m u s t___k n i t___n. o. w.

I knew this month would be hectic. And I knew it would test just how long I can stretch out my tolerance for not making things. This is pretty much what my work table in my studio has looked like for the past couple of weeks as different projects have rotated across it:

(Those are fundraising wool coaster kits. They will be for sale at 212 Arts Center in Saline, MI during the month of September. The 2009 Breaking Traditions exhibit will be hanging there and the wool coaster kits will help raise funds for A Place to Bark.)

I realized that even the time I've been spending working on art has been labeled with "have to". I'm not complaining. I like having things to do. But a girl's gotta have some down time. And bonus points if it involves making something that doesn't have a deadline attached to it.

Fabrications is in exactly one week (yay! hooray! whoopie! bring me the dye!) and I always take along a mindless knitting project for the evenings when we are all sitting around, blissfully brain fried from a long day of classes and with full bellies of beer and sweet potato fries (the pub in the hotel has the best sweet potato fries). We aren't much able to do anything else so we knit.

Last night I started poking around on Ravelry for a simple triangle shawl scarf pattern. I've really taken a liking to those. I found one called Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West. Its pretty basic, I like the ribbing, I like the absence of yarn overs and lacy elements. Its got a masculine feel (duh, its designed by a guy) and I like it for that.

Of course, the yarn I chose for it sort of zaps the manly feel of it:


(The lime green flip flop is courtesy of Dooley. He flipped it up onto the coffee table last night in a fit of playing and I was too lazy to push it out of the way of the picture.)

The yarn came out of my stash, which I've come to regard as my own personal yarn store. I've no idea the brand or yardage. I think it might be Briar Rose (who I worship with an undying affection). It feels very autumn to me, I love it. Its spongy and will knit up real quick.

Do I have enough yardage? No clue. I figure I'll truck along and either stop when it looks like I need to move into the border or do the garter border in another color, maybe something solid.

Today I am spending the day burning thermofax screens for the marketplace at Fabrications. The wool coaster kits took me way longer then I anticipated putting together so I'm a little bit behind. So today is getting things together for marketplace. I've got a couple of new designs that I'm going to release there and then put up in the shop in September.

Just a note that the shop will be going into vacation mode beginning Monday evening and then come back out on September 5. So if you've been thinking about ordering lately and don't want to wait until it reopens, now is the time to order.

And just because he's cute, here's Dooley love: