Steer my Thoughts

Ponder these wise words:

“A man is what he thinks about all day long.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. “. Proverbs 23:7

“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.” James Allen, from As a Man Thinketh

Thoughts affect how I feel emotionally, how I act, who I am today, and who I will become.

Knowing this, it is my responsibility to steer my thoughts away from what I see as wrong with folks and the world…

instead, focus on the good in people, the beauty of life, and keep a positive attitude.

Today, I work at being honest about my feeling and base my relationships on respect and integrity.

My inspiration for choosing Cashvero DK (027 Royal Plum) for today’s featured sweater was not only the luscious feel, but, it’s the deep connection I have towards the mystical royal purple tourmaline, aka receptive stone–soothing, calming, inward, and magnetic, promoting meditation, spirituality, wisdom, compassion, and mysticism. It creates peace and promotes communication between the conscious and unconscious minds, allowing psychic awareness to blossom.

Emily, designed by Vera Sanon, is knit from top down and features set-in sleeves that are knit simultaneously with the upper body–and absolutely no short-rows.  The original neckline and the bottom of the sweater is adorned with a simple to knit slip-stitch patterns, but, looks rather stunning!  My modified version has 1) Estonian braid and slip-stitch pattern on sleeve cuffs in lieu of ribbing to match the rest of pattern feature; 2) Estonian braid before folded hems; and  3) folded hems in fingering-weight yarn for neckline, body and sleeve cuffs.  The Swarovski Crystal buttons from my stash have finally found her mate.  Totally ecstatic–it’s how I feel today.    How’s your day?

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

Honoring my Intuition

…I accept my path.

I am healing the body, mind, and spirit.

Start where I am.

Use what I have.

Do what I can.

Sometimes, I’ve got to be able to listen to myself and be okay with no one else understanding.  Oh yeah!

Linde pullover –featuring large heart-shape leaves with pronounced stem and vein–is a very original pattern with unusual construction.  You won’t see anything else like this.  It is worked top down, in the round with a circular yoke.  The increases are invisibly worked in the leaves.  The body is worked in garter stitch.

At the waist, 2 stems emerge that form the I-cord buttonholes and the stem of the pocket leaves.

The lined pocket feature is my favorite part of this design.  I want to showcase it so much that I commissioned special fused glass buttons by my dear friend’s glass-artist sister. The tint of frosty pink was just a perfect match!  I am a happy camper. Check out Cheryl‘s high-quality offerings here.  (I still need to take an update photo with these beautiful buttons on.)

The aran-weight cashmere blend yarn was harder to work with.  However, it provides a nice, deliciously squishy, dense fabric with a little retro touch.  I love my layering top.    Once again, test-knitting for Anne Lernout (aka atelier alfa) is thrilling and satisfying.

Do you have a favorite knitwear designer?  What do you look for in a design/pattern? 

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

Quiet the Mind

and the soul will speak.

Become aware of the importance of positive feelings and how they can improve my life.

I refuse to be involved with negative thoughts and feelings.

Upon waking up in the morning, i choose to smile and say to myself silently or audibly: “I am gonna have a wonderful day today. It is going to be a happy and successful day. I am going to stay patient and positive in every situation.”

During the day, I visualize for a few moments some life’s happy recollections and situations, a place I enjoyed visiting or being with genuine folks I adore.

When things make me angry, I wait a few seconds before reacting.

When feeling some despair, anger, unhappiness, or frustration, I try not to succumb to these feelings and let them grow.  Visualize something happy, read something that makes me happy, repeat a positive affirmation, or just try to create some happy feeling inside me.  This might not be easy as the negative feeling might be too strong; yet, I do my best…no matter how many times I might fail evoking a positive feeling.  If I persist, I will be able to change my attitude and feelings.

I may not always control the situations in my life, but, I can control and change my attitude and reactions.  Negative attitude and anger will bring negative conditions.  Positive attitude and positive feelings will improve the situation.  You bet they will.

These days, I do try to show some positive feelings toward people that I don’t like.  Granted.  I don’t need to be their friend, but I can stop being negative and allow some feelings of warmth and understanding.  Strangely, I have been surprised at their attitude and reaction toward me.

I read inspiring quotes early in the morning and repeat affirmations throughout the day such as “I am feeling happy and confident.”  ”It is so pleasant to enjoy positive feelings.”  ”I am getting happier and more positive every day.”

Keep away from negative people is the key for me.  If  I must be with them,  I don’t let their state of mind affect me. Try to be somewhat detached toward them. There is no place for their negativity if I keep filling my mind with positive feelings and thoughts.

When I am feeling down, knitting, spinning, and listening to music is great pick-me-up.

Let myself smile more often, even in difficult situations.  The act of smiling tends to clear the mind of worries, even if temporarily, and wins me the sympathy and support of folks around me.

Watching comedies, reading, and watching happy news work magics too.

Find time for meditation. Among its benefits is the ability to filter the feelings and thoughts that enter my mind. It helps me avoid negative feelings and let in positive ones.

After getting into bed at night, I tell myself silently or audibly: “I am going to have a wonderful day tomorrow. It is going to be a happy and successful day. I am going to stay patient and positive in every situation.”

Now that I kinda know how to create positive feelings, I can get creative and find more ideas to create positive feelings in my life.  How do you create positive feelings?

No Fear Shakespeare.  Nymphadora is another close-fitting sweater blouse, designed by Kessanlin, one of a handful designers I test-knit for with frequency.   The gentle gathers, an empire waist, and slightly bell-shaped sleeves are flattering enough for this plump figure.

I love the fun, clever construction.

The yarn isn’t perfect (relating to gauge) but it’s best I managed to meet deadline in a rush, a week before Christmas.  Most disappointing is the shortage of yarn!  Yep, another pet peeve I encountered: Less weight/yardage than labeled. 9 hanks/50g each, I should have 450 grams in all. Yet, I started out 384 grams with 10 grams left in the last hank. This is the worst amount of shortage I’ve ever had–66 grams–a whole hank plus shortage!!!!

I have a couple more of Louise Hardings’ yarn in my stash; after that, I vow never to buy yarn from this company again!  But, then, I love that yarn…maybe I should bring the scale with me and weigh each one of ‘em before buying.  How about that?

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

A Knitting Fast

Day one of my dietary fast was good.  Yes, I had to sneak in a few celery, cucumber, and extra maple syrup intakes throughout the day.   What can I say.  I love food and the hunger pangs is a bear to fan off!

While on the fasting topic, it made me realize–every once in a while–I need to go on a knitting fast too. Some of you may be horrified to hear this.  I did not come to this conclusion easily.  It is certainly not the path of least resistance!

I am a terrible procrastinator and would sit down and knit before I clean or take the dogs and kids out to play.

I put my head into a different space and find stimulation and relaxation in other interests.

It is a shake up of priorities and how I spend my time.

When I see that knitting is becoming more important than my responsibilities and things are going undone, then I ‘ground’ myself for a couple of days so I may re-prioritize.

I have to do the same thing with Facebook, blogs, and Ravelry…though as I write this, the house is a wreck.  I fall into the trap of allowing knitting to be more important than other things I am interested in such as good reading, writing, painting, beading, sewing, etc.

I may be in a unique category…needing to wean off of my attachment to knitting.  It is like a cleansing. I get away from the mindset of my next project, thinking about yarns, etc. etc.

When I come back to knitting, I appreciate it in a whole different way.

I believe it is also good for my body.  Knitting can, overtime, be a source of strain and poor postural habits as so many of us know.

This fasting is not easy…it does take discipline.  A cold turkey fast?  No knitting.  No yarn touching.  No looking at knitted things.  No talking about knitting.  No reading knitting books.  No Ravelry.  No spinning.  No, no, no…I just can’t bare the thought. I am going nuts just thinking about it.  Excuse me, I have to go stroke some cashmere fiber to calm moi down.

Knowing when to stop, look around, and shift gears is part of being well-balanced.  Knitting is such a compulsion. Once developed the obsession, it can absolutely push everything else out of whack.  Yet, it is completely worth it.

With scheduled field trips to Stitchin Post on Thursday and Twisted on Saturday, yarn fasting will have to be delayed…

The seamless, top-down purple sweater Galaxia–shown above–is my latest sweater #12 for this year, another fun design by Vera Sanon.  If you recall, I had to rip 18″ of it out to start over due to gauge misadventure.

I have modified it to a tunic, extended length to neckline and hem in back piece using short-row technique.  The single motif on a sleeve cap and on my hiney–another modification–gives it a playful touch to my lace top.

I couldn’t be happier…Silky Mirasol Nuna is fabulous to handle and wear next to skin.  You will see more of that in my knitwear, for sure.  What’s your favorite yarn for summer knits?

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

Surprise and Delight

It would be redundant for me to say I have gone off the deep end now.

I am well aware of that for quite a long time ago.

Nevertheless…if there’s a deeper end,

…or a way to go farther off it,

then that’s where I have gone…the sweater knitting vortex.

Meet Elda‘s older sister Lepidoptera Hoodie (aka Freya) in MadelineTosh Pashmina.

Another simple, sleek, top-down sweater with my favorite vikkel braid/Estonian bands by Vera Sanon.

I did this test-knit back in September and just realized I’ve not shown her off.

The slip-stitch pattern of the flattering, waist-shaping hoodie is reminiscent of a Nordic wood carving design that may have been used by Vikings.

Unlike the frumpy winter sweaters, Freya makes me feel like a goddess wearing it.

For folks like me, of course, knitting is the best therapy there is.

But where do I turn when I’m stressed by my knitting?

Lately to the rescue…you would find me hanging out at concert halls (and on Facebook…more than I really should.)  If this ain’t good for what ails me, I’m never going to be able to relax…

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

Leisure Art

I hear folks complain about patterns being too complicated, often.  What it really meant was that they want to have a particular end result, but, don’t want to expend any energy learning new skills to get there.

If I don’t enjoy knitting things that are complicated, I don’t knit complicated things.

Another one I don’t quite get is why folks complain about patterns being boring.   Again, if it’s boring to knit, make it interesting or just stop knitting it.

No one is twisting my arm to knit.  I choose to do what’s fun.  It’s a free country.   I don’t feel obligated to finish something that gets boring or that’s hard on my hands to knit.  I can challenge myself, of course.  And do the mindless stuff when I need it.

Isn’t knitting/crafting a “Leisure Art?“

The great thing about living in a free society is that everyone is entitled to express their opinion. Not all are so fortunate.

After all, life’s too short.   IMHO, it’s much more satisfying to enjoy than complain.  Loss and grief will find me sooner or later and make all my petty complaints seem like nothing.

Today, I opt to enjoy what I can while I can.  My complicated and boring knitting may become welcoming companions during times of great sadness.  If I make a choice to do something and feel a complaint starting to emerge, I may instead choose to think “how interesting!” Delight in those things I voluntarily choose to do.  And,  if I can’t, I will venture into something else.

Life wasn’t meant to be easy, my child, but take courage:  it can be delightful!~~George Bernard Shaw, excerpt from “Back to Methuselah”

The cardigan is a modified version of Vera Sanon‘s Elda Cardigan which I renamed “Jennifer Burgess Thompson” in memory of a friend.   It was a way to get me out of silent mourning.  (Here I added short-rows to neck to raise the back piece and crocheted edge all around for the finishing touch.)

The outcome speaks for itself.

Only wish my teen was happier to model it.

The original pattern is fabulous, well written, precise, with diagram and tutorial links.

One thing I love most about testing knitting for Vera is her willingness for modification to suit individual tester.  The yarn shown in sample above is MadelineTosh Tosh Sport.  Me?  I did mine in Premier Serenity Sock Weight.

I love the body drape that the 4-ply, fingering yarn provided and the “firm” textures in the vikkel braid/Estonian bands (fronts, neck, and cuffs) knitted in double-strands.

In winter days, cozy “caves” (aka invisible pockets) are advantageous to keep my hands warm.  Naturally, I knitted a partial toe-up socks two-at-a-time and attached as I went two-third of the pockets to the body.

Normally, you don’t see me gravitate towards Deep Brown (or most brown hues.)  Not in million years.  But, this one caught my attention right away and took me out of my comfort zone.  See? Never say never.

Besides, who would argue with me for knitting up and having a new, hand-knit cardigan for under $20?   Without added modifications, five skeins would have been adequate.  With the changes, the cardigan used 5.75 skeins of the sock yarn or 1316 yards.  I highly recommend Vera‘s Elda Cardigan if you are in the market for a new wardrobe.

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

Got Sock Yarn?

I totally share the feeling of these entertaining ladies. Have a good laugh…courtesy of the Knitknackers.

Come back tomorrow and see what I have finished with my sock yarn.

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

How I Organize the World?

How I organize my life is how I organize the world.

Do I want to take care of the world?

Not exactly.  I just want to take care of my life.

After all, it’s only my world I’m talking about.

My food-for-thought was inspired by Sticks and Stories’ mindful post.  How do you organize your life, your world?

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

Do or Do Not

There is no try.  Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence.  A real decision is measured by the fact that I’ve taken a new action.  If there’s no action, I haven’t truly decided.

Ideas alone don’t bring success.  The habit of putting ideas into action is now.

There is never a right time. I can ‘t wait until condition is perfect or put off tomorrow what I can do today.   The most difficult time to take action is the very first time.  After the ball is rolling, I’ll build confidence and things will keep getting easier.

I know. The longer an idea sits in my head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. However, acting without thinking would make me look like a doer, instead of a thinker. A good idea will grow stronger; stupid ones will go away.  I prefer to wait a week before acting on it.

Instead of stimulating the amount of ideas, I much rather set the target to filtering my ideas internally before polluting the environment.  I will start my creative motor mechanically.  I will sit down and write, put pencil to paper, brainstorm, doodle…By moving my hands, I’ll stimulate the flow of ideas and inspire myself.

I will be a doer, seize the initiative, and live in the present.  Today, I’m taking positive steps to creating a new mind space based on this very solution. Cheers!

The dress coat I mentioned earlier is being dried (will be a long while as it’s heavy, dense…and very cold out.)  It gave me time to think and came up with a solution.

Through a seamstress’ lens, the pocket needs to be relocated from bottom to where the white napkins are placed. But, “How?” you ask. Of course, “steek” and “patchwork,“ I tell you.

Where’s that pair of magic scissors?  lol

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

Thankfulness

I am grateful to folks who make me happy;

They are the charming gardeners who make my soul blossom.

There is indeed something to be thankful for.

I am thankful… ♥¸.°´° ♥.¸¸.•°´°▪♥ღ

I have started a long dress coat shortly before a friend’s passing.

Actually, two coats but in different yarns–presenting two different flavors–at a same time.

It’s very quick to knit up as it is in extra chunky coat and large needles.

After idling for a couple of weeks, I am finally “in the mood” to work on this again.

The other coat will have to wait while some changes are being made to the instruction by the beautiful, creative soul/designer friend Kessa Tay Anlin.  Since I have knitted a great portion of this one a couple of times, I am going to approach a “fix” in a lazy manner.  Stay tuned while I milk over the plan and strategy.

What are you thankful for, today?

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)