Yesterday I wrote an email to Colleen Leader of Follow the Leader Designs asking her for advice on how to start my own needlework design company.
And, within hours, she wrote back! More to follow…
Update 01/20/10: I can’t find a web site for Follow the Leader Designs anymore. It appears that Colleen has been devoting her time (and seemingly boundless energy) to expanding her family and working on her needlework community site, Loose Thread Stitchers. Check it out!
Well, I’ve been thinking about yesterday’s daunting list of stitching/knitting gifts yet to do. And I’ve been thinking about the agonizing gap between our lofty expectations (gifts we’d like to make if time and money were no objects) and what we can realistically achieve.
You see, I have plans for what I want to do for each of these gifts–I have samplers I’ve sketched out and would like to design, and knitting and cross stitch patterns I’ve picked out and even bought the materials for. But these plans are in conflict with my self-imposed deadline: June 9, 2007, my brother’s wedding day.
So, should I quit my job(s) and sit around knitting and stitching all day every day until June 9th, or should I revise my goals?
Or maybe delve into my treasure trove of FUFO’s? I’m sure there’s plenty there that would do in a pinch. Or is picking something I didn’t make specifically for the purpose too impersonal?
Or maybe I should just find out where they’re registered? But that feels like giving in. Am I crazy?
We all know what it’s like to have family obligations. Some of them are more taxing than others, and some are actually a joy.
Or so I’ve been told. For me stitching and major family events have, until recently, always gone together like peanut butter and chocolate, or Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The last couple years, however, I’ve fallen behind for two reasons: first, I’ve been doing so much knitting and pattern writing in my semi-professional capacity that the thought of doing more knitting in my free time can sometimes be off-putting (a little bit ironic, doncha think?); and, second, because my family keeps getting married and having babies (not to mention celebrating Christmas!) at an alarming rate. In spite of the good example I’ve set as a cat-owning, misanthropic spinster, members of my family keep insisting on pairing up and producing offspring.
Here’s the latest addition to my family–my cousin Tom, his son, Thomas, and brand-new baby Brooke:
And here, from Halloween 2006, are my adorable twin cousins from the other side of the family:
Now, when you see results as spectacular as these, you can see why they keep marrying and having kids, but my dilemma remains: what’s a self-respecting stitcher to do when she falls behind in birth and marriage samplers, baby clothes, and even Christmas gifts?
You know what they say about the road to hell… Here’s my most up-to-date list of family stitching projects I’d like to do (in pseudo-chronological order from least to most recent):
1. wedding sampler for Sarah and Spencer
2. wedding sampler for Pat and Leslie
3. birth sampler for Hudson
4. Christmas 2005 present for Uncle John (yikes!)
5. Wedding present for Moira and Eric
6. Christmas 2006 present for Laura
7. Congratulations! You were born! gift for Wylie
8. Congratulations! You were born! gift for Brooke
9. Congratulations! You are about to be born! gift for unnamed baby brother of Hudson coming in May
10. Wedding sampler or knitted gift for brother getting married on June 9th
Phew! I’m exhausted just typing these out.
I’ve started a new project–a ballerina top for my cousin’s adorable daughter, Hudson. Hence, I’m using a pattern from Zoe Mellor’s appropriately named Adorable Knits for Tots. The yarn I’ve chosen is that great stand-by, Tahki Cotton Classic, in a lovely light mauve color. I really love this yarn, but I think the needle size this pattern requires (size 3) is a bit small for it. The gauge is a little tight, which is leading to a bad case of …. “stockinette curl.” Da Da Dum!!
The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne.
Th’ assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge,
The dredful joye, alwey that slit so yerne;
Al this mene I be love.
–Geoffrey Chaucer, Parlement of Fowles, l. 1-4
With this blog, I want to share some of my passions, specifically knitting and needlework (especially cross stitch), with occasional forays into other crafts like quilting or paper crafts. I hope you enjoy reading this blog at least as much as I’ve enjoyed creating the projects that inspire it. Please check out my About page for more detailed information about the background and goals of this blog. Thanks for reading!
The Lyf So Short 