit Toe Up, and thus, I was able to try them on my feet.  They fit beautifully.

The first Spa Washcloth for my BROOM for HPKCHC is about 2/3 finished.  O!  I haven't discussed the BROOM.  Well, too tired as usual, so I will try to write about that tomorrow.

Anyway, not a lot of photos.  Just some Chihuly to inspire you.  I will put up one at the end of this post of the glass ceiling he crafted.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
Shaping the planet with some yummy dinners (straight out of Ina Garten's cookbooks)

Chihuly Glass Ceiling