Mad Caterpillar

Ask any published author for their advice to budding writers, and chances are the response will be simple. Write. Put words on paper. Practice your craft, and then worry about the rest.

Writers write. This is the one true requirement for pursuing the profession. But the blank page is a daunting one, and ideas are not always a dime a dozen. Enter one of the coolest new online communities I’ve come across in a long time… 52Stories.net. The concept is simple and elegant – every week a new picture is posted, and anyone inspired by that image can write about it and submit their story (or poem, or song lyrics, or novel if desired) for publication on the site the following week. Readers are encouraged to give you comments about your submission – it’s basically an online writing group where everyone is writing about the same thing with wildly different results.

If you like to write, but need prompts or ideas, I highly recommend this site. If you simply just like to read, it is a fascinating glimpse into the variety of ideas that a single image can inspire.

*Or in my case, 3,350 to be exact…

Posted by Danielle at 10:15 AM | | Comments (0)

We get some spectacular sunsets here in late summer. This one's from last Wednesday.

Posted by Danielle at 10:13 AM | | Comments (0)

Picture heavy post ahead...

I have recently developed an urge to start collecting vintage buttons. I especially love the vintage buttons that have a flower style to them. I don't know much about old buttons, the materials they are made of, etc. etc, I just know that they have this wonderful unique look to them that you cannot generally find at craft shops or sewing stores. And I have all sorts of ideas as to what I'd like to use them for.

I have terrible luck in actually finding vintage buttons, though. I never see them at garage sales (and I always ask), and I am inevitably that person that gets to the thrift store just in time to see someone holding a tin of button treasure aloft and exclaiming the bargain they just found at two dollars for the lot.

So I turned to eBay. I don't have a big button budget, but I decided I'd roll the dice to see what I could get for a few bucks plus shipping. It simply amazes me that something that looks like this on first open...

... can end up looking like this after a little searching and sorting (and a LOT of cleaning):

The extra big surprise here was what great fun it was to dig for these tiny treasures! I had a blast searching through dirt and nails and pins and beans (there were lots of non-button items in the two lots I received), and finding wonderful colors and shapes that will find new life in future projects. I'm sure many of these will find their way to the shop in some form or another as soon as I get the time to turn ideas into reality.

Posted by Danielle at 06:12 PM | | Comments (2)

My Sockapalooza4 socks arrived in the mail! Here's the happy little package that showed up on my doorstep:

And here was what was inside:

My upstream Sock Pal was Tammy from Cozy Stitches -- be sure to stop by and see the gorgeous shawl she just posted on her blog! The socks that she made for me are fantastic! She used Henry's Attic Kona DK yarn dyed by Little Turtle Knits, and she used the Crusoe pattern from Knitty. The stitch pattern really shows off the variegated yarn well, and I love the deep colors! They fit perfectly -- the DK weight yarn makes for a wonderful pair of thick and warm boot socks for the coming fall and winter. I especially love the eye of partridge detail on the heels and soles of the socks, making them extra-durable.

Tammy also included a fun small project knitting bag, some Cozy Stitches Crafter's Lotion, and some stitch markers for crochet as she'd noticed I'd been dabbling in crochet lately. Thanks so much for such a thoughtful package, Sock Pal!

Posted by Danielle at 06:27 PM | | Comments (1)

I'm a bit of a sock polygamist. I can't help it -- I just can't seem to stay faithful to knitting only one pair of socks at a time. Although I did have a go at sock monogamy with my Sockapalooza4 socks, and lo and behold I finished that pair faster than any other pair I've knit before. But already I'm back to my sock philandering ways. I currently have five different socks on the needles, each in a different phase of completion. The good thing is that I am always finishing one pair around the same time I'm casting off for another.

So it's no surprise when I spied this skein sitting in a local yarn store that it was impossible to resist.

It's Yarn Pirate 50% merino 50% tencel sock yarn in the Karma colorway. The colors are so beautiful, ranging from a deep grass green to light cornflower blue to shale brown. And the wool/tencel blend is so shiny and soft. As always, the joy of knitting with hand dyed yarn is watching how it knits up. Here is how it looks after being wound into a ball:

And here it is in soon-to-be-finished sock form:

It stripes! This yarn has been so much fun to work with that I haven't had any desire to dally with my other socks-in-progress while working on this pair. And the main benefit of sock monogamy is a fast finish -- that sock has since been completed and I'm half way down the cuff of sock number two.

Speaking of socks, my Sockapalooza4 sock pal's package was dropped off at the post office today! I can't wait to see if she likes the pair I made for her...

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Posted by Danielle at 08:43 PM | | Comments (0)