My Brother Gordy

Posted on by Happy Sheep Creations

It’s hard to believe that a year ago I submitted my first blog post.  This would never have happened if it were not for my brother Gordy.   Let me tell you a little bit about my brother.  Gordy always had a mischievous grin on his face and you knew just by looking at him that he was up to something.  Whatever that something was,  he never let his fear (if he had any) stop him.  And his laughter was infectious.  You couldn’t help but laugh along with him.  Gordy lived in the moment.   He was so very different from me.  I am more of a planner and always thinking of the “what if’s”.  I have gone through life playing it safe and never taking chances.  That is up until last year.

After losing Gordy to cancer, I realized how short life really is and not to get caught up in all the what if’s.  I am definitely not the same person I was a year ago.

Thank You Gordy!

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

Process or Project Knitter

Posted on by Happy Sheep Creations

I love listening to VeryPink Knits podcast.  The two ladies keep me smiling.  Episode 2 they talked about Process vs. Project Knitters.  A process knitter they said was a person who just loved the act of knitting.  If they make a mistake they have no problems ripping back.  A project knitter, on the other hand, is more interested in getting the project done so they can enjoy the finished item.  If they make a mistake, they tend to just keep on knitting (unless of course it is a big mistake and affects how the project will look).

I keep thinking about what type of knitter I am.  Sometimes I think I am a project knitter because I want to hurry up and get the item done.  I usually have another project that I want to start working on.  To me that sounds like a project knitter.  But I also am a perfectionist and end up ripping back when I make a mistake (no matter how small the mistake is).  Today I think I finally figured out which type of knitter I am.  You can be the judge.  I currently have 3 blankets going on at once (2 baby blankets and 1 pet blanket).  The reason behind why I have 3 blankets going on will explain why I think I am a process knitter.  I first started working on a baby blanket using cotton yarn.  The blanket is made up of mitered squares.  After I completed 3 rows, I decided I should probably block it.  While the blanket was blocking, I wanted to knit.  Of course the logical solution was to start knitting a pet blanket using up scrap yarn.  What could be better!  I needed to get rid of my left over yarn.   Then a few weeks ago, I ran out of the white cotton yarn and had to stop the baby blanket in order to wait for my yarn to come in.  At the same time the pet blanket was on my blocking table. Oh no!  I didn’t want to wait until the blanket was finished blocking.  I wanted to knit.  Good thing I have a big enough yarn stash.  🙂

So would you agree that I am a process knitter?

process knitter

 

Perseverance or Just Being Stupid

Posted on by Happy Sheep Creations

The very first thing I crocheted back when I was a mere teenager was a ripple afghan. It was easy for a beginner and I really enjoyed making them.  Now as an adult knitter I really wanted to whip up a baby blanket for my niece (since her shower is in August).  Instantly I thought of the ripple blanket.  Perfect!  I had seen a knitted version on Facebook.  I could have that blanket done in no time, right?  Oh how wrong I was.

Back in the day, I could easily watch TV or talk to a friend while crocheting this blanket.  It was easy to count the stitches and see exactly where you needed to crochet 3 stitches in the chain to make the mountains and valleys that made the ripple.  However, knitting is an entirely different story.  With knitting, you keep those 120 stitches on your needle and even though there are only two rows that you repeat throughout, they are entirely different.  Also until you have actually completed several rows, it’s hard to see what stitches make up the mountains and valleys (and to be totally honest, I still have trouble telling).  And if you make one mistake (knit 8 stitches instead of 10) the whole design is off. Of course you don’t realize this until you reach the end of the row!  So after countless hours of tinking back and only having completed 6 rows in 2 weeks, why didn’t I just give up and crochet the blanket instead?  I did think about it (quite a lot).   But I was going to conquer knitting this blanket even if  said baby was now going off to college. 🙂   I also thought about adding stitch markers to remind me when the pattern changed.  I could say again it was to conquer the pattern without any help but, to be honest, I was just too lazy to get up and search for that many markers.  In the end and after countless hours of tinking back,  I found enough stitch markers.  I even went online and ordered more.

I am happy to report I am moving along nicely now; although, I still can’t chat with my daughter while working on this (yet).   🙂

Ripple

 

Here is a progress update on the  blanket.  I am actually moving along  nicely now that the markers are in place.  Maybe I will have it done for the baby shower after all!  🙂

ripple update

Creative Friday

Posted on by Happy Sheep Creations

So you may be wondering what Creative Friday is exactly. I came up with this catchy phrase a few months ago. It is a day I devote entirely to being creative. This could include anything from learning a new skill to creating a blog post. I never know beforehand what I am going to do; I leave it entirely up to my mood and how I am feeling that day. Sometimes that feeling doesn’t express itself until the afternoon. Like today for instance. Up until now I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. I spent most of the morning working on a baby blanket that I will be donating to the Willow Domestic Violence Center. And then all of a sudden I got the urge to write this blog.

I absolutely love Creative Friday’s; it’s a day that I look forward to all week. It’s a day to recharge my battery. To let my imagination go; I always feel so refreshed afterwards. The stress of our jobs and our day to day activities can leave us drained and uncreative. But giving yourself a day to express yourself anyway you choose is absolutely freeing.

So Happy Creative Friday! And Get your creativity on!

oscar