SelfLove365, Year 2, Day 110: (hobby)

I was going to call this one, “(knitting)”, but it’s not just about knitting, because a new hobby is calling me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving up knitting. I have way too much yarn to do that, and I still love it, too. I’ve committed to making only hand knit (or handmade) gifts for my nephew, and I am also about halfway through knitting the “Bel cardigan”, which was named after me and designed by my amazing and supremely talented friend, Mandy Moore.

Now, I want to learn how to play the guitar. I’ve played three band instruments in my lifetime (clarinet, flute and trombone), and spent a summer learning how to play the harp, but I’ve never before had an interest in, or lay a hand on, a guitar. Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of watching and listening to Braden play guitar, and the more I’ve heard, the more I’ve become interested in trying. He taught me a few riffs last night, and I could almost feel my brain working at it, like it was lifting weights. This feels fun and challenging, and developing new neural pathways seems like a smart thing for a 42 year old brain to do. I can’t wait to rock out!

For more information on the SelfLove365 project, click here.

Panda!

Having a two year old nephew is great incentive for completing knitting projects! Panda hat for Christmas.. Check!

The 7 year knitting project.

After my son was born, 8 years ago, I made a set of knit and felted nesting boxes (Felted Boxes from “Mason Dixon Knitting”) as a gift for our midwives. I loved the boxes so much, I decided to make a set for myself. The project stalled when I needed a contrasting colour for the smallest box. Several years later, I finally bought that yarn. And finally, last weekend, I finished them all! Woo hoo! It feels wonderful to pull a project out from its 7-year hiding spot to finally get it done.

“Felted Boxes”, before felting.

“Felted Boxes” after felting

Stackable!

I love my brothers.

James is 3 years younger than me and makes me laugh until I cry. I used to trick him into eating his chocolate bars before me, and he used to always get the last word in fights. He shares my love of 80’s teen movies and music. As different as we are (he’s a lawyer with encyclopedic knowledge about politics and sports), he gets me. Oh, and we take great photos together.

Nathan is 15 years younger than me. He’s studying aerospace engineering (it’s not like it’s rocket sci.. oh wait, it is). When he was little, we used to dance on my bed and draw pictures together. Over the years we have developed a major long verbal “handshake”. We’ve never had a real fight, but we are pretty competitive when it comes to games (as is James!). Nathan is a knitter, too – how cool is that?!

Found Rainbows (Old socks – new pics!)

I finished these socks for my daughter at least a year ago, if not two. I’m not really sure how long it’s been because I never used to keep track of that stuff (until now – thank you ravelry!) The pattern is “Monkey” from knitty.com by Cookie A. If you knit and haven’t checked out knitty yet, then you are in for a treat! I had the pleasure of meeting Cookie several years ago at a knitting retreat. I’m sure she doesn’t remember me, but I thought she was great! Oh, and don’t ask me what yarn I used. It’s rainbow, that’s all that matters (also, I might be too lazy to check).

 

Found Rainbows (Vancouver)

Bringing back the leg warmers.

Leg warmers are back! Yeah, they are! No, seriously, I’m bringing them back.

Hey, I’m just happy to have completed a knitting project! These days, it takes a LONG time to finish knitting!

These are the Legwarmers: Maximum and Minimum, from Sally Melville’s “The Knit Stitch”, knit with Noro Kureyon (of course!).

Everything’s Better with YARN on it.

Ever since my wonderful friend Mandy co-wrote the book “Yarn Bombing“, I have been itching to try it!

My 5 year old son has been knitting lots of different projects since he began knitting last year. He doesn’t quite have the patience to finish projects, though! So, when he saw this book, he wanted to use his unfinished scarf (originally planned for his stuffed dog, Dash) for some yarn bombing!

 

That yield sign is so much less unsightly now, don’t you think?

Teaching, Charity, Clapotis and a BOOK.

I am so excited about Friday. I’ll be teaching painting for the first time ever! I realized recently that I want to have more fun (who doesn’t?) and the way for me to do that is to teach. Somehow I knew this instinctively, but was fighting it, because I have never considered myself a teacher. We will be doing intuitive painting, for lack of a better description. I need to come up with a better name (suggestions welcome). There are books out there that describe it, like “Point Zero” by Michele Cassou, and “Painting from the Source” by Aviva Gold. In a way, it is a lot like dancing, which is another thing I love to do. The emphasis for both (for me) is on the process, rather than the product, and responding to our inner urges when deciding what to paint next. The old, perfectionist me would have to take a few workshops and read all the books, and spend a year painting before even THINKING about teaching. But, I was dared to do it (thanks, Nancy!), so I am jumping in!!

Blogging with Lila is over, and the winner of my painting is James! Thank you for helping Lila with your generous bid of $150!!

I am finally, FINALLY, done Clapotis. I think it was festering in a bag in a corner for months. At one point, I wanted to wear it, and went looking around the house for it. It took me a good 10 minutes before I remembered that I didn’t actually finish the darn thing yet. But now it’s done. It’s blocked. It’s awesome! I knit it with Curious Creek yarn (but don’t ask me more than that, because I threw out the label…oops).

Lastly, my most exciting bit of news: I am going to be in a book! I was asked to participate in a book on art journals. I am thrilled about this, and have to keep reminding myself that it’s real!!  YAY!