A fresh and quiet start

I've been fiddling around with all of this for a couple of days, and so I suppose it's time to make a first post. I've decided to start a new crochet and life-related blog, just for the things that I do and make for myself. Often, I have trouble starting things like this, so I'm going to kinda jump in.

For starters, here's a great photo-meme that I found on Mary Heather's (rainydaygoods on Ravelry) blog. It's particularly appropriate, because her blog is what really gave me that last nudge of inspiration to finally get my own started up again.





The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Shannon
2. What is your favorite food? Sushi
3. What high school did you go to? Chalmette
4. What is your favorite color? Crimson
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Bettie Page
6. What is your favorite drink? Water
7. Dream vacation? Montana
8. Favorite dessert? Ice Cream
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Happy
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One word to describe you? Unstoppable
12. Your flickr name? Quiet Daybreak

Wow. That took longer than I thought it would, but I really like the way that it came out. It was definitely fun. Try it!

I've been working diligently on my Evil Stepmother Shawl. As of this morning, it looks like this:



It's a bit of a slow project, but the yarn (KnitPicks Imagination Handpainted Sock) is delicious, despite being like velcro once it's stitched up, and it's going to turn out really nicely. I'm using the pattern All Tied Up (Version B) It started out being made from a whole different pattern, but it was a lacy pattern, and the stitches were being obscured by the colorway. I will be using that pattern later, though, with a more solid yarn.

The construction has been very interesting. It started off with three small squares, and the original work was worked off of one of them, and the other two were added later, which you can see in the picture below. I'm going to have to go back and sew up those seams, which makes me a little nervous, because I'm kind of a perfectionist. I'm hoping that I'm not going to wind up rocking in a corner, clutching the so-close-to-completion shawl, and mumbling "I just need to get this seam lined up..."



(By the way, have a look at that absolutely perfectly round ball of yarn sitting there! I didn't even notice it until just now.)

I'm so happy that it's finally my Christmas break, and that I can sit back and (try to) relax. Although I must admit, I have trouble relaxing even when there's almost nothing for me to do. I have to have the third movement of Brahms Requiem learned 100% solid by the eleventh, when I go back to school. I've been doing a few pages every day, so it's moving along. I'm hoping that this break goes by as slowly as possible, and I'd really like to have this shawl done before I go back to school. I got KnitPicks blocking mats for my birthday, and I'm really going to enjoy using those.

I'm also going to block my Starter Cable Cowl very soon, so that I can sew on the pefect toggle that I finally found, and wear it before I miss winter entirely.

I had a good bit of trouble deciding on a name for the blog. I didn't want something that I would grow tired of, or grow out of. Ultimately, I named it for the feeling that I enjoy when I wake up early, and the house is quiet. I feel most creative at that time, and I feel like my very best ideas present themselves then. At that early hour, before the day has begun, it always feels as if anything is possible, and that I have all the time in the world to focus on my art, peacefulness, and beautiful things. I hope that this can be a place for me to harvest that feeling, so that it is not so fleeting. I also hope that having this place to write and talk about my art will help me to find this feeling more often, even when I am busy, stressed, and overwhelmed by the weight of the world.