Boost your Productivity with an Audiobook (by Stephen King)

I'm not sure when I discovered audiobooks. I remember a radio serial that KCJB radio used to play in Minot North Dakota back in the 1990's. Yep, I'm feeling old now.  This was just before podcasts and just after cassette players. Each week a mini drama broadcast far and wide on the mighty am waves. I didn't have to go far to hear it though - I was working as a radio announcer through college and these radio dramas and Paul Harvey were tied for my favorite part of my work day.

Reading has always been hit or miss in my life. I'm either indulging in book after book insatiably or without one for months on end. I guess the busy life of a Mom can do that to you. But when I started walking and working out (the first time around) I realized I didn't care to listen to music. I wanted an audiobook. I would leave in the morning with "Twilight" or "The Hunger Games" playing on my iPod and after finishing my walk I'd spend an hour (or two) weeding the yard just so I could keep listening.

Soon I had devoured anything written by Nicholas Sparks, Jodi Picoult and John Grisham - all while walking, shopping, cleaning or just puttering around the house. That's when I rediscovered Stephen King. I had forgotten that he wasn't just a ghoul writer. Some of my favorite movies like: The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Stand by Me, Hearts in Atlantis, and Delores Claiborne were all based on SK books. They are great stories and so are many of his other works.

Now I was able to discover his new works: Duma Key, 11/22/63, Under the Dome, and Mr. Mercedes are now my new favorites. I have recently been trying to listen to ALL his books.

I had never read Carrie or Christine and was surprised at how much I enjoyed them. While tales of psycho-kinetic girls and psycho cars were playing in my ears, I happened to be working on solving a puzzle that had plagued me for about a year. I wanted to make an entrelac shawlette. Not just a shawl but a long and narrow obtuse triangle. Wanting and doing were two different things however and I could not get the shape of the shawl quite right.

Over the course of about 2 months and right about the time that Christine and Carrie were queued in my iPod, I had a breakthrough. First developing a scarf that starts narrow and grows into a long 90 degree triangle and then my obtuse triangle shawlette that I had been striving for. I named them: Christine and Carrie.

Christine

Carrie

Christine

Carrie

It took me another 2-3 months to write all the instructions, photograph the steps and create illustrations to explain my vision. All the while - I was listening to even more Stephen King. I now have both patterns published and have been astonished at the interest in them. I love sharing the things I love with others and I'm hoping that any other Stephen King fans who knit (yes, I know I'm narrowing the field a bit) will appreciate the theme I decided to use to name my shawls. 

If you are interested in picking up a copy of Christine you can visit my Ravelry store by clicking the buy now link below. 

 

Carrie is also available at my Ravelry store and no account is required to purchase. 

If you are feeling particularly generous - give this a look too:

It is a flowchart detailing how Stephen's Kings characters pop up in his other works. Only a genius could keep this all straight. 

Don't click the photo - click here to purchase.

Inspiration Hits Anywhere - just be glad it does.

When I first moved to Germany a year and a half ago I pictured a small fiber industry with agri-tourism opportunities. What I have found instead is a thriving fiber industry with high-quality and amazingly innovative yarn brands on a much larger scale.

My most recent discovery is the Zauberball by Schoppel Yarns. I LOVE this yarn. It was sitting (with a few of its friends) on a table at a local craft fair and I had to have it. Like most yarn in my stash, I had no idea what I wanted to do with it but I HAD to have it. 

It sat in my corner hutch where I stared at it for months. Then inspiration hit and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. 

I had been inspired by the long, narrow shawlettes that are becoming popular on sites like Revelry and I wanted to create a version in Entrelac that had the same shape. My first attempt years ago resulted in a shawl. Still beautiful and stunning but NOT what I was trying to accomplish. 

I looked back on that "failed" shawl and dug out my old notes. I picked up a grid notepad and tried again, mapping out how I would move from one square to the next and I developed Christine. 

Christine was my happy accident, she isn't what I originally intended but after she was "born" I fell in love. You could say I was obsessed. She starts out pointed at one end and grows thicker (and more intense) as you get to the end of your yarn. An 100g Zauberball is the perfect length and I used 2204 - Grüne Woche (Green Week) Zauberball from Schoppel yarns. I excitedly posted her to Revelry and was overwhelmed with the response. 

But I still wasn't satisfied. I hit the notepad once more and tried to figure out a way that I could gain two squares on one end and lose one square on the other. I wanted there to be a point in the middle like a shawl but have a thin piece that you can wear like a scarf instead. These little arrows made sense to my brain so I gave it a shot. Take a wild guess which yarn I decided to use for my test-knit? You bet! Another Zauberball. 

Finally - I had my Carrie. By now you may have figured out my naming scheme. Most of the time I was working on these projects I was also listening to audiobooks and Stephen King has always been my favorite. I've heard a story (probably from one of his prologues or author's notes before an audio book) that when he wrote Carrie - he threw the manuscript in the trash. His wife, Tabitha, came along and fished it out to take a peek. After reading what he had thrown away - she urged him to keep going. She felt he really had something special. 

Carrie is my something special. She is light enough to wear year round - but with her thick pointed middle she can keep you snuggly in the chilly Bavarian winters. For her, I used a Zauberball in Monochrome Color#2263

I am so thankful that I picked up my Zauberball at that little craft market last year. It was my Tabitha and it sparked intrigue and inspiration enough to pick up my discarded notes and try again. Carrie was finished a month ago and I quickly added her to my Ravelry Shop as well. 

If you are interested in either of these patterns you can find them here: 

Click here to purchase Carrie (Ravelry Account NOT Required)

Click Here to Purchase Christine (Ravelry Account NOT required)

If you would like more information about the Schoppel Products, You can see all their colors and yarn brands on their website: https://www.schoppel-wolle.de/en

First Projects are NEVER Perfect: It's not their fault (or yours)

First Projects are NEVER Perfect: 

It's not their fault (or yours)

It has taken me 6 years to amass a collection of finished products and last spring I had a chance to sell some at the Hohenfels Community Spouses' Club Spring Craft Fair. The day was a blast and it was a real learning experience to host my first booth for Yellow Ribbon Crafts. 

I couldn't believe how many people were interested in my dishcloths. I tried to have a selection of items that could fit any budget and my dishcloths were one of the lower-priced items so it was nice that so many people could take home a piece of Yellow Ribbon Knits! 

What was baffling to me was how simple and quick a dishcloth is to knit. Why would all these shoppers be enthralled with an item that is usually the first item that new knitters master??

I think it is because many times a facecloth is the first project someone will tackle when learning to knit and it doesn't always go well. I don't know why one student will thrive and another will flounder
but typically there is a facecloth test for many new knitters. If they like the finished results - they continue. If they don't - they stop. Perhaps those that have tried and failed in the past see these simple cloths with appreciation that others don't have.

But to all those out there who knit an ugly facecloth the first time around - KEEP GOING! I spoke to a gal I'm helping the other day who was frustrated by her cloth progress.

And it is true. My first wash cloth was horrid. Twisted stitches, dropped stitches, uneven edges, curling ends, It was a real disaster. But I noticed that the top of it looked much better than the bottom. Instead of stopping, I tried again. I probably even ripped it out so I could use the yarn again because I'm thrifty that way ;) The good news is that the entire second cloth looked a lot like the last half of the first - much better. 

But I really wished I had kept my first cloth. I wish I could show anyone who is struggling that NOBODY knits a perfect first project. Martha Stewart would probably never want anyone to see her less than perfect first attempt but I guarantee that it was a disaster. Guar-an-tee!! 

On a side-note - I'm trying to tell myself that this fits Yoga class all too well. Nope - I can't do all the moves or hold all the positions the full time - YET. But my next class will be a little bit better than my last. So although it may be embarrassing and everybody gets to see my "Martha's first cloth" moments during class. It is OK. Because each class there is someone else new who is in the same position I was and I can appreciate my progress and myself for not giving up. They might not know they are inspiring me but they are. We all inspire each other.