Back to Knitting

Okay enough about my colon and feng shui, it''s time to blog about knitting again. I've been knitting up a storm again although I haven't finished anything lately.

I'm really excited about our new yarns, patterns and books so I'm suffering from a bad case of "let's start another new projectitis."

I have a Mountain Colors Blanket going and I really like working on it in the evenings. Similar to the Giant Skeins, the Mountain Colors kit has 10 types of various yarns all dyed in the same colorway. It's big enough now that I wrap it around me and knit away. I added some novelty yarns to the Mountain Colors kit to kick it up just a bit. I've used up half of the yummy yarn so I'm anxious to get it finished and enjoy the blanket sans needles. This project is at the shop so I haven't been working on it lately.

I also started a Juno Regina out of Arucania Chaiten, a hand dyed silk yarn. Juno Regina is a vintage Knitty pattern that makes a lace bordered wrap. The yarn is lovely to work with. I'm about one-third done with this project. The middle portion is slightly monotonous so I work on this project while I'm in the hotel after a long day of flying.

My current "at home" project is a Tussie Mussie Cardigan in Rowan Felted tweed. It is also a Knitty pattern that is very popular on Ravelry. It is knit in one piece which I love. I'm a little over half-way up knitting the body portion.

Also in the works is a pair of Chuck Taylor Converse Baby Booties. Of course I have one done and I just can't seem to knit up the second one. I used Aslan Trends Glaciar Del Cielo Cotton.

I thought I could whip out a sleeveless draped neck shell on my last trip, so I started a Petrie out of Sky Blue Classic Elite Premiere. I got the front 90% finished but I wanted to measure it up against a sweater at home to get the armhole length right. So much for just "whipping it out".

The moral of this blog is that even with a healthy colon and a new feng shui lifestyle, I still can't sleep and I can't stop starting new projects. Well fish oil help?

Classic Elite Knit-a-long

Why didn't I think of this sooner...A Guest Blog. This post is courtesy of guest blogger, Jill.

Our Knitalong kicked off officially on April 24th, with Sue as the Captain of the team and me as her loyal sidekick. We had quite an impressive showing of wonderful, funny ladies. Not only did we have a lot of women, we have a lot of different designs being knit.

I think we have someone knitting every single design from Curvy Knits, although Claudia who is knitting the beautiful tunic from Allegoro was unable to be with us. Chris and Krista are pluggin' away on the ribbed tunic in Classic Silk. They both chose lovely springy colors--a grass green and a corally pink. Darlene and I chose to do the Solstice 3 Button cardigan, although we are both being rebellious and doing it out of Classic Silk instead. What can I say? I guess we’re non-conformists, and bless our Math Whiz Sue--she’s helped us figure out how to compensate for the different gauges. Tracy is doing the beautiful long cardigan in Soft Linen. The fabric she is producing is stunningly beautiful… maybe someday I’ll get over my fear of doing so much stockinette and make one!

Then there are the women who are using the other booklets. Sue is knitting a gorgeous piece out of an olivey green in Firefly. Her sweater is so lovely that one of our participants decided to knit that sweater. Brooke is doing a great job on a vest in the soft linen in a gorgeous red. Also in soft linen is Kathy’s sideways lace vest--that is going to really lovely. Mary is knitting a cardigan in Premiere--it will be fabulous, as is everything she knits. When I grow up, I want to be as good a knitter as Mary or Sue. I’m not picky--I’ll be either one of them!!!

Last Saturday we had a smaller group… lots of people could not make the meeting. We had a lot of fun anyway and got a lot of knitting done (except for me, who was having difficulties focusing that day--not to fear, though, I’ve got my groove back and am knitting away). It was the Curvy Knits crew plus our Fearless Leader Sue.

Besides the ladies who have come for the knitalong sessions on Saturday, we have a group who are participating in the Knitalong in Sweater Club. Vicki is doing the cardigan from Curvy Knits in soft linen… I know it is going to be gorgeous. Joyce is doing the same cardigan as Mary in Premiere. I know one day I’ll see her wearing it while I am still plugging away on my sweater!

I can’t wait to see everyone’s WIPS as they get further along. Next time I’ll have something to show!

The Search for a Good Nights Sleep Continues

Thank you all for the Birthday wishes and thoughtfulness. I had a great birthday week. It seems that the older you get the longer the birthday celebrations stretch out and I do like that.

The purpose of the whole feng shui, cleaning and decluttering thing was to be able to sleep better. I've not finished feng shui-ing my home (the knitting area of my life is taking longer to organize than I had planned). But, my sleeping has not improved as much as I had hoped for. I thought maybe I had missed something big in my feng shui crash course so I took out every book on feng shui ( and a few knitting books) from the library. I also checked out a book called "If Buddha Came to Dinner". I liked the title and I really liked the book. It is essential a book on feng shui-ing your body through proper nourishment.

The premise is that rather than just "eating" you should "nourish" your body and soul. With the proper food combinations and an awareness of how your body reacts to certain foods, your body can more easily digest and eliminate and spend far less energy doing so. That makes sense, so in my continued search for a good night's sleep, I figured it was worth a try.

In a nutshell, the book says that the fundamental purpose of food is to provide energy. By eating processed, fried, sugary, chemical treated foods, complicated food combinations and too much food, our bodies work overtime to try to digest everything that we've put into it. So, if you nourish your body with pure and vital food in the right combinations it is easier for the body to break down food, absorb the nutrients and expel waste matter. If elimination doesn't happen regularly or efficiently, toxins build up and block the flow of energy.

For a little over a week now, I have been changing my usual feeding habits and caffeine addiction. After a couple of days of headachy caffeine withdrawl I'm down to just one cup of coffee in the morning-I can't get myself to give that up....I just savor that first morning cup of coffee too much. I have not had fried foods-french fries were a food group onto themselves. I'm even drinking "Green Juice" and find that I really like it. But, what I really like is the result! I don't feel sluggish or foggy. I feel light, rested, and energized. I no longer feel the need to down a cup of coffee and/or grab a sugary treat when I'm feeling sluggish and tired---because I'm not feeling sluggish or tired!

Th next phase in the Buddha program is a cleanse (sorry Jill). I'm not fully comfortable with the idea. But, the author explains that even with proper tooth brushing and flossing, a sticky plaque forms on our teeth so imagine what's going on inside and further down. The same sticky plaque forms on the intestinal walls and since we can't brush or floss down there, so the cleanse is the only way to go. Rest easy, I won't blog about the cleanse that I am preparing for.

I think of my inability to organize my yarn stash and knitting chaos as needing drastic measures like a cleanse. So, for the next 21 days, I'll be decluttering my colon and my knitting room.

The search for a restful night of sleep continues. Could it be that I enjoy knitting more than I do sleeping? We'll find out in 21 days.

Birthday Blog

Sorry I haven't be blogging very much. I usually blog when I something on my mind. Perhaps I've been much more focused lately. The flying thing has been uneventful (as it should be.) Perhaps it has been feng shui-ing my life and getting the taxes out of the way. The feng shui thing is going well. I've decluttered my condo-although I'm still working on the yarn/knitting organization. I'm working on feng shui-ing my colon ( but that's a whole other blog topic). And, I've been knitting up a storm without starting any new projects. Yay!

So, what's the deal?

Well, the deal is that I'm pretty happy. I'm not feeling weighed down and stressed out. A few weeks ago I found a poem that has helped me find peace, order and meaning and I'd like to share it with you.

DESIDERATA
-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Today is my birthday and I'm not usually one to talk about my birthday. In fact, I usually keep it on the very down low. This year is different. I'm in a good place in my life and I feel like I deserve my special day.

In the practice of Feng Shui, your home is a metaphor for your life. "Life" is organized into 9 areas or Guas which create the Bagua. The basic idea of the practice of Feng Shui is to allow Life Energy or Chi to come in through doors and windows and move freely through each area thereby enhancing those aspects of your life. The position of the Bagua areas in the bagua grid correspond to the position of the areas in your home or apartment.

Each area of the Bagua represents a different aspect of your life; Career, Self Cultivation and Knowledge, Happy Family, Prosperity, Fame and Reputation, Love and Relationship, Children and Creativity, Helpful People and Travel and Health.Each area has colors associated with it and several have elements associated with them. The colors and elements are used as enhancements to Chi or as cures for anything blocking the movement of Chi.

Since discovering Feng Shui, I've self diagnosed myself as being slightly Obsessive Compulsive with Attention Deficit Disorder. So, does that also make me a Hypochondriac?

Phase One of my new Feng Shui life is DECLUTTERING. For the last two weeks or since my last blog, I've been obsessed with decluttering my life and I must say that I'm very pleased with the progress. My fear is that like so many other projects in my life, I'll get 90% completion and never total free myself of mental, emotional and spiritual clutter.

The original plan was to find feng shui in the bedroom for improved sleep. Following the feng shui guidelines, I removed all non-bedroom related stuff out of the bedroom, decluttered, rearranged furniture, cleaned out closets, bought new sheets and bedspreads, etc. As strange as it may sound, the feng shui guidelines made decision making much easier. Color choices became more obvious, placement of items became more obvious-the guidelines just seem to make sense.

With my new found feng shui expertise, I went to Knitwits and started my Feng Shui magic at the shop. Like a whirling dervish, I decluttered, stacked, tossed, rearranged and drove everyone in the shop crazy. I must get a possessed look about me because everyone just stays clear. Jill described the experience as "Scaaaaaarrrrrry!" That's "scary" with 6 a-s and 6 r-s.

As scaaaaaarrrrrry as it may have been, we can now walk through the office without straddling or moving any obstacles and we now have visible desktops. Yay!

After my bedroom and Knitwits, I did my Feng shui magic in my kitchen, living room, dining room and bathrooms. All the "bad" Feng Shui stuff (aka "clutter") was tossed out, given away or moved to the spare bedroom.

According to the Feng Shui guidelines, my spare bedroom is the place of Skill and Knowledge in the my bagua. So, it seems fitting that all of my knitting related stuff (2 bookcases full of knitting books and magazines, 6 very large moving cartons of stash, 2 Tupperware tubs of needles and notions, my Circular Solutions wall-hanging circular needle organizer, baskets, baskets and more baskets filled with zip locked UFOs and more) were relocated to the spare bedroom. The problem is....now I can bearly open or close the door. The room is filled from floor to ceiling with my "little knitting hobby".

For now, I'll keep the spare bedroom door closed.

I'm hoping that my Feng Shui will be so impressed with my progress that I'll get a little grace period in the Skill and Knowledge department. On my next free day, I'm going to lock myself in my Skill and Knowledge gua and make order out of chaos.

Finding my Feng Sui

I've never been a very good sleeper and I've been tired for thirty some years. At the brink of exhaustion, "Not Steve" suggested that I research making a Feng Sui bedroom. I've heard of Feng Sui and sort of understood what it is was but ignorant as to the what's, hows and whys so I shot him one of my glares. But as soon as I had a free minute, I googled "Feng Sui Bedrooms."

After 0.32 seconds, my search results were in front of me and I clicked on the first one, Feng Sui Bedroom Tips-How to Feng Shui Your Bedroom. I scanned down the seven rules listed and said to myself, "Okay, I can do this. It's worth a try."

As I read the finer print, things got more difficult. "Avoid sloped ceilings, have nothing hanging over bed, avoid "pointing arrows", remove all clutter......" Yikes, I have all those things. My Feng Sui is sunk!"

In a mini panic attack, I turned off the ceiling fan/overhead lighting fixture that hangs on my sloped ceiling and over my bed (thinking that I could trick my Feng Sui by making it less obvious) and turned on a table lamp. The energy immediately felt better. I cleared off my dresser and night stand and moved the piles of clothing into the other bedroom. Ahhhhh-even better energy. I closed all doors and opened the window to get fresh oxygen. Wow, this Feng Sui stuff is easy-good energy is really flowing now.

As I scanned my bedroom with my new Feng Sui eyes (as if I were now an expert), I was pleased with my results until I saw my "western bagua" with the floor stacked with magazines and the bookcases crammed and overflowing with knitting books, thirteen years worth of unfinished projects, miscellaneous skeins of yarn, unmatched knitting needles...and you get the picture-and it isn't pretty! All of the good energy was instantly zapped by my "western bagua"!

Light bulb moment-the biggest problem with my life is Clutter!
It is not the ceiling fan over my bed or the sloped ceiling-I have clutter everywhere-and not just in my Western Bagua! All of this clutter is disrupting my good energy!

I said to myself, "Junko, Free yourself from physical, mental and emotional clutter!"

As a go from shelf to shelf, drawer to drawer, room by room, I am clearing out the clutter and as a result I'm finding the mates to the unmatched knitting needles, the lost stitch markers, the forgotten projects that were started with good intentions, books and patterns that I thought I had lost. I'm also finding that by replacing the lost items and by starting new projects because I lost "the flow" (aka Feng Sui) of the previous project, I am creating even more physical, mental and emotional clutter. Clutter has a snowball effect.

I may be missing the hows, whys and whats of Feng Sui, but this Feng Sui thing has really motivated me. Now, if I could only learn the correct pronunciation maybe I'll sleep better.

Neti Pot

I'm sick! I came down with "the crud" on Sunday night after flying with my sick friend and fellow flight attendant Nancy. The Crud is that horrible hot and cold, achy, stuffy nose, puffy eyes, weak as a kitten, don't know if its a cold, flu or sinus infection, maybe I was hit by a truck feeling. You don't know if you're hungry, tired, cranky or all of the above, but you do know that you can't get comfortable and you can't function.

Desperate times call for desperate measures! Most people will go to the doctor or medicate with OTC drugs, I bring out the Neti Pot! If your not familiar with the Neti Pot, brace yourself-it's not for everyone. Sheryl knows its not for her-she gave me hers after giving it a few tries-so now I have a spare.

The Neti Pot is a complete sinus cleansing system. The ads read, "It naturally cleanses, refreshes, and protects the nasal passages, one of our body's first lines of defense against illness. Recommended today by doctors and pharmacists worldwide, the Neti Pot^TM has been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine to alleviate sinus and allergy problems. The Himalayan Institute introduced the Neti Pot^TM over 35 years ago."

The translation of all of that is "You stick the spout of a little blue plastic teapot up one nostril and "Neti tea" and nastiness dribbles out the other nostril and into your sink." For those of you who want to see how it really works, you can YouTube it. But, I think you can imagine just how NOT pretty it is.

The good news is that I really like the Neti Pot. It does clear up the nasal passage and leaves you feeling unplugged and fresher. Sarah Haney's friend, Brittany, introduced me to the Neti Pot. I want to be like Brittany so I tried it. After the first rinse, I was hooked! I actually had a mild addiction to the Neti Pot for a week or two. Since I know my addictive tendencies towards the Neti, I don't Neti regularly as they recommend, I only Neti when I'm sick.

I took advantage of a real day off yesterday-no shop, no Comair, no phone calls and no knitting (too sick to even knit)! I stayed in pajamas most of the day, Neti-ed, showered and put on clean pajamas. Today, I was semi-functioning thanks to the Neti Pot and Steve and Belinda for bringing me "A Feed a Cold Buffet" from Frisches. I went to the shop and quarantined myself in the office. Janet took one look at me and said, "WHoa!" I didn't think I looked THAT bad. After a few hours, I came back home to my pajamas and Neti Pot. I know I'm on the mends because I started knitting yet another new project- a faux ribbed baby sweater from the "Sweetess Book" in our new yarn called Crofter DK. The self patterning yarn looks and feels great and I don't want to put it down-but I did for the sake of the blog and the Neti Pot!

P.S. The Neti Pot is available is Walgren's and Wal-Mart in the Cold/Flu/Allergy Section.