Blessed Be!

Dad and my son many moons ago on All Hallow's Eve 

For those that celebrate this weekend will be a trifecta of being thankful, remembering those who have passed before us, and celebrating nature and life and all of our blessings.

I am thankful for all the blessings, family, and people in my life.

*I am thankful for you dear reader for taking a moment with me to chat about things.  I wish you true happiness wherever you are in whatever you do.*  🤗

This year has been difficult, to say the least, and sometimes it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

There have been many obstacles that are far from the norm to work through and overcome...some of them we are still trying to make sense of and find solutions that create change.

The world is all about change right now.

In my part of the world, nature is getting ready to pack it up and sleep through the winter.  The trees are turning shades of yellow, orange, red, and brown.  The squirrels are gathering nuts and seeds to hoard through the winter months when no food can be found.

If I take lessons from the creatures around me what can I store away to use during the winter?

How can I use change as a motivator for growth?

While the things that are going on around me cannot be controlled.  I can control my actions and behavior.  I can choose how I will react to these stimuli.

I can reevaluate my goals and shape them to provide continued expansion of my development.

There will be roadblocks along the way but I need to be more adaptable and open to alternate considerations and perceptions.  Maybe some of the truths that I have held on to for so long need to be reviewed and considered more closely to see if they still are my truths.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

-Maya Angelou

Our story, our life is a long-expansive tale full of twists and turns, celebrations, and dark nights of the soul.  It is a story that we have been writing since our first breath and we will continue writing until our last.

What chapters have you always wanted to write?  What things do you long to add to your story?

A chapter that I have always wanted to write was to be that perfect friend and family member who always had just what the other person needed...like a combination of the Good Witch and Belldandy.

I would love to always see the best in everyone and know how to help them move towards their highest good.

I have tried to emulate these qualities but doubt and fear have made it hard to continually be as preceptive and useful as I would like to be.  I believe no one can be everything all the time, so while I strive for these ideas, I will not beat myself over not achieving them 100 percent of the time.

I will not beat myself up...period...end of story.  I have ripped out that chapter and let the space that it left be open for new wholesome ideas and creations.

Speaking of new creations...

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While I still have been working on the "secret" project I have dabbled a bit with some ideas, as well as made progress on the friend knitting.

I must admit that sometimes an idea comes out of nowhere and I have no other recourse than to let it out or it eats at me until I do.  Usually, I can just write stuff down and get back to it, but this one was very compelling.

This year we are doing a ritual of writing down the things that we want to create in our lives for the new year and I got doodling with a leaf edging stitch pattern that I have been saving.  I totally ripped it apart and reformated it to fit my needs.

Here is the chart after all the deletes and edits.

I was thinking about making something Fallish and fun and then I remembered these lights that I knit from Knit Picks' Handmade Holiday Collection: 30 Handmade Ornaments and how cute they were.  This pattern used a splitting of the i-cord to make the light branches and *voila* I had an idea.

Here is my Fun Fall chocker or lariat idea depending on what length you decide to use.

It isn't finished yet, but I am really liking the way the leaves look.  I am super happy with my chart.

I love ideas giving way to more ideas in order to create something new and wonderful.

I will keep working on this pattern and get it all written up so I can put it up on Ravelry.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

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Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

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Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏

This Year's Growth

Where did the year go?

Are you feeling overwhelmed?

It is okay.  I think we all are at times during all this uncertainty.

This year didn't go how I wanted it to at all, and most of that is out of my control...out of our control.

The things I could manage, I think I did fairly well with.

I kept to my wellness plan, cleaned up a bit of the basement, weeded the outside, designed, knit, cooked, cleaned, kept my family as safe as I could, had virtual meetups with friends and family, and continued to thrive in these strange and challenging times.

Did I get on myself when I was so discouraged with the state of the world that I just could bring myself to do nothing?

Yes...yes, I did.  But I am human and this year got to me, as I am sure it did to all of you at one point or another.

And...that is okay.  It is okay to be discouraged, or angry, or sad...it is okay to take a day off to pull yourself together.

The one thing that really hit me about myself this year was that I judged myself by what I got done and not by what I did.

So every day in my journal I write down one thing that I am proud of myself for doing.  This has helped me to see how much I have evolved during this time at home in some areas.

I also journal each week about one thing that I could have handled differently.  (My journal is from here.  I love it.  I'm not a sponsor or anything...just love their stuff.)  

When I journal there is no blame in my delving into reshaping myself....though that took time too.

This year I breathed a lot more.  I stopped and took a breath before I blamed myself for something I had no control over.  I took a breath and thought over whether or not I could commit myself to say yes to a request before just doing it to make someone happy.  I breathed when the thought of what was going on in the world was too much for me.  I breathed to center myself when I knew my mind wasn't' in the right frame to talk to someone or before I used that "negative" voice on myself.

The biggest thing I learned this year was to ask for help.  It always used to feel like I wasn't good enough because I had to reach out for assistance.  Now, it feels like the community lifting me up.  I'm not sure when the shift occurred but now I can easily ask for aid when I need it most and that is a big change for me.  

I've always tried to be a good friend and solid member of the support system that we each take turns in helping each other out in.  These friendships have been the lifeline that has helped make the difference for me this year.

But I have realized that by not letting others help me or always choosing to refuse help I was not being a good member of our community.

It is hard to change things about yourself that you have held onto for years and years.  I am really making an effort to let these things go.  These things take time and effort and a commitment to wanting to be better me.

🤗

“If you try anything, if you try to lose weight, or to improve yourself, or to love, or to make the world a better place, you have already achieved something wonderful before you even begin. Forget failure. If things don't work out the way you want, hold your head up high, and be proud. And try again. And again. And again!” 

Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

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This year I was supposed to teach a double knitting class, but it was canceled due to COVID 19.  

I just wanted to share my Falling Leaves and Falling Snow double knitting scarves.  I was really happy with how they came out.

KDO ended up being an online event and I made this video on duplicate stitch.  I learned a lot and had fun.  I want to create more videos in the future.

This year keeps throwing out curves but our family, friends, support systems, and communities have risen above and beyond to be there to provide alternative ways to do things and be with others. 

"Surround yourself with people who don't just ask how you are doing.  Surround yourself with people who make an effort to make sure they are part of the reason you are doing so well."

― Jennae Cecelia, Uncaged Wallflower

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

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Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

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Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏

The Hats We Wear

We all wear different hats during the day, during the week, and during the year.  There are many things that we can do that seem normal because they are a part of us but to others, they are talents and skills.  We take most of these things for granted or ignore them because they have been with us for so long that we can't see how blessed we are anymore with these gifts of self.

Everyone has talents and gifts and things that make them special.  Even if someone else has this talent as well, each person adds their own personality and history to their talent and it becomes something new.

These talents or "gifts" are things that you are happiest doing.  They don't have to fit a category or be a certain way because they are personal for you.

For me, one of the things I excel at is researching information.  I love gathering information from a bunch of sources to come to some concussion.  Where some find this a tedious task, it calms me and I truly enjoy it.

Another thing I enjoy is organizing.  I have helped a lot of people organize their houses.  I have spent countless hours in jobs filing information and alphabetizing files.  For me, these tasks that are nerve-racking for co-workers were calming to me.  So much so, that I would go in on the weekend and work on the filing system when I had a huge file room that I helped run.

In Minecraft, I have found it so enjoyable to design a block palate and then add all the little touches that make the room or area come alive.

Which, of course, leads me to design.  I love to create new things in-game, in knitting, on paper, and in the kitchen.  There is something magical about taking an idea in your head and giving it form, then fleshing it out and finally, bringing it to life.

These are just a few of the things that I enjoy doing and I am good at doing.

When looking for your talents, look no further than the things you love.  Start there.  Make a list of five things that you absolutely love doing.

Keep doing these things.  Learn more.  Grow more.  Create more.  Find joy and happiness in the things you love and cultivate these wonderful, beautiful gifts that make us all unique and amazing.

Bright Blessings!

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My Father always used to say, "Why did this happen to you?" when something in my life went crazy.  I think that "crazy" is normal for me.  It might even be one of my special gifts that I was talking about up there.

Last year my good friend sent me a text about needing some Christmas hats for geese.  I was having a down kind of day and this made me laugh and then I needed clarifying.  But in the end, I made some hats for my friend's outdoor geese.

I had a lot of fun with this project.  It still makes me laugh.  It was a small design, but I measured each goose and then did the math to make the hats fit right.  I kept notes because you never know when someone will need some goose hats right?  😁

Right?

But that was then and this is now.

I have been in a slump with my knitting as I explained in my last post.

Enter the fabulous Nana.

She needed hats for her snowmen that she creates, which made me think about the geese.  Everything circles back to the geese.  lol

Using the smallest goose hat as a guide,  I counted out stitches and made a prototype.

We decided that full-on ribbing would be better with a brim you could fold over.  The ribbing hugs the bowling pin more than the stockinette would.  

So here are my hats for bowling pins that I created a formula for while knitting hats for geese.  How many people have ever said that sentence?  How is that for crazy Dad?  I hope up there in heaven, I have made you smile.  💖

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

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Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

************************

Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏

Snowballs and Things

I had grandiose plans at the beginning of the year.  I was going to clean up the Basement and work on past designs and get a lot done.  I was doing really well too until COVID struck the world.  And then, well...I just couldn't seem to do a lot of anything consistently except plan meals for the family and do the daily stuff. 

But, secretly...even to myself...I was...

You see I believe in using the "snowball effect" whenever possible for tasks that are just so huge that I get a panic attack just thinking about them.

In the snowball effect just doing the small parts of a task eventually leads to being able to do bigger parts until everything is rolling along and you find yourself at the half-way mark without as much hassle.

I used this technique to get out of debt many years ago.  First I paid the minimum on all the bigger debts, then I paid as much as could to the small debts.  As the smaller debts went away, then I allocated that amount to the next debt with the least amount on it.  It took about three years but I kept with it and then in the end that money got allocated to savings.

Real change takes time.  I have been watching what I eat since last July when I just couldn't move right anymore and everything hurt at the end of the day.  It is a long process and can't be called a diet because I can eat anything up to my calorie allotment for the day.  I just hit my second goal and I am so happy!  Everything feels better.  I sleep better and I move better.

So, at least with everything going on I never stopped working on me.  I've been chipping away at this diamond in the rough enjoying myself at each point of the process of becoming something new.

But the Basement...that is a different story.  I got so disheartened after finding the mice again and again.  It kept me away from organizing and doing all the things I had wanted to do in the Spring.

But to amazement, that wasn't really true.

Over time my hubby and I had been grabbing this or that from the kitchen boxes and they had become much lighter over the years.  When I went down to find something to make apple tarts I found something else I wanted upstairs.  This led to me rummaging around in the box and bringing half of the items in it up with me.  

At this point, I realized why not just clean out the box?

So I did.  I washed everything and found new homes for the items.  

I've never understood why I have to get so freaked out about big tasks that I just abandon them altogether.  

After my success, I decided to make a snowball effect chart for the Basement and list every task from small to big.  I'm dedicating most of my time to the small ones.  The bigger tasks I have broken down into smaller tasks so I can chip away on them just like I did with my bills.

As of today, I have cleared out two boxes and thrown away all the broken items or outgassing plastic that I don't need or want in our kitchen.

In the process of all this cleaning, I found something that gave me an idea for my next project for TKGA.  I never would even have thought of this without the help from the Basement project!  I feel like my snowball is rolling already and I just started last week!

😀

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So, the last post I was working on Thorny and I had gotten really far...I even ordered this yarn from TheWoolyCabin:

This yarn was specifically picked for how it meshed with my memories of Sis and me at our cabin in the Shenandoah.  We would roam the woods in hues of green and brown and then sit by a roaring fire with orange embers dancing on the logs.  The cranberry color was my favorite color of leaves in the Autumn.  It is one of the reasons I have a Japanese Maple tree because I love those beautiful brilliant jewel tones of red.

It is soft and beautifully dyed.  I can't wait to see my pattern knit up in it.  But for now, that will have to wait.

I received a design call and my knitting had to change gears.  I spent the week swatching and trying out ideas.  

This is another of those projects I can't share with you until publication.  

I feel like this is always how these things begin.  I have an idea, I don't know if it will work but I feel inspired and curious...so we will see how things work out.

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I have missed knitting with friends during COVID so now I have two virtual meetups where we are making a project together and I am using stash yarn.

Rosy Blooms by Stephen West, yarn Expression Fiber Arts: Cherry Blossom, Knit Picks: Stroll Glimmer Black (I think neither of these yarns exists anymore 😭) (Expression Fiber Arts dyes lots and then they are gone, but she is always creating beautiful new themed stuff)

Rosy Blooms caught my eye because it has lace and brioche.  I love the whole idea of it.  Stephen West is such a brilliant designer.  He is always thinking outside of the box.

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert, yarn Knitpicks: Chroma Manzanita (This color is also not stocked, but chroma has many beautiful colorways and it a joy to watch shift colors.  This yarn has really long color stretches...I just adore working with it!

I have made so many Clapotis over the years.  It is such a fun pattern.  Dropping the stitches is scary...then fun...then freeing.  

I hope you are making something that brings you joy!

Happy crafting!

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

****************************

Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏
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Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏

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Thanks for reading!

Happy crafting!

Ruinwen

😀