Testing, testing, 123...

Do I still want to blog? Entirely unsure.  Do people still read these? Also still unsure.

Hmmmm.

Challenge 105

What did I just do???

Alright, I was looking and looking and looking for a Stich & Bitch or Mommies Night or something in town. I live on an Air Force base, and there is an Arts & Crafts center. They have knitting, but only during the day. I went to check them out this evening just to see what the place was like, and I signed myself up to teach knitting and crocheting!

They actually pay people to teach the classes, which made me laugh to think they would pay me. I consider myself an "experienced beginner" as in I have been starting knitting projects for a couple of years now. I am getting a bit of stage fright at the thought of it now though, because of all the knitting I haven't done. I've never knitted a whole sock, I've only finished a basic shawl, I have never actually blocked my knitting. My crocheting is passable, but I don't do a ton of it. :(

But the lady didn't ask me for references. I said "I could probably teach" and then she handed me the paper work.  I hope that I can get along well enough on kindness, patience, and the fact that I can figure out about anything I don't already know. Wish me luck!

My Mission Statement

The following was developed through my time reviewing 7 Habits for Highly Effective People. The lines in italics are attributed to Ben Franklin.


I will bring a sense of pro-activity to my home and my work.

Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

 I will treat myself and others with dignity. I will teach my children integrity.

Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

I will cultivate an inner sense of tranquility.

Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Another Test Post

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Am I a bad reader if I skip over paragraphs of scenery just to get to the plot? I was doing that quite a bit in this book. I liked following the characters through the story and watching how their choices and actions shaped their future. But, I never cared about them enough to cry when bad things happened to them.

That being said, I will likely read the next book in the trilogy.

View all my reviews >>

Test Paste from my Goodreads Reviews

quality="high" wmode="transparent"
FlashVars="id=3250074&shelf=read&title=Desirae_nicole's bookshelf: read&host=www.goodreads.com&sort=date_added&order=d&params=amazon,,dest_site,">

Desirae_nicole's bookshelf: read




More of Desirae_nicole's books »

During Naptime

My husband and I generally enjoy Elise's very long nap times. That kid can knock out 3 hours if we let her. On Saturday mornings, when she is down for her first nap, the husband and I can be found staring into our computer monitors. Sitting at my desk is one of the few things that cannot be accomplished while Elise is awake. And while I do have a few hours of homework set before me this weekend, I am not doing homework.

I am escaping into my blogs. My husband, playing computer games. Me - blogs. My friends for now. My husband asked what I was looking at and it can be summed up in 2 words: kids and crafts. Often both at the same time. I'll add my blogroll up here eventually, but I can spend hours reading about what other parents are doing or what other people are creating. I'm inspired, but I always feel as if I couldn't accomplish the same things. I intend to change that depressing thought process. I can be a creator.

I think I need to start simple. For some reason I tend to avoid "planned" crafts. Why would I want to make something from a pattern. Just to have a copy of what someone else has already thought up? Why cross stitch - it's just creating a picture out of thread. It's got no creativity to it! Why knit something from a pattern - it's just a repetitive motion and a skill of pattern reading. Why should I work so hard to make a copy of someone else's ideas?

But, I am drawn so much to the thought of creation! But, maybe this pull for being so unique is just too much work. I need to quiet my inner critic for now. Just create, just enjoy. I think that my own uniqueness will start to show through with time.

14 more weeks....

Not like I am counting or anything. har har.

I was surprised at work this morning to find myself headed to a 7 Habits for Highly Successful People seminar. It's been nice to have some focused time on what I want. For the past several months I've been in a "this is it?" slump. I've got a job that challenges me, a loving husband who is equal in parenting and household responsibilities, a beautiful daughter. Yet I am somehow unfulfilled and unfocused.

I feel like I am somehow losing the race. Like I have a destination in mind and I should have been there by now. We spent time today looking inward to define what a successful life is - not about money or objects, but about what people will have to say about you when you are 80, what accomplishments you will have shared with the world. I came away from the lesson with a few concepts that I have been neglecting.

First - I want to CREATE. Anything. I want to knit/crochet/quilt/scrapbook/write or contribute to a computer program. All of the above. I want to be known as someone who creates.

Second - I want to COMMUNICATE with others. I have a pretty stagnant social life. I talk to my husband and my co-workers. That's basically it. How sad. I reached out to a few old good friends tonight to open lines of communication. I'm hopeful that we can rekindle friendships. My other plan is to become active in some sort of group related to an interest - reading, knitting, mothering. It's scary to try new things, but I have got to broaden my horizons.

16 weeks to sanity...

I have about 16 weeks left of my online college courses. I hope that once my classes are completed I will be returning here much more often. I hope to write about creating a better home, crafting, and possibly an occasional coverage of my interest in geographic information and geocaches.

Not Quite Right...

I've been working on creating a Water Bottle Cozy for my mom. I am borrowing the basic idea from one I saw on Ravelry, used to be free on Elann.com, but is no longer. Anyways, all you need to do is crochet the bottom and increase to the number of stitches you want. Got that part fine, I am just so indecisive on the stitch pattern I want to use. I picked this up again after avoiding it for a week or two. I've started and ripped back at least 3 of these already. I am determined to knit something from start to finish!!!

So, I was thinking, hey a cable would be cute and interesting to knit. I have never really done a cable before. But now I realize that it's not gonna go. The cable pulls in too much and it's not gonna stretch to let anything in now. I kind of knew this would happen, but was feeling like trying it anyways. I need to go pick a basic knit/purl stitch pattern and get this darn thing done! I've got something else already planned to knit for a friend, but I'm making myself get one of these done first!

Betcha I can...

So my husband is giving me trouble because my projects are often started and never finished. "I got one done, " I told him. I didn't mention that I hadn't woven in all loose ends...

So I'm ready to start to find a place for knitting in my life again. I itch for sweaters and larger projects, but I'm determined to start a few small ones just to get my stats up. :D

I plan to start updating here every Monday. Wish me luck. I gotta go take some pictures of all my half done projects now. Haha.

*Sigh*

I'm still breathing. I'm just about to move from one house to another, start school full time, and work to maintain my sanity. :)

More later, maybe.

When does the spinning stop?

I've been home a month now, and I just have to stop and say hi. I want to create a space for myself with this blog but I'm still working on finding my space in my life. I am transitioning from the military to the civilian and it's pretty anxiety inducing. The knitting comes and goes... My projects are currently rebelling. No pictures to document the chaos, I apologize.

bye for now!

Over-whelmed.

I got home just less than a week ago from my deployment in Afghanistan. Other than being deliriously happy at being home, I am just overwhelmed from acclimating myself back to my 'real life.' A deployed life is lonely, and pretty focused. Work is the number one priority, and I found ways to fit in school and a bit of knitting. But now I'm back with my husband and 2 new kitties. Back to a full size house and my own kitchen and bathroom. I missed all these things, but having them back just makes my head spin!

Aside from that, I have much knitting to write about - but I am currently over-whelmed by that too! I'm gonna make me a list of everything that is bouncing in my head and get it put down here... Oh, and I got my Ravelry invite just as I got home too! I've browsed it briefly, but my focus is, well, unfocused. So, once I get my bearings I'll be back with knitted goods and knitted dreams.

:)

An Intermittent Update...

Ah! Taking a breath . . . .

My initial burst of post took place shortly before I returned to taking classes online at University of Phoenix. These classes are *hard.* I was previously working on a psychology degree. It may have been some work, but the reading and writing came easily because it was interesting. I recently changed my degree to Information Management with a focus on Software Engineering. I can only find so much to say about business systems and such... But this is the degree that will assure me a better job.

Truthfully, I like the challenge. As much as I hate it, I like reaching the end of the class and knowing that I accomplished something. From what I can tell, out of a class size of 18, between 3 and 4 people just don't get through it. They just fade away.

I like knitting for the same reason. I can actually see where my time went! I can find a dozen other ways to waste my time, but I usually return to those that show progress or result in tangible things. :)

Anyways, Here's the update, sans pictures:

The Flower Petal Shawl - coming along nicely. I think i am 4-5 hanks into it (out of 7) but I can't be sure until I figure out where the other balls are at! I'm enjoying the process and I'm looking forward to doing some more complicated lace projects.

The Black Caron - abandoned the Origami Sweater, completed about 1/4 of the Yarn Harlot's Poncho. The yarn's too bulky for it though. :( I also cast on for Ysolde's Illusion Skull and Crossbone Scarf. Only crossbones completed at this time.

I successfully knitted while watching a movie with subtitles! It was very good - called Pan's Labyrinth. I didn't know what to expect and it was very dark, but beautiful and creepy all at the same time.

I have found time here and there to knit. I still have another 4 weeks of class, and hopefully I'll be back by before then! And then one more week or so and I'll be on a flight back to the States. Yay!

Like Mana from Heaven

In my deployed location, decent yarn is impossible to find. I fear ordering any because I am already waiting on packages mailed over two months ago. I have ordered from Elann and Knitpicks, but I've found that I'm not the very best at picking out yarn from pictures. It's like ordering shoes online - impossible to tell exactly what you are getting and if it will fit.

So, imagine my happiness when I found this Caron One Pound just laying there, waiting for someone to claim it. It's not something I would have picked. I've heard of the nightmares of knitting in black. But, I am happy with it.

The yarn has a bit of chunk to it... I'm still searching for the perfect pattern. It seems to be the right weight for the Origami Cardigan in the Summer Issue of Interweave Knits. I liked the sweater at first glance, but the longer I look at it, the less I like it.

After some surfing I've seen pictures of the back, but this picture just makes me wonder what the side looks like. I'm also considering something poncho-ish. Hmmm. I'm off to search for more patterns!

The Death of the Flower Petal Shawl

First attempt at pictures - so bear with me.

This is the Flower Petal Shawl as it was seen last week... It has since been pulled apart and re-appear as the same shawl, but better!

Here is a close up of the stitch work. I have a big boo boo in there - can you see it?

In the upper left corner - a little ridge of garter stitch. I apparently knitted on the purl side for no good reason for about 10 stitches. I noticed it AS SOON AS I was knitting back... and I left it. I really didn't know what to think about it. "Hmmm," I said. "I don't know how to fix this, and I don't want to frog, so I'll just keep going and maybe the mistake won't bother me."

I was so wrong.

And this little ridge wasn't the only mistake... there were little boo boos all over the place: psso's forgotten, missing stitches. I got creative to maintain the stitchcount, but a close inspection revealed several wonky parts in the pattern. And to top it all off - this is supposed to be a lace project (although a very simple one) and my knitting was so tight that the Yarnovers were nonexistent. I wanted to get the open look as seen on Elann.com.

So, I popped that sucker of the needle and eased my knitting anxiety...

I'll update with progress on the new and improved Flower Petal Shawl very soon.

Introducing... Me!

A quick post to place this blog at a location and time.

It's Independence day and I'm in Afghanistan. I have served in the Air Force for 3.5 years and it has taken me places and taught me lots of things. BUT, this blog isn't about that.

This blog will mainly be about my knitting. And whatever else crosses my fancy... I picked up a generic "Teach Yourself to Knit" kit as I prepared for my deployment. I've grown quite obsessed with the craft in a short time. I know my husband hopes to gain his previous status as my top priority when I return home, and I imagine he will. Oh, but the plans I have for when I return home: visiting yarn shops and fiber festivals and even learning to spin!

I brought with me an assortment of acrylic and cotton yarn and I've made a purchase or two from elann and Knitpicks, even got me a set of Denise needles (pink ones for breast cancer)! I've devoured Knitty.com and a few notable blogs. I'm still learning to swim in this ocean of possibilities. Right now I am just trying to FOCUS. I have one project - the Flower Petal Shawl from elann.com in Camila. But, I just keep dreaming about casting on something new... I feel that this will be a constant battle.

So - let the blogging and knitting commence!

Ms. Piggy says it best...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.