just maryse

My Happiness Project

sometime last year, before the shit hit the fan, i put Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project on my amazon wishlist.  i kept thinking about buying it, was reading her blog semi-regularly, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that i got it for my kindle. 

right now i'm making a first quick pass through.  just getting the lay of the land.  and it's really quite interesting.  one of the criticisms about the book is that it's really gretchen's story and not so much a self-help book in the traditional sense, you know the ones that are more like workbooks and exercises and stuff.  but i'm ok with that, because it is through her story that i can see parallels with my own.  or not.  truthfully, she's very different from me, but that doesn't mean that i can't learn from her journey.

anyway, one thing that it's gotten me thinking about is what makes me small "H" happy.  the little things in my life (even in it's current state) that make me forget my troubles and that bring me peace.

 

 

yarn makes me happy.

 

Eye Candy Friday

a photo from last weekend's road trip to manasquan, new jersey.

in a bit, ms. king will be picking me up for rhinebeck. i hope i see you there!

Eye Candy Friday

i haven't done one of these in a while.

near my parents' house is a park. and in the center of the park is this island of flowers.

My First FO for 2010

Ooof.  Being back at work has been a bit of shock.  Funny that it's so easy to get into that nonworking mode but after 10 days out of the office, it takes forever to get back to working without feeling like a big giant anvil has landed on your head.  Have I mentioned what a cramp in my style my full-time job is?  Heh.

Anyway, I have managed to finish something.  Back when i started knitting/crocheting again a few years ago, I was like a magpie when it came to buying yarn.  "Oooh pretty!  Oooh colorful!  Oooh shiny!"  And I bought a lot of random skeins of stuff without any project in mind leaving me with a stash filled with pretty yarns that I will never ever knit.  Since this has been making me feel a little twitchy lately, I had to come up with something where i could use a dozen baby colored balls  of Tahki Cotton Classic Colors -- a line of variegated mercerized cotton yarns.

So following the sirens' call from ravelry and flickr, i made a giant granny square blanket.

well maybe not so giant.  more like 38 inches square or so.  and the perfect size for my niece.  she's been watching me work on it and i'm not sure she completely understands what it was i've been working on, but last time i saw her she did ask if i was done yet.  she's 3.

yeah i don't know what i was thinking when i bought these yarns, but overall i'm happy with the finished product.  i alternated one row of 5 different colors until i completed 4 repeats then did two rows in the black than another 5 row repeat then 2 more rows of black and then one more 5 row repeat until i didn't have enough yarn in any one colorway to finish a row.  then i finished the edge with a row of single crochet in the black. 

ta-daa! 

it's not half bad if i do say so myself.  need more details such as which yarns i used, etc.?  it's in ravelry. 

Rhinebeck Here I Come!

In a few hours, i'll be on my way.  I hope to see you all there!  Say hi if you see me.  I may look mean, but really, i don't bite.  usually.  heh.

Autumn is Here

there's no denying that fall 2009 is now upon us.  there's a nip in the air in the morning and the colors around here have been magnificent.  october in new england is why i live here and why 15 years ago i didn't end up moving out of the area.

i'm going to try and blog more often by the way.  i kind of feel out of it these days and a little disconnected. 

Eye Candy Friday

it's been warm and humid the past few days, feeling more like early july than late september, but it's started looking like Fall.

the acorns are back. 

Squares and Strips

So the plan last weekend was to finally finish my secret project #2.

yeah unfortunately, i really can't show you more.  but it's done.  finally.

Eye Candy Friday

hi! it's been awhile, i know.  we got back from france almost 2 weeks ago.  damn, time goes by fast.  vacation was good, but exhausting.  visiting family can feel like that you know.  and now i've also got an extra 5 lbs i need to lose.  that's what i get for eating croissants and baguettes with butter and jam until my head exploded every morning for 2 weeks.  oh well.

anyway, i'm almost done with secret project #2.  I have to hand it over on sunday.  and then i can get on with my life.  (seriously, it hasn't been that bad, i've just used that project as an excuse to be a total slacker.) september always feels like the beginning of the year for me, so i'd like to do some dyeing and maybe learn (or relearn) how to sew.  and knitting. and maybe fit some exercise in there.  and blog more.

until the next post though, i leave you with this little image from my time in france.

 

have a happy friday!

Eye Candy Friday

have i mentioned that i'm working on some secret projects?