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Tag: Icelandic sweater

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Then Vs. Now

I have had this blog since 2010. Isn’t that bonkers?

It’s now 2026 and there’s a 100% chance I’m not the same person I was at 34.

In the last few years, I’ve found it hard to show up here. Writing just didn’t feel easy like it did back then. I was using this blog as a kind of journal in those days, which was fun.

This week, during the quiet moments at work, I went through and read some of my old posts. My voice was loud and clear for those first few years. I was having a great time posting what I was up to – not just what I was knitting on.

So, what happened? Why did I stop sharing my life? Am I just boring now? Is what I’m up to just not interesting? (No, that’s not it. Haha. I might be more interesting now because I give less shits.)

There are so many things I’m passionate about that are not knitting. When I started this blog, I was just getting into spinning. A few years ago, I started making some of my own personal care products. I could write you a whole post on the things I (don’t) use to help our little planet. I discovered lino carving, dabbled in embroidery and recently discovered leather work. OMG! SO. MANY. THINGS!!!

I really hate that I have to work. Legit, I resent that I can’t stay home and be creative all day every day! Alas, I have to pay for my lovely house and support my yarn/travel/book addictions.

Last year, I stopped buying yarn. I have a very BIG stash. I have yarn that’s been around since I discovered yarn shows in 2006. (And this is only part of it. I also have fibre stash under the spare room bed. Hihi)

And what did I do? I started buying books instead. I even had two more shelves built for my wall of books. And still I have piles of books on the ground that have no permanent home yet.

I have learned something about myself: When I discover a new way to express my creativity, I have to be very careful to not go crazy buying all the things. It’s easy for me to get obsessed with something and want to buy all the supplies to do that thing. Then I discover something new a month later and I want to buy all the tools for that craft. So you can imagine what my office/library/yarn room looks like. 😉

So, I’m making myself a promise to show up here and just share what’s on my mind, what I’m working on, what I’m loving and other cool shit. I’m also making myself a promise to show up on my YouTube channel whether my hair is washed or not, whether it’s gloomy outside or not. No more excuses.

My creativity is THE most important thing for me. If I can inspire just a few people to try something new (like knitting an Icelandic sweater) or to get back to something they loved once, then it’ll be worth it.

What are you working on? What are you loving? What are you reading?

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Frustrated with Social Media

Do you ever wish you could swear off social media forever? Do you sometimes wish you could go back to when we were kids (I’m 48) and times were simple? I know the Internet has a zillion benefits to it but sometimes… Uggggggggg!

I’ve been so preoccupied with trying to get back into a Facebook “page” (I think) that I managed to lock myself out of, that I did NOTHING creative for DAYS! Tragic, I know!!! I was so frustrated and so down on myself for not just walking away and doing something I actually love. I just really wanted to get the issue resolved.

I finally did. I think it must have taken me pretty much three whole days! But I ended up having to start over with a new “page” and corresponding IG account. But I got there in the end.

So I’ve been knitting on the Icelandic sweater like MAD the last two days. I want to get this thing finished by the weekend so I can weave in all the ends, block it and ship it off early next week so my friends can have their pretty sweaters by next weekend.

GOALS!

Have a great rest of your week. Also, feel free to share your frustrating social media stories in the comments.

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The Sweater, Continued…

Working on this Icelandic sweater has become a very humbling experience for me.

First it was the tension in the sleeves.  Then it was the oopsie with the reading of the chart.  Most recently, as I was trying on the sweater to make sure the neck wasn’t too tight, I realized that I put one of the sleeves on wrong – my increases were displaying on the outside of the sleeve rather than on the inside, along the inside of the arm.  At this point, I was a cast-off edge and underarm grafting away from being finished.

What to do?  What to do?

I figured I had two options:

  1. Rip back all of the yoke to where I joined the sleeves.  (No thanks!)
  2. Secure a couple of rows and cut out the sleeve.  (Best option.)

So yesterday, I executed option #2.  I was so nervous!

Icelandic 1

icelandic 2

Icelandic 3

Icelandic 4

Icelandic 5

Everything is secure now and ready for grafting.  Let’s see how well I do at this.  A toe on a sock is a piece of cake compared to this.  If I don’t do it properly, it’ll look ridiculous!

Fingers crossed for me please.