Knit Focus

Saturday it was cold and I needed to get to the farmers' market.  Donning my layers, I pulled a knitted hat out of my box of wooly items, put it on, and decided it was too big.  Hmmm...I have never taken apart a project that was complete, but this time I will because I love the yarn.  The plan is to undo all the decrease section, and finish it back off as a cowl.  And I decided that that was the last of my hats. (Sorry, P.  You will have to be content with your quilt.)  Life is short, my queue is long, and making projects that have to be a certain size is just a bother.  

On the other hand, I am almost finish knitting a beaded shawl for my sister-in-law, and I have to say that it has been such an enjoyable project.  The pattern is interesting.  The beads along with my markers help me keep the pattern on track.  If I do make mistakes, they are easy to correct.  It is a pretty, sparkly bit of  woolyness.   Ahh, shawls...I love them.  Cowls are fun, too, and I don't mind throwing in a scarf here or there.  Life is short, my queue is long, and creating snuggly warmth for necks and shoulders is what I am going to do.

Since all my shawls, cowls, and scarves are knitted on circular needles, the question is...do I keep all my double-points?  

Double-tasking

I remember when multi-tasking became all the rage.  How many plates can you keep spinning at one time?  That idea appealed to me as it came during the season of caring for little ones and homeschooling, and as much out of necessity as anything, I incorporated it as often as I could.  Alas, multi-tasking turned out not to be so great after all--more stress with less done less well. 

Now that life has slowed down a bit, I have discovered what does work, and I call it double-tasking.  Since tasks vary in the amount of focus they require, it works quite well to pair up certain jobs in order to use my time the most effectively.  Here are some job pairing that work well for me:

Phone conversations while folding laundry or dusting.

Watching a movie while ironing.

Using my iPad to do my daily Bible reading while I do the dishes.

Cleaning is always an opportunity for planning, meditating, or prayer.

Using picking up the mail and refreshing the bird baths to get some sunshine/vitamin D.   

Cooking works well paired with short tasks such as emptying the the dish drainer or sorting through mail that I can do in breaks between food preparations, though I have found it works best to do tasks that keep me close to the kitchen.  However, I have found that baking and talking on the phone is generally not a good idea.  Those forgotten ingredients or unintended substitutions made a few things less than tasty.

Double-tasking not only lets me get more done, it has the bonus of making a "mindless" task more enjoyable.  Nice!

Butterfly Garden

Every quilt I work on is an opportunity to learn new skills and practice others.  This pretty top was put together by one of my quilting ladies.  The pattern is called Disappearing Nine Patch and is made from a nine patch block that is cut down the middle horizontally and vertically, and then sewn back together.  We have made several of tops with this pattern, and it work best when using three colors, as this top does.  

Looking through my quilting books, I was inspired to give butterflies a try.  

 They were quite fun to do and not at all difficult.

In the patterned areas, I created some tropical style flowers, the inspiration for which came from a fellow quilter who had also quilted this pattern.

A serendipitous moment occurred when I looked at the completed quilt.  On the front, the little butterflies stand out, while the flowers fade into the patterned fabric.  On the back however, the butterflies, quilted in blue thread, disappeared in the blue fabric.  The flowers on the other hand stood out, and due to their shape, gave the effect of large butterflies scattered over the back.  

 Happiness!

A Doggy Tale

Hello, there!  My name is Asia and I am guest posting today on Elzbee's Place.  That is me in the middle between my wonderful master and my lovely mistress.

Recently my master and mistress took a trip that sadly didn't allow me to accompany them.  Instead they brought me to Elzbee who happens to run a very nice doggy boutique hotel.  

There was fine dining, though I have to say that the menu was rather lacking in variety.

Luxurious sleeping accommodations with linens freshened daily

There were daily excursions.

I enjoyed an occasional massage.

Several times a day, Elzbee would take me outside for a brisk rubdown.  She called it a dander rub.  I don't know why, but it was a pleasant part of my stay.

All in all, I enjoyed my time at Elzbee's Place and would recommend it to my friends, but she is very exclusive in the clientele she takes. I think I may be the only one.  Happy me! :-)