Logjam or Time

While Connor and I were hiking the other day we had a great conversation about the different projects were were interested in. I've got a million ideas, like usual, and felt frustrated about how I couldn't ever get to all of them. Connor lamented the lack of time he has for his projects. We then realized that there are really only two reasons a project isn't finished: Either you have a logjam or there is a time problem.

The Logjam: Mum uses this word when there is something in the way of completing a project. For example, if the house isn't clean, the logjam might be something big like you don't know where to start, or something small like you ran out of bleach. I think that with creative projects, it is more often that you don't know how to move forward rather than you don't have the right tool. One of the biggest reasons (although not the only reason) that I spent years not putting my daily comic online was because I had no idea how to create the website I wanted for it. I feel that most of these issues can be resolved by breaking project down into smaller bites, doing research, or enlisting some help. In the case of the comic website, I realized that I was never going to be able to get the calendar to work the way I wanted it to. It was beyond me. I enlisted Connor and my father to figure it out, which they did quite successfully.

Time: Connor told me that the reason he has not worked on his project because he hasn't scheduled the time for it. We realized that most people figure there will be time for a project eventually. The good old, "I'll get to it one day." I know this to not be true. If I don't chip a little bit away at a project each day, it never gets done. I've started to multitask to get some particularly boring bits of the comic project done. In the morning when I'm eating breakfast, I've started to edit my comics rather than browse the internet. I usually get an extra page edited per day if I do that.

So what have I done in order to get some of my projects to the finish line? Well, today I finally got around to taking pictures of the Peeta Socks for my Dad.

Not everyone I showed was convinced that these looked like Dad socks, but my Dad was thrilled. Proper amounts of ooing and ahhing were done.

I've turned the heel of the Primavera sock. I just need to schedule some time to sit down and pick up the stitches for the gusset. The Denature socks are getting the odd round done when I'm in the car.

Connor's Dude Sweater is getting closer and closer to being done. I successfully stepped the sweater, but realized that the facing I was planning for it wasn't going to work because it wasn't compatible with the collar. The sweater sat for a few days as I tried to move past my logjam and work out how to proceed. I think I've got an idea of what to do now. Although it won't be as perfect as I had envisioned, I think it will still look quite nice when I am done.

So what prevents all of you from completing projects? Is it a logjam, time, or are there more reasons out there?

Persistently Talented

The other day I was painting with a friend and I was given a compliment: I was told I was "talented." It's funny, because I didn't think so. Besides being far from where I would like to be, I knew that the way I paint now is because of the amount of time I've spent on it. I've poured over books on lighting and composition, I've invested in good materials, and I have put the brush to paper many times over. I know that with art, it is really easy to believe that someone is inherently good at it and overlook the amount of time spent on the craft. It is my belief that no one is really talented, people are just persistent... although there may be those who's fine motor skills develop a little faster. After thinking on the idea of talent, I wanted to find a way to prove that it is persistence and not talent that creates great works of art.

I've devised a little experiment to prove my hypothesis which is to learn to write with a non-dominant hand. The idea behind it was to get good at something no one starts off proficient at but everyone is capable of with practice. I know that no one ever really says, "You can write? You are so talented." But if we can get our non-dominate hand to write, it means we can get it to draw. To start off Connor and I are now both writing out the alphabet once each day with our non-dominant hand.  It has already been quite interesting. Both of us found that we were trying to use our whole arm to move the pen rather than the wrist at first. I also noticed that the muscles in my non-dominate hand are not nearly as strong as my dominant hand. I'm not sure where the experiment will end, but I think it will be interesting to see if we can eventually write with both hands.

My letters are on the left, Connor's are on the right. The first alphabet on the page was done with our dominant hand as a control.

I told my Mum what we were up to and she laughed. Something about, "As if you didn't have enough projects going on." Mum might be right. I'm working on my second skein for Tour de Fleece. I'm entirely sure I won't finish this one by the end of it, but I'll be close. I've finished the first bobbin and am a third of the way through the second.

Wonderland Dyeworks 80/20 Merino/Tussah Silk in Coral Reef

I was so excited by my first skein for this year's Tour de Fleece that I already cast on. The pattern is called Primavera. It was written for a 66 stitch sock, but is easily adapted to the 54 stitch sock I am making.

I'm achingly close to finishing my Dad's Peeta Socks. I just have weave in ends and block them. It will happen, I'm just a bit more enthralled with the Primavera socks at the moment.

The Dude Sweater is also growing quite a bit. I am at the point where I need to join the sleeves to the body. It is going to require some concentration that I just haven't had for the last few days, so it will sit a wee bit longer.

So what do you all think? Is talent something you just have or is it something you develop?

Tour De Fun

Hello friends! It has been a rather productive week here at the Bear Ears house, but maybe more importantly, it was a fun week. I finished up my skein of Cider House from Greenwood Fiberworks. It came out to 250 yards, which is the same as the last time I spun a braid of Greenwood Fiberworks. I remember wanting that skein to have more yardage just like I wish this skein had a bit more yardage. Maybe it is the fiber and not me? It sure is pretty, though.

I didn't expect to finish the braid of Cider House before the end of Tour De Fleece, so it was a great surprise that I might be able to spin something else. I've pulled out two braids of Wonderland Dyeworks' 80/20 Merino/Tussah Silk in the Coral Reef color way. 

This time around I'm aiming for a DK/Worsted weight two ply. I've made a great start. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll have a second skein by the end of the tour.

Meanwhile, I've kept up on my knitting. Connor and I have been watching Vikings. It is interesting enough that I can't work on anything that requires looking down, but my hands were getting itchy so I found that the many rounds of stockinette in the Dude Sweater kept them happy. I'm at the next stretch of color work though, and I'm a little intimidated. It took me a few days to get though the color work when I was doing it on the sleeves. The sweater body is three times the size of a sleeve... 

Dad's Peeta Sock is also growing. I have found myself in the car pretty often. Although the car rides aren't very long, a few rounds here and there really add up.

Connor and I have also been playing the odd round of Scrabble. I think I mentioned last time that turns can last a while, so it didn't take many games to finish the latest lavender sachet embroidery. I've now got three embroideries waiting to be sewn up. I think I might wait until I finish the sweater body that will need to be steeked before dragging the sewing machine out.

Is anyone else joining in on the fun with Tour De Fleece? Leave a link, I'd love to see your lovely skeins.

A Study In Socks And Sweater

I was really impressed to see Woollenwild's three pairs of socks that she finished on her vacation. I wish I could report that I had as much success, but I think I actually came back with less sock than I left with. I ended up ripping out the leg of my Big O socks because I didn't like how thick and solid the green looked on the second sock. Ah well. After getting home I powered through and finished them up. I'm really pleased with how they look.

I didn't want to ruin the color progression of the sock blank, so I used the other end of the blank to knit a contrasted heel. Of course the opposite end of the blank locks up when you pull at it, so I had carefully rolled a little ball of yarn for the heel. I ran out partway through the second heel and ended up with a huge tangle. Ooops. For those of you who desperately need a pair of socks like this, I used Gale's Art Single Sock Blank (not the double sock blank) in The Big O color way.

I've also been working hard on my Father's socks. One down, one to go. I'm enjoying the Peeta Sock pattern, but I'm also pretty sure that every pair of socks is going to feel fast after this pair. In addition to having long feet, Dad has a tall instep, which means I get to knit an extra tall heel and extra long gusset. Knitting such giant socks has put me off of casting on a new pair for two reasons. 1) I'm getting my fill of sock knitting with this pair and 2) If I cast on a new pair, I'd probably put off knitting the second sock. But just having one project on the needles wasn't enough for me...

So I'm knitting a sweater! I saw mrs_kndy's Dude Sweater on instagram and immediately thought to myself, I'll bet Connor would look good in that. And after all, we had just watched the Big Lebowski. (My second viewing, but Connor's first.) A quick text confirmed his interest. Connor responded with an enthusiastic, "I abide!" I didn't have the yarn I needed for the sweater (a shocker, I know), but after two trips to two different shops, we were able to get what we needed. I'm having a great time knitting this; I'm almost done with the second sleeve!

Well, before I sign off on today's post, I have to make a confession. Before I left for vacation, I bought some yarn. I couldn't help myself. Lisa at White Birch Fiber Arts had a double gradient sock yarn available and I had to have it. The color way is called Study In Peach, Mint. Although, because I was going to be gone for ten days, I asked her if she could delay shipping, which she kindly did. It arrive the day after I got back. 

Happiness is a skein of sock yarn

Is anyone else have a yarn confession?

Accidental On Purpose Sock Matching

I'm still knitting away on socks. I'm happy to report that the Peeta socks are going well. I've had my Dad try them on twice and it looks like it is the right size for him. (Phew!) Although as I'm knitting, I keep feeling like they are giant. They are much wider than I would knit for myself.

I'm entirely sure I don't have enough yarn for both socks, so my plan is to use another color for the heel/toe. It turns out that was easier said than done. Despite my robust sock yarn stash, I had trouble finding a color that I liked alongside Abstract's Alfalfa color way. I've narrowed it down to either this skein of Malabrigo Sock in the Chocolate Amargo color way or Whimsical Colors Silk Whimsy in the Darkened Forest color way. Any thoughts, fellow knitters?

Left: Malabrigo Sock in the Chocolate Amargo color way; Right:Whimsical Colors Silk Whimsy in the Darkened Forest color way

I've also continued on with my The Big O sock, although it's only seen action while I've been sitting in the passenger seat of the car. It's also looking more and more like this pair is going to match. I can't begin to tell you all how hard I tried not to have them match. It just so happened that when I finished the first sock, I finished the color progression. 

Ok, ok, in the interest of full disclosure, I DID rip out two rows of the sock blank to make the socks match. But having two socks that almost match is far worse than having two socks that don't match at all.

I've also finished weaving another scarf. This one was supposed to be for me, but after finishing I wasn't sure the colors were "me." Connor was quite happy to lay claim to this scarf.

Spun Right Round Merino Worsted in the Holy Crow color way 

No Moss On This Rolling Stone

It's been another busy week at the Bear Ears household. Connor and I have been working hard to get the daily comic site up and running. It's been quite a job, but we have split up responsibilities and are making lots of progress. One of the things we successfully managed to do was get the banner to line up correctly on the site. (It was a feat, I assure you.) I'm not sure when we will be ready to show everything off, but I think that this year will be the year I finally have a daily comic website.

I've only been talking about having a daily comic website since 2010...

Of course that is not all that has been going on. This past weekend we celebrated a friend's birthday. We hiked, picnicked, and painted. I hadn't touched my gouache paints since last July. It's silly really, but I had painted a hideous painting, lost my confidence, then switched to watercolor because I couldn't bare to try with gouache again. Well, this time around I decided that I wasn't going to tape the edges to make it nice, I was just going to paint and if it was ugly, it was ugly. It ended up turning out quite nice, so I'm a bit sad that I didn't make the edges nice and straight.

I decided to paint a smaller composition rather than a whole landscape. I think that helped me from being too overwhelmed to try again.

I've also managed to finish my Haleakala Socks that have been on the needles since January. It's funny, when I cast them on I immediately didn't feel like knitting them because I just wanted to knit good old vanilla socks. What finally got them knit was the fact that I wanted to wear them. Of course it is too hot to wear them now, but they are ready for when the weather cools again.

I have also woven another scarf. I think woven scarves are going to be a constant theme in the blog for a while: I'm clearly obsessed. When I took the class in February with Deborah Jarchow, she talked about how she could do a scarf in an evening. I thought that was crazy talk, but on my third scarf, I was able to do it in an evening. I was sore afterwards, so I might not try to do that again...

So, what projects could I possibly be working on now? Well, my The Big O socks are moving along quite well. The first sock practically knit itself and now I'm on to the second. I did have to get creative with the heel. I didn't want to lose the lovely color progression that was going down the leg, so I took some yarn from the other end of the sock blank to knit in a heel flap.

I've also cast on another sock. This pattern is called Peeta Socks and I'm using Abstract Fiber O'Keefe in the Alfalfa color way. The pattern is heavily charted, so I haven't gotten too far since all my brain cells are being used on the comic website. It's still nice to have a slightly more complicated pattern on the needles.

I've already mentioned scarf weaving, but I couldn't end a post without showing off what I've got on the loom now. I'm using the yarn I bought at The Black Squirrel: Spun Right Round's Merino Worsted in Holy Crow. I'd seen 783Nora's Cosmic Wonder Dust Scarf on ravelry and knew I wanted to weave a scarf with speckled yarn. Mine is a bit different because I'm using worsted weight and she used fingering, but it is still looking pretty neat.

Whew! I can't believe all that got worked on in the last week. I've been highly productive and I hope I can keep it up. Despite the great momentum, that little voice in the back of your head that tells you that you aren't good enough has moved from being an occasional thought to a constant, loud shout. I've been drowning it out by listening to the Your Creative Push podcast. I highly recommend it. If you don't know where to start, I quite liked episode 203 and 220.

Does anyone else have any strategies to keep that "your not good enough" voice at bay?

See That Girl, She's A Knit Machine

This last month's worth of posts have all been about finished knitting. I really wish I had some adventures to talk about, but all my time has been eaten up by work (tis the season of the retail worker), The Book stuff, and gift knitting. My room is officially a designated factory zone. I finished the silk hankie sample for work. Rav page is here. It's made of two Abstract Fiber silk hankies. Colors are Smith Rock and Hopworks. If I were to keep it, I'd use it as a wide headband.

I finished my Rock Island shawl. I was ready to give it away as a present. But the more I looked at it, the harder it got to imagine it not being with me. So I'm keeping it.

It has more to do with who gave me the yarn than being a greedy knitter. Also, I had plenty of yarn left over. Even though the shawl is knit from the bottom-up and each row gets shorter, I was sure I was going to be short until I was 10 rows from the end. I did take AC's advice and knit it faster. Because, as all knitters know, if you knit faster, you won't run out of yarn.

I bought a skein of Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace in Purple to make a replacement gift. It will be a different pattern, which I'll stay silent on for now. I'm waiting on some beads to show up on my doorstep before I cast on.

So in the meantime I've cast on a different gift knit. The yarn is Curious Creek Fibers Wasonga in the Emerald City colorway. It's a shawl. But again, I'll keep quiet about the specifics on the blog for now.

In other news, I've ordered yarn for the last pattern for The Book. I spent quite a bit of time on Wednesday making different charts for different sizes. I'll be measuring my brother, who will be modeling, when he comes home in a few days. All going well, knitting will commence in the next week or so. Just call me the knit machine. (For some reason, I have the ABBA tune Dancing Queen in my head when I see the words Knit Machine.)

Maelstrom Of Rock Island

I now have a maelstrom of lace. The Rock Island edging is finally finished and I spent the afternoon picking up the edging and knitting the beginning of the body of the shawl. I'm embarrassed to admit, despite my knitting experience, I might run out of yarn. It seems to be disappearing a bit faster than I'd like. I do have a backup plan. I'll just bind off the shawl when I run out of yarn and it will just have a triangular divot.... you know, to fit the neck better.

I finished the first Skyp sock as well. It's lovely. Only after I finished this sock did I notice that Claire has released a sock pattern related to Puck called "Lord, What Fools." This yarn, colorway Puck's Mischief, would have be so appropriate. But I suppose Puck is so mischievous he decided he wanted to be a Skyp sock instead.

I've started a new project as well. I'm making a shop sample of the silk hankie cowl after participating in a workshop lead by Susan Stambaugh of Abstract Fiber. Knitting with mawata (silk hankies) is an interesting technique and I'm glad to have learned it. The red hankie colorway is Smith Rock. The more brown one is Hopworks.

As for the Rimu I bought last week. It's already been knit up into a secret baby shower gift. I'll be gifting it on Sunday, so I'll hold off on pictures just in case the recipient is spying on this blog.