Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Joni Mitchell Knits and Crochets!

I bet Joni Mitchell made this dress.  She also sews, or she did when she was younger and not as wealthy as she is now.  What do you think?
Joni Mitchell performing at the Riverboat in Toronto, 1968.


Sunday, June 22, 2014

Struggling with Focus!

I'm struggling with focus when it comes to knitting, designing knits, and selling my handknits.  I can't stop starting a project ... I'm currently working on 12 projects (and also have a wide swath of hibernating projects) ... see my ravelry page Cloudheights to see some of my current projects:

Camber - Norah Gaughan

Quoin - Norah Gaughan

Strip Study - Veera Välimäki
I love Norah Gaughan's Spring Collection Norah Gaughan, Vol 14, which has so many creative top-down designs. Besides the pullover, Camber, which I'm making in an Ultra Alpaca color Creamsicle, and Quoin, which I'm making in a Remix color Buttercup, I also have yarn set aside to make the shawl Chock, and the pullover, Azimuth.  I also have a project that I keep at work to knit on my lunch break called Stripe Study.  It's a really fun knit which is going quickly despite the lace weight; I'm using Malabrigo Lace in two colors of navy, light variegated and solid.  So that's three out of my 12 current projects.

As far as designing goes, I do have a handful of ideas I'm working out.  As soon as spring started I had a number of ideas for summer berets and concocted the following hat based on a vintage crochet design.  I call it Down To The Seaside based on a Joni Mitchell lyric from Song To A Seagull.  I used Patons Classic Merino for my first attempt but it turned out to be a bit heavy with two sections of large bobbles and worsted weight wool.  I ended up finding a nice lightweight DK wool/plant fiber blend called CEY Verde Woodlands which I used on my second try.  I used a smaller needle and a smaller bobble, actually a knot, that worked out to be much lighter and more appropriate for a summer tam.

You can find these hats at my Etsy page, Cloud Heights Designs, but as I said, I'm also struggling with my Etsy site.  I need more product but as I get sidelined with wanting to knit what I feel like knitting, I am not thinking about what my shop's focus should be, or what my brand is.  Etsy is holding some workshops which I want to start watching, and I also want to finish reading the book my daughter bought me, Craft, Inc., which is a great tutorial about turning a craft hobby into a business.

Focus is the main ingredient to working toward success and creative fulfillment and also deciding what I really want to do with my time.  It's about doing what I love to do, being creative and creating objects that are of quality design and beautiful to look at and wear.

Here are a couple of more designs I have in the works: A Mesh Top made of organic cotton, and a utilitarian design of a Dust Mask, to help me deal with my allergies while cleaning!

Thanks for looking and reading, Sue