A few months ago, I started a pair of fingerless gloves for my husband, ones with fingers just missing the tips.  The pattern that I started with worked out well enough, but something about it didn't groove with how my brain works.  The first glove turned out fine, a bit tight, but fine.  The second I started last week (yes, that long inbetween!), and I just couldn't get it right.

So I went hunting for another pattern.  I ended up taking a vintage pattern (knit flat) with ornate cabled cuffs and womens sizing and using that.  Knitted in the round, without the cuffs, with entirely different sizing.  It worked out quite well, so I'm working on the second now.

It seems like, as I've gotten more confident in my spatial skills and pattern drafting, that I've been more and more unable to use patterns as they are.  There are always a few tweaks that I want to make, and I almost always end up creating something that's entirely different, except in concept.  I've never changed a glove into a hat or anything that obscure. :)

I'd really like to return to the days where I could pick up a pattern and work from it.  It was relaxing and...well, nice.  Don't get me wrong, I love the problem solving, design process, and creation of something that's juuust right, but it'd be nice to try something new with the thinking cap off, again, and use someone else's knowledge and talent.  I won't claim to have any mad design skills, but the busy body in me just can't leave a pattern alone!

For the past three weeks, we've been bouncing back and forth between my mom and stepdad's and our house.  They live about 4 hours away, but needed help after my mom's surgery.  

She's doing great and I think we're home for good, now, but GAH.  I feel like I haven't gotten anything done.  i actually did a few more color sketches last night when we got home just so I could feel like I've done something.

Since my shop hasn't been updated in awhile, I may put the socks I'm making for myself (luscious hand-dyed yarn) on hold for a day to knock out my last idea.  When I've got ideas in my head, I tend to lose steam if I don't make some progress on them, and I'm full of ideas.  I've written them all down, but it's not the same.

I'd really like to get 50 items in my etsy shop before the end of the month, but I don't know if that's going to happen.  Guess we'll see!

After taking last week to work on projects for my family, I'm back and really ready to knit for my shop.  I finished a pair of slippers for my husband, a pair of socks for me, have almost finished the lace for my grandmother, and have picked out colorways for both my mother and mother-in-law for birthday socks.  I'll probably start working on those later in the week.

Over the past two days, I've been working on things for my shop.  I knit a pair of Orange Tabi that I've had listed as made to order in my shop, and have almost finished another pair of Watermelon Tabi that I'll probably list tomorrow.  

I've also spent some time picking pictures out and editing them for color and contrast.  It seems like my monitor must be really bright (even though I've calibrated it), because I've had a few comments about my dark pictures.  Now that I've enhanced them a bit, I can see that they do look better, but I'm still a bit afraid that they're too blinding.

I'm also itching to buy more yarn!  I've been doing really well on knitting up my stash, but there's really nothing quite like new yarn to get creative juices flowing.  I did find out that I have three colors of alpaca (green, more blue, and black) on their way from my supplier.  I back ordered them a few months ago and completely forgot about it, so that'll be fun.