Yarnoire

Most crafters, whether a scrapper, knitter, quilter or whatever, always keep an ample load of supplies on hand... in case of a worldwide shortage, of course. That hording is not usually the problem, it's the storage of the paper, yarn, fabric, wood, beads, or glass. My scrapbooking studio may not be the neatest.... HA, far from it, but most everything has a place on a rack or shelf or plastic drawer.. it's there and I can find it. Of course I have a whole room to store this stuff. My yarn on the other hand doesn't have a room, just a dresser in a corner, some boxes and bags and so unworthy of the Malabrigo or alpaca.

With some redecorating lately, the sitting room got it's turn this week with new paint, furniture, rug and the addition of an empty armoire that was taking up floor space in the basement. It was moved upstairs and now proudly holds my yarn and knitting miscellaneous. I love my yarnoire.

2 months already???

Boy, have I let things slide. That can happen when you're sick and not spending time at the computer, or if you're just not into writing, or if you've really got nothing artistic to add... or maybe a combination of all three.

Yes, I have not been well (doing much better now, Thank You), yes, I really wasn't interested in keeping my blogs going and also yes, while I have been knitting and doing some scrapbooking, it just didn't cross my mind to do anything with them.. MY Bad.

I did finish my Dragonfly socks... done in a lace pattern using Malabrigo sock yarn in a soft burgundy and gold color. Of course it gets done in time for sandal weather... now will have to wait until the temps get cooler, but by then I'll have a few more pair of socks to wear. Friends are already putting in their orders for their pair.
I had been working on my cardigan, and it's now done... all the pieces are complete and are waiting to be blocked and put together. My blocking boards as well as all my other knitting paraphernalia are boxed and stored away until the sitting/music/knitting room gets painted. I am working on DH's socks.. he wanted them over the calf which is taking much longer to knit up especially since I'm already tired of them and I'm not even done with the first sock.

Here's my Dragonfly socks....



In my absence, Father's Day came and went and while these cards were not made for my DH, they were made for The Shaker Box, a scrapbooking community that named me guest designer for May with the duty of designing several cards for men.




As far as scrapbooking, I'm still working, albeit slowly on the Panama cruise, so here's what I can add. I should scan more.... maybe this week.

Slow Scrapper

I am apparently as slow a scrapper as I am a knitter. Not that I don't have the time... plenty of that, but I take my time and contemplate each stitch in an almost zen-like quality. I choose each color and embellishment for each scrapbook page with as much thought as a professional chess player his next move. And of course there is no perfection in either, but the end result is quite satisfying.

Here are a couple of recent layouts that I did for some challenges on Moments to Remember.

Busy Hands

Since I've been home from my surgery (find out what and why on my other blog www.margo.koroknaypalicz.com) I've been trying to keep from going completely bonkers from watching too much TV. Working on my regular knitting of socks and sweater was too intense trying to read patterns or even trying to remember patterns. Couldn't keep the concentration going. And trying to work on any scrapbooking or cardmaking project also took some amount of patience which I just didn't have. I preferred to do some very light reading, doze, and watch mindless shows. The perfect solution was knitting up some squares for the Linus Project. The project, named for the Peanuts character Linus and his always blanket companion, makes blankets for children in need. A yarn store north of here is trying to meet the need of a request from their local National Guard for 500 blankets to give to the families of troops heading overseas.

So I got to work with leftover yarn from my stash and made some squares. Coggie (from my Ravelry knitting group) is picking them up and will begin the task of assembling them into an afghan. I truly appreciate that effort.

Here are the 26 blue, purple, taupe and green squares which hopefully some child will hold onto and hug tightly while their father or mother is gone.



Busy Hands

Socks and Scraps

We're back from a lovely vacation to the Panama Canal.. (pictures on my Picturetrail album.. http://www.picturetrail.com/margokp ) and who but me thinks of what to knit when going on vacation... because there just isn't enough to do on a cruise. I grabbed some wonderful Caribbean blue yarn and a sock pattern and started a new pair of socks. I got the first one done and most of the way on the second. Not only do I love the yarn, the color, the pattern... these will always remind me of our vacation.



Shortly after we got back, I dove into some scrapbooking again by cropping with my peeps and actually finished the Alaska album.... and then got involved with an online crop. I really am not a big fan of online crops because I crop in the basement and my computer is in the office and whole floor and opposite sides of the house in distance. Turns out I actually won the big prize from The Shaker Box (Thank You) and a gift certificate to shop in their store.

Here is my favorite layout from the weekend.

uncle.... uncLE..... UNCLE....

alright already.... I give up... giving up any hopes of doing lace while on vacation. I knitted up swatches of 4 different patterns and none of them look like lace... they look more like a cobweb in a hurricane.. just a bunch of holes in no pattern whosoever. I know to stretch out the swatch to get a better idea and I know it will look better once blocked, but I couldn't tell if I missed a stitch or read the pattern wrong and I'm not going to spend my time on the ocean and in the sun being upset and frustrated.. I may tend to drink more.... and so you ask???

I'll stick to socks and I'll stick to working on my sweater.....

Knitting on vacation

We're going to be leaving on vacation real soon and I'm contemplating what knitting project to take with me. It won't be the sweater as it's too bulky... might be the Dragonfly socks to finish up, a new pair to start for the son, and maybe, just maybe, a new lace wrap. I have enough of the brown tweed alpaca left from Bob's vest and I'm thinking it would make a perfect all around wrap, but here's the dilemma... I've not done lace before. Should I start a new project, learn a new technique when I'm far from friends and internet for help? I thought I had narrowed down my search for an easy lace pattern to four, until CoggieTM (Rav name) came to knit night and brought a lace book with too many beautiful choices. Thanks a lot..

CoggieTM suggested taking not just one project, but two since this is my first lace and I will get frustrated... now how did she know that? and there's no throwing projects overboard either. Stayed tuned for pictures of knitting on board a cruise ship with pina coladas in the plenty.