Still Not Finished...

I don't know what possessed me to hand-quilt all 240 individual triangles....

And oh yes, I see the mistake.  Whoops.

Happiness Project: Guitar Lessons

I finally did it: last month I borrowed my dad’s guitar and started taking lessons. After years of thinking about it, and years of listening to almost every boyfriend I’ve had twang away, I decided it was high time I learned myself. I was reticent about making the time commitment, concerned that it would take time away from my other creative endeavors (not to mention work and some semblance of a social life), but in the end my curiosity got the better of me. Truthfully, I thought it would be easy – partly because of my experience with other instruments, partly because almost every guy I dated played guitar and was constantly telling me how easy it was, and partly because I know a number of people who taught themselves how to play.


Imagine my surprise then to discover that learning guitar is one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do. Just learning the right way to hold the instrument was difficult for me, and after 5 lessons I’m still struggling. The fingertips on my left hand are developing strange calluses, which sometimes hurt and sometimes don’t feel a thing at all (which can make typing a whole new experience…). I’ve struggled to learn 5 basic chords, and my pinky finger is still pretty much useless. I practice in my bedroom, with the air conditioning on, hoping the neighbors can’t hear me. I’ve already broken one electronic tuner (dropped it on my sister’s ceramic tile floor), and my dad has already replaced the strings (the original 13-gauge strings were almost literally chewing up my fingers). And I get incredibly frustrated when I can’t quiiiite get things right. I'm used to being able to pick things up pretty quickly, but clearly I am no guitar prodigy.


That all said? I really love it, and wish I’d done this years ago. First of all, I feel like I’m challenging myself in a completely new way, and as frustrating as it is, I think it’s good for me. Second of all, it’s making me remember how important music was to me as a child/teenager, and I’d forgotten that. Third, practicing means there is at least half an hour a day that I am totally concentrating on something that prevents me from mulling about work, or anything else that might be stressful. It's weirdly meditative in that respect. Fourth, it's causing me to listen to music a bit differently, especially acoustic musicians like Patty Griffin and Ray LaMontagne, who are amazing guitar players. The idea of being able to play their music someday is actually pretty inspiring, and frankly? I was due for a bit of inspiration.

Knitting Makes The World Go 'Round (but my dad holds it together with coat hangers)

This weekend a health issue cropped up - but because it was 6:30 on Saturday evening, my doctor had me go to the emergency room to get checked out.  While I was waiting for the results of my lab work and ultrasound, I pulled out my "train knitting" from my purse to pass the time (which, being an ER on a Saturday night, was considerable).  At one point, an older lady from the housekeeping staff came by to empty the trash and noticed that I was knitting.  In very broken English, she asked me what I was knitting and then told me about how, years ago, she used to knit for her children - hats, socks, sweaters, you name it.  Her entire face lit up when she started talking about her knitting days - it was literally like a switch had been flipped- and she left my little cubby area smiling to herself.  For me, lying there by myself waiting to find out if I had a blood clot -well, let's just say it was nice to have a friendly conversation.  And I love how knitting in public (there's nothing really PRIVATE about an ER...) allows you to stumble upon kindred spirits, people who know exactly the sort of joy that comes from creating something both artistic and serviceable with just ones own hands, a couple of sticks, and some string.  (It also gets you  really strange looks from some non-kindred spirit people, but that's for another day.)

I turned out to be perfectly fine, so the next day found me on my way to the movies with my niece and nephew.  We got to the end of the driveway when my car started making a horrible sound.  Luckily, my dad was still in town and at the house, and after 15 minutes of fiddling he had turned a metal coat hanger into a muffler clamp and we were on our way.  I swear, he's like MacGyver...except he looks a lot more like Alan Alda than Richard Dean Anderson.

Happiness Project: LOVE THIS

My friend Leigh posted this on Facebook and I literally had tears in my eyes at the end - all weddings should be so joyful!  This makes me wish I had gotten married and done this...

I Seem To Be On A Green Kick...

Ok, so remember a few weeks ago when I said I was working on finishing up old projects?  Well, it didn't last long, and here I am right smack in the middle of a new one.  I had forgotten that months ago I had signed up for a quilt class here, to make this quilt.  I went a bit more monochromatic with my color scheme, which I am honestly on the fence about.  Mostly I like it - this morning as I was walking to the train station the sun was dappling the trees in such a manner that it reminded me of this project - but: I have to confess that I am jealous of my classmates' more raucous, colorful creations.  I am already thinking about doing another one in more funky colors.

The hardest part of this project is lining up the blocks in a way that you don't have clusters of strips in the same color too near each other.  I think it may be more difficult in a colorway like this, because there's no obvious bright pink screaming "move me!".  It's harder for me to see any clumping of colors, particularly with the dark ones.  Currently, the blocks are pinned to a flannel sheet that is tacked to my living room wall (where, hopefully, the finished quilt will hang).  I find myself staring at the blocks, and then suddenly my eye will catch two leaf prints touching, or two bright greens too close.  At some point, though (as in, before next week's class!), I'm going to have to just suck it up and sew them together.  (Let me just add that last night, roughly around midnight as I was fussing about with block placement, it became clear to me that - much like everything else in my life - I am WAY overthinking this.)  And I'm also anticipating the quilting part - I'd like to find a nice leaf pattern...will I be brave and try to machine quilt it, or will I spend the next six months hand quilting it?  Decisions, decisions...

Finally, I must say that I'm surprised at how much I've enjoyed the class.  I've quilted for 15 years now, and never before took a formal class.  I learned by watching my grandmother and through my own trial-and-error using various books and magazines.  I'm a little shy about having people observe me - both my process and my output - but everyone seems very friendly, and I like the company (five other women, mostly my mom's age).  Since I don't have any "quilting" friends, it's nice to be around people who carry seam rippers in their pockets and know their way around a cutting board, not to mention people who completely understand having a monthly fabric budget.

Non-Train Knitting!

I am, at best, a mediocre knitter, and so I am always thrilled - and more than a little surprised - when I knit something that actually resembles the photo in the instructions.  This little sweater has, um, an issue or two...but it was a great "learning curve" project.  It's knit all in one piece, but there was enough sewing up to do that I was able to finally figure out mattress stitching.  I knit this in an oatmeal-colored alpaca, as it is incredibly soft (if impractical...), and  I added a shiny (and somewhat sparkly) organdy ribbon.  The sweater actually ties in the back, but I tied it on the side for photo purposes.  

Yarn = Frog Tree 100% Alpaca Wool

Pattern = "Wrap Top" from Easy Baby Knits by Claire Montgomerie

On a completely unrelated subject, everyone in the universe should go buy Ray La Montagne's new album.  Trust me.  He only looks scary.

Train Knitting

Rarely have I been so elated to finish a project.  This is the "Pink Aura" scarf from  One-Skein Wonders, for which I used TWO skeins of Manos del Uruguay's merino/silk blend in "Wildflowers".  I opted to use a size 6 needle, instead of a 10.5 as the pattern called for, because I wanted a more dense fabric.  Alas, that meant needing more yarn...and more time.  This was intended to be a spring scarf, but that didn't happen (although this crazy weather is much more spring-like than summer right now!).  This project has been my train knitting now for at least two solid months, and I must confess there have been several days where I couldn't even look at the thing, and either read or slept my way to and from work.  But it is DONE, DONE, DONE now, and I can finally work on something else without this nagging me from my purse.