Overthinking. Yarnover. EZ

Why post when there are no pictures (so there are a few)....it's not really fair to consume everyone else's photos without offering up your own (be nice, play fair).... it takes so SERIOUS skill to take good pictures in direct sunlight(which I don't have)....it's the end of June, the mosquitoes are out (I have the bites to prove it).

I love to knit. I make no secret about it. There is genius to be found in knitting. 90% of the time, both are positive and empowering. When the two are combined, they are downright combustible.

I am fascinated by holes. A hole is the absence of something. A hole generates a reaction. Sometimes it's sensory-cheese with holes tastes great. Or physical-caused by the dog or a mole. Examples of holes are: cognitive (holes in heads), emotional (holes in hearts) or geographical (sinkholes). Holes are given a "value". They are either empty or full. Holes in the marketplace are good. They're called "niches" and make scads of money. Holes in houses or fuel tanks are bad. Holes in jeans get a variable reaction. It depends on who you ask.

You make a hole by adding or subtracting something.


In knitting, there are holes that are desired (lace) and holes that are dreaded (insect or animal).


I get a really big charge out of being able to manipulate and control my knitting by strategically placing holes.


Genius is like a hole. It can be either natural or man made. It can be debated but not denied. Often the product of environment, both are obvious.


Elizabeth Zimmerman was a genius. She also happens to have been a knitter. She asked questions and looked for answers. She listened to history, applied her findings and learned things. She asked more questions. She thought about circles and lace knitting.


And ended up at Pi. Pi, as in science and math. Pi as in 3.14etc, etc, etc. Pi + holes = endless possibilities. And SIMPLE.

Pi + Renee (Goddess Knits) = Anniversary KAL

Short, sweet and VERY flexible. 5 clues, with a choice between 2 charts for each clue. Requires: yarn, needles (and beads). Even in the era of modified and carefully selected roles and goals, I can do this. Particularly if I do the 50/50 split: use something from my stash and purchase the other "something else".

Stash: beads. Purchase: BMFA Silk Thread, Thraven colorway



If you've ever taken a color class, you can appreciate Tina's experiment in over dying (Raven Clan colorway). Blue Moon Fiber Arts

Silk has a texture all its own. In the hank, it squeaks. A feel squeak, not an audible squeak.

Hand dyed yarn has a fragrance. A working kind of...studio sort of....homey feeling.

I never found the Hematite beads that I had in mind when I order the yarn. I had pulled these out instead (mostly because I could find them).



When the yarn met the beads for the first time this afternoon, I wasn't so sure. I never am. Every second guess gets a third and more is ALWAYS better.

They sat in a punch bowl. They sat in a vase. They jumped into a clear plastic bag. And we went for a ride.

There was traffic. There was music. There was a custom license plate that read "O RELAX" on a snazzy new German auto. I enjoyed it until the driver pulled a move right off Chicago's Dan Ryan Expressway.

I laughed. I simply don't take myself that seriously anymore. Here's some more math: Construction + Rush Hour = Traffic

Minneapolis has transit issues. It could be worse. Deal with it.



A trip to the airport (3 Hour Tour) and I ended up with what I had when I started. Exactly.

• Wind yarn tonight.
• Start @ the center, working Clue 1 and Clue 2 tomorrow.
• Take more pictures.
• Begin Clue 3 on Sunday

By the end of the weekend, my shawl will lag only a day. I will have revealed my secret photo "assistant", and I will have watched the next disc in Season 5 of "MI-5".

11 Months to the Day

It's an anniversary of sorts. The stall of the blog, the acknowledgment that I am picture-challenged and a new appreciation for simple things. I quickly and dramatically ran out of gas. One the plus side--I'm not the first or the last and I'm in great company! There are many, many highly creative and successful folks on these lists. So where's my name? That's a project for another day.

I often say, "Knitting has kept me sane and continues to do so." I am a 'process' creative, so there are plenty of UFOs. Like this one:

Emily, the wonder roomate's Inside Outs in STR's 'Highway 30'. Can you spot the issues? In addition to wide feet, Em's got a high instep. This one wasn't high enough. Ahd the HOLE--see the hole? Who knit these socks.......I frogged them both to just below the heel. And stalled. And so it went with several pair over the last year.

I joined Ravelry in June. And started actually using it's tools about a week ago. And for teh bonus round? That's right, "What are No Pictures?" Soon. Really.

Here's what using Ravelry has taught me (over the least 10 days). 1)I have LOTS of things on the needles. Many, many more than I realized. 2)4-25qt. plastic bins of sock yarn is bordering on excessive. That's stand on the edge of being a Thing. 3)I haven't finished cataloging the yarn that I look at everyday. I wonder what's in the back of the closet...... Do you know how many pictures I need to take?

Right along with the hard things, there was this:

My baby sister went off to University. K8's not a baby anymore. She hasn't been one in a very long time. 20 years old. Somewhere between crawling and Christmas she became a lovely young woman. She worked really hard to get to this point. Interestingly, getting accepted was the easiest piece. I thought that the details of becoming a foreign student were going to make me crazy. There were funding issues and VISA issues and changed flights and forgotten items. There were days that she thought that it was a pipe dream. She's now a hemisphere and half a world away. And exactly where she is supposed to be.

Finishing my stalled projects is very similar. There are days that I don't believe that I will ever put a dent in them or have a "real person's" living room. And my silly sister believes that it will happen. Perhaps not in her lifetime, but it will happen.

This leaves me with much more time. Time to knit, time to take pictures and time to get back on the horse.