Okay. To start off after days of radio silence I would like to answer the The Liebster Award questions so kindly given to me by knitrun4sanity – Seriously, check out this blog. I have already been nominated for this award, so I won’t hassle all you lovely readers with more questions, but since I was nominated (and she worked so hard on the personal questions) I feel it only right to answer them
The Liebster Award
1. What is your all time favourite craft? – The obvious answer would be knitting, but my favorite “craft” is actually writing music. I fell in love with it in High School and still to it to this day.
2. Where is the strangest place you have ever crafted? – The strangest place I have ever knitted it (gulp) the morgue. When I worked in the hospital I was working on a little tomato to give to my Mom as a pin cushion. I stuck it in my scrubs when we took the expired patient to the morgue, not realizing that we had forgotten to toe-tag him. My partner went upstairs and I (in accordance to Ohio State Law) remained with the body). So, naturally, I picked up my double-pointed needles, kept my yarn in my scrubs and proceeded to knit. It got quite a laugh.
3. What is your favourite craft time snack? – I am so anal about not getting anything on my knitting that I never eat around it. I do, however, take that time to indulge in ridiculously lavish cups of coffee. Creamer or syrup, whip cream, caramel, milk…mmm. Usually I drink it black so it’s like dessert!
4. Do you prefer the radio, tv, music or other when crafting? (If other then please inform!)- I definitely like listening to music when I knit. Recently though, I have been listening to quiet a few audiobooks and also podcasts. Variety is the spice of life!
5. What is your proudest achievement?- That I am able to write again after my hand injury.
6. What is your biggest crafting ‘dream’?- I guess like lots of knitters I would like to be published, but first I just want to write a pattern that I can call mine.
7. Who is your inspiration?- My husband, my niece and my cat keep me moving. Without them, sometimes I think I would just disappear creatively.
8. Is there a craft that you have yet to try that you would like to have a go at?- Crochet is a dirty little mistress, I want to have her, take her, OWN her. But I cannot, no matter how hard I try. I just keep coming back to it only to fail again. I feel I will conquer her one day though….hopefully.
9. How often do you craft (everyday, every weekend, twice a week etc) ?- Every. Single. Day. It is my version of meditation/yoga/therapy all rolled into one.
10. Are you a messy or neat crafter?- Messy! I have no idea how my husband keeps from going insane with the amount of stuff I have everywhere. It’s all so organized to start, but I always have so many things on the needles that it just…grows!
11. What or who got you started crafting?- My Great Grandmother was a knitter, and it was stumbling upon her old knitting journals and needles that made me decide to give it a go. What a great decision!
Surprised My Failed Hat Works!
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- SUCH a Promising Start
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- Full Frontal Heavy Goodness.
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- For Gloria
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- The Back
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- So Heavy I Had to Hold It.
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- Covering the Face in Shame.
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- Right Side
See that girl above with the goofy, shocked expression on her face? That’s me. The first picture I have put of myself on my blog and more than less likely the last. I hate having my picture taken – always have – but since my stripped stocking cap turned out better than it had any right to after some careful washing (I think snowboarders would like this, don’t you?) I just had to share.
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Okay, it has been a couple of days since I have posted, but things have been a bit crazy here in the Buckeye State. There are a couple of things I want to give you a preview of – my mind has been on my knitting and my blog even as I find myself cleaning the bathtub for the fourth time. Let’s see what you think!
- My Life in Books – Here I plan to have a post each week covering one of my bookshelves shelfs. One shelf at a time I want to show you who I am a little better through explaining my choice in books, their history and how it has changed me.
- Photography Friday! – I want to showcase more pictures throughout the week, but on Fridays have my blog mainly set on the pictures I am taking. This may seem a little pretentious (especially considering the talent here in the blogging world) but I am really enjoying it and I want to share.
- Stitch Pattern a Week – Definitely have to keep that going!
- Etsy Finds – One day a week I want to include an item on Etsy that I am gaga over. This is sort of a way to investigate what sells and what doesn’t in the Etsy world, since my stuff still isn’t.
So which are you more excited to see? Hey, my first ever poll!
So much to get caught up with and so little time (and almost 1,000 words already written) I am going to call it a day. So, friends and neighbors, I am going to leave you with a couple of photos and I hope you like them. More knitting pictures tomorrow (loads going on there as well) and I hope all is well and good for each and every one of you. Your kindness knows no bounds.
The Lake
More Purple Flowers
Max in Hi-Def
The Wooden Woodpecker
Max and the Setting Sun
Ohh…Ahhh
Purple Flowers
All Night Knits 
Nice post!!! And crochet it’s practice, just do chains until you conquer it then learn single crochet….. She (crochet) is not that tough lol 🙂
I ill keep trying, now it’s become my crafty version of climbing Mount Everest!
I have many of the same ambitions for my blog. I’m excited about blogging for the first time in a long time. And since I’m a total bookworm, I’m really looking forward to your book posts. And hey, if you ever need crochet advice, let me know! You can be my knitting tutor and I’ll try my best to help you with crochet. 😉
I’ve gotten so frustrated with my lack of sales on Etsy. Frustrated and ANGRY. I see people who make things that aren’t different from my stuff, only its outrageously priced, and they have thousands of sales. And then I get excited when I come up with something unique, and sits in my shop for a year. I’ve read tons of articles and success stories, but everything I implement seems useless. I know I sound like a downer, but egh, so frustrating. I think Etsy is just so flooded now days.
Lovely photos as always, and I always enjoy your posts!
I’m excited about blogging as well, I haven’t been doing it as long so I didn’t really suffer a null with it – it just seems I have way more ideas floating around my head. I don’t just have to have a blog about knitting, limiting myself that way is more harmful than helpful. Not to mention the people I have met while doing this have been utterly unexpected in the best way possible (yourself included!).
I am sorry to hear that about your store, I really like your store. But I do think that you are right, the market is so flooded with everyone reading the same things that we are all fighting using the same moves. There’s no counter to that, just fighting for a little attention on a huge stage. I am trying to figure out ways to introduce people to my products in other ways, don’t really know where I am going to go with that but I know I need to do it. Success is mostly based on word of mouth….I just need to get people to talk.
Thank you so much for your comments, your help and moral support. It means so much to me that I am a part of a community that is so caring.
I made a hat in very similar colors for my little brother, who is a snowboarder. It was actually a quite similar shape too, except it was a fish and had a tail at the end of the point. He loves it! Snowboarders have some sort of thing about crazy hats. I think they’d definitely like yours 🙂
Oh thank heavens, I really thought it was a wash until it was…washed and re-blocked!
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I bet morgue will be one of the strangest places! I voted for books but having seen your recent photos I want more of them!!
I am slowly trying to psych myself up to how some of them off, it is nerve-racking though! I have been taking pictures for years, and like my writing, never really showed them to anyone. I’m getting there pretty quickly though!
Oh don’t hide them any longer. no need to be shy 🙂
I will try to duke it out with my Panic Monster, feeling a little puckish do I might actually win! 😉
I am cheering you on 🙂
Thank you!
<3!!! I love the colors in the pictures. 🙂 Are you using manual cameras or digital? And if you're using digital, what filters or lenses are you using. I love my manuals but they aren't cost effective but I can't get the same look with a digital. I have a Holga lens for my digital but the colors don't always come out saturated enough.
I use a Canon PowerShot. But honestly I run it through photoshop or an (and this is a bit embarrassing) app on my iPod. They let me tinker with it just enough to correct what I didn’t in my camera, for 99 cents. It’s definitely worth looking in to.
Haha don’t be embarrassed. I’m not ashamed to admit that a lot of my pics nowadays are through instagram because I love that they look like manual film. If I could have the quality of my digital and the colors of instagram I’d be in heaven. I’m learning Photoshop (slowly. Lol) but I’m not super great at it.
In the end it doesn’t matter what you run pictures through, talent is talent. 🙂
Well talent you’ve got, lets just wait for technology to give us that perfect shooting machine – digital quality and manual/Instagram colors would make an amazing camera!
Fantastic photos, Rachel. My favourites are “The Lake” & “Ooh Aah” 🙂 Thank you for sharing x
Thank you!