Monday 24 November 2014

Channelling Sally Field

"And I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!" - Sally Field, Oscar Acceptance Speech, 1985  (photo from http://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/057-3/
I feel like I need to put on a black strapless dress (if I owned one...) and channel Sally.  Someone read my blog and nominated me for an award.  It's a Liebster award to acknowledge little-known blogs and to share voices in the blogosphere.  Thanks to Jodiebodie at Lupey Loops   for nominating my little blog here.  Liebster means "dearest" or "Friend" in German, according to her website info.  Well summarized - go there to check it out!

There are rules and steps to follow.  I am a rule-follower, so I will do my best to follow along.  First, questions to be answered:
1. Why do you keep a blog?

I started blogging as a way to keep track of my creative efforts, and to have a way to look back at my projects with more comments than I want to leave on Ravelry. 

2. How did you decide upon your blog name?
I make a lot of mistakes.  Some are due to my laziness with swatching (I'm working on it), and my tendency to knit while doing other things like watching tv, watching kids' sports activities (because, let's face it, watching soccer practice and swim lessons is like watching paint dry).  I frog a lot, and reknit a lot. 

3. What is/are your favourite creative pursuit(s)* or hobbies?
I knit.  I scrapbook sporadically.  I read.  I run.  I cook. 

4. How has technology affected your creative pursuit(s) and hobbies?
I spend far too much time looking at what others are doing and not enough time doing.  I'm inspired by the planning stage of craft - the choosing of a pattern, the purchase of yarns, and looking at other people's versions.  This allows me to find more ideas online, but also to spend too much time planning and not enough time acting on the plan.

5. What has been your favourite creative project so far?
My children?!!

6. What are your favourite colours?
Gray.

7. What are your favourite clothes?
Warm sweaters.  Tunics and leggings.

8. What's your preference: indoor or outdoor?
Indoor when the temperature is less than 20 degrees Celsius.  I live in Canada, so indoor it is!

9. What are your current reads?
Just finished "This is Where I leave You".  Hilarious.  Reading "A Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes for a book club.  Not so hilarious.

10. If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?
Brene Brown.  Brilliant.
11. What are your plans for 2015?
To spend more time on the doing and less time on the planning (See above), more time on the process and less time counting the products.  I hate keeping score, keeping track, keeping up.  My professional life is full of deadlines, trying to not impose them on my hobbies and creative outlets. 
Next, blogs to nominate.  These are to be small, independent blogs that have a small readership.  This eliminates corporate blogs, blogs with large readerships, and the like.  I am a bit awkward reaching out... my introverted self enjoys the "admire from afar" nature of blogging, but here goes:

"Breathing Life" - thoughtful, emotional, and a bit of knitting too at http://mary-mann.blogspot.ca

"Yarn Enabler" - check out the socks!  The kids!  so cute! at http://yarnenabler.com

"Stitch Boom Bang" - Cosby Hats!  Lots of references to pop culture in the knitting, stitching, and blog in general.  Check it out at http://stitchboombang.wordpress.com/

I read more, but many are already well known so I won't mention them here (see my sidebar).


The questions are the ones I answered above:
1. Why do you keep a blog?


2. How did you decide upon your blog name?

3. What is/are your favourite creative pursuit(s)* or hobbies?

4. How has technology affected your creative pursuit(s) and hobbies?

5. What has been your favourite creative project so far?

6. What are your favourite colours?

7. What are your favourite clothes?

8. What's your preference: indoor or outdoor?

9. What are your current reads?

10. If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?


11. What are your plans for 2015?

This ends the longest post I've done so far!




Saturday 1 November 2014

two steps forward....

My Amanda sweater continues to frustrate me.  This is my own doing, not the pattern or the yarn.  I missed the "at the same time, make a buttonhole" part of the ribbing instructions.  Ripped out about 1.5 inches of ribbing to go back and make a buttonhole.  Back to the ribbing I go....