and again ...

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!
TAGGING CODE: knitcroblo2


Well I am on day two, and think I might give up after this - there's a huge part of me that rebels instantly when I feel duty bound to do something, maybe I am simply not a team player( does this make me a Really Bad Person??)(do I care?), but I certainly don't like following the crowd. Or the sheep.

Also my crafty life is revolving less around knitting and more around my sewing and quilting lately, which makes me happy.

Such as this bundle of loveliness, of which more information will come tomorrow when I take some photos of the blocks I have finished so far ... pink feathers, perfection.

But back to the blog theme - an inspirational pattern?
It's a weird one really - not the pattern, the concept.

I find many many patterns inspirational - I can look at many stunning patterns on Ravelry, or finished items, and think they are beautiful, and appreciate the talent and dedication that has gone into the concept, the design process and the finished item, But I don't feel driven to emulate many of them - partly because I prefer quirky, more obscure designs (back to not following the crowd maybe), partly because despite the gorgeous skeins of hand dyed laceweight I have upstairs I know I don't have the patience (or skill) to do it justice. Or the time.

The most challenging knitted item I have on the go (and haven't even looked at in about a month) is a gorgeous piece of colourwork, a shawl:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/summer-shawl-2, which I think is beautiful. I don't like using circular needles, and don't usually do long term projects, so in several ways this is out of my comfort zone. It's lovely to knit (once I tweaked the pattern a bit to make the roses more gently curved), I just got bogged down with other things. I would love to have this finished for my birthday, so must get back to it asap.

Inspiring? I don't know. Beautiful yes - very difficult or challenging? Not really. Aspirational? Not really - mainly because I don't aspire to be a professional pattern designer (I am still toying with designs to go with the craptastic book!).

I do, however, admire the mind that comes up with something like this:

(aplogies to the creator of this wondrous wotsit, I don't have the link to your site or your name). I love it.

And on a completely different note - this cactus has never ever flowered, and when I was giving it a drop of water the other week I noticed it was covered in teenytiny deep pink buds - and just look at it now!

This was taken last week, and there are probably double the amount of flowers at the moment, its stunning!

As for what's going on in the teenytiny garden and the teenytiny greenhouse - well, that needs a camera and sunlight to do it justice, so that's one job for tomorrow.

Right now, I think an early night is appealing (it's almost 11pm) and the last few pages of The Owl Killers, which is good but I preferred her first book.

Toodles!