just maryse

An Announcement!

no i'm not pregnant.  heh.

but my photography is featured in the latest eMag from Interweave Knits called EntreKnits.

so that's exciting, for me anyway.

 and that would of course be reason enough to purchase this issue -- heh -- but there's MORE!  it's a wonderful little eMag that explores such techniques as mitered squares, entrelac, and modular knitting.  i especially love this pretty cowl.

and i think you need to check it out.

PCers can get their copy here.  If you have a mac, get it here.

That's all!

 

ETA:  these are not the photos in the eMag. 

Lilacs

this is a baby lilac bush.  there's a story with this tiny bush.  my inlaws gave us 2 for our 5th wedding anniversary.  my father-in-law planted them in our yard but with the snow cover and such (they got stepped on - they were very tiny)  both didn't make it to the spring.  so for our 6th they got us 2 more.  one was destroyed within months.  again.  this one, i saved by removing it from the ground and planting it in a pot.  i figured it was less likely to get stepped on.

for our 7th anniversary, we didn't get anything.  heh. because we had separated 2 months before.

this is what the lilac looked like the last time i was at the house.  it's still small, there are just 2 bunches of flowers.  but in the fall i'll transplant it into the ground in a protected area.

 

which leads me to this.  j and i are talking. and spending time together.  a couple of months ago, he called me wanting to get a drink together and we've seen each other every weekend since. he no longer wants a divorce and wants me to come home. i'm not ready to move back yet.  i'm still freaked out by what happened last summer and he knows it.  but we're talking. and getting along.  and working things out.

we'll see.

 

also, HOLY CRAP!  two blog posts in one week!

Red

something's been bugging me lately.  nothing too serious.  just a little nagging thing. 

i have no idea where all of my time goes.  

 

i work a regular 40 hour a week job with some commuting time but since i've been living in the city, it's probably no more than an hour or two tops a day.  i don't have kids.  i live in a 400 square foot room.  (omg i'm in college again!!!!)  so you would think i had tons of free time to do whatever it is that i want to do! 

 

and the thing is i do! but i seem to have nothing to show for that time.  in the time it's taken me to knit one pair of socks or two, my friend chawne has made blankets and spun and quilts and all sorts of shit. and there are others out there just like her.   and i'm wondering, what is it that i'm doing or not doing that makes me so unproductive.   do i play too many iphone games?  do i need to step away from the computer more?  limit my time on pinterest? or do i sleep too much?

 

now, in addition, i'm starting to slowly gain back all of the weight i had lost in the fall, and that makes me sad and slow and tired.  so i know that i need to exercise more.  which i know will just eat more time away from my crafty pursuits.  heh.  (it's been suggested that i knit and walk but i'm not 100% sure that would really work).

 

anyway, all of this is more rhetorical than anything.  i just have to figure things out i guess.  procrastinate less.  do more. 

in the meantime, i'm taking photos of red things because on top of everything else, IT'S ONLY NOW THAT I'M BLOGGING ABOUT THIS YEAR'S PROJECT SPECTRUM!!!! 

i tend to love all colors (well expect for baby pink, barbie doll peach and beige) and i'll obsess about certain colors for a bit -- such as mustardy yellow or aqua.  but red is my favorite color.  it was no accident that this beautiful quilt includes so much red or that i drive a red car. 

so yeah that's about it.

 

4th Annual Macro May!!

the past few weeks have been a little rough.  oh nothing too serious, but i've been sick.  one would think that after all of the stress i've had over the past several months, that i would have been sick all Fall and Winter.  but no.  i got hit over the head with the worst cold i've had in a long time just as the weather was getting better.  fevers, chills, laryngitis.  it's been a joy.  and now allergies.  so i've been so tired.  even today.  i got 9 hours of sleep last night and i'm still dragging.  bah.

anyway, it's May already.  (it's funny how the older you get, the more time flies). and that means it's time for Macro May.  this was maritza's brainchild in May 2008.  (see, time sure flies).  and i have to say it's one of my favorite type of photo projects.  since my life can be pretty routine, i sometimes run out subjects pretty fast, but when shooting macros, even the most mundane things can look fresh.

like toast!  mmmm i love toast.

 

or berries on a wreath!

 

gingham!

 anyway, grab your macro lens or your macro filters, and play along.  it's fun!

 

 

 

The Craziest Thing Happened ...

so the craziest thing happened.  well not really the craziest.  that would just be me exaggerrating a bit.  well, more  like a lot.

it's the last day of april and guess what?  I FORGOT MY 7TH BLOG BIRTHDAY!!!

yep.  it's been 7 years that i've been a presense on the internet. April 17, 2004 was the date of my first blog post.  and it's the first year that i forgot about it.  i've had a lot to think about this past year i guess.  you'll cut me some slack i hope.  heh. 

anyway, it's pretty amazing to me that i've kept up with something like this for that long, even if i don't blog that often anymore.  but i think i need to continue because without the people i've met because of this little blog, the past few months would have been so much more difficult.  your support has been such a help.

in unrelated news, although i told you all about this year's potholder swap, i never showed you my potholders.

they didn't turn out exactly like i'd liked them too. i had a better idea in my head, but they're ok.  i'm not writing them out as a pattern though as the lacy motif is taken directly out of marie claire crochet stitch dictionary.  they are on ravelry though, so i might add some notes on how i attached the lace part to the circular base.

and that's about it.  so april was spent primarily working on potholders and missing my 7th blog birthday.  and taxes.

just a final note, tomorrow is the start of MACRO MAY.  get your macro lens or macro filters out or set your camera to macro (the flower icon) and look at the world in a slightly different way. 

February 2011 -- A Recap

i'm about a week late, but whatever.  it's my blog, i can do whatever i want. heh

weatherwise, february had a little bit less snowfall than january but it was still pretty damn cold and a little icy too.

 

i did more spinning.

 

 

i designed and released a new cowl pattern.

i ended the month with a trip to freeport, maine to this year's Spa, Knit and Spin, where i ate cheese, shopped and crocheted (shhh don't tell anyone) with great friends.

it was a busy month.  heh.

One More Sleep

i'm heading out to freeport, maine tomorrow for the annual SPA, Knit and Spin weekend.  as i tell my friend who is not a knitter, has no interest in knitting, and who says she can't imagine anything more boring, it's really just an excuse to drink and eat cheese with some of my favorite people in the world.  put in those terms, this is something that she can get behind.  heh.

and as promised, i've released the twitterpation cowl pattern.  you can follow the link i've got over there on the right, or you can download the ravelry pdf.  it's free.

i've also made my other free patterns available as ravelry pdfs.  you can find them all here.

have a good weekend!

 

 

Eye Candy Friday

as part of a flickr exercise, i've been going through photos from the past few years, picking one out each week that was taken during that same week but in the past.  on february 8, 2009 i took this shot.

 

 

i've been doing more spinning and some crocheting and thinking about knitting.  good things.

 

January 2011 -- A Recap

 

i think if there's a word to describe this past month i think it would be SNOW.  in the northeast we got a healthy dumping (with more to come on wednesday).

there was also a shit load of spinning.

 

 

 

i finished a pair of socks. 

 

and "buried" an old friend.

 

yeah, ouch.  january was a very expensive month.  sure i could have lived without a new camera.  but you know that wasn't going to happen.  dear nikon d80, you were good to me.  i hope the d90 is as good.

so that's about it!  no real change in my personal life.  i'm doing fine.  much better than i was doing 5 months ago.  back then i never thought i'd feel normal again.  i'm getting there.

 

 

 

 

Welcome 2011! Now Try Not To Be A Douchebag.

The experts say that in order to not give up on your resolutions, you want to be really specific with your goals.  For example, you don't resolve to lose weight, or get healthy or something like that.  You might instead resolve to walk 30 minutes, everyday.  They say that having concrete goals are easy to keep track of and follow.

Which is all well and good.  Thing is, I have a whole shitload of resolutions this year.  From the mundane, ie. floss every night and implement a proper skin care regimen, to something much bigger and of course vaguer, ie. don't dwell on the past, try to think positively, don't focus on regrets.  No idea how i can operationalize that resolution.  But i'm going to try.  tonight i bought myself a notebook where i plan on jotting down every night a few notes on how my day went. did i handle a difficult situation well?  did i whine? did i moisturize?  did i walk 30 minutes?  check check check (or not).  did i "do?"  or did i just think about doing?  not really a journal, because as i've said before, too much introspection makes me sad.  but just a simple check list. anyway, that's my plan.  maybe that's my resolution for this year.  i'm going to write stuff in my little notebook.  heh.

one last look at the past.  inspired by chawne's, i created my own pummelvision video. 

 

 

My Pummelvision from Maryse R on Vimeo.