A Day in the Life of a Fiber Artist or Why You Should Insist on the Life of Your Dreams

The day is awakening, as I sit here drinking my usual morning coffee; free-trade organic, bird-friendly with milk. There is still a chill in the air in the wee hours (5:46 am right now) here and I love that. The coffee warms me up and loves me down. 😉

—I’m writing my To Do list for the day, which includes working out, writing this blog post, sewing on the pencil skirt I’m making, shipping out an order and going through 13 tubs of yarn and fleece I have to see what I need to dye, list, etc. I’m a compulsive list-maker. I adore list-making.

If the day gets hectic (which these days means I can’t decide if I should knit or read a book or dye yarn or bake bread), then I can review my To Do list and remember, “Oh, yes. I was going to do such and such today!” Lists keep me focused. Lists make me happy.

I’ve just discovered via the amazing and encouraging Tina Su, this site called Now Do This. You write your To Do list for the day, click READY and then throughout the day as you see that window open with each thing that needs done, it reminds you to focus on that thing until it’s completed.

It’s so easy to become scattered that I find this too helpful. Do you have helpful tips that keep you focused?

—So I start to mull over all that needs done today. And so as it appears the sun is going to be rising today (we’ve had an unusual amount of torrential rain and drizzly days for these parts) and hopefully staying out, I shall perhaps spread my wares out on the deck and begin the picture-taking process at least. (Well, I should say, by rising I mean it never really set. We are currently experiencing 24-hour daylight.

Yes, it’s unusual. Odd. But you get used to it. If/when you wake up at 2 am and it’s still broad daylight outside, it’s a weird feeling. But I love it. And here in a few weeks it starts going back the other direction and eventually we’ll have about 20 hours of darkness a day, with the sun only blipping up from about 10 am to 2 pm.

Yikes. That is very interesting indeed. But we shant talk about that today, my lovelies! Nay. We shall talk about the light! I’ve been watching Downton Abbey, an England-set series, so don’t mind my attempt at formal talk. 😀

—I love these wee morning hours, when I accomplish so much, if even just in my brain some days. I feel so alive and so connected to All That Is. I feel so zesty and perky and fresh. I feel as if I can accomplish anything. I wonder if others feel the same way? Do you wake up feeling ready to tackle the world or is there another time of day that you find most inspiring? And how do you shift your schedule around so that you can accomodate this “best” time of yours?

I get up around 5 am each day, sometimes earlier, sometimes later. My life-long dream has been to be a stock trader and as the markets open at 5:30 am, I have to get up, peek at CNBC, flip on my ThinkorSwim platform and wait for the opening bell. I’m so enthralled by this world of stocks that I sit sometimes for hours, just staring at the screen, occasionally clicking around, checking charts, clicking back to my positions, etc. It’s a grand mix of psychology, visuals, excitement and math. All subjects I adore.

As I was sitting here, listening to the myriad of birds chirp outside my bedroom window, my feet cold, my laptop humming slightly, I realized I wanted to share my day with you. I’m so thankful to have this blog to be able to share all things yarn and knitting with you.

I took a chakra test online a few months ago and discovered my throat chakra was the weakest, meaning I have a hard time expressing myself vocally or feeling that my words should be heard. And in truth, I used to be bitterly shy, especially in high school. It took all my gumption just to say “hi” to someone in the hall at school.

As I got into college and began to grow up, I grew out of that, but still find myself just keeping my mouth shut in order to keep the peace. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I do enjoy sharing my love of the fiber arts here with you. So thank you so much, from the depths of my heart, for reading and subscribing. If you haven’t subscribed already and would like to, you may do so here:

–So I’ve already shared my morning with you. As you can see, I am working on a new scarf pattern for you, using a ball of gradient-dyed yarn I dyed up awhile back. I had actually listed it for sale for a few days, but then realized it’s like a precious baby to me and will go so perfectly with jeans and a little purple top that I just couldn’t part with it right now.

If you’re wondering whether or not I sell gradient-dyed yarn, the answer is, “Wellll… maybe?” It really takes a great deal of time to dye a gradient, color-shifting yarn, and so I might be willing to do so, but it would be in the range of about $40 (depending on the exact technique and colors) for 100g of sock (fingering) or worsted wt yarn. So just contact me if you’re interested in any of my colorways dyed gradient-like and we’ll discuss it.

This particular colorway I’m working with is called Dover Castle and you can see the regular hand-painted variety when you click on the link. It’s so gorgeous. So sophisticado. So useable, and yet…lovely.

For now, I’m off to work out, drink my Mercola protein powder, take a shower and get dressed to impress and then I’ll be back with fibery goodness pictures. Oh, the suspense!

Late Morning

–As the day eases into late morning, (which I’m calling 8 to 11-ish), it appears that the sun is not going to show after all. My day of delightful picture-taking on the deck seems not-to-be today. Perhaps tomorrow or the next day. So I content myself with winding a dozen or so skeins of yarn on my swift. Although swifts are meant to place skeins onto and then spin as you wind the skein off into a ball, I often use mine for the opposite purpose of creating skeins of yarn from cones or other misshapen balls.

Once done, I settle in with a glass of water, *thinking about some warm tea since it’s a little chilly*, my knitting and proceed to knit a bit.

I purchase my brilliant and talented nephew’s new single on iTunes and feel my heart crush a little with emotion. The song, Memory Layne, is beyond beautiful. He really is the most amazing guitar player.

And I knit…I love watching the gradient yarn pull out. I can’t wait to see how it knits up and slowly fade from one color to the next.

The sky cries a little. I tell it everything will be okay.

My dog Tinkerbell, stares at me endlessly, no doubt wanting her football and not understanding we don’t play football in the house; only outside on warm, sunny days. She eventually gives up and settles down for a wee nap at my feet.

–Around 11 or so, I decide to take some pictures anyways, using my two Ott light lamps, even though we have no sun. I get these initial pictures snapped, but they still need to be edited in Gimp or on my iPhone. I like to white out the background, crop them into squares and brighten them up. Some of them may need the color adjusted too. I love photography, and although only dabble in it, it really fascinates me.

Here is a snapshot of my iPhone pictures that will need edited.

I then proceed to finish the pencil skirt I was in the process of making. It turned out perfectly. I love it. I simply must do a photo shoot of this, perhaps showing it off with one of my new scarf patterns. Hmmm. I think of photo shoot ideas/places/outfits/makeup/hair ideas.

Tinkerbell decides she will be satisfied if I merely throw her little ball. So I do.

I knit.

At last, the sky starts to lift and brightens, which always cheers my spirits.

–I paint my nails with regular gray polish and then sprinkle white craft glitter on them, pressing slightly to push the glitter into the polish. This makes me feel glamorous and special.

–I head to the post office to drop off some orders I processed earlier.

–I steam block a cowl, which I shall be showing you soon in an upcoming blog post. I just need to do the photo shoot for it. Would you like to know how to steam block your hand-knit items? I’d be be delighted to share with you/ do a tutorial! Just let me know.

I work on our family puzzle awhile and realize how many life-truths can be drawn from working a puzzle. Perhaps that is a blog post for another day, another time.

But I will share that working a puzzle is like life in that you might not have the reality of your final dreams right yet. But you can see the small picture of it on the box and know where you’re headed. You just have to take small steps each day and complete as much as you can each day, knowing that in time, all of the pieces will be filled in and a beautiful, real picture will emerge.

It wasn’t done in a day or a minute. It didn’t happen right when you started working the puzzle. It took time. But you got there by steadily fitting in the pieces.

As the day wanes and I realize what a slow, steady day I had, I’m thankful for my peaceful life. I’m thankful for family and friends and my dog, Tinkerbell, and good food and excitement and hope and joy and mostly, love.  Even though I didn’t get most of my To Do list done, it’s ok. Some days are busy. Some are slow and peaceful like today.

_______________

–The purpose of this post was not to just ramble on about me. It’s part of the overriding purpose of Expression Fiber Arts and who I am as a person.

I want to inspire you to live the life of your dreams, whatever that may be. For me, right now, this is the life of my dreams. Ease. Later, I hope to live in a big city and help even more women to insist on living the life of their dreams. Exactly how that will play out, I do not know. But I know each step will be revealed as it should.

I really don’t write this blog in an effort to get you to buy something from me. I really don’t. I have other means of income should I decide to avail myself of them. I do like telling you about new colorways and yarns because I’m so in love with yarn and knitting and crocheting and spinning and dyeing, that I simply can’t help myself.

And I love it when I get an order because it means someone valued my product, my effort SO MUCH that they were willing to exchange their funds for my creation.That means the world to me.

And I bless each order that goes out and pray the person enjoys the product and loves it and that their life is blessed beyond measure. I try to include personal, hand-written notes if time permits, which it usually does. 🙂 In truth, I may eventually fade out the yarn-dyeing and selling. Perhaps I’ll shift more to just offering patterns and tips/tricks. We shall see. Time will tell!

Right now in my life I’m living in a state of … “floating.” I feel potential in the air. Like each moment is being stroked and prodded by some Unseen Source, ready to burst into sparks and miracles at any moment. It’s a calm, blissful, yet excited type of feeling; a feeling I’ve experienced in snippets throughout my life, but rarely for such a prolonged amount of time. I feel great things are in store. And I’m so excited to be a part of Life.

Some encouraging words on this day… I pray they lift your spirits, boost your confidence and if nothing else, help you to enjoy this day more than you would have. If that happens, my job for now is complete. Until we talk again next time… 🙂 Be Blessed and remember you are loved!

“It’s not selfish in a negative sense to insist on the life of your dreams. It is in fact, a very loving act.

If you fill a cup with water and continue to pour more water in, the cup has no choice but to begin to spill the water out and over the edges, dousing everything in proximity. When you are filled up to the brim, you then begin to spill your joy to every person you meet. When your heart is so full of joy and wonder and love, you can’t help but make a positive difference to others; your family, your friends, random strangers, even animals and truly All That Is.

You will never know the far-reaching effects of one drop of your joy. It ripples out endlessly, affecting countless, unfathomable others…forever. Find your joy. Live it. Immerse yourself in it. Be it. Love with all your heart. And know by doing so, you are blessing the world in the best possible way; with the gift of your joy.” ~Chandi

Have a BLESSED day.

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Thank you again for reading and being a part.

Much love.

~C.