4KCBWDAY7: Do You Know ... ?

Spiral Tarot

                  4KCBWDAY7

Looking Forward:


One year from now, when the 5th Knitting & Crochet Blog Week rolls around, where do you hope your crafting will have taken you to? What new skills, projects and experiences do you hope you might have conquered or tried?

This could be anything from mastering a technique (broomstick lace, entrelac, etc), trying a new yarn or skill, or a long term wish to crochet only from your stash, or knit every stitch in one of the Harmony Guides. Maybe you have no desire or plans for your craft at all, no new element of knitting or crochet that you dream of mastering, in which case write about why that might be. In a year's time participants will be asked to look back to see if they achieved any goals, no matter how general, and see which house conquered the art of looking forward.



Many apologies if you dropped by yesterday in search of my bon mots about crafting tools simply to find a me-sized gap in the blogosphere - there was Destructo Boy's football coaching (aka 2 hours' worth of guilt-free knitting), Mini Diva's new bicycle to collect (reward for a superbly excellent overachieved school report), my MIL visiting for the weekend, and a birthday dinner for Belo. My head is still recovering from the resulting mêlée.


No, I have no idea why I am dropping beaucoup français into today's post. I have just awoken from a nap, maybe I was dreaming or something.
Anyway.  

What were we talking about really ?

Oh yes - where I am going in the next year's crafting journey.

The short answer - for I know you wished to be spared from the long and winding one, and I wish to demonstrate my compassion and mercy - is that I have no idea.

It is unlikely to include colorwork, since I don't find the results worth the hassle.

It will not include scary scary obsessive socks. I guess I will fit in new school sweater for both kids for September: Mini Diva will be in 6th grade, and the violent Jade finally turns to sophisticated black, praise whoever listened.

 

 

It will definitely include more lace and shawls, because I loves them with a crazy and all of my little black shrivelled heart.

And definitely more things for me - at last, I have successfully tuned into my Inner Child:





Now while I go for a nice calming cup of tea, plug 4KCBWDAY7 into a search engine, with this accompanying tune:

4KCBWDAY5: Something a Bit Different

Victorian Romantic Tarot

             

                        4KCBWDAY5

   
 Something A Bit Different



It’s the annual challenge to blog in a way different to how you normally blog. You may choose to create a podcast, or vlog, create a wordless post or write in verse. You've already stretched your wings with an infographic, now it's time to freestyle. You can post on any topic you like, but be sure to post in a style different from your usual blog presentation. There's not too much guidance for this one simply because the more varied the posts are on this day, the wider the sources of information for other bloggers will be. Bonus points if you manage to work your house animal in somehow.

 

I expect there is far more to be seen on other blogs today - just pop 4KCBWDAY5 into the search engine of your choice (somebody told me there was more than Google, but I didn't believe them).

4KCBWDAY3: Learning New Things

Druidcraft Tarot

                             4KCBWDay3




There are many ways of conveying information on a blog; text and images being the two most widely used. Many infographics combine both these elements to provide a visual way of presenting text information.  

Make your own infographic (no fancy imaging software needed, you can draw it on paper and photograph it if you want) to convey any element of your craft(s). It can be just for fun or a thoroughly researched presentation of an idea/finding.

 It took me ages to do this post - firstly, brain-fuel in the form of tea and cake was required to come up with some kind of crafting-related information that I could put into some kind of chart or graph or something.

Then I found this free online software thingy. Then it took me forever just a while to work out how to work it.

And so now, Wah-lah ! 

Pie Chart of Gifted FOsWelcome to Pro! | Infographics

Yarns UsedWelcome to Pro! | Infographics

As with other days, pop 4KCBWDAY3 into Google for loads more brilliant graphs today, while I crawl off into an exhausted corner somewhere.

4KCBWDAY 2: A Mascot Project

Shadowscapes Tarot

                              4KCBWDAY2


 Your task today is to either think of or research a project that embodies that house/animal. It could be a knitting or crochet pattern – either of the animal itself or something that makes you think of the qualities of that house. 

Alternatively it could be a type or colour of yarn, or a single button. Whatever you choose, decide upon a project and blog about how and why it relates to your house/creature.

  
Well, in a lot of the House of Bee posts yesterday, people were saying about bees having a short span of attention and flitting from one thing to another. Which is kinda true, I guess.

But to me bees are also highly organized and structured - there is a Plan, a bigger picture, behind everything they do; and everything they do has a purpose. Their society and hive living are examples of this: the mathematical perfection of the hexagonal honeycomb, for instance:

 And this is reflected in our crafting lives too - I have just recently bought this book:

For when I have got bored with Granny Squares, my next 'thing' will be hexagons. Which also exist in knitting - a couple of years ago there was a mad trend for the Beekeeper's Quilt, made from Idunnamany 'hexipuffs'. Great for using up leftover odds and ends of yarn (no waste, like bees) but that's what I use for crochet.

So let's talk Bee Queen activity: she's the boss, everyone else lives and dies according to her needs. Yep, I can see the similarity already, can't you ? And as a Boss, I plan. 

I have a queue, recently mostly re-organized, and I have allocated stash yarn to at least the first 6 items. I do trade up and down, and to a lesser degree, swap things out, but it's now largely in order of preference. I have committed to the 'Knit the Queue 2013' concept, meaning that I will try to make things from only my queue, as opposed to some random spontaneous way of selecting a project, but I don't beat myself up too much if I deviate down the scenic route occasionally, as bees do buzz from one flower to the next: not because they are bored, but because they have taken all the nectar that one flower had and need to find something new to satisfy their appetite.

I hope I have managed to convince you that bees really do have Order and Purpose and are no mere grasshoppers, but are closer to ants.

The Ant and the Grasshopper, Aesop's Fable

Enjoy yourself like the Grasshopper by putting 4KCBWDay2 into Google and reading what everybody else has to say.

4KCBW Day 1: The House Cup ...Bzzz

Victorian Romantic Tarot

   

            KCBWDAY1 The House Cup.

 



A bit like Harry Potter, but not quite, this year’s Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is split into 4 houses. Don your favourite knitted or crocheted hat and let it guide you to which house you will be in.

The House of Bee: Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest.

The House of Manatee: Manatees are gentle, calm and cuddly. Relaxed and unflashy they represent the comfort and soft side of knitting and crochet.

The House of Monkey: Intelligent and with a fun loving side, Monkeys like to be challenged with every project presenting them with something new and interesting.

The House of Peacock: Peacocks take something good and make it brilliant. Buttons, embellishments and a bit of sparkle prove that perfection lies in the details – like a Peacock's Tail.

So choose your house. You may be a combination of more than one of these noble beasts, but think about which house best embodies your qualities and declare your place. You can use one of the graphics above to display your house crest, if you like (though this is totally optional).

You could of course decide that you are so unlike any of these creatures in your style of crafting that you set up a rival faction and adopt your own house, though whether you get invited to the end of term disco remains to be seen, you rebel.

Well, really I guess out of that choice, I am a Bee with maybe the tiniest hint of Peacock: I do loves me a bit of sparkle. Although that may be rather more of my jackdaw traits coming through ....

But I am a Bee mainly because I have something doing nearly 99% of the time. And 99% of that time it's knitting, the 1% is crochet - I tend to use crochet as my fallback, when knitterly mojo has legged it. And then - in spite of my promises to the contrary - I find that deadlines (usually family birthdays) pop up on such a regular basis that I am forced, forced, I tell you, into actually planning things and going straight from one item to the next without so much as a breath of fresh air and relaxation in between. I am quite challenged by the idea of spontaneity, natch.

In fact, most of my FOs have been for other people; I have recently made huge strides in selfishness by completing 4 items for myself, and they were 'proper' projects ie. not just hairbands, as well:

Spring Green Lace Cardigan

Slice of Berries (with Sparkle!)

Fitzroy

Sienna

And there are plans for more - especially since an American friend is just in the process of enabling me with Knitpicks yarn .... oh yes, you can see my grin all the way over there. It's quite dazzling, isn't it ?

I really have chuntered on, and wandered off topic a bit, when instead I should be buzzing over that Glam Shells Shawl I ripped back a little while ago. But in my coffee break, I shall be putting '4KCBWDay1' into Google to find the other House Cup posts for today - and read as many as I can. Join me !