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May 14, 2007

Temptations

I used to get a lot of magazines. By a lot I mean somewhere around 8 a month. That doesn't sound like a lot when you first say it, but when you consider that I'm anal and think every magazine should be read cover to cover, and that anal someone would rather spend her time knitting or reading a good Nora Roberts, you start to see my dilemma. Over the last few months I've let a number of these magazine subscriptions expire and I'm down to a few (maybe 4 - including IK and SpinOff). There is a relatively new magazine that I've subscribed to since it first came out - Blueprint. The nice thing about this magazine is that it only comes out once every other month - less actual magazines to read and they pack a lot of great info into each issue. It has a little bit of everything - fashion, home, decorating, health, fitness, and even a little bit on crafting. This last issue had a nice article about Joelle Hoverson of Purl, Purl Patchwork, and Last Minute Knitted Gifts fame. There were all of these fabulous pictures of both shops (drool city, by the way) as well as some pictures of Joelle's apartment and craft room. She has a gorgeous handmade quilt on her bed, and Blueprint is providing the pattern for free! I really don't have the time or the inclination to make a quilt like that right now, but I think it's really cool. I still have a bunch of pajama pants to make for Christmas (I'm way behind on my Holiday Headstart projects - shame on me) before I can even consider something as elaborate as a quilt, but it never hurts to look. Right?

And just in case your blog reading list isn't long enough, Purl has a great blog - Purl Bee. There's a nice mix of all things crafty to further inspire your crafty souls. Another nice blog with more varied information is Bluelines. They have a lot of entertainment, but also fashion and home decorating. All good things in my world!

I taught two classes at the local yarn store on Saturday. I was so nervous and scared - this teaching business is hard work! The first class was on fixing mistakes in your knitting. I found that class very satisfying because the women had no idea you could fix mistakes any other way but to rip the entire thing out and start over. I can't even imagine knitting that way. I have a hard enough time getting anything finished - can you imagine if I was constantly ripping and starting over? Yipes. We stuck to the basics - twisted stitches, how to pick up a dropped stitch, tinking and frogging - stuff like that. They were amazed and it made me feel really good to help knitters feel better about the process. The second class was all about gauge. That class wasn't as satisfying because while you can promise them that knitting a gauge swatch and washing it and letting it dry before you measure will produce a better fitting garment, they are a bit amazed at the amount of work that takes and the fact that it's really all about trial and error. As you all know, gauge is a bitch and swatches regularly lie so I didn't feel like I could send them on their way with any answers. Hopefully the feedback will be positive because I enjoyed teaching and there may be more classes in my future. In my own knitting, I'm still working away on Butterfly - no real progress to speak of - and the second Jaywalker. My sock knitting has taken a back seat to Butterfly lately, but I'm anxious to get both projects done so I may have to divide my time more evenly between the two. I start my second week of work today and I think I'm going to be on my own for a lot of it. That makes me happy, but it's kind of scary too. I hope I don't mess anything up too badly and at least I can ask questions when I need to. Have a great Monday. Happy crafting.