Crafty lady

I’ve been thinking about the Things that Matter to Me recently, and having a creative outlet (be it writing, crafting, cooking or knitting) is very high on the list. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, but one of my intentions is to spend more time this year being creative.

I’ve had plenty of inspiration in the creativity department recently, like this amazing gift from my mom: a handmade book by Mendi Stubson, acquired on our summer trip to Ashland, Oregon and sneakily gifted for the holidays.



Knitters will note the judicious use of ribbon and eyelash yarns...



Gardeners will be charmed by the vintage seed packets, gardening notions and gold-stamped flora and fauna... Hands-on types will pluck out each envelope’s contents, sniff the lavender and thumb through the wee book-inside-the-book...



As a knitter, book lover and enthusiastic (if inconsistent) gardener, this book is a constant pleasure. I open it over and over again and each time I discover something new and beautiful. This time it’s a packet of wildflower seeds tucked into a pocket in the front cover. Another time, the quote “It's the cracked ones that let in the light.”

And each time I look at it, I am inspired. Thanks Mom for such a wonderful gift!

In other news, I, a non-baker, have made bread. Not just any bread. I made crusty, chewy, rustic bread that, to be quite honest, kicks ass.



The recipe is a variation on the famous NY Times No-Knead Bread recipe, and it takes maybe 20 minutes of active work. And now I feel like a Baking GOD.

I even finished one of my knits over the weekend – the first Trekking sock is done.



I like this yarn so much that I wove in the ends immediately after finishing the toe, so I could block it right away.

I’m trying to avoid ladders in my plain socks, so I scooched the needle joins over by a few stitches each row. This minimized laddering (yay!), but made for consistently uneven stitches over the whole sock (boo!). The unevenness mostly smoothed out in the blocking, though I did get wee ladders from the stitch markers I used to mark the instep stitches. You can see it if you look closely.



I’ll just have to remember to do the same things on Sock Two.

Unfortunately, my hands and wrists have been hurting quite a lot recently, so I am (gulp) not knitting this week. I’m trying to be very conscientious about ergonomics at the computer as well, and hoping that being careful and giving my hands a rest will fix things up. I may even get some reading done.

This knitting hiatus also provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate (and ruthlessly frog) stalled WIPs.

So which UFO’s will make the New Year’s cut?

Stay tuned.