Just Rip It Out!

I just started knitting this Dinner In The Eiffel Tower Shawl.  I am pretty excited about it as I have been looking for a shawl that I could use for both formal and casual, day and night.

It took me forever to pick my yarn.  Living in Singapore I do not have near the choices I would have back in the U.S.A.  but I am grateful that Spotlight does have natural fiber yarn from Australia so I picked a nice merino in a silver/ lavender color.

The pattern is in sections, section one went without a hitch.  It is always nice to have the right number of stitches at the end of a section.

Section two on the other hand was not right, the rows kept ending wrong.  I was thinking did she miss something in this pattern?  I went over and over my work trying to figure out my error. 

After knitting all of section two I read the first line for section three that said I should still have 69 stitches!

 Uh-oh ~ I had way over 80? 

After much investigation I realized that I was not doing the p2tog tbl stitch correctly.  I was holding my yarn in the back and not in the front this was adding an extra stitch each time I made that error.

 I still can't figure my thinking on that, I have been knitting for well over 20 years I know pural stitch means yarn in front if you knit continental style that is.

OK so this is what we do when we knit, make errors, evaluate, rip it all out and start over again.  There is no harm in starting over esp. if we have learned in the process.

I am happy to report that I am now through section two and have done it properly.  Now onto section three..... beginning with 69 stitches.

Is It So Simple?

God has taken me down a road, a process shall we say of simplifying.  This has been going on for about five years now.

I will say it is not so simple to simplify ones life, ones schedule, ones material items, ones diet.... It is a process indeed.

Just as knitting is a process, it may become simple to the knitter but it takes time, it is a process that can not be rushed.

As I have started to make a priority list I realize that under the "time for myself" catagory knitting has an important place.  I really should say fiber art, as I enjoy crochet and love to spin that fiber into yarn.

 I hope to simplify my time enough to be able to add weaving into my fiber art love but.....is that simplifying? I don't know but it sounds fun and the thought is that as other things get weeded out there will be more time in my life for .....

God, which in reality I see God as being in every part of my life but desire to spend more "meditative" or silent time reading, hearing and praying.

My family, I love home schooling our boys, keeping our home and making healthy natural meals for us, and of course going on dates with my husband.

Healthy habits,  I think my yoga practice as well as knitting would fit into this catagory as they bring me physical strength and relaxation.

But is it so simple? I'm finding it is not but I also find that when I do indeed spend that time with God all else falls into place that day, it just might not look how I thought it would.

At the end of knitting a project it does not always look exactly how I thought it would look either but I always like it and am always glad I took the time to knit each and every stich.

Simplifying may not be simple but I venture to say I am glad I am fumbling through the process.

SPOTLIGHT

I have been working on simplifying my life for several years now.  Moving to Singapore has really helped in that endeavor in that we know just what it takes to live without a lot of excess. 

Part of simplifying for me is finishing current projects that may be "in hibernation" before I start new projects.  You know, that lonely sock that needs its match or that sweater that is half done.

When we first moved to Singapore a friend of mine told me about  Spotlight, an Australian based store that sells all kinds of things including...... yarn.  I tend to be really picky about my yarn, if I am going to spend a lot of time making something I want to have a quality product at the end.  I really stay away from synthetic fibers making it difficult sometimes to find yarn that will be suitable for my projects.

About a year ago I decided that I wanted to make an African Flower lap blanket.  This project gave me an excuse to make my way to Spotlight and see if they have any yarn worth crocheting.  Much to my delight they did, in fact, I bought all the yarn I needed for my project.

With Spotlight being an Australian based store, they carry a wide selection of Australian wool.  This brand, Panda, is made for Spotlight and is machine washable 100% new wool. 

You gotta like that and to top it off it was about $4.80 SGD per skein, cheaper than what it would be in the U.S. 

I came home with my big bag of wool and had my pattern in hand ready to crochet.  As I started I questioned if my color selection was right, should I have gone with a white for the back ground and not the gray, how about green or black?  I don't know if you do that, spend time in the store, carefully picking out colors to get home and question yourself but it happens to me frequently.

As a result of questioning my color selection I put the project into hibernation but now if I want to make something new and exciting I must finish a hibernating project so.... I will continue to crochet this lap blanket trusting that the end result will be beautiful and knowing that no matter how it looks, it will be warm and washable.

One Stitch At A Time

As our family is getting ready to end our adventure of a two year assignment in Singapore I am looking to start a new blog.   Our Singapore blog  will soon be coming to an end but our lives continue on. 

Knitting has been a part of me since childhood.  Actually I should sayI have been  knitting and crocheting since childhood.  I would spend long hours working the fiber into something fun and useful. 

In recent years I have gotten into spinning, what a joy to draft that fiber and watch it spin into beautiful yarn.  I love my Kromski spinning wheel and of course my on the go drop spindle. 

We traveled to New Zealand last year and while there were a lot of sheep

 I did not find a lot of fiber.  We did come across the Ashley store just outside of Christ Church where I scored a small amount of yarn and fiber.  If we had the luggage space I would have gotten more.

  Next month we are off to Australia before moving back to the states.  I do hope to find some great fiber in the land down under.

In the mean time knitting has been my hobby.  Living in Singapore is not always easy and we frequently say "one day at a time."

  We know that at the end of our adventure we will look back on the wonderful opportunity and be grateful we went through the hard times.  It is those hard times that God uses to mold us.... to create in us a reflection of His beauty.

Just as it is with knitting, one stitch at a time and suddenly after all that time, all the rows we may have to rip out and repeat..... there is something beautiful and useful at the end. 

As I look ahead to the next three months we will be making the transition back to the U.S.A.  one day at a time, one stitch at a time and good will come.