UFO'S that need to be FROGGED...

and other such folderawl......(SP?) :-)

UFO boyfriend, has been frogged permanently! (L this is for you....LOL!)...and for others reading this blog...L is a fan...and has been recommending this ever since first reading my blog. Frogging a person from your life....is a concept I had never considered....How to do that effectively, will be a subject possibly for my next post.

Frogged permanently meaning, for example, numbers removed from my speed dial, etc. The things you set up in life when you are in a relationship....and perhaps are no longer consciously aware of their existence....photos around the house, in rooms you rarely visit are another....and the list can go on.....and on. It was time, I had just not gotten around to it. Now it is done. It was painless, because a true break up, is just that....indicative that something is broken....and can not be fixed. It is time to move on to greener pastures.

This is just as important, for personal relationships that have gone awry as for home projects, art projects...and knitting projects. Clutter blocks energy....either physical clutter or emotional.

So when does a UFO need to be Frogged?

1. When it's very existence keeps you from moving forward, consciously or subconsciously.

2. When it impacts your creativity, negatively.

3. When it weighs on your heart, too heavily.

4. When there is no future.

5. When it takes more effort or thought than it will likely ever give.

6. When it is totally out of your control...like you need more yarn and it is no longer available or in the original dye lot you require.

7. When it is oversized or undersized....It does not fit you and probably never will!

8. When you know no matter what you do, it will never make you happy or even crack a smile........and there are other projects or alternatives that will!!!

9. When you have partially frogged and redid, frogged and redid more than 5 times....give up and start a new project, this one just was not for you.....even though it seemed perfect at conception.

10. When you run out of storage space....and there is no where left to put this oddball.......

On other subject matters, the puppy doozal...is 16 weeks old......and growing cuter by the day.

Puppy kisses are good for your soul..........!!!!!

She is healthy and happy and a good addition to our home.Koko is so happy and thriving with her new friend.

Note, trust your instincts,even when all your friends and family are telling you, not to do something, it does not mean your instincts aren't the right ones.

The store, is in abeyance at the moment. There are problems with which, I am not sure that I want to contend. I am contemplating severing this arrangement, with great remorse, partly because completion of my store, is just taking too long!

This is what the interior looks like so far.I have put 5 months into planning this venture, so if I do decide to end the transaction it will be with great difficulty....but with the knowledge that I had no other choice.

Hint: It has something to do with the nefarious antique dealer across the way, who is not on the up and up! He has a theft record fairly long and a history of drug abuse. I am not pleased about the situation for many reasons, obvious and otherwise.

Some people see second chances only as a way to do more harm.

I am weighing my options as I type and will make a final decision at the end of this holiday weekend.

Please take a moment this weekend, to remember those that are still far from home....fighting on our behalf, protecting our shores....and those that have died to honor our country and US.

Wishing you all a wonderful fun and remembrance filled holiday,

smiles to you,

DC

standing in front of the KNITTING UFO BILLBOARD....

I finished another UFO....and, I am going to go out this minute, before anything else interferes with my day's intent....and take a photo of my new sweater. It is an original design by yours truly. My original plan, of course was altered and that took thought....a project, which I wanted to be a simple mindless design....changed form....because the yarn I selected ran short. I needed a solution...

My first thought was to head out to my LYS and look for another yarn to complete my project, which was compatible. Instead....I faced my dreaded stash...and dug and dug until I found a yarn that was suitable. I then dug through the button stash...as overwhelming as, the yarn stash....and found new buttons. I live in a virtual yarn store.

I ripped out the sleeve trim and created a new trim with the new yarn. I worried as I knitted. I worried as I ripped out. I worried and worried and worried....and then it hit me...my art WAS imitating my life. LIGHTBULB moment.........

....and it got me thinking....are the Unfinished objects in our life the result of our inflexibilty and the ANXIETY, our inflexibility causes? Does it really matter if we finish using plan J or P or Z as long as we finish and learn? Perhaps our lives would be more productive if we spent less effort focused on a specific route.....to our desires rather than the desires themselves?

Fiber art is comforting and nurturing....we create and we nurture with those creations....but...is the proliferation of UFO fiber projects...a sign that
we knitter's, crocheters, quilters, fiber artists....do not nurture ourselves enough.
Is the size of our stash or the number of UFO's in our closet....a wake up call...
that we are not nurturing our own innate creativity???

....we are thinking of doing...anticipating doing....but not believing in what we do sufficiently, to carry our conception, to its completion....????

That, is why we buy the yarns...or spin the yarns...design the patterns, buy the patterns...get the tools out and begin the journey to create what our minds have conceived.... is it not? so what stops us from completion...and why do we allow the interference with our creative conception....?

Does our inflexibility about our selected route create the belief....that the end result can not be as beautiful or more beautiful than that which only began as a notion in our minds....? does being so involved in a process mean you can never
see your creation's true form....only it's substance?

I am enjoying blogging about my fiber art....and airing my dirty UFO secrets....because within those UFO's lying dormant in my closets....is creativity
that I left behind...locked up....and did not exploit to it's fullest possibilities.....

and yes, I am tormented by those UFO's....they are my hidden torment. They represent my repressed creativity....my repressed dreams....they are an analogy for my life!

So you don't know what to write about on your fiber art blog, Here is my blog tip:

What do your UFO's say about your life? I would love to hear your comments...add them here...or send me the links to where you blog.

And get those UFO's out of your closets....one by one...sit them by your desk as
you blog....and write about the emotions and CLARITY....their completion gives to your life. There is wisdom to be found in our discarded objects...to share, to aid,
to inspire....others.

We can all use a little helping hand...

Wishing you a day of completion....or at least significant progress...

I am going out to take my photo......will be back later.....promise!

Smiles to You,
DC

I should be in bed sleeping, BUTTTTTTTTTT......

I have been sleepless ever since I realized how many unfinished projects, I have sitting around. I am annoyed at myself.

The good news....and yes, there is always some....is while, attempting to finish the nicky epstein scarf, I decided I did not like one of the yarns I had first selected, so I went in search of other yarn from the stash and did not find a shade of grey that I liked. What I did find though, was some grey roving that I had carded some years back and never spun...........

soooooooooooooo...........

guess what I did.......I spun and spun and spun.......and spun some more. I finished 374 yards of spun grey singles from a beautiful coopworth sheep and I found some sorted fleece that was an even better grey and finished carding that up this evening and am in the process of spinning that into singles. I already made 4 more flowers with the sample of the latest singles and am pleased.

I have not spun yarn for quite awhile........and IT FELT GREAT!!! It was incredibly relaxing. If you are a true fiberholic, and you have never spun a fleece....DO IT....learn...it is worth your while.

I also will make up some novelty yarn from the nubs and short hairs that I pulled out of the fleece and already carded it up with some scrap yarn that I chopped up. Will take photos tomorrow.

I also finished another project last night, that has been in the works for a year....old bottles that needed cleaning. I had them soaking so long.....I had forgotten about them. I found them and decided to finish them up. I am happy to report that they are done, except for 8 which, still need more soaking to get really clean. What a relief!!!!

I have decided to be a better working artist, I need to have more self discipline. I am lacking...and suffering from a bit of creative ADD..........my mind works faster than my hands....it is an ever present problem....so I have worked out a deal with myself....to work on UFO's for at least two hours per day, to catch up. I hope I can keep to this schedule. So far I am doing good. I even got some dreaded house work finished this week.

Now, I have to get more disciplined with writing up my patterns. I hate doing that.

I also have been taking some free online courses that american express is sponsoring at
Ilearn. The first course I took was on being a more effective communicator. It was pretty good.

Now I have signed up for a course on web design, since I would like to set up my own website and know nothing about it. This blog has been a big challenge.

Lastly, some inspiration. A friend sent me a photo of his night blooming sirius plant. This is really beautiful. I want one of my own.

wishing you all a wonderfully creative day,
smiles to you,
DC

I got motivated to clean..............

my UFO closet..........and then I GOT DEPRESSED. First the good news...I recovered the following items :


* 2 knitting susan bates "knit cheks" - for measuring stitch and needle gauge. good news- I've been looking for them all year. bad news - no excuse for not doing a gauge swatch.


* tape measure - good news- I needed one. bad news - no excuse not to take my body measurements.


* 6" ruler received from http://www.gotyarn.com/ . good news- it is nice to have. bad news -I am thinking about all the great yarns they sell on that site...and I am on a YARN DIET this year and doing well thank you..........at least I was....LOL!!!


* set of blue aluminum straight knitting needles......good news- I was looking for them. bad news- they are free to start a new project when I should be finishing up my UFO's


* 3 sets of double pointed needles in sizes 3, 4 and 5. good news- I do not have alzheimer's...I knew they were in this house somewhere. bad news- I found 1 dp plastic size 3 and 2 size 2 dps that are missing their mates.


*1 small scissors which is already being put to good use, no downside.

Here is the guilty list of UFO's uncovered:


1 shawl or poncho in fun fur and ribbon. Not sure this deserves to be finished. Possible FROG. (2005)


1 baby sweater, designed by me out of my handspun yarn and a partially finished baby hat. I was able to locate more of the yarn that was needed to finish this, so I will do it, soon. (2005)


1 partially made white summer cotton sweater, second sweater to proof the pattern I wrote. Must have gotten side tracked, because it is nice. I like the finished sweater and wore it several times this year and got compliments. (2005)


1 partially finished sock, in noro silk garden. First sock. I guess I got tired of making socks...right before everyone else seems to have decided to knit them like crazy. (2002)


1 lilac cardigan out of patons grace from the spring vogue of 2004. back done and one side.


1 berger du nord mohair sweater. this is the worst calamity of them all. I think this originates back to the early 90's. I knit the back, the sleeves and almost finished the front when I discovered that I had missed the first and last row of the graph on the back and sleeves and not the front. I quit, because I could not decide what pieces to FROG!!! UGGGGGGGGHHH!!! This sweater is knit on number three needles. I am going to put this one at the top of the heap.

This is the case of a sweater turning UFO, because of perfectionism, when the truth is it looks perfectly fine with those two rows missing and easy to rip out the front and finish it off.


That is 6 items found in one closet....ONE CLOSET!!! I was disgusted.



In my bedroom basket there are 10 projects waiting for completion:


- free-form jacket. almost complete and then assembly. (2002)


- nicky epstein 3 bobble sweater. all bobbles done, with the front started. (2007)


- the green softball sweater that I designed with blue heron yarn. One sleeve to complete. bottom peplim to finish designing. write up instructions and block. (2007)


- red scarf, free form from several different red yarns. (2007)


- nicky epstein anniversary flower scarf. 23 flowers finished. binder complete. finishing up remaining flowers hopefully today and to be sewn and blocked. (2007)


- v- neck tank from knitters spring 2005. front is half finished. back complete. (2007)


- white crocheted cardigan. shell pattern. fronts and back done. sleeves to be finished.(2007)


- blue crochet bikini - cups finished. bottom is 3/4 finished. started in 2006.


- blue shawl with various blue novelty yarns. (2006)


- red, fushia and orange side to side cardigan, my own design. front and back finished. one more front to do and sleeves. I have no idea why I stopped this project. ( 2001)


This brings the grand total bedroom UFO's to 16 projects. I freaked. Then I got depressed. NOW, I am knitting like a fiend. I plan to finish the bedroom floor items first. NO NEW PROJECTS FOR ME, until these items are finished or frogged and patterns written up.


I know that I have a few more UFO's lying around this house in other closets. I am not looking until I finish what I have. This is an exercise, that I have been putting off and made me realize,that I have not completed many projects this year, because I start and do not finish. I am wondering now, if this is an analogy to other areas of my life. I will be thinking this through as I SIT DOWN AND KNIT....because, I am going to make every reasonable effort to finish up what I have started.


I realized that this year, I finished 4 scarves, 3 soap socks and only one sweater and one tank but, I started 13 projects in total. I think my new policy will be that I will only ever have three projects going at once, in the future. The more unfinished projects you have going, the less likely you are to finish any of them.


Maybe I should stick to buying just one ball of yarn and knit swatches. At least I would finish them. Are dishcloths in my future? soapsocks? scarves? hats? Is this the reason for the popularity of these items?


A KNITTING TIP FOR YOU:


Use an over the door shoe bag for organizing all your knitting needles and gadgets in one handy place. I bought mine at a dollar store. Nothing fancy. It has 20 pockets. I labeled one pocket for each of my needle sizes 0-19. The remaining pockets store my gadgets. I can always find my needles and gadgets fast, this way.


My inspiration for today is this stella mc cartney coat dress designed for neiman marcus's 100th anniversary and listed as a must have! It looks like an easy to knit item as it is entirely garter stitch on very bulky needles.

The dress description is : "Gray mélange.• Stand collar.• Elbow sleeves. • Button front.• Gathered skirt.• 80% fleece wool, 20% cashmere.• Dry clean only.• Made in Italy." and it retails for $1295.oo.

If you click on the dress description link above you can see other views of this coat dress. I love it...and would love to knit one up for myself.... but...I am focused and trying to remain focused on completing my UFO's before beginning another new project....still a girl can dream...can't she????

wishing you all a pleasant knit filled evening,

smiles to you,

DC

GOOD NEWS...besides the fact the SUN has decided to SHOW UP!

There are finally FINISHED OBJECTS to REPORT.... I actually accomplished something beyond removing worms, dead leaves, japanese beetles and rather large brown spiders that decided to take a swim in MY pool....

and....I refurbished the pool net thingey with some old fiberglass screening found in my master bath linen closet...and that, is a bit longer of a story....related to the day I decided that my jacuzzi for two was a waste of space....and should become my papermaking studio...LOL!!!

One benefit of being a pack rat queen....is that with a little creativity, I can construct just about anything that I need without ever having to leave HOME!!!! But, I digress......from the point of my post today.....

I finished some STUFF!!!! :~)



First item....UFO boyfriend scarf has been BLOCKED....and is BEEAUTIFUL.....if I have to say so myself.......Here is a photo....of the FO.....with instructions to follow...sometime in the NEAR future..........














Second item....A white cotton trapeze tank from a Knitter's Magazine from several years ago (made w/ Sirdar DK Opium, 58% cotton, 37% acrylic, 5% silk from MY STASH)... which, still needs to be blocked...but, is sewn up and actually fits. It was all knitted and rolled up in a bag waiting to be sewn together, for the last year.....hey, DON'T RUSH ME! It took only an hour....PLUS OR MINUS A YEAR or SO...to sew it up
......INSTEAD


....I was busy starting NEW PROJECTS!!!!!



....and, a photo....of the two
Finally Finished OBJECTS...
hanging out together!!! ;~0



Third item.....I harvested my strawberries this year and made some delectable strawberry jam.



Very easy to do: wash strawberries, add organic sugar and lemon to taste....bring to a boil and spoon into a canning jar or saved jar.....cool and refrigerate....ENJOY!


AND....the most significant of all completed PROJECTS to report....IS, that I finally sat down
and organized all those patterns/ technical information/ inspirational photos printed out from the web into nice notebooks with dividers UNTIL 3AM last evening........I HAVE A FEW INCHES OF FLOOR SPACE...in my office/fiber studio...........YIPPEEEEEEEEE!!!!

That was big. I truly believe that CLUTTER is a state of mind.....and I am focused on changing
the STATE OF MY MIND...in 2007.

I also have had a request for some jewelry photos....so here are two....they were used for postcards for craft shows..... The first pair of earrings is hand formed Sterling Silver with garnets and glass beads.... the second photo earrings are cast and hand fabricated with onyx drops and an orange red stone whose name escapes me at the moment...and the matching bracelet uses the same stones and was hand fabricated by moi....and I am not sure if they are still in inventory or have been sold....if you are interested email me and I will investigate and
give you a price quote.
AND.... until the Computer Geek arrives on Monday, to figure out what COMCAST did to my computer, when they tried to replace my modem....I have no scanner, no cd, no dvd, no emails prior to JUNE 20th, 2007...........no workable ITUNES library....

Lastly, the bad news...is while I finished two knitting projects, I began two new projects at the pool...because, I just can not resist that old temptation to begin a NEW PROJECT!!!

Two out, Two in...is that progress....or NOT???...I have not decided!!!

A tank top, which I am using taupe cotton and a noro multi colored rayon carry along...and a NEW SoapCloth which I am designing with beige bernat cotton that I found in one of my
unearthed UFO's....an old bag project that I am never going to finish....but, will FROG this week and it will become a NEW something or other. It is a hopelessly UGLY project...where the yarn just did not suit the design found in Knitter's Magazine 3 years ago.

I will post both the SoapCloth pattern and photo...when it is finito....as well as the promised pattern for the ubiquitous UFO BOYFRIEND SCARF....which, by the way drove the clean up of paperwork in my studio....I could not find my pattern design notes...it is amazing they were still underneath a pile of papers...and glad to report....was rescued!!!!

Time to go out to the pool...for a bit of a swim....and some sunshine!!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend....filled with at least ONE FINISHED PROJECT.....

Smiles to you,
DC