WIP Wednesday: Stunned and Floored

After last week, the topic of online friends seems to keep popping up. For instance, Ravelry did a piece on how to make (better) use of their friend option. And as of today, you can find more than 2 million friends on Ravelry. 2.000.000 members, can you imagine? We could populate a country with that!

After a few years as a member, I can't imagine what my life would be like without that community of crafters. I wouldn't be able to knit the things I'm knitting, I wouldn't use the yarn I'm knitting with now. I wouldn't be spinning, or knitting with my handspun. I wouldn't be able to give the gifts I'm making my loved ones, and I wouldn't be able to survive on the ideas my head keeps having while waiting for the world to catch up with my needs.

I wouldn't have met a number of interesting people, learned new techniques or even thought about sending a fabric postcard to the other side of the world.*

If you have any interest in fibre arts and crafts, sign up here and prepare to have your mind blown.


Imagine this blog without the existence of Ravelry... oh 't would be a barren place...


So much for the Stunned part of this blog post. On with the Floor...

Last week I've spent mostly feeling like a wet dish cloth** not quite ill enough to call in sick, but miserable enough to be exhausted from blowing my nose and coughing up bits of lung with only a hint of a raised temperature, some of the time. Too tired to knit, but not tired enough to nap, if you know the feeling... Just blegh, is how I describe it. I tried spinning

But I didn't get very far. Bored, restless, floored. 

I knit an entire Tomten the Third sleeve. It's a baby jacket, in baby size. Short arms and such. I did one in 3 days. That's it. 

I managed to take a few pictures of it. Those will have to do. 

If you need me, I'll be on the floor, recovering. 

*not got my head around that one yet. Give it time...
**a Dutch saying.

WIP Wednesday: Friends

I had been thinking about the topic for this week's WIP Wednesday post. When I thought of all the pictures I had taken in advance of my knitting, there could really only be one: Friends.

For the last 8 years I've probably spent more time participating in online communities than most people. Maybe you're about similar, as you're reading this, and I suppose you must have been active in some online community to have found me here. Anyway, most people I meet on a day-to-day basis spend hardly any time on their computers outside of work. Sure, they check their email, tweet and facebook, do a little Youtube browsing, but all of that is much like reading the newspaper with your morning coffee. 

It started with a game. Its demography was varied, and so there was a variety of characters to go with that. I still like to call a few of them friends I'd like to meet (again), and of course there's the Photographer that I kept from that time. He's lovely, and a friend as well. After that came other games, insane writing contests and finally I stumbled upon the knitting community. All of these have a variety of people in them, but it's so much easier to avoid the ones you don't get along with than in f.i. an office environment. And yet, friendship can be found there as well. 

What pleases me most is when the two worlds collide. I find it easier to be the extravert me* online, while I sometimes find it more difficult to protect the introvert me in real life. So when I met The Lovely Louise (remember the MEMEME-show?), that was rather awesome. Not because she's semi-celeb, but because she's a wonderful person who shares her passion and collects people around her who share the same passions. Today I found this in the mail. 

Handmade notebook

competition lanyard for keeping track of small scissors**

She didn't need to do this, so I'm very touched (and blurry-eyed) that she went through the trouble of sending me a pick-me-up. I will keep trying, Louise. 

It's nice to know these things don't just happen to internet celebs. I've seen it happen more than once before. People, who really have no reason to know each other, from all over the world, band together to help their virtual friends.Sometimes this help fits into the space of 140 characters. Deep down, we know we're all more than 1's and 0's. So if you're reading this and you need a little support, consider yourself virtually hugged. Patted on the back. Hand held. I'll go as far as to pinch your bottom if that's what you need to feel better right now. 

While I'm writing this, I received an e-mail from Teresa of the CanaryKnits blog. I answered a question she posed, which was easy enough for me to answer, and to thank me she gifted me some of her designs. She didn't need to do this, but how wonderful is that? You should totally go visit her blog now. Knitters*** are the best.

I'm not doing a lot of selfish knitting these days. I put some time into Tanit's Jacket when I ran out of gift knitting yarn. I got this far with Tomten the Third...

The Future Women's Gift-gift knitting has proceeded to be this...

When my back gets over itself, I'll continue spinning Tardis for the Photographer. I've prepped...

I worked on another gift, one Which Can Not Be Shown. Yet. But I'll show you this...

Even with all that knitting for friends, there is always time for some for me. Tanit's Jacket, of course, but I skeined and measured and took pictures of my 170m skein of Celebration yarn.

I am after all my own friend too. 

Be good, Play nice, Compliment. Touch wool.

*tests have shown this

**Mom won't let me wear scissors around my neck

***Knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, you know what I mean.

For your viewing pleasure, some pictures that didn't make the main blog post.

WIP Wednesday: a year unplanned but in progress

It's not too late to say Happy New Yarny Year is it?

No?

Well, in that case, I wish you all a Happy Yarny New Year!


I spent mine many miles away from where my mobile phone provider thought I was (the Isle of Man, really?), and even further away from where I am right now (as home as home can be, when one is away from one's home, or one's heart). I got to spend it with my love, some old and some new friends. Yes, there was a little alcohol involved. However, and I cannot stress this enough, I did not have a hangover in the morning, epic or otherwise. Ha! Whether it be age or wisdom or both (or an upset stomach in the middle of the drinking) I can't claim to know, but hurrah!

I managed to meet up with some wool I had delivered, and delivered some jelly I had made earlier this year. Both were well received. My love and my BiL made me a most wonderful tool in the shape of a swift, of which I did not get any pictures in the sun. My camera took some shoddy pictures while my other camera made some difficult ones...

I visited new places (Cooper, twice in a day, twice!), met some new people (the best bar-keep of the week, nay the year! (2011, for 5 minutes) I'm just saying!), found some family not as I left them (Ehm, what happened to your chest area? It has bumps!) and left some family not as I came in (street-walker lipstick, the newest rage amongst toddlers).*

I found my shoes but not my kettle, a LYS and the bottom of my wallet, more bad but oh so good food (cheesy tots and a banana shake, unless they're out of banana at 4pm. Really?) and a potato pouch.

We travelled many more miles than we expected and did not see the Atlantic Ocean. We'd seen it already. We did go see Shiner though...

2012?

A work in progress. Let's all assume it's about moving onwards and upwards and maybe the universe will start believing it. (All together now!)


Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet up with my jetlag...**



PS. Nell, Heidi, how does February sound to you two?***


*Remind me to get those pictures off of MiL
**getting older
***yes, I'm trying to plan a meet-up through my blog. Why does that surprise you?****
****also, thank you Donna, for the potato pouch! Planning some sweet potato soon!*****
*****does Donna even read this?