the tale of 2 dolls

This is doll #1 that I started knitting eons ago.  Read -->long before Christmas.


The pattern is from this book that I found while scrounging at the thrift store.

So cute & so scrappy !  I couldn't wait to get it done and have it sitting on the shelf in the living room looking all festive & lovely during the Christmas season.

There was a just a bit of a teeny problem.

The obvious of course is that Christmas has already come & gone and look! this doll still has no arms attached and is totally faceless.  And doggone it! I am so close to being done.  But I am trying to come to grips with the very real, very cold reality I may never get to finish this doll.

Why?

Scroll back a few stories and I was being very witty about playing tennis.  Not real tennis of course, but I was injecting humor in my very catastrophic inability to knit or crochet because of 'tennis elbow'.  (And please also note ----> I am feeling extremely foolish for being so whiny about this.  I mean!  Seriously!  I know that there are people out there having to deal with waaaaay more serious stuff than this...)

So my bag of knitting sits next to me all silent.  And I wonder if I will ever be able to knit or crochet again.  The possibility stuns me.  Really?  It can't be!  And take it back out & knit a few stitches only to shove it back into the bag because my. elbow. hurts. way. too. much.

What's left?

Feel sorry for myself?  Tried that and my kids & husband were ready to throw my out on my backside.  Seriously, Mom?  It's just knitting! (Plus that gets real old, real fast.)

I started paging through this same COUNTRY DOLLS book and there are lots of cute patterns...oh, look! a pattern to sew a doll...using scraps of fabric and my sewing machine.

Well, it HAS been a bazillion years since I did anything like that...

...but here she is.  Doll #2

I must say, I had forgotten what a treasure it is to sew.  And when she came out looking like this?

...I knew that all is not lost.

just a bit...

...I will be stepping away from my blog.  For just a bit of a break.

tennis, anyone?

Who knew that one could get tennis elbow from something non-related to tennis!?

Well, I did.  Get it, that is.

And it has put me out of commission for many, many loooooong weeks.  And because it's a painful condition from repetitive motions of the wrist & arm ---- let's just guess what motion plays heavily into knitting...or even crocheting?

Yup. Repetitive motions of the wrist & arm.

In spite of all of that (and just let me tell you --- going w/o knitting or crocheting for weeks is one of the most painful things e.v.e.r.!) I did manage to finish these lovely socks from here.

Do I love knitting for the beautiful motion of yarn & needles -- or the vibrant, yummy & gorgeous colors that come out once the project is complete?...

...ehhhh.

It's a definite toss-up.

red, white & blue bunting

Such a lovely, patriotic pattern for red, white & blue bunting found here.

And yes, I needed to make this.

So simple & so quick.

Using an h hook and leftover yarn from past projects.

Perfect for the 4th.

lacy

Oh, lacy things.

(Deep, deep, contented sigh.)

I finally finished tatting this lacy Clover Doily by Jon.

This doily is made up of 3 individual motifs but once tatted together ~ it forms a lacy mosaic that seems so intricate, but is actually oh, so simple.

My obsession with lace has now seeped into socks & knitting.

I just started this Medallion Lace Sock by Andrea Fox.

And this is what I have noticed...

...I am still completely bowled over that socks are magically appearing from my needles.  I stare down at the movement and think ~ is this really me doing this?

Because it's so therapeutic.

So rhythmic.

So soothing.

And so unbelievably beautiful.

horseshoe cable socks

Horseshoe Cable Socks. (Pattern can be found here.)

All finished!

2 of them!

Yes, even I am amazed that both of these are finished.

And what's even better is they are softer than soft.

Yarn is Black Olive by KOLLAGE ~ Sock-A-Licious.

They fit like a glove.

And I'm pretty sure when I put them on, I squealed so loud the neighbors heard.

enthusiasm

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. 

Sir Winston Churchill

It seemed no matter what I attempted I was met with failure.

Crochet.

Knitting.

Any type of stitching.

Fail.

Fail.

Fail.

And my enthusiasm died.

But then I picked up this book for the 1,000,000th time and wondered for the 1,000,001th time if I could possibly make something from all of these beautiful patterns...

101 Designer one-skein WONDERS by Judith Durant

I kept coming back to the Horseshoe Cable Socks.  They were more than yummy and way out league as far as what I could attempt.

Heh.  heh.

Until I tried them.

What?

These are easy.  

And so utterly beautiful (and if I have to tip my hat to Tonia who has the greatest technique for knitting these horseshoe cables WITHOUT a cable needle!)

I  couldn't believe it!  These were flying off of my needles!  

No failure.  Just complete, satisfying success.

And so now I once again have something in my hands.  

And I am once again enthusiastic about sticks and yarn.