Birthdays, Traditions, and Gifts

When I was little my grandmother had this tradition that I always loved.  Whenever any of us kids had a birthday there would always be a stack of presents wrapped in newspaper comics...that were not for the birthday child.  Long before the idea of goodie bags, she kept drawer stocked with coloring books, crayons, and trinkets specifically so that everyone would have something to unwrap.  So that every child had a reason to feel excited and special.

Today is my birthday.  For various reasons it is generally not ever a day I'm super thrilled with.  And this close to the end of the year, I could easily get bogged down in how hard the last twelve months have been.  But I have to acknowledge the good.  That just in my life, all of this pain, angst, and worry has been tempered with weird quirks of fate, random luck, and the generosity of strangers.  I feel a need to continue the tradition of my grandmothers and give back in whatever little ways I can.

So, today I'd like to give you something.  From now until noon eastern time tomorrow you can get any one of my patterns for free with code "birthdayblahs".  And I hope that in some way, this will brighten your day a bit.

In which few things turn out the way I expect.

Yeah, about that…

Beyond being one of the basic facts of life, the unexpected has definitely gone a long way toward being the theme for this year.  So, I suppose I should not have been surprised when fate (and a wasp; long story) cancelled my Halloween plans.

Today was to be a short trek across the autumnal decorated countryside, followed by a much anticipated and very much needed visit with friends.  Instead, it has become a quiet day hobbling around at home, windows full of gloom, dreary skies, and a threat of snow.  I can’t say that I am happy about this development, but I am working my way towards content.

Though the air is too cold and damp to carry the essence of crisp fall leaves, the scent of yeasty bread dough and pumpkin roasting in my kitchen sort of make up for it.  I am rounding out the day working with some lovely fiber, maybe a bit of sewing, and then snuggling up in a spooky blanket with my e-reader.

All in all, the day has not been anywhere near as festive as I’d wanted, but it has been good nonetheless.  Here’s hoping your day is/was fun, entertaining, or at the very least, peaceful.

Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain everyone!

All is Fleeting

Have you ever had a project turn out exactly as you’d envisioned? 
I had no idea how that felt until now.

Introducing, Fleeting!

Inspired by all the things I love most about the spring season, Fleeting came about from a bit of autumnal reminiscing about fallen spring flower blossoms.

I knew from the very beginning the exact yarn I wanted for this shawl.  Which is an odd occurrence for me, as deciding on a color is often one of my biggest challenges to starting a project.  Usually by the time I’m halfway through with whatever I am creating, I’ve already decided on half a dozen colors that I want to make another one in.

But not with this project.

I was absolutely set on it being a pale cream, with tones of almost grey to create the necessary shadows.  And I still cannot picture it in anything else.

So, tell me, dear reader, what color/shade/fiber would you use for this shawl?


a Rafflecopter giveaway
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When "Ends Justifies The Means" Gets Craftily Literal

I am a knitter from way back.  No, really.  My grandmother taught me to knit when I was eight and that was....well, it was a while ago, okay? 

I was always fairly quick with regards to the actual stitching, but I was also a kid with an insanely short attention span. The cool thing about that was, by the time I'd finally finished being (repeatedly) sidetracked, I'd have forgotten how to finish the project in question. Again. Which sounds bad (it wasn't), and also like I might've been doing it on purpose (I really didn't). So, I'd take my knitted whatever to my grandma's, ask her for help, and she'd use my project to show me how to bind off. And also sew in my ends for me. Which, looking back, might very well have been why I never paid much attention to the finishing thing in the first place. Because even then, and despite the fact that I already loved sewing, I loathed the working in of ends.

Which leads me to now. And my current project. And the utter insanity that has caused me to design something that has a hundred and fifty bajillion billion* ends to sew in. The project in question, I can't actually tell you about, at least not yet. I can let you look at the pretty yarn though!

 

Pictured, Pretty Yarn (lol)

Anyway, I always think about my grandma a bit when I am doing any crafting, knitting or gardening especially.  With this though, I've thought of her every time I've even looked at my project bag.  And the thing is, the thoughts and feelings that arise are usually nostalgic; sometimes happy, sometimes sad, often bittersweet...but that's okay.

What is less okay, is how much this project is making me really wonder about the difficulty of necromancy (or perhaps ghost raising).  Would it be worth the zombification of grandma to have someone else to sew in all these hated ends for me?
I'm beginning to think so.

*possibly exaggerated, slightly