Laughter & tears

What a week this has been! I started my Nanowrimo writing on Tuesday and was amazed at how the memories just started flowing. I actually had to write some of them down because they were popping up in my mind so fast. Now I have a piece of paper filled with a couple words for each memory that will help me get them all typed up. I love doing this and am pretty sure it's something that will bring my Dad some joy.

I also spun a full bump of fiber (pictures in a bit), started a shawl for a friend, dyed another shawl of mine, moved my bedroom furniture around, helped with cleaning a dryer hose, blogged about anger (I usually don't do that), met my daughter's boyfriend, played in the leaves with a toddler and my Sweetie, and made refried beans for the first time. Ever.

The fiber is the the first installment of the PS... line of colors that Pacasha, of Younger Yarns, and I are dyeing together. She dyes the fiber and I dye the yarn. We both use the same dye (since we buy from the same suppliers) and colors, and last month was a hit! Since it was our first month, we both sent each other a package and I finished spinning mine just a couple days ago. I still need to set it, but that won't take long. It's so gorgeous! (And the spinning looks great, too.) Here's what it looked like halfway done -

The shawl is going to a wonderful woman who plays in the House Cup group on Ravelry. We're doing a secret swap, so I can't even say where she lives, but I know she's going to love it. The yarn is my own Sunrises in Nightshade, and I already know she likes the colors.

The shawl I dyed was made from the yarn my Dad sent me for Solstice a couple years ago, and that I wear quite a bit. Now, it's even more awesome because of the colors.

Moving my bedroom around was a great way of giving me a better view when I'm sitting at my desk. Now, I can really enjoy the natural daylight even while I'm working on shop updates, Nano writing, or just playing on Ravelry.  It's still a bit messy, but this is my new view -

I met the boy Brianna is "dating". I use the quotations simply because they haven't gone out on an actual date, but they call each other boyfriend/girlfriend. How do I feel about this? Well, the boy came in and gave me a firm handshake and introduced himself to me. That says something. I guess time will tell about the rest of it.

 Playing in the leaves on Sunday was wonderful. The toddler (I'll still need to ask his parents' permission about names and pictures) was hesitant at first, but after a couple minutes of seeing what I was doing, he jumped right in with kicking the leaves, tossing them around, wading through the pile and just having fun. Kevin joined in tossing the leaves in the air and kicking them all around (like he needs an excuse to have fun). It was really nice to be able to have a reason for making a mess of the leaf pile and fill the time with smiles and laughter.

I think that Sunday was one of the best I've had and it will certainly be one of my happy memories.

So, where does the "tears" portion of the title come from? Well, when my emotions run really high, they begin to overflow. Whether from anger, sorrow, joy, or Love, the tears will spill over. I'm not ashamed of this, it just is the way I am. This week has been filled with all of these emotions and more.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week and that you all find moments that will be memories for the rest of your life.

Blessed Samhain!

What a busy week this has been!

I attended a very small gathering for Small Business Peer Mentoring hosted by the creator/owner of Oasis Healing Arts. It was a very small group, but that gave us a lot more interaction than there might have been. I did learn a few things and I'm looking forward to learning more.

On the craft front, I finished a few small projects and reached 50% of a large project -

 

In the repair/fix-it department, I added hooks to my flyer and replaced the dryer belt. 

Tomorrow begins the Nanowrimo, which I will be participating in. I won't be writing a novel, instead I'll be writing about various memories I have of being a child. I don't have any grand dreams of being published, but it might be a nice story to share with my grandchildren someday.

For now, I will continue working on my knitting and relax for the rest of the day.

Project of the week...

The other night, the idea of a project each week was given to me and I have been thinking about it since then. I think it's a great idea and it doesn't even have to show only my crafty projects, but life projects as well. Such as seeing the whales off the coast of Maine (not my idea, but a cool one nonetheless). And the thought occurred to me about just adding this to the other blog, or keeping it separate. If I want this to show the things I've done in a year, or five, then it should be a new blog.

I think the most daunting part of this is the fear that I will have nothing to show at the end of this. But, since we never know where our roads lead, what would I gain by not trying at all.

Where to start? If I started projects from my birthday until now, I would include these:

Fiber spun into singles (spun on the wheel that Sally painted and my awesome friends made sure I received by my birthday) -

Then plied -

A scarf made for my dad -

Some fiber I dyed -

And split for fractal spinning -

Other crafty news: I finished another washcloth, am still learning how to do stranded colorwork with a little stretch to it, am working on the Evenstar shawl, and am planning to make a shawl for a crafty swap.

There are other things that have happened as well, but more challenging to actually show. Some of them are internal and who wants to see my insides, right?

One accomplishment recently was a detox. Scary word, isn't it? Well, this was a food de-tox. I went for over a week not having any type of dairy or grain. I don't have any allergies or anything like that, I just wanted to get my body cleaned out for the winter. Mainly, it was a way to help eliminate any odd cravings that I get sometimes. For example, there is nothing of nutritional value in a Whataburger. As nice as they are to enjoy, having an actual craving for one certainly doesn't point to a vitamin or mineral deficiency so, why the craving? Since there really isn't any answer, the detox was in order.

The first few days were pretty blah. I rested a lot, read books, knitted, and drank more water than I thought possible. I also enjoyed a ton of veggies. Most were raw, but some were cooked lightly. And I discovered that I won't be doing another detox once the sun starts to decline. Why? Because this is the time of year that I love hot, spicy, and filling foods. Not, cold, raw veggies. Anyway, it was a good experience, nonetheless.

I've also been doing more journaling and thinking. I have so many ideas running through my head on a regular basis and I'm really looking forward to figuring out ways to make them work. Some are pretty simple, like moving the furniture in my room. The most challenging parts of that are the fact that I don't have many outlets, nor do I have a really long data cable (my F8 key is broken on the netbook so I can no longer connect wirelessly). I'll get these things settled pretty soon and my room will be even more pleasing than it is right now.  Well, to be honest, at this moment there are things out of place since I didn't put them away when I got home yesterday.