thrift is empowering

I have a little book entitled Raising Kids with Just a Little Cash. Somewhere near the front of the book, the author recommends repeating her mantra (Thrift is empowering!) if one needs encouragement. I repeat it often. (Art as a career is a rollercoaster.) This book can open your eyes to a Whole New World of Frugality. But back to the subject at hand...

I've been thinking about the state of my yarn stash and my desire to be more committed to current projects. Then what do I see? A fine example of Knitting from Stash from the A.D.D. Knitter. She suggested that a medal might be in order to recognize her resourcefulness. I have to say that I agree! As my little PeeWee would say, "Jood Job!" So here's your medal, Heather. :)




I have stayed up way too late messing around with the graphics program. Gentle readers, if any of you know of someone who deserves recognition of their empowered knitting, please feel free to snag this award (saving it on your computer, of course) and spread the love. Thrifty Knitters everywhere, I salute you!

brunette ambition

Yet Another Work-In-Progress:

I have plans. Yes. I have ambition. I am going to be a better person, yea even a better knitter. I'm going to finish something. I know that statement is directly contradicted by the presence of Yet Another WIP, but I'm hereby resolving to go finish that Brea Bag for my sister-in-law and then Eric's convertible mitts before I knit anything else. AND, I'm going to go fold the mountain of clean laundry on my couch and put it away before I knit! (This is intended to be a mitten for moi, knit from my handspun--Shetland wool dyed by Spunky Eclectic. Crazy colors, huh? You should have seen the wool before it was spun.)

But first, some Personal and Religious Musings:

I'm a Mormon. I know this comes as no surprise to my sisters (hi sisties!) and my local pals who stop by the blog, but I thought I'd just lay it all out there today. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the man that I revere as a prophet of God, Gordon B. Hinckley, died last night. I have such gratitude and love in my heart for him. All sorrow that I feel is totally selfish. I know that he's rejoicing with Christ and his loved ones. I'm also engulfed by feelings that I'm not able to articulate very well--conclusion being that I need to expect more of myself. I need to do more to reflect God's love and light--as President Hinckley did.

pertinacious

Lest you think I am one of William F. Buckley types who use words like "preternatural" in everyday conversation, I must disclose that "pertinacious" is today's Dictionary.com word of the day. (I love the word o' the day. I try really hard to use it throughout the day, but I often find it difficult: "Children, my poor nerves have become quite friable as a result of your faineant behavior." Huh?)

It seems perfect timing, then, that Ali is having a Finish-an-FO contest and today's word describes the quality of being stubbornly persistent--which is what I'll have to be to get this FO completed. You'd think that I would have no problem getting this taken care of, but I think I need an extra dose of resolve to finish it. I started it as a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. I didn't get it done in time, and now I'm a worried that the handles and finishing of it will disappoint her. I know, I know. Just get it done already and quit fretting. All-righty, then.

This photo is all washed out, by the way. The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted and the color is Burnt Orange. It's perfect for this pattern, the Brea Bag from Berroco. I'll try to get better exposure when I have the FO Glamour Shot this weekend. There. I've said it out loud. I'm committed. (Committed. Hmm. Sometimes I think that would be nice: plenty of reading time, someone else doing the cleaning, wearing jammies all day, maybe even a padded room...)

WIP it

This? This was supposed to be a Christmas gift. Yeah. My New Year's Resolution is to finish this and its mate before next Christmas. Really, I think I could finish both of them today, if I declare it a holiday...

Here you see the mostly-finished-first-half of a pair of convertible painting mittens for my darling, will-paint-in-any-weather husband. I know you're looking at this mitt and saying, "Is she married to a bear?" And I would just have to reply that you would not believe the size of his palms unless you saw them yourself. He also has rather short fingers, and he needs the little mitt-fingers to be short enough that he can use the sides of his fingers to get traction when opening paint tubes. Thus the dimensions of this mitt. I'll pick up stitches on the back and knit a mitten flap to cover his fingers that will be lined in some handspun alpaca/angora blend that I've carded together from fibers I got at Yarn School. That should do the trick. The gray yarn you see here is Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. I like this yarn a great deal. It has lovely kettle-dyed color variation and it's very sturdy--yet softer than you'd expect. I have enough of this same yarn in olive green to make a sweater for my honey. If I start next week, I could get it done by next Christmas, whadda ya bet?