Pages

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Yarn along - 11/16/2011








I'm sneaking in here today with a post for Ginny's Yarn Along.  Every week, on Wednesdays, Ginny posts a picture of what she's reading, along with what she is knitting.  If you'd like to do the same, just follow the link and the directions.  (Crochet is acceptable too.)

I finally finished knitting Gabe's sweater.  I like how it turned out - sort of a blue/camel/brown camo look.  It's so soft, and it was easy to put together too.  Because I tend to drift in and out of projects, it took me quite a long time.  I usually reserve knitting and/or crochet for travel or doctor's appointments - times when I am out and will be sitting awhile.  I would knit while watching a movie - but I can't remember the last time I watched a movie.  (I'd like to....)

I made it in an 18 month size, and it seems to run a little bit big, so it seems I actually finished it just in time.  :)  He should be able to wear it for a year or so.  The buttons are little antique glass buttons from my button jar, kind of a "translucenty" blue.  (This is why I like blogging.  I get to make up my own words and pretend they are valid.) I can not post a pattern link, because this is from an old book that I've had around forever.  It's just a standard crew-neck pullover toddler sweater, though, with side buttons.  It's pretty easy to find a similar pattern online.

I have a secret for collecting buttons.  I go to the thrift store when they have bag sales - when the really ugly or worn garments are all that are left, and you can stuff as many as you can fit into a bag for $1.  I look at the buttons on the clothes   Some of the ugliest clothes have the neatest buttons, and you can score a large amount for a dollar!   Wooden, antique, vintage, glass buttons- they all need to go somewhere, and why not my house?  :)  I pay only pennies for beautiful buttons.

I'm reading the "hot-off-the-presses" biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  My son brought it home from the library, I snagged it and commandeered it, and it is a fascinating read.  I love biographies in general; biographies of quirky, driven, successful people in specific.  What makes (or in this case, made) them tick?  What made them successful?  What were their weaknesses?  What can I learn from them? 

I'm two-thirds of the way thru the book.  I've learned many things so far and I'm still thinking about them.  You might not think that a full-time mother could get great "take away" from a book by a tech genius - but indeed, I have.  (Steve Jobs had several negatives, too. His family has been clear about that.  We can learn from that as well, and I could make a list of those too, but here I am focusing on the positives.)  Here they are, my "positive take-aways," in bullet point.  See if there are any things you could incorporate into your life vision - whatever your job or role is in life:

  • Simplify.
  • Prioritize.
  • Don't apologize for that.
  • Know what you can do and do it well.
  • Revel in it.
  • Embrace it.
  • Grab it and run with it.
  • Don't worry if people don't understand it.
  • Don't be afraid of being different.
  • Different isn't threatening, it is good.
  • Allow for creative time.
  • Please.  Be outside of the box.
  • Don't let the turkeys keep you down.
  • Believe in what you are doing.
  • Relentlessly pursue your visions.

    What are you making and reading these days?  Feel free to join in over at Ginny's Small Things.


10 comments:

  1. It's a beautiful sweater Holly. I think you have been blessed with an ability to keep your family warm, like the Proverbs 31 woman.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the sweater. Glad to hear you're enjoying the book, I'm planning to get it for my boyfriend for Christmas, so it's good to hear a positive review ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful sweater. I love the varigated colors. Sounds like a great book.

    ReplyDelete
  4. great sweater and great notes from the book i saw just a week ago too and was intrigued. i'll have to get my hands on a copy one of these days.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such a cute sweater. I like your method of collecting buttons too.

    I thought about joining in with you folks and showing the tablecloth I'm crocheting, but that would mean taking and uploading and posting photos and I'm just too lazy for that. Plus, I don't seem to have the ability to read a book all the way to the end anymore. I don't know what that's about.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks everyone. :) Sara, I seldom read all the way to the end. Only biographies. :) I'm snoopy like that.

    Holly

    ReplyDelete
  7. And hello, Rachel. Thank you! :) (())

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your knitting is lovely, Holly. :) And I love yoru tip about buttons - that's a great one!

    I never learned much about Jobs, but he seems like he was an interesting guy.

    ReplyDelete
  9. i do that same thing with buttons! i've been doing it since my children were small, i LOVE the idea of recylcing and reusing, as well as saving money. my husband teases me all the time about my made up words. :)

    ReplyDelete