underpants

I have a confession to make...

one of the things that really, really, REALLY scares me...

is the size of my underpants!

I'm sorry if that's too much information for my more delicate readers out there... but it's true. Each year they've become a litte bigger... and a little bigger again... until they started to frighten me...

So I decided to face my fear of the ever-increasing undies, and do something about it.

My main problem is inactivity, and I don't think that I'm the only crafter out there who struggles with this problem. Quite frankly, I would much rather sit on my butt all afternoon and crochet, than go for a walk. Or if I was bored with crochet, I could always switch to knitting... or embroidery... or just surf the web for lots of creative ideas. It's not like I don't get any fresh air - if it's a nice day, I'll take my yarn outdoors to play.

Crafting is a very sedentary activity - and I do like to indulge in it whenever possible!

I certainly don't plan to give up on my craft. That would be insane... and far too painful. But I do need to balance it with some more demanding physical activity.

So I joined a gym!

Which I thought would be really scary, but wasn't...

The first one I checked out was perfect. Friendly and helpful staff. Clean, modern facilities. Fun atmosphere. Sensible, manageable workouts. Ongoing assessments and support.

And it is purple.

I know that seems like such a small thing compared to all those other points, but I decided to take it as a SIGN! The purple was perfect. It made me feel comfortable and at ease with the whole decision.

So today was my first workout. I overcame my reluctance to exercise in public, and I received a gold star on my name card! I love stars...

I'm so proud of myself for facing a fear, and dealing with it.

are you my friend yet?

Are we friends over at Ravelry yet?

I know that lots of us are... and it's a really handy way of keeping in touch when I am away from Blogland. Not that I'm addicted or anything... well, not much!

Anyway, my username over there is laughingpurple (the character limit didn't allow for laughingpurplegoldfish) and if you click here it will take you to my profile. Add me as a friend, so that I can add you back... and stalk you!

I'm joking about the stalking part... but serious about the rest...

Anyway

The other day I was out shopping.

On the path outside the shops was a gorgeous little sparrow, but as I approached him he didn't move away, which seemed kind of weird. I walked right past him, and still he didn't move. In fact, I had to walk around him to avoid stepping on him... but still he seemed unperterbed. He looked well, wasn't at all distressed... but just wouldn't move...

I watched for a little while to see what would happen. Hoping he would fly away, or at the very least to get out of the way of the pedestrian traffic. Or maybe someone would stop and gently move him across to the garden bed...

Actually, I really wanted to move him myself... but I'm not really a toucher of animals. I know that sounds ridiculous, I mean I'm quite capable of patting a cat or a dog, but that's as far as I go. If I had picked up that bird and he had struggled at all, I would have totally freaked out, screamed like a six year old girl and flung him away from me (probably onto the road, or into the shop window)

I know it sounds pathetic - I'm a thirty-eight year old grown woman, for Heaven's sake! I've been through childbirth three times, and touched countless icky kid messes... Why couldn't I help a harmless little bird?

I was still really annoyed with myself later that day, when I came across this fridge magnet...



Do one thing every day that scares you - Eleanor Roosevelt

I was so inspired by it, that I had to buy it and bring it home with me.

And it really got me thinking about the things that scare me. Silly little things. Irrational fears.

One thing for sure. Next time I will be the person who stops to help the bird.

What scares you?

s.a.b.l.e.

Are you familiar with the acronym S.A.B.L.E.?

It's one of my favourites... as it's so descriptive... and most of us can totally relate to it...

Stash
Acquisition
Beyond
Life
Expectancy

Does that sound familiar to you? Have you acquired more crafting materials than you could ever expect to use in your lifetime? Or perhaps you know someone who has?

(hello Daphne)

I was looking through my embroidery case the other day, when I came to the frightening realisation... that even if I spent an hour embroidering every day, for the rest of my life... I CAN'T IMAGINE I WILL EVER MANAGE TO FINISH ALL THE EMBROIDERY PROJECTS I HAVE STARTED!

I'm not being melodramatic about this. Anyone who has ever dabbled in cross-stitch embroidery knows that it is painstakingly slow work. Sure, the results are fabulous... it just takes forever to get there.



I worked on this piece over a period of ten years!

Admittedly, it was an on again/off again project... but still... I don't need to tell you that ten years is a damn long time...

Reading through your comments from my last post, I had to agree with Misha. My style is usually simple and speedy. I love items which come together quickly, so that I don't get the chance to become bored with them. It's very surprising, especially to me, that I have gone back to my embroidery. Perhaps Stances & Stitches is on the right track when she suggests that with all the stress going on, I needed to find a place of calm... and the simple, slow rhythm of embroidery provided me with the 'centring' that I was craving.

Or maybe I'm just fickle, and I got bored with my yarns...



Anyway, here's a shot of some of those projects. It's a bit hard to see much detail because of the reflection from he plastic bags. I keep them in a vintage hat box which my father bought me for my birthday a few years back. Definitely one of my favourite gifts ever...





As for my current embroidery? My aim is to finish by the end of the year. Then I will probably have it professionally framed. The other option is to make it into a cushion cover, but I worry about how grubby it might get at my place... Might just be best to put it safely behind glass.

remember me???

Hello... remember me???

I'm not entirely sure what happened there... but man it's been a long, long time since my last post, hasn't it?

I've had so many wonderful messages from my readers - expressing both concern and encouragement - and I really, really, REALLY appreciate it. As a blogger... you sometimes wonder whether or not there is anyone out in cyberspace actually reading what you write. It totally cheered me up to hear that I was missed!

I didn't really plan to drop off the radar. It just kind of happened.

You know the way one thing snowballs into the next? And before you know it... it all turns into something huge. Well, that's pretty much what happened...

Lots of significant life changes - happening one after the next - and not leaving much time for crafting or blogging.

So, I guess it's been a good six weeks or more since we last spoke...

You would think that I would have accomplished so much craft in that time - but it's not the case. I've barely picked up my yarn at all.

Something which I have been working on, is cross stitch embroidery. Now, I have to confess that I have been working with NEW MATERIALS!!! I was given some birthday money a little while back, and I decided to purchase some embroidery kits.

I'm really loving this one: it's called ALL YOUR FRIENDS, and has been designed by DIANE ARTHURS... click here to see what the finished piece will look like.

And here is my progress so far:



Actually... I've just realised that I did do the TINIEST bit of recycling for this project! I recycled an old birthay card to use as my thread card. Just punched holes in it, sorted my threads into each hole, and then scribbled the symbol used in the graph chart for each colour.

So I wasn't completely evil!!!

lovely in green

This square is called Lovely in Green, by Dayna Audirsch. It is a free online pattern, click here for the link.

It actually worked up quite quickly and easily. I've used a 4.5mm hook and recycled 8ply/DK yarns. For the first two rounds I used the same colour, and after that the colour was changed at the end of each round.

• round 1 & 2 - cream
• round 3 - brown and white fleck
• round 4 - dark burgundy
• round 5 - cream
• round 6 - rivergum green
  
• round 7 - petrol
• round 8 - forest green
  
• round 9 - mid blue
  
• round 10 - natural fleck
  
• round 11 - camel fleck
  

bright and cheery

One of my main reasons for chosing to work on the 'block-a-month' project, was because I wanted to learn to read patterns properly. I figured that if I was working on the same squares as the rest of the group, then there would be plenty of people ready to help when I needed it.

Well, it's working... and I'm now confident enough to try any pattern... well, almost any pattern!

Another interesting thing, is that I can now see FAULTS in patterns. Instead of assuming that I am the one at fault, I can see that there are times where the pattern just does not make sense.

This is one of those patterns. All was well up until about round 7, and then I got stuck. The instructions didn't fit with the previous round... so I ignored them, and just made it up based on the photograph of the finished square.

It is a free online pattern - Bright and Cheery Square, by Dayna Audirsch... click here for the link. I've used a 4.5mm hook, and recycled 8ply yarns.

• round 1 & 2 - mid blue
• round 3 - navy
• round 4 - beige
• round 5 - cream
• round 6 - rivergum green
• round 7 - mid blue
• round 8 - natural fleck
• round 9 - dark burgundy
• round 10 - peacock blue
• round 11 - rivergum green
  

how's it looking?

As you already know, I'm working on a block-a-month project with a group over at Ravelry. The idea is that you make one 12" square each month, and at the end of the year you join them all together to make an afghan.

Since I'm after a larger afghan, I have been making two squares each month.

Well, we're half way through the year already... so here are the first twelve squares.