Thursday, February 5, 2009

Been So Long

Things have been pretty crazy around Bag of Chocolates lately, and I want to apologize for the dearth of posts. All kinds of things have been happening, and among the good things is the acquisition of a new client for our translation business. It's a very large company, internationally known. Not sure if I should name it or not, so while I apologize for being coy, I'd better not say more. But trust me, if this client gives us more business, we will be extremely happy!



Here is a peek at the cabled bolero (called a shrug on the pattern website) that I am making for Liat. The yarn is Peruvian Highland Chunky from Elann. Lovely soft yarn, and the pattern is actually fairly easy. There are no written instructions for the cabled section, only a chart. You'd think with my history of cross stitching, charts would make more sense for me, but for some reason when it comes to knitting I find them confusing. But as I said, this pattern makes sense and after a while, it's not so hard to keep track of things. Well, especially if you've got a row counter on your needle and are making little tick marks on a piece of paper as well! Hmmmm...

I've changed two things in the pattern: Liat said 'no thanks' to the bobbles, and I decided to make the cables on either side of the main area both twist towards the middle, instead of both twisting to the same direction.

I also started a fun new project this week, an altered book. I will share photos of that as it progresses. It's a combination of words and art journal I decided to start recently, to process and chronicle things that are happening in my life. Even though I'm only at the beginning, it's been a wonderful form of therapy for me; yesterday I had a terrible headache, but while I worked on the book I felt peaceful and content, and didn't notice my headache at all. I've suggested to Liat that maybe a couple of her friends (who seem to be going through some difficult times, themselves) might like to join in for a little fun and art therapy, and she already has one friend interested. It would be such a pleasure to share this kind of creativity with Liat and her friends.

We still have one more document (of a whole mess of things that came in over the past two weeks) to translate, then perhaps we'll have some time to relax. I'd love to spend more time on my hobbies, and less time working! But then, wouldn't we all?

3 comments:

Joansie said...

The shrug is gorgeous. I love the colorway and your tension is perfect.

Great idea to have your daughter's friends join you for a little creativity. I think all girls need another woman other than their mother to relate to.

Sandy said...

Oooh. The color of the bolero and the soft yarn is beautiful. The pattern is incredible. You are so talented.

The altered book is a great idea. I have helped children with their altered books and the books were works of art. I was blown away by their creativity and honesty within the books. One day we painted pages with inks, another day we used markers, another day we cut pictures out of magazines, another day we created a niche. Once, we used ribbon and made a weave with pages and ribbon. That was one of their favorites.

Good luck, just be creative! I know you will make it fun. One final bit of advice: Use stamps!

Jill L said...

Ilove the cables and colorway and I can't wait to see it's prgress.

Congrats on the new clinet although that darn workd takes away from our craft time!