Bowling Blues

No, it is not a new color of thread I am offering...it is how I am feeling about my bowling lately. Since the start of this season I am sporting a 158 average. On top of that, I feel pretty darn lucky when I can get into the 160's. Why should I have the blues then? Because, I ended last season with a 175 book average. I did have a 178 game one night. It has been a few weeks ago though, so I don't remember it well.

I have decided I am going to get some coaching. I need someone to help me figure out what I cannot. Usually I am really good at self-coaching/correcting, but for the life of me I cannot do it now. I am wondering if I have lost the love of the game, or if the change in team mates (2 team mates that I have bowled with for the past 3 years could not bowl this year) or maybe just the league itself, has me not as excited about the sport.

Whatever it is, it makes me sad that I feel this way about bowling and that I can't find the spark to reignite the excitement. Maybe the coaching sessions will help...I will have to see.

Pretty Threads All In a Row

I have been working on winding up my most recent batch of threads. I have sent out the special request orders, now all I have to do is take pictures for my Etsy shop, label them and then start planning my next batch.



I was very pleased with this last dye run. I have not done any dyeing since April while I was busy house-hunting and moving. It always takes a little bit of time to figure out the best set up for my equipment and my work area. Now that I don't have to worry about breaking it down each time or moving it around since it has a dedicated space, I should be able to work a little more efficiently. Super excited about that!

Off to snap some pics and label. Visit my shop...Bre-Aly Threads on Etsy (Shameless plug)

Knitting Revival

Setting up my office, I came across a bunch of sock yarn that had forgotten about. I have been on a crochet kick for the past couple of years, so socks weren't on my radar. Finding an abandoned WIP sock project reminded me that those particular socks did not fit me and I think I became discouraged. I had completed a few pairs of socks before that, so it wasn't my first pair, but I think that is what turned me back to crochet for a while. I have wide feet, and when I got to a point where I could try them on, it didn't happen. I can gift them to someone with regular size feet, but I think since it has been so long, I don't know if I will be able to figure out what pattern I was using or where I left off if I do find the pattern. I am not able to improvise, so they may be a lost cause.

Since it has been a while, and I am not as comfortable with knitting as I am crochet, I decided to go back to knitting 101 and make some dishclothes to reacquaint myself with the sticthes. My first attempt came out wonky, but not terrible. It is a dishcloth after all, it will get the job done and no one will probably know any better.



I don't seem to work on crochet and knitting projects at the same time. It's not that I can't, I just don't for some reason. I guess I get bored with one and give it a rest and then go back to the other for a while. I think when I first taught myself to knit that I didn't crochet for a couple of years at least. Maybe the break gives me time to rediscover and get excited about it again. After I was finished putting all of the sock yarns I have unpacked in the "sock yarn cubby" of my yarn collection, I sat there and stared at it for a little while, petting it occassionally, then decided to go look up some sock patterns. I think my fall and winter will be filled with knitting projects since my excitement for knitting has been renewed.

Dusting off the Shelves

Whew...this blog is dusty! I doesn't seem like it has been over 3 years since I posted anything.

Since I posted last, I have moved twice (hopefully the last time was the last time for many years), my grandson started Pre-K and I have made a bunch of things, some big things, but mostly small, quick things.

I made 3 afghans for Christmas 2010, 1 each for my daughter, my son and my boyfriend (I don't know what else to call him, cuz this sounds so teeny-bopperish). It was a great surprise to all of them, especially my daughter and bf as they saw me working on two of the others, but never all 3 at once. Those were my big projects for that year.

In 2011, I joined a block-a-month CAL on Ravelry and was able to make 3 or 4 throws from that, so sort of a mid-size project on a monthly basis.

In 2012 I focused mainly on crochet squares for various charities. I didn't like my set up in the house I was living in, I didn't have easy access to my stash (no more yarn closet like I had in the previous house) and any large project just didn't have room to spread out.

I have pictures in Ravelry of all my various projects, so probably won't crowd up the blog with past stuff. Hopefully I will have new pretties to show going forward.

I am in the process of setting up my very first dedicated craft room! When I head that way my daughter always laughs and asks me if I am heading to my girl cave. Not sure I like the term girl cave, but I do like that I have it, whatever it is called. I took out some built in shelves and painted a wall and assembled some cubicles so I can display and stare and pet my yarn stash anytime I want to.

So this:






Has turned into this:







It is still a work in progress, as I have to figure out how to set it up to be a good workspace for my thread dyeing as well. At first I was hoping I could install a sink down there and have an actual dye workshop, but there would have to be some layout changes to the whole downstairs area for that to happen, so I gave up that idea for the foreseeable future.

As it is, I am very happy in my new home and with the weather getting cooler, I am definately looking forward to sitting down with my yarn close at hand, my DVR full of shows to catch up on and start (or finish!) a project.