Busy Hands are Happy Hands!

Oh my... It's been 2 weeks since I last posted any progress! So tonight you get a double update.

Let's start with the easy stuff, #46 - Paint a painting. I've been toiling away, getting my hands dirty and ruining more canvases (please refer to post of Sept 9th for examples of how exactly to ruin a canvas in the first place). But! In my quest for the Picasso in me, I actually painted something I'm proud of. And I think I can officially cross this one off the list... Drum roll please... ... ... I said drum roll please! (Seriously, do it. Out loud. Give me a drum roll)... Paint a painting

Plus I've got this work in progress on the go...

So while I may not be the next Monet, I definitely accomplished what I set out to do. And in the spirit of this blog, what did I gain from this experience?

1. I actually really enjoy painting and I don't have to be good at it to enjoy it. It helps me relax and "check out" for a little while.
2. Do not pour dirty paint water down the bathroom sink. It WILL filthy-up the prestine white ceramic and WILL require scrubbing and more effort than I care to invest.
3. I have to be the messiest painter in the world.
4. I like painting clouds.

Alright folks, onto update number two, # 10 - Knit a scarf. Now I definitely thought this was going to be easier than it is. I watched a few You Tube videos (One of them I literally watched 70 times. Play. Pause. Rewind. Wait - How did she make that knot? Play. Which string? What hoop? Pause. Rewind. And so it went on for hours.) Eventually I made 2 little practice patches...

 

And so, in my head these 2 little trial runs make me ready for the big leagues. The pattern I posted 2 weeks ago really was too complicated. So I figured I would go straight knit stitch, 40 stitches across, however many rows was long enough. And this is what I came up with...



Take 1

A little crooked... Had I continued it would've been some crazy cyclone scarf by the end. So onto to take 2...

Take 2

Take 2 just kept getting wider and wider and wider. What started off as 40 stiches wide, got to about 51 and probably would've eventually been as wide as I am tall at that rate. It'd be some mutated blanket. Take 3.

Take 3

Looks good right? Well it was looking good until I stopped mid-row to go pee... it was urgent, I'd been putting it off for like 10 rows. I just kept saying "Your bladder won't explode, just 1 more row" x 10 consective rows. So when I came back from a much needed break I wasn't paying attention and started stitching it the wrong way, backwards in fact... and ruined it. So, I'm onto take 4 now, so far so good. It's thinner (cuz I think the 40 stitches was confusing me), but I haven't made a single mistake yet!

Current - Take 4

So, I really need to finish this scarf soon. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies that I knit while I watch TV or before I go to bed. It makes me feel like I need cats, lots of cats. On that note, I will not subject my loyal fans to anymore knitting talk. Next time I mention it will be to tell/show you it's done and to cross it off the list.

That's it. Stay out of trouble, until next time.