Betsy Herschberg, Get Out of My Left-Brained Head!

Yep, I'm pretty sure she's been poking around in there somehow and reading my thoughts.  We were lucky to have Betsy speak at our monthly guild meeting last night.  She makes these amazing, one of a kind, knitted and beaded jewelry pieces but what struck me about her was having someone put a voice to all my 'way too analytical to be creative' self-doubt.  I related to every single 'I can't do this', 'I shouldn't be doing this', and 'I can't believe I'm doing this...and that people like what I'm doing' moment she shared with us.  Great speaker.  Very inspirational to me and at a critical point, I think, in my thought process.  I've been having these internal debates with myself about how much satisfaction I get from recreating someone else's design to the letter.  It used to be enough ~ that 'it's perfect' moment when I've followed a pattern down to the last bound off stitch ~ but I'm not getting that feeling to the same extent anymore.  I think that I'm at a turning point where I need to focus my time and energy a little bit towards seeing what I can do that screams ~ 'Not only did I make this awesome thing, but I imagined it from the very beginning and it's all mine!!'  Betsy did just that and found her voice and an outlet for a creativity that she didn't think she had in her.  Thanks, Betsy for helping me to affirm that I can at least try to see what I can do.  What harm can come of that?  You can decide for yourself if she's creative or not on her website, Studio B Knits.

I could go on and on ~ it's been a busy week but I'll sum it up with a few pics and hopefully not too many more words!  (Reminds me of my favorite line from the movie 'Amadeus' where the king tells Mozart that his music has 'too many notes'.....very funny!)

I met Snohomish Shepherdess a little before the meeting started last night so we could sit and visit.  Our first real chat.  It was good to get to know her a little better and spend some time knitting with her.  AND, when the evening was over, she generously gave me this from her bountiful kitchen: 

 Clockwise from upper left: Kiwi Jam, Grape Jelly, Apricot-Pineapple Jam and Red Pepper Jam
Thanks so much, Tamra!  My husband and I are looking forward to trying them all!

I did finish a few projects this week:

On the left are Bella's Mittens, a free pattern that I made with Rowan Cocoon.  These are a birthday gift for my sister.  On the right are Brushed Suri Mitts from Blue Sky Alpaca that I made with BSA Brushed Suri in Lollipop, a hot pink yarn that matches the highlights in my brother's girlfriend's hair.  They are her birthday gift and she's excited about them (I showed her the yarn before I started).

And I'll end the post with an update on Kelli and my top secret test knits that we did for Coralie Meslin this past summer.  They are officially in print in two of Tahki Yarns recent Spring\Summer 2011 publications.

Above:  Kelli's knit showed up in City Tweed, Tweed Collection 5th Edition ~ it's called the Boerum Hill Top.  I love this pattern!  I would definitely wear this!

Below:  My knit showed up in Kaleidoscope Cotton Classic 5th Edition ~ it's called Aqua Velva 1-Shoulder Tank.  A bit too daring for me but it looks smashing on the gorgeous model, don't you think?!  Thanks Coralie, for giving us the opportunity to knit up a couple of your new designs and getting the chance to see something that we had on our very own needles pop up in print.  So cool!!