Inspired!

I came across a video today that completely inspired me. For awhile now I've been interested in positive psychology and how it relates to happiness because, let's face it, it's just more pleasant to be happy. This is absolutely up my alley because there's just something fascinating about the mind (says the girl who majored in psychology.)

If you've never heard of TED talks, I highly recommend them. They are wildly inspiring and as it says, ideas worth spreading. This particular talk I came across from a man named Shawn Achor and it's truly amazing. If you have 12 minutes to kill, it's worth watching, even if you're not interested in this stuff, he's pretty humorous:


If you don't have time to watch it here's the jist: There are things you can do to re-train your mind and by doing so have a brighter outlook on life which leads to better performance and ultimately happiness. The research showed it makes a difference when done every day for three weeks.

1. Write down three things you're most grateful for.
2. Exercise
3. Journal about the most meaningful thing that happened to you in the last 24 hours.
4. Meditate
5. Write something positive to someone in your social support network.

I've always been one to write in a journal, but never really with much of a purpose other than to keep track of what happened in my life, bad or good. I think it would be great to try this with a goal in mind.

So as not to leave you with absolutely no knitting, or fiber related anything, I'll show you some progress I've made on the merino/alpaca spinning I've been doing.

It's so luscious, I can't wait to knit with it!

And the spinning continues...

As promised, here's my latest spinning project. This alpaca/merino blend is to die for. I plan on a bulky weight yarn so that I can make the Owls sweater (ravelry link.) I've made this sweater before out of Cascade EcoWool and I absolutely loved how it fit.

I bought this fiber in Rhinebeck years ago. I can't remember which year since I've been going for the past 6 years or so. I bought two pounds of it, which might be overkill, but I think I planned on making a sweater out of it right from the start!

 If any of you have been following the Yarn Harlot, you'll know she's recently been talking about startitis. For whatever reason, I can absolutely relate. Perhaps it's the feeling of freedom now that the holiday knitting is complete, but I've started about 10 different things, not all of them knitting.

This past year, I taught myself how to make coasters. It's something that I've wanted to try for a long time since there was a decided lack of coasters in my life. Now that I'm 30, there's a certain desire to have nice things and keep the things I have nice. Somehow, a folded up piece of paper just wasn't cutting it in furniture protection area.

I gathered all the supplies and through trial and error, I came up with a product I'm really excited about. I made so may sets of coasters that nearly everyone on my Christmas list got one this year. They were such a hit that I decided I might try to sell some of them. I plan on an etsy shop sometime in the Fall of this year. I wish it could be sooner, but there's one step in the process that requires a well-ventilated area where the temperature is between 70-90 degrees. If you've ever been to Central New York, you know there isn't such a space in January.

There's still plenty to be done with them though. As you can see, I'm busy getting the designs put on.

Back into the Spin

My latest crafty endeavor was some polworth fiber that I decided to spin up. I bought 4 oz of dyed fiber from Into The Whirled while I was at the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck this past year. I dare you to go to their site and not drool over the fibers! The colorway I purchased is called Brandywine and it took all my willpower to hold off on spinning it until after the holiday crafting was finished.

I don't actually have anything in mind for it at the moment. It's heavy worsted or even bulky weight yarn, but it's luscious and beautiful and destined for something warm and soft.

I hadn't spun anything for over a year and this was just the kick-start I needed to get myself back into it. Once I was finished I immediately dove into my fiber stash and found some Merino/Alpaca blend in a nice heather gray color that I bought years ago. I actually have a project in mind for that one. Stay tuned!