creative dreaming

caption: Sally the dog demonstrates dreaming while
napping on the couch.

For me, the biggest excitement of designing is dreaming of a project. Sometimes when I can't go to sleep at night, I design things in my mind until I can quiet things down in my brain. However, for a long while now, all my designs have been secret, for books or magazines or sale. I cannot share the creation process and everything's on a deadline. While I still love knitting (and feel deprived when I can't squeeze it in), I've been dreaming lately of some knitting that is just for me.


My professor observed the 24/7, fever pitch of activity around here and he came up with a plan. He just happened to get invited to the University of Florida in Gainesville to give a lecture. He checked in with his relatives and discovered his dad and brother would be in Sarasota at that time....and wow, instant trip out of town for the professor and Joanne. He hopes that I will take some time off and maybe even knit for fun! (we'll see...)

This morning, I planned my knitting projects for the trip. First is a project on a deadline, but I hope to finish that soon. Second is finishing the second of a pair of socks (for me!) that I've been carrying about, in between work projects, for ages. The back-up, back-up knitting? A pair of mittens. I'm combining a rose/burgundy alpaca yarn, a skein of Patons Stretch sock yarn (wool, cotton, and a bit of elastic in a variegated color, and a pink cashmere silk laceweight as a carry along (extra soft warmth). Then, it occurred to me I might run out of the alpaca yarn, but never fear!! I dived into the stash for one half-finished skein of dk weight olive colored wool.

The professor happened to walk by as I did this searching. He was stunned. I thought it was because of how much stash I have (it does fair take the breath away...) but that in a full closet of yarn, I can remember that I possessed a half skein of olive colored dk weight wool that would match this project.

Once I got my head out of the enormous tupperware bins in the closet, I was able to respond. "What can I say?" I replied. "I've got a good memory for color."

I was just relieved that he didn't comment on the sheer depth of the search itself, conducted before breakfast... (Both dogs had already fled my office and abandoned the couch.)

See you soon! Keep me company here on my time off and leave a comment! Dicuss your stash diving experiences? Design dreams?