Camp Loopy progress for Project 3

He wouldn't stay off the blanket so he got to be in the picture.

I started crocheting the afghan above on August 1st for my third Camp Loopy project. It was going really well and I even ordered more yarn but by last Thursday evening I was starting to lose interest. I like the pattern. I like the yarn. But at some point I started wondering if it was the best present for my brother's family. And as my husband lovingly pointed out, "What makes you think they need another blanket?" I know they would appreciate the time spent and the thought behind the gift but would it become just another thing they'd have to store?

I measured it on myself and knew it would require a lot more time and yarn and decided to put the afghan in time out. I still needed a Camp Loopy project though. Good thing I ordered a sweater's worth of orange yarn.

Last Friday I cast on this sweater for myself. The body knit up quickly. The pocket took some time but is now attached to the body. I love how this pocket was made and may add it to different sweater patterns. The sleeve is taking forever. I started the sleeve Tuesday evening and it's still not done. I need both sleeves complete as they get attached to the sweater and then the yoke is worked. I still have about 4 inches left to knit of the body before the sleeves are attached so I have some time to finish them.

Shannon of Very Shannon also started her annual Summer Sweater KAL on July 30th. It runs until September 24th. I joined in. I hope to finish the orange sweater for myself, the Dundurn for my mom and this play sweater I started for the Little Guy. It's all made in one piece starting from the bottom front, stitches are added on for the sleeves, cast off in the middle for neck opening and then stitches are decreased for the back. It's a relatively quick knit. Hopefully I can get all 3 sweaters complete.

Writing Wednesday

This Zinnia has nothing to do with writing. It's just pretty. Picture taken at the Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor.

It's been a while since I did a post about writing. I've written a lot about reading. Reading is supposed to be helpful and encouraged for an aspiring writer but I've been ignoring writing. I always have plenty of excuses. Kids are home for the summer. I have a toddler. I'm not getting enough sleep to think clearly. But plenty of other writers have lives way more hectic than mine and manage to write and publish. My excuses are lame. 

As usual, I've been thinking about writing a lot this summer. I've written down several novel ideas. Looked at some of my poetry to see if it is any good and started rereading my first NaNoWriMo novel that is over 70,000 words but still not finished. Writing, it turns out, is much like every other creative thing I do. Once I get close to finishing something or get to a boring part I want to move on. Start something new. Knitters call it startitis. Some people call it procrastination. It's basically how I live my life and it can be pretty frustrating sometimes. 

I've gotten better about forcing myself to do the chores I dislike (such as cleaning the bathroom) because no one else will. I can force myself to knit sleeves... usually. And I can get fabric ironed and cut for a quilt if the music is loud enough and the kids aren't around. But force myself to write? I haven't been able to do that yet outside of NaNoWriMo. I keep thinking I need to be inspired but who goes to work everyday inspired? If this is my job, I need to write. 

But write what? I could rewrite "Lucy". Finish writing that first NaNoWriMo novel. I could polish and submit some of my poetry. Or I could start something new. All of those options scared me. 

And then I received the fortune above. "A good time to start something new". How's that for an answer? So starting something new is exactly what I'm going to do. I've been playing with an idea and expanding on it for a month. I'm almost ready to start writing. I need to do a little more brainstorming but I have some idea of the direction the story will go. I've never written a novel outside of NaNoWriMo before and I'm a little nervous but excited. It will be nice to give the novel the time it needs and not feel rushed. I can waste a day rereading and tinkering what I've written because there is no deadline at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to this challenge. And if I decide I'd rather be doing something else, I have plenty of other options waiting for me.

One hour of Quilting Time

Yesterday afternoon everything came together for me to get one hour of quilting time. The baby napped and Joseph took the other two kids to the library for a craft. I was left home alone. At first I panicked trying to decide what I should work on. I eventually decided to do some quilting.

Wednesday night I had done myself a favour by staying up late to clean off my desk. And yes, that is clean. I even set out a project with the mini-charm pack I bought at the quilt show a couple weeks ago so I had something to start with.

I started my hour with sewing the mini-charm pack together. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with it. I bought it to make a gift but I don't know whether I should give it borders and make it a table runner/placemat or use insul-bright so it can be used as a hot pad.

Another evening last week, I took these 4 border strips and started taking them apart into half-square triangle blocks. The quilt they were supposed to go on didn't end up very square since I had made the blocks over several years but kept them knowing I would use them eventually. 

I decided over a year ago to use the blocks as part of a Rebel Flock quilt. I've wanted to make this quilt for several years now. I picked the green and purple to be used in the middle but that might change.

4 rows done. I have enough of the blue/yellow blocks made up from the border to finish the quilt. Just need to finalize the fabric for the middle blocks.

The rest of the hour was spent sewing squares together for a charity quilt. I started this quilt as part of the Graph Paper QAL but the host decided to stop the QAL so she could spend more time with her kids this summer since she didn't have a lot of people participating. I am continuing on as the QAL was the motivation I needed to start making some charity quilts from all my scraps.

Close up of the bin of pairs. If I was a good quilter I'd iron all of these before sewing the pairs together into 4 patches but I don't think I will. Deciding whether I want to make 8 x8 or 16 x 16 blocks. 

The family and I went to the Botanical Gardens yesterday evening and I thought other quilters might enjoy the name of this cactus as much as I did. I don't think I'd want it on my desk though.

Around the Web with a Cup of Tea

Here are some of the interesting things I found on the internet this week. Enjoy.

I really like this post by Jacquie Gering about floating blocks in quilts. I think I should give this a try.

Another fun quilting idea are these smiling hexagons by Wild Olive. It makes me very tempted to try English Paper Piecing.

And yet another quilting thing I stumbled upon this week (can you tell I want to get back into quilting) is this series by Clover & Violet. I love it so far. I should join.

This is probably the neatest knitted thing I've ever seen.

And Stacey designs some great crocheted animals. Maybe I should join her next Mystery CAL?

My mom is a little confused by Pinterest so I thought she might enjoy this Guide to Pinterest for Writers. Hope that helps.

And if this Sunday series becomes a permanent part of the blog I think it is only to legitimize my surfing the web during the week. ;)

More Yarned Twigs

I finished knitting this little guy a couple weeks ago and made him a place to perch.

I painted the background then sewed the branch to it. He now lives on our wall. I really like him and wanted to make a whole bunch more but forced myself to work on other projects instead. My passion for these are waning only because I feel there are so many other things I should be doing instead. I love looking up and seeing this guy though.

Sticks I've collected with the two I wrapped earlier waiting to be used.

I wrapped this branch, made some leaves and an owl for it but still need to put it all together. I painted this background as well. 

This is such a simple fun activity. I really like knitting the owls too. 

Books to Read in August

The first Wednesday of every month I'll highlight some of the recent books I've borrowed from my local library and hope to read this month. I've also come to realize that I have a lot of great books sitting on my shelves at home and am going to commit to reading at least one of those a month, too. The little guy keeps taking my books (he's wrecked two) and running around with them.  I need to read them before he wrecks more.

August has already been a busy reading month for me. I've finished reading these two the past week and read a whole novel yesterday. Both of the above were interesting (and couldn't be renewed so I had to read them). I'll write more about them at the end of August reading post.

The winner of the Man Booker Prize last year. This is a big novel which might make it difficult to read and nurse at the same time. I do a lot of my reading while nursing the little guy.

I requested the one on the left and can't renew it. Looks interesting (and short). I stumbled upon the Women Poets on the new bookshelf and am looking forward to reading some of it. 

A couple writing books I've had checked out from the library for too long. Need to read them and return them.

One of the nominees for this year's Man Booker Prize.

I also have some crafty books out as well. This is by Anna Hrachovec who taught the yarn twig workshop that my daughter and I went to last month. Some really interesting creatures in here. This one might go on my Amazon wish list.

This book is pretty good too. Trying to decide if there's only a few patterns I'd like to photocopy or if this is a book I should buy as well.

A quilting book. I've definitely been feeling the urge to do more quilting lately. I've missed the thinking time I have when doing chain piecing. It's nice to lose track of time while sewing pieces together with the hum of the sewing machine blocking out everything else. I've been working on clearing off my desk which has become a catch-all pile this summer. Hope to find my machine and use it by the end of this week.

This is probably my favourite pattern in the book. Not surprised really.

This book I actually bought as it is highly unlikely to arrive at the library. It's a lovely book with lots of great patterns. You can find the author's blog at Never Not Knitting.

This one is my favourite pattern and the reason I had to buy it. The tree on the back is hidden until you put the hood on. Love that. I really want to knit myself a jacket not just a cardigan.

Lovely detail on this cardigan. 

Love the leaf on the back and pockets of this cardigan.

And there's not just cardigans in the book, there are hats and other accessories as well. I particularly like this scarf. 

What are you planning to read this month? 

Around the Web with a cup of Tea

I probably spend too much time surfing the web, looking at pinterest and reading blogs during the week. Here's a few of the interesting things I've found this week.

I love the Muppets and they've started a new web series. 

On Ravelry someone linked to a video of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot) knitting. It's crazy fast. I think I want to learn how to knit like that.

These pierogies look yummy. I think I might try to make them.

Love this bird print.

I really enjoyed this post by Elise. She also does a weekly links post which gave me the idea for this one. 

I also liked this writing post. 

When Pinterest first started, I went on it a lot. Then people got upset about everyone not getting the credit they deserved and I stopped using it. I recently decided to start using it again as things have improved and I've been enjoying it. You can find my boards here. My sister's joined too and her boards can be found here. Lots of good stuff out there.