Knitting Dragonflies

We had a great long weekend in Bloomington, IN, staying with friends and going to the World Music Lotus Festival . It was good to see friends that we hadn’t seen for years, and some we had. It is a great college town, home of IU. We enjoyed lots of great music, dancing, and a little shopping. I even managed to get in a little knitting. Below is a sample of some of the bands and performers we enjoyed. We plan on going next year. Enjoy!

I have used Henna on my hair for about 2 years now. I has been quite a journey. I’ve had various reds, from orange to auburn. While it does make my hair feel great, I’ve had to stop for various reasons. I’m going to list some of my hard learned henna lessons and advice. I wish I had known some of this before I started. First some general advice on henna, especially if you have light or graying hair….I’ll also list my best info links at the end of this. Yes seriously, before and after 100% henna…the worst moment is when I was shopping in Target and two little boys said “Mommy look at that women’s hair!”, Yes I had to leave my cart and exit the store. Needless to say I’m rather fearless with my hair now. -If you have light hair or graying hair, I would recommend using henna in combo with buxus or indigo to tame the orange color, ( mixes here ,  gray hair kits here ) (see henna for hair explanation of how henna works on gray or light blonde hair here , and yes you will be orange )  I

Landscape (Italy) , originally uploaded by RayDS . Wouldn't You Like to Be Knitting Here..... Landscape (Italy) by RayDS See his other photos on flickr

The Iced sweater that has stopped me in my tracks is now enjoying some attention. I’m almost out of yarn, and even though this yarn is discontinued, of course, I found some on eBay. But don’t really want to put more money into this sweater. (subject to change… ha) I’ve decided, after looking at many magazines after my surgery, that the fall trend is showing many vests. I decide to put my sleeves on hold and the bottom also, and start on the collar. I only have 3.5 skeins of yarn left (85 yards apiece) so if I can get the collar done, maybe I can then decide if I need to finish the sweater properly. Or…..just turn it into a vest. Would I wear a bulky vest? Not really sure I care at this point, I just need to get some momentum on this project. Until then I’m going to leave you with some great pattern links I’ve found…. http://us.knitsmc.com/files/patterns/freepattern_select_1762_en.pdf , this is a knitted shrug pattern, looks simple with a dolman sleeve , super easy pattern with a

I love the look of those cute wrap bracelets . Make as many as you want, Layer them, make singles to start with and them multi wrap ones. I have been looking at several Fall fashion mags and they seem to be everywhere. Like all crafty people I started looking at the price and construction, and decided to dig around online and find some how to’s. Now we can pick out exactly what colors and beads that we want and with a little time……. Instead of buying one, it is easy to make one. I found a few tutorials. Here are a few written and video tutorial links: I think my favorite is from DanniAndChels , she shows how using a clipboard and office supply clips. SewPetiteGa l gives us good instructions From How to Make Jewelry.com easy instructions I like this video from MakeBracelets blog (Tracy uses linen cord instead of leather) Auntie’s Beads has a video on YouTube using leather cord and a knot instead of a button for a closure Have fun and get stylin…

MOJO (from the urban dictionary) N 1. Self-confidence, Self-assuredness. As in basis for belief in ones self in a situation. Esp. In context of contest or display of skill. 2. Good luck fetish / charm to bolster confidence. 3. ability to bounce back from a debilitating trauma and negative attitude She lost his mojo when she had to frog her socks five times. She got her mojo back now. Above is the PowerPuff girl villain Mojo Jojo I stepped back and took at look at why I was having knitting project problems. How many times do I just keep hitting my head against the wall without stopping to think and look at the problem. Ok, so I stopped and looked…… If I have knitting problems, I usually think it is one of three things (or a combo of them) 1. Yarn, wrong yarn for the project. Yarn I don’t like. So I looked at the yarn, no, it is yarn I’ve used before and  I like this type of yarn. 2. The pattern isn’t making me happy, flawed pattern or not the right pattern for the yarn. No I’v

One week post surgery….and no those socks still are not right… Well at least this means I’m knitting, or frogging. I got to the toes of these socks, ( which had been frogged a few times already, they started out as toe up socks), and was ready to graft the toe, hummm……1 inch too short, ok, not a big deal. Frog again. I don’t know where my knitting mojo is! Am I too picky right now? Nothing seems to be turning out right. Of course I am looking at a bulky sweater that I have two balls of yarns left and sleeves, and collar and button band to knit. That had me pause and think. Then these socks, that I have carried around in my knitting bag for miles. Probably more miles than I’ll ever walk in them, especially due to the fact that there is not even one of them yet. Seriously may be a one sock syndrome pair! I think the answer to both of these questions is……cast on something else, quick….LOL Keep knitting…..