Monday – January 9, 2006
My Fabric – My Tools
(click on thumbnail for larger image)
Today I went to the craft store to get my yarn for knitting class. The color selection was highly disappointing, so I went for the pastel sherbet colored stuff you see on the right. Still not to die for, but interesting enough to keep me wanting to knit with it. Why not have fun colors to look at when I’m knitting row after row of boring beginner’s swatches? I told myself I should not look around, trying to resist the urge to spend more money, but wouldn’t you know…. positioned right next to the yarn aisle was a rack of new home decor fabric. I just happened to have a 40% off coupon (koo-pun as my husband prounounces it, jokingly referring to a skit by redneck comic Mr. Ron White) for home decor fabric. Well, I just couldn’t let that coupon go to waste, right? And I also couldn’t resist the super-girly butterfly fabric you see in the picture next to my yarn. Who could? I bought 2 yards just to make sure I’d have enough for whatever project I chose to use it for. When the gal at the cutting counter asked what I was going to make with it I told her it was really just for future projects, maybe a handbag or something. I was feeling a little guilty and joked that my husband probably wouldn’t like me bringing more fabric home just to have it sit around (to be fair, he wouldn’t really mind at all). She laughed and told me that in one of her previous customer interactions she helped a lady who told her that she looked at fabric as her tools. “He has his tools, I have my fabric”. He needs different tools for each specific project just like I need special fabric for each item I’m planning to work on. And just because you’ve already got a screwdriver, doesn’t mean you can’t use another one in a different size, with a different head, or even a longer handle! Yep, I like that point of view. Well, guilt assuaged, I spent only $11.67 on 2 yards of fabric and my ball of yarn (I had a 40% off coupon for the yarn too). Not too shabby, though not exactly playing by the rules of my resolution.
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Sunday – January 8, 2006
Breaking The Rules
O.k. I’ve stuck to my rules pretty well up to this point though I can’t pat myself on the back too much since it’s only Jan. 8th. But I did break the resolution already. -Sigh- I had such high hopes! But -yay!- how could I resist this? I signed up for a knitting class at the community college which starts on Jan. 19th. This cost me $85 and basically constitutes spending money on crafts or craft related items. Oops. But I am justifying it because I have been wanting to take this class for over a year now and just haven’t found the time to do it. It gets even better for that slacker part of me that figures I will cheat on my resolution sooner or later….. I have to buy supplies to take the class!! We’re doing good here though because all I need is a pair of size 7 or 8 needles and a ball of cotton yarn. I’ve got the needles already so the yarn is all I’ll need to actually purchase. I convinced the hubby to go into a new yarn shop downtown yesterday after we had lunch at our favorite Mexican place. He is so patient with my obsession! I’ve been dying to go into this place since I saw the signs announcing their opening. They had mountains of beautiful yarns – I was practically drooling. Apparently though, 100% cotton yarn must be too pedestrian for them to carry as they didn’t have a single ball of it in the shop. I love the specialty yarns and all but when I buy a sweater I usually want cotton! Wool is just unbearably itchy on me. Is this odd? I’m already starting to wonder what I’m going to do when I want to put my new knitting skills to work. Maybe buy yarn off the internet or something.I am really excited about my new class. I’ve wanted to knit for as long as I can remember, but the obsession started again last Christmas when my best friend sent me a red furry scarf she’d knitted for me as a gift. We talked about how much I still wanted to learn and she sent me a learn to knit book with a few post-its inside about which technique she uses and different notes. So then came months of poring through knitting magazines and books in the bookstore. Not just poring though, purchasing too, so that I have mountains of print with patterns above and beyond my actual skill level. I figured that someday I’d learn and I’d want that cool pattern for later. I don’t know why but I have not been able to teach myself how to knit from a book. I taught myself how to crochet just fine and have been making afghans and other items for years now. But knitting is constantly elusive. I did manage to start a scarf which looks “really good for a beginner” according to my husband’s grandma who’s been knitting for decades. But I can’t get over that feeling that I’m not really doing it right and I want to learn how to do it the right way before I get in too deep.For now though, I get to go look at yarn. Happy Happy Joy Joy!!
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Saturday – January 7, 2006
UFO #1 – Dad’s Pants
These are not strictly a craft project, but they do constitute a sewing project and they are unfinished, so I am tackling them as my first UFO to get out of the way. Dad asked me to hem these pants sometime around September and he told me he didn’t need them right away so I instantly put them aside and forgot about them. Now that I am in “get rid of it” mode with practically everything, I figure it’s about time I got them back to him. Don’t you think? I am trying to decide right now whether to hem them by hand or by machine. Machine would probably be faster, but not guaranteed to look as nice. Also, the “craft” table was moved downstairs for extra seating at Christmas dinner and is not near enough an outlet to set up the sewing machine. I’m thinking the hand hemming would look nicer but maybe not be as durable. That’s o.k. though. Dad’s not too hard on his pants and he only lives across town so I could fix them if anything happened. This way I could cheat and watch a movie or something while I do it. Maybe one of those plastic surgery shows that I just can’t get up and walk away from. Have you ever watched one of those? Kinda makes me re-think the idea of having “a little work done” someday when I’m older! I can’t stand all the cutting and blood, not to mention the horror stories when something goes wrong. But yet I’m strangely fascinated at the same time.
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Wednesday – January 4, 2006
The Craft Addict Revealed
I recently did a search online for signs of addiction. What I found was generic, so you could fill in your drug or behavior of choice, but if you add the words “craft” or “crafting” in the blanks where a drug name would go what you get is suprisingly pertinent to my suspected addiction to crafts. Check it out:
- Can you stop doing “the thing” you suspect/others have told you that you are addicted to for a day, a week, a month, a year, or forever? Hmmm. No one has actually told me that I’m addicted to crafts and crafting, but my husband has come close and I suspect that I am addicted. I don’t see myself quitting for more than a month so I guess the answer is no.
- Does the thought of your stopping doing “the thing” for a short time cause you any physical discomfort, mental anguish, or emotional anxiety? Physical discomfort? I’d have to be into some weird crafts, maybe the kind they did in the 60’s. Emotional anxiety or mental anguish…. maybe.
- Would your stopping doing “the thing” cause you to be “less yourself”? Hah! DEFINITELY! Even my husband recognizes my craft interests as an ingrained part of my personality.
- Have you tried and failed to stop doing “the thing” in the past?Now why would I want to quit? That’s just crazy talk!
- Do you know that doing “the thing” does not serve you and/or is causing problems in your life (at home, at work, in the community)? Hmmm. This one is tough. The only problem it causes for me is the loss of a spare bedroom and some space in the garage to my mountains of craft supplies, maybe a small drain on my finances and some rolled eyes and teasing on the part of my husband. Now that I put it that way, I may be causing myself a few teeny weeny worries, but these risks far outweigh the benefits. Spoken like a true addict!!
- Have you lost friends or alienated family members or irritated coworkers because you keep on doing “the thing” no matter what? No, this hasn’t happened yet though I wonder how long my hubby will think my habit is cute and endearing.
- Have you or are you putting your life at risk by doing “the thing”? No, unless hubby decides to toss my stuff or “rearrange” one night and I get hit by a car while chasing the garbage truck down the street trying to get my 2 ton bag of buttons back. Ha Ha. I’m not that crazy! (Or am I….)
- Deep down inside, do you really want to keep on doing “the thing”? Well duh! That’s a no brainer.
- Does “the thing” control you or do you control “the thing”? I’m in control except when a sale flyer comes out, or I pass by the fabric store, or I read a craft magazine, or I surf eBay. Hmmm. Maybe I am out of control. But I kinda like it that way :)
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Finishing the UFO’s
It’s bad when your husband tells you that you need not only a craft room to hold all your crafting stuff, but a whole house. I have been collecting patterns, scraps of fabric, and piles of magazines containing craft projects for as long as I can remember. And don’t get me started on the pounds and pounds of buttons! There’s always a new project to catch my eye or a new technique I’m dying to learn. The catch to this whole thing is I find myself with more than half a dozen UFO’s (Un-Finished Objects) floating around the bedroom, garage and spare bedroom (spare bedroom – Hah! more like depository for random crafting detritus). So this is the year I thought I might try to change my ways and put some effort into finishing those UFO’s cluttering my life and space. I am going to do my very best to refrain from spending money on any crafting items except for those needed to finish a UFO. This is going to take some serious willpower. But I can console myself with the idea that after the UFO’s take off there will be plenty of room for new projects and supplies around here :)