Lowlights

I apologize for nearly three weeks of silence out there. I don't know if it was midterm fever or what, but March has meant being up to my ears in something at all times.

• I submitted three essays to contests this month, with one more to go, and it needs the most work.
• My grandmother passed away a couple weeks ago.
• I took in a stray kitty only to find out he had FIV and had to be put down.
• I submitted an essay a little over a week ago to be workshopped today and have another due in two weeks.
• I have a big presentation Thursday in my craft class.
• This last week was spring break but I lost most of it to errands, family issues, and to driving up to Phoenix to spend the day with my mom. I say "lost" just meaning that it wasn't productive. There was a lot of fun, too, though.
  
• I haven't had any time to crochet outside of my weekly group, and since I spend most of that helping my girlfriends, I really haven't been producing at all.

This last crochet circle, I managed to get a couple inches of a scarf done, and it's highly portable, so I'm hoping after March wraps up, I'll be able to take it around and work on it more. I liked the stitch so much, I redesigned the front of a top I've been working on for a while. I made myself work on it while I watched a movie over the weekend. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll get to pick it up again until crochet circle on Thursday.

The hat is also languishing. I think I added one to two rows a week this month, so it's in the home stretch if - and this is a big IF - the crown works out. If not, I'm likely just going to frog it back to there and make a slouchy cap out of it. Which will be cute, but not what I was intending. Know that feeling?

I hope to be better about blogging in the next few weeks, but it's also the worst part of the semester, so I can't make any promises. For now, off to work on my astronomy homework!

Epic Fail

Well, maybe epic fail is an exaggeration.

I did work on the skirt, to the point of neglecting my school work (ssshhh, don't tell), and I finished it, but alas, there were two problems. One, it's too snug right below the hips (odd, I think) and the area right below the front zipper bunches. Here's a picture of the latter problem:

It's more obvious when I have it on, of course, but I didn't have time for a good shot of that. I know one thing I did wrong that is partly to blame, and I have a theory that part of the problem is also the cut of the pants. In the meantime, I wanted to update that it didn't work out, but that I did try. I took a lot of really nice, detailed shots and notes about the process, so I'll put together a series of blog posts on that for later in the week. (I have a strangely busy next few days, but my Thursday class is canceled, so I'll be back then.) I also have an idea of how to redeem the project.

The hat, on the other hand, is still a WIP. I just didn't have time for both, but hopefully an update will be coming soon on that as well.

Deadlines

This was originally written for a private blog with some writers who signed up for Wardrobe Refashion.

In the crafting community, especially knitblogs, there's a term for a phenomenon we've all experienced, that inability to keep going after you've started a project, especially the tendency to start and start and start lots of projects and never finish anything. It's called startitis.

I've recently been working on - in my writing life - a project I'm fairly sure I won't be workshopping this semester, and yet, despite all the other work I should be doing, I'm still working on it. In the meantime, my research paper and my craft presentation are idling, nearly unbegun. I've got startphobia for the work I should be doing, except it isn't really a fear but a lack of desire, an aversion. I'm not blocked, I just don't want to work on them.

In my crafting life, however, I'm experiencing a definite case of block or the inability to start. I have a pants-to-skirt conversion project planned. In fact, I have two pairs of slacks I want to do this to eventually, but one moreso than the other. And yet, I can't seem to get started.

I blame it a little bit on my setup - my sewing machine is in our disaster of a laundry room and inaccessible on three sides by my housemate's mess, on the other side by my own crafting things. But the issue is also a heavy dose of laziness. I could have worked on the skirt either of the last two mornings. I've been telling my other blog [that's you!] this project was next in the queue for weeks, but I haven't started it.

In the meantime, I have a crochet cap design I've been fiddling with. While I think I've got it down with only a few more rounds to go, after redoing the crown a couple times, I started a new hat yesterday rather than finish the first - startitis at its worst.

So, as works best with my writing, I'm giving myself a deadline. I want to wear this skirt and the prototype cap to the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert at the Rialto Theatre on Thursday, so I must finish them both this week. I'll forgive myself if either doesn't fit, or if the cap still needs tweaking, but I have to at least try, and Tuesday will be my big chunk of time at home for the skirt.

Nonetheless, this whole diatribe is indicative of my crafting practice, whether it be crafting an essay, or a photography project, or a design, or a crochet or sewing project: I love to start things, I love to get hit by an idea and run with it, I love to finish things (though I never feel my written work is finished as magically as a craft project), and I even love the work while I'm doing it. But I am often tempted away from one project by another, or driven to start four or five new things only to find myself coming back to an old, neglected project that has to be backed up and almost started over, not just resumed.

In some writing circles, for instance the world of NaNoWriMo, people are divided into two major work styles: pantsers and plotters. Those who fly through a project by the seat of their pants never knowing where it will take them and those who plan (plot) everything out in advance. I'm trying to learn, in life, to be more of a pantser, but I still need a certain amount of structure to keep me finishing, well, anything really. To divide us into these two types seems not to take into account how we start and stop, pick up and put down, shelve, marinate, sprint, and birth our projects.

The best laid plans...

Lost Wallet Found

Just wanted to let you all know that my wallet was returned a couple of days later - with everything still in it! - to the library reference desk. I guess either I left it somewhere or someone got squeamish about having taken it? Either way, it's back, which makes my life easier. Thanks, Universe!

Crochet update: My group is getting together tonight, where I'll be either proceeding with the hat or trying to pick up another WIP I put down for too long. I'm hoping to be able to get some more done in the next few days, but for now - to class!

Weekend thrown all outta whack

All my plans for yesterday and today have gotten thrown askew. I intended to work hard yesterday before some evening plans with friends but instead spent the day hunting for my lost wallet and retracing my steps from the day before. So far - to no avail.

As you know, I'd also hoped to refashion those pants this morning, but alas, I'm wallet hunting until I find it (or have to leave at noon), and because of girly V-Day plans and a lot of Monday homework, I likely won't have time fir the pants until next weekend. With any luck I can finish the hat (v 2.0) and see if this tweak worked in the next couple days.

Hope you're having an excellent weekend. Happy <3 Day!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Inheritance part 2

This is not a new inheritance, but a recently reacquired goodie. I received some more of my stuff over the holiday break, including my piano, almost-the-last of my crafting supplies, and the sewing machine I did really inherit when my grandmother passed.

(She apparently had quite a few. When my mother came to visit a couple days ago, she didn't know I'd gotten mine back, and so she offered me "one of the extras" she now has!)

I haven't used the machine in a few years, but I have a project in the works. I have a pair of pants that aren't long enough. I'm planning to convert them into a skirt. I may do it this weekend, but I'm not sure yet. I'll photo document the whole thing both for this blog and for Wardrobe Refashion. If you've never heard of the Refashion pledge, you should check it out and consider signing up. Two friends and I will be taking the pledge when it opens this weekend (the 15th). My second project may be a lined bag, with granny square exterior, for etsy, but I'm not committed to it yet.

Next time, the cap!

Inheritance part 1

Apologies for the radio silence. These last couple weeks have been busy-busy, but I'm back!

I mentioned a while ago that I was going to write about some fun goodies I'd "inherited." I use quotation marks because no one has passed away recently in my life. My mother inherited all of my grandparents' crafting stuff when they passed a few years ago. Truck loads of yarn, quilting supplies, multiple knitting machines, etc., etc. All of the 100% acrylic yarn I use is from them, and I tend to pick up a few skeins each visit. I also peek through other boxes of stuff on occasion, but until I moved back to Arizona, I normally didn't find anything worth carting back home on the plane.

Over Christmas, I got something a little more interesting:

Two yarn winders, shown here mid-frogging-and-winding.

I had knitted (on a loom) two panels of a sweater a long time ago - before I really understood gauge, let alone ease. I accepted that I was never really going to do anything with these panels, let alone make a sweater out of them and wear it, so I frogged them straight into the winder.

The winder on the left is useful for small yarn balls that wind easily, because it doesn't have the gripper, but the one of the left was perfect for these greater-than-one-skein panels. The yarn is just an acrylic cream, but I'm looking forward to playing with it. The smaller cakes are perfect for loaning to friends who are still learning crochet.

Part two of inheritance soon, as well as a discussion of the hat pattern I'm currently working up. Wish me luck!

Teaching a Craft

I've found myself in the enjoyable position of crochet guru lately. It started with a friend who knew how to single crochet enough to make scarves and baby blankets. She lives in fear of increasing or decreasing, but we'll get her there. She asked me to teach her how to make granny squares and is now working on a small bag of her own design.

We meet weekly for crochet dates. Another friend asked if I would teach her; one of her New Year's Resolutions was to learn a new hobby - something crafty. She became a part of our crochet dates and in just two "lessons" has made herself a coffee cup cozy and started a sampler scarf.

Last night she made a brief appearance at a class potluck but couldn't stay because she had promised to go with her boyfriend to a UFC fight. A number of girls teased and asked if she'd brought a book to read, so I asked if she had her crochet. She nearly shrieked and pulled the yarn and hook from her bag. She had been planning to just work in single crochet until our next "date", because even though I'd shown her other stitches, like double, she hadn't felt ready for it. But she remembered what I showed her about stitch heights and decided to give it a try since taller stitches work up faster. Using a couple online resources to walk her through the steps again, lo and behold, she has three rows of good double crochet!

I'm so proud. It's really gratifying teaching crochet and watching people click and see what they made with their own hands develop.

What's in my crafty queue: a scarf for sale, a refashioned skirt for me, a pattern for a coffee cup cozy, and a WIP top I've been neglecting.

What I'll be doing today: homework until the Superbowl, which I'm going to watch with friends (and maybe sneak in some crochet).
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The Hold Up

Hello... again. :)

I wanted to post once to announce the opening of the store, and a second post to vent. Well, vent may not be the right word, but explain isn't quite right either.

I would have more stock ready - including two more sets of coasters that as you might remember from a preview shot are already done - except for two big hiccups.

Hiccup the First - painting my room

I had to move my furniture all around to paint, including moving a whole bunch of personal items into bags and piles both in my closet and elsewhere around the house. No big deal, except that two coasters have gone missing - wha? you ask! That's what I said! - and the other set of four got crunched and linty. So, I'm considering taking all of those to Felt Town as swatch experiments, but we'll see once the room is all put back together.

I can hear your eyebrows going up. Back together? Alas, the painting is not complete, you see, because of...

Hiccup The Second - the flu(?)

One morning last week I woke up feeling like I'd been beaten. I knew instantly I was sick, but it wasn't until I stood up to go to the bathroom that I realized how sick. The doors to the two rooms are practically adjacent, but I didn't even make it the ten feet from the bed to the bathroom before I nearly passed out. Insert image of me laying on the bathroom floor for ten minutes... and not for the last time over the next few days. I was never actually sick, but I was so dizzy and weak that I stayed in bed for two full days, and I couldn't even crochet. So out the window went crafting, reading, writing, and painting - the only things on my otherwise wonderfully-cleared agenda. As a result, it's been the catch-up game ever since.

Nonetheless, I didn't let it stop me from opening the store. I'm hoping to add photographs and patterns within the coming weeks. Please take a look!

T minus Nada - Etsy Store Launched!

My Etsy store - http://jenniemaccrafts.etsy.com/ - is now open!

There are four items - three scarves and a set of coasters - currently in stock, but there will be more on the way shortly. Please take a little poke around and let me know what you think! It's just one click!

Where's My Plate Under All This Stuff?

I'm waffling on prioritization in the next few days. Today I'm reading for class, going to class, going grocery shopping, and then possibly going to work in a coffee shop. I've got an essay in progress that's due for workshopping on the 21st that I was planning to work on. But then there's tomorrow and...

All The Things I would like to be working on that I put on my mental calendar as "things I would do Friday morning", before I discovered that my mental calendar apparently does not actually know how long a morning is or understand the fundamental nature of time:

- paint my room (finished the dining room a couple days ago and this is my last responsibility on that front)
- wrap up etsy stock prep (photograph, document, write descriptions for, price, etc. what's done for my launch, part of which included going for prints of some photographs I was going to sell)
- launch etsy store... (Yeah, this isn't happening... I see that now.)
- query the next three agents on my list
- answer the emails from my new writing buddies
- laundry

Wow, there are even a couple other little things, but the more I think about what I want to do with etsy, the more I think I won't try to rush it. In fact, I'm going to set a launch date and then spend a little bus time today planning how I'll be sure to meet that date.

January 27th - a Tuesday - Jennie Mac Crafts opens.
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Writing Partner

As the new year is getting into full swing for me, I received my third agent rejection of my first completed novel. It got me thinking about what might be "wrong" with it, and I've been considering some substantial revisions. This is the novel I wrote early last year, and I completed its sequel in December. There is a third book, possibly a trilogy conclusion, but more just a sequel, that I would really like to write, but I don't see much point, right now, into going forward if I don't have the attention of an agent. Sadly, as much as I'd like to just tell the story, I've got too much to do to spend (much) time on anything not earning money or satisfying a class (and when I get into one of these novels, it consumes me). This is genre fiction - paranormal romance to be precise - and I have a couple literary fiction pieces on back burners, along with all my active nonfiction work for class.

I was pondering this as I began working on some blog posts, a couple photo essays, and the last of my etsy stock. Pondering, pondering... and suddenly it occured to me that there were ways to get some feedback. I don't have the time or money to join something like the RWA, and the Word Nerd Co-op sadly seems to have gone under, but I decided to take their idea, and their questionnaire, and see if anyone who reads my blog or who posts on NaNoWriMo forums might be interested in a mini-workshop/partnership.

So here I go:

1. At what level would you describe yourself as a writer (for instance, just starting to take myself seriously; searching for a graduate program, etc.)?
I’m in the U of Arizona MFA program. I wrote sporadically for fun and extensively academically for the last eight years, but I’ve only been writing what I’d really like to for about fifteen months.

2. What genre(s) do you write?
I’m currently starting a collection of essays to bridge the gap between my experience in the heritage industry and my interdisciplinary interests. I also have two novels completed (one needs thorough revision), and another half-done novel on a back burner until I'm ready for it as a writer.

3. How do you fit writing into your life right now?
I am doing my best to write daily, though it may be journalling (which eventually becomes essays but is still, for now, journalling) or it may be work on something in progress or something new. It's also a lovely excuse to go to a café, and vice versa.

7. What writing craft books do you have/like?
Writers on Writing, Portable MFA, King's On Writing...

8. Any craft books you’re interested in checking out?
I have The Right to Write but haven't started it yet, and a book on characterization, the title of which escapes me.

9. What inspires your writing?
Fiction - two things. One, I just find it fun. I think there's a lot of value in a book as entertainment in today's fast-paced world. Two, I like books that get me thinking about the nature of the world and the universe, and ultimately, that's what I would like my "serious" or literary works to do. Nonfiction - it varies. Sometimes it's a personal story I need to get out there; other times, I have something persuasive to say.

10. How would your author’s blurb read?
Jennie McStotts worked as an attorney and college professor for five years before realizing that a paycheck isn't everything. Fortunately for her, writing is not a jealous mistress and took her back with open arms. (Donations accepted.)

11. Tell us about your family (partners, kids, pets, etc.)
One husband, currently separated (AZ and NY), no kids, one dog (with me) and five cats (with him).

12. Have you ever participated in Nanowrimo (finished or not!)?
I started and finished both 2007 and 2008. Woot!

13. What can you do to make it easier on yourself to meet your goal for this project?
I hope that finding someone who shares my love of genre fiction to discuss writing will help. I feel a bit closeted and unable to disclose my secret to my MFA classmates, as much as I trust them with my nonfic.

14. What are you looking for in terms of support from a writing partner (ex. Exchanging work for critique, being held accountable for meeting a word count goal, etc.)?
Yes. I'm open to negotiation on this, but regular meetings, exchange of work, etc.

15. What crafty pursuits do you enjoy when you’re not writing?
16. What other hobbies/past times do you like?
Crochet and photography, primarily, but also other things. (More to come in 2009.)

Would anyone be interested in an e-exchange of writing, or is there anyone who lives in Tucson looking for a buddy?

Global Warming and a little Etsy Preview

Hello again. First off, I'd just like to say that, yes, I am feeling better, though my cough is lingering. I had bronchitis a few years ago and it seems like no matter how brief my colds are nowadays, I always get a deep cough that lingers for a week. But it's not the kind of cough that keeps me up nights, so I'm good, even if I sound froggy still.

Speaking of froggy, I recently frogged the two panels of a sweater sort of thing I began when I first started trying to design for the loom. It probably would have worked, but it never would have fit me (I hadn't really gotten "gauge" yet and it was wide). I think I can put the yarn to better use now.

Other than that, I've been working only on the Circle Rug - maybe 60% done - and etsy stock. So far, I have six projects that are done (except for having the ends woven in and laundering). That's three sets of coasters (denim blue, bumble bee yellow and black, and sock monkey swirl) and three scarves (two in natural cotton, one of which is a scarflet, and one in a rainbow of colors the colorway name of which I can't currently remember). I also have another scarf WIP, which will give me seven products. I plan to launch with those products and a few more surprises next week. Yikes!

In the meantime, I'm trying to enjoy this inimitable Tucson January - hot outside in a T-shirt at 11 a.m.? Yep! I think I may use my new folding chair to crochet outside tomorrow morning. Oooh, that sounds lovely. I'm excited just thinking about it. My next post will be about some goodies I've sort-of inherited related to crafting.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful first week of the new year!

Well-used Yarn

I'm always so proud of myself when I use almost all of a skein for one project, I just had to share. Here is what's left from my latest creation destined for etsy. Please ignore the horrible cell-phone picture colors - it's nowhere near that bright! More soon!

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Miserable Sick

The best laid plans of mice and crafters are often thwarted by the flu. Well, I assume as much about the little micies, but I know it's true for me and some of my fellow crafters out there.

For New Year's I enjoyed a lovely evening out to hear some odd bands (Bob Log III being the main act) with some great friends, one of whom was just getting over an odd cold. (She started with fatigue and aches, then switched to sore throat and then to sneezing, which is the opposite of most folks experiences, I think.) I went home and woke up the next day with a sore throat, but I wasn't worried at first. I was still well enough to go running errands most of January second, but I spent yesterday in bed except to eat, which is big for me. My plan HAD been to go to a coffee shop and post great crafty goodness for you all.

Ah, the joys of sinus pressure and congestion, sneezing, coughing, runny nose, popping and ringing ears, and fatigue... I feel like a cold medicine commercial. A friend offered to bring me meds yesterday, but I declined, thinking I was well-stocked with my brand new Sudafed, DayQuil and Delsym. Turns out I used my last dose of NyQuil last night and only have four cough drops remaining, thanks to my house mate. Meh. I'm wondering if I can make the walk to the pharmacy... Okay, really, I'm wondering if my friend will offer again if I make my facebook status pathetic enough.

And how does all this affect my crafting? Well, yesterday I was too tired to do anything but sleep and read. I'm hoping today I can get some work done on stock prep. The weather is awfully dark for photographs, but if nothing else I have some felting to do. We'll see how that goes.

I just realized I may not have enough milk for cereal for breakfast and not much else to eat. I may actually have to come out and ask for help. Crazy talk! Ooh! Wait - I have pie. Everything will be fine.

P.S. I think it's awesome that my spell check tried to make 'DayQuil' into 'tequila'. May be Fate trying to tell me I'd sleep better drunk than I did last night.

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Happy New Year!

And welcome to my new blog!

My name is Jennie, and I'm - as the about-the-blog says - a writer, crocheter, photographer, and general all-around crafter. I've recently started a new phase in my life and in my crafting, hence the new blog! Part of this new phase is a new transparency, so in that vein, you can also find me:

• At my old blog: No Tension Knits
• At my old design blog: No Tension Designs
• On Twitter: JennieMcStotts
• On Ravelry: JennieMac
• On NaNoWriMo: JennieMac
• And on Etsy: JennieMacCrafts

You probably noticed the last one is not a link. I'm still putting some more work into my store and my stock before I launch it. I want to do it right the first time! But in lieu of that, I will push an e-friend's etsy shop: CassQuotes. She rocks as a person, and her products are very clever. You can also find Cass (Shut Up! I'm Counting) and some of my other favorite craft-related blogs in the sidebar.

Part of my reasoning for starting up a new blog rather than continuing the old is that NTK was named for the reason I started crafting, not the reason I keep crafting. When I began, with loom knitting, I was looking for something to occupy my brain and my hands when my stress and tension got out of control. Long time readers of NTK might remember that I was stumped when my doctor asked me what my hobbies were. Hobbies? Who has hobbies?

Honestly, I'm still not sure I have hobbies. Creating things - whether designs or essays - has now become an integral part of my life that has sustained me and pulled me through a number of major changes in the last year. My goal with this blog is going to be to let my inner-crafter loose to talk about my craft process - especially when it fails! - and my changing life, as well as to explore craft and creation as a process.

A favorite writing professor of mine says, "Don't waste my journey without revealing yours." At the end of reading an essay (or a blog post), he says, the reader is twenty minutes closer to death. Was that time spent worth it?