The Great Design Project: part 1

Welcome to one of the scariest things I've done yet as a knitter, blogger, and designer: The Great Design Project.  This is going to be a series of posts related to my lasts design idea.  I submitted this design to be included in a fantastic project, but it didn't quite fit with the other designs.  And that's okay!  So I decided that since I love this project, I'd take this opportunity to show what I go through from the first step in the process, all the way to design completion.  This is the first part, and I'd love if you followed along until this is all done :)  Keep in mind that the way I work in no way reflects the way that all (or even most) designers work...it's just what works for me.  So, lets get started

This is a sketch of my baby.  It's a crocheted skirt.  I got the idea when I was working on a swatch for a baby blanket.  I wasn't in love with the colors that I had available to me, so I went to the shop and found a pretty heathered-brown.  When I started doing my 3rd swatch, I thought "this would make a fantastic skirt!", and I ended up shaping my swatch like a mini-skirt.  It was so cute! 

The pattern is simple, and and easily customizable.  I put a great deal of the work into the conception of the idea (for the proposal packet) and I've decided that it will be worked top down, to allow the wearer to more easily adjust the length.  I've also decided on what I feel to be a pretty good range of sizes.  Unlike most of the knitted skirt patterns I've come across, the sizes increase two inches at a time because it's been my experience that crochet has less horizontal give than knitting does.

So, now that I have a few swatches, and a sketch, and a range of sizes with a general idea of how I plan to approach this baby...what's next?  Well, this is where I start working on a prototype, and taking some good notes.  The prototype is simply that; a prototype.  The finished garment can very quite a bit, or not at all from the original concept, because sometimes designers run into issues that work fine in a one-off situation but will never work out when it needs to be duplicated in multiple sizes.  I've experienced this before, and probably will again.  That being said, I'm off to go crochet a few more swatches and get some ideas of row gauge to go with my stitch gauge, and then I'll come back with more photos and an idea of what worked, what didn't, and where I'm headed next.

A definite change in plans

 This week has been an interesting one.  I started me new classes yesterday, and even though I was really excited about the subject matter, I'm not so excited about the E-books (because one can't read ahead and be prepared for the first week if one doesn't have access to the books), or the fact that seminars are graded again and therefore mandatory.  I like to attend class, but I don't like having to be really rigid about my schedule or having to do extra work to make up for a missed class.  I also don't enjoy being the only psych major in the class, because almost no one sees things from the prospective of a psych major and I don't much like being the odd one out in a classroom.

Then there was the class I taught at Blithewold Manor in Bristol.  I had a lovely time and the ladies were wonderful.  But, the mansion is set off the road in the middle of nowhere, with no street lights and it was pouring rain.  I couldn't see much of anything and my eyes are still killing me from struggling against the lights, and the glare, and the dark.  Thankfully, I thought ahead and took the GPS with me this time so I got home just fine.  And I came home to find a Keurig coffee maker gift wrapped for us on the coffee table!  This is one of the coolest gifts we've ever received, especially the reusable filter that lets me use my own teas.  Now I can make my favorite tea from The Coffee Depot at home, and it comes out like their does :)

And lastly, we got a large shipment of books and yarn in the shop this week (and you can read a little more about the aftermath here).  Anyway, Naomi suggested that I take a look at all the new books (so I'll know what's in there and I can direct customers to the right stuff...really!...it's not just about looking in the books, lol).  While flipping through a copy of Modern Knits, Vintage Style, I came across a pattern for a crocheted skirt.  When I looked closer, I realized that it was the same exact skirt I had previously submitted to that Book Project and that I was going to design here on the blog!!  Now, I've heard that this happens a lot (two different people who've never met and live in different parts of the world come up with the same idea at the same time), but I have to admit that it's happened to me quite a bit recently.  See exhibit one: this is mine, and this is not, nor is this.  Exhibit two is mine, and this is not.  I can't exactly show you exhibit three, because I only have a collection of swatches and a sketch, and the pattern photo is not uploaded to Ravelry, but trust me when I say that unlike the other examples, these were spitten images of each other...right down to the scalloped hem.  So I guess it was truly for the best that my proposal was rejected because I wouldn't have anything to contribute after all, and I would have been terribly embarrassed.

So the project isn't off, but it's definitely different that planned.  I'm going to force myself to take the plunge and design my first sweater, right here on the blog.  I know that I'm going to run up against some issues with my first design and I think that having a place where I can talk about them will be therapeutic :)  Plus, the peer-pressure will keep me from backing out.  The Great Design Project of 2011 is back on (with a new name), and this time it's a sweater!  So, check back for the next post in The Great-ish Sweater Project, where I'll have a pretty sketch and some swatches to show you.

The Great Design Project, Part 3

 

Today I should be working on my Juvenile Delinquency Unit 4 project (which is worth about 100 pts) but instead I thought it would be fun to create a button for my big design project :)  Feel free to take it for your sidebars if you wish (but remember to save it to your computer before uploading it).  I've organized it so that all posts related to this project should be accessible from the button on my sidebar. 

Last night, or early this morning depending on how you want to look at it, I finished the raglan yoke increases.  I put it on some extra needles and tried it on.  Success!!  I've been taking notes and essentially writing the pattern as I go because I know that I won't remember any of the details regarding what I've done or where I decided to start increasing on the neck edges, or how many stitches I decided to cast on under the arms.  I'm pleased with how the cable fit into the raglan section, and how the left-leaning and right-leaning increases crease a clean line on either side.  I'm continuing these cables down the side of the body and I'm planning to stagger more cables on either side of these (in pairs of two) to create the waist shaping.  That means that I should end up with a smaller waist in this sweater without having to work any decreases in that section.  I like that idea, and it makes it easier for the individual knitter to adjust for more or less shaping by adding or removing cables.

Now I know that the v-neck might look a little bit steep, but keep in mind that there will be a ribbed collar attached to it and that will bring it up a bit.  My plan for this sweater is to knit it to the standard length for a size 38 pullover, and then adjust the lengths up and down so I can figure out how long the average sweater should be, and approximately how many skeins will be needed for it.  Then I'll continue to knit it to the 6' measurements, and hopefully that will give me an accurate estimate of how many skeins will be necessary for the tall versions.

You know, I have a lot of school work waiting for me, and a Christmas stocking that needs to be finished by the end of January, but I'm having a really difficult time putting this sweater down, now that I've finally started it ;)  Next up, Part 4: cable waist decreases!

The Great Design Project, Part 2

No photos yet, but I've got some stuff to share.  I decided to dive, and just start knitting.  I know I've got the necessary skill set to knit a sweater out of thin air (I've done it before and Lord knows I've got enough reference books!), and I'm feeling much more confident thanks to the success of my last project and finding a technical editor who will help me with the pattern grading.  So, I'm going to go ahead as originally planned and share my project with you.  I'm designing a top-down, raglan pullover with a v-neck and cable accents.  You'll see my successes and failures along the way, and I've got a few to share with you today, lol.

Lesson 1: Swatching is your friend.  If you value your sanity and your own time, swatch!  The bigger, the better.  Last night I swatched for a few hours while watching a movie.  It gave me the customary stitch and row gauge, but it also let me play with a cable idea that I'd been thinking about, and I used different hem ideas at the top and the bottom of the swatch so I could see which one I liked best.  I learned that the ribbed him would look better with the cables, and that the cables will definitely serve the function I had hoped for; they will provide waist shaping to this garment without the need for decreasing.  I like that idea and I think other knitters will too :)

Lesson 2: When you think you're ready to start knitting, you're really just going to do some garment shaped swatches, lol.  I cast on with the idea that I would incorporate a cable into the raglan shaping for this pullover.  I just thought it would flow better than having the side cables suddenly come to a dead stop, and it would provide just enough detail to keep this basic pullover from being just another stockinette top-down pullover.  Now, here's the think.  I'm anal about details and symetry.  I'm drawn to patterns that focus on the details and incorporate them into the design.  It makes the finished piece look more...finished.  This doesn't always make it easy to design (because you have to be able to translate what you've done into directions that other people can follow).

Lesson 3: Never work the numbers for a complicated design when you're sleep deprived.  Never!  I worked on my first top-down yoke swatch and figured out the basics of where I'd need to put the markers to allow for the extra stitches in the raglan section (that will become a cable), but I had trouble with the increases.  My first attempt worked, but it wasn't what I was looking for, and it seemed like the rate of increase was just too fast.  I questioned myself about this, because any top-down pattern I've ever knit (and I've knit plenty) has instructed me to work the increase round every other row.  However, my sleep-deprived brain figured out that I would need 172 sts for the body (gauge of 4.5 sts per inch x 38 inch bust = 171, with 1 st added to allow for a hem with 2x2 ribbing).  This will be important later.  So, I did the math and realized that at this rate, I'll have reached 172 sts after about six inches of knitting, but I actually needed to work ten inches before I could divide for the arms and work the body.  So, I did more math and figured that if I started with 68 sts and I need to get 172, that is a difference of 104.  Every increase round adds 8 sts.  Dividing 104 by 8 gave me 13.  I need to work my increase row 13 times, over 10 inches, or aproximately every 0.75 inches.  My row gauge (thanks giant swatch!) is 6 rows per inch, so that means that I'm increasing every 4 rounds.

With this sound mathmatical reasoning in hand, I grabbed a different skein of Cascade 220 and started a new sweater (setting aside the other one and leaving it on the needles so I could compare them and see what I liked best).  I put the markers in the right area, took notes on the increase row as I figured it out (I won't remember later), and managed to figure out exactly where to place the increases to get the look I was after in the cable section.  It was coming along beautifully, when that nagging feeling started again.  Finally, I took out three top down v-neck patterns (one written in child sizes, one in my gauge with different directions for the neckline, and another at my gauge and in adult sizes that provided a complete stitch count at the end of the increases).  After a short nap, I was clear headed enough to realize what the the adult pattern in my gauge had a huge number of stitches after the increases were finished, and that all three patterns increased every two rounds.  That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks...  I forgot to calculate the stitches for the arms, and I only calculated the stitches for the body!  I was increasing too slowly, and I wouldn't have any stitches for the sleeves.

So, I sat down with all of my reference materials and worked out what I hope will be accurate cast on numbers and stitch marker placement.  None of today's knitting was wasted, and now I'm going to pull out my most recent effort and start again...but not until I've slept :)

The Great Design Project, Part 4

 As promised, I've finally found time to post about the progress on my Apogee prototype.  I'm very happy with the progress so far and things are coming along nicely.  I've been writing the pattern as I knit (or I'll never remember the details) and I can see from this very rough draft that I've got a lot of math ahead of me, and I'm definitely going to need testers (both tall and average height).  And it's going to be the little details that either make or break me.

 For example, I loved the idea of using cables to create the waist shaping because it kept the pattern more simple and allowed the knitter to customize how much it pulled in by simply adding more cables, or taking cables away.  No fussing about where the decreases should start and how far they should go before increasing again.  In my experience with sweater knitting, I always need to start the decreases about six inches from the underarm, but most patterns suggest starting before that (because they aren't as tall as I am).  On the other side of that coin, I always have to stop the decreases before they suggest and start working back out because even though I'm tall, I'm very short-waisted.  I only know all of this from many sweater experiments and finally getting one right.  So this method takes care of that and makes this a more simple knit...until you hit the ribbed hem, that is (but more on that in a minute).

 The OCD in me insisted on symmetry where ever possible, so that meant that the cables needed to appear to flow from the shoulder and down the body.  I didn't want all of the cables to appear out of no where and float in the middle of the sweater.  That took some serious doing to get it set up correctly, but once that was finished, it worked out just as I'd hoped and the alternating cables over the ribs kept things interesting enough to make the body work up very fast.  In fact, I averaged about a skein per night!  Once I reached my intended length, I started working on the ribbed hem.  Here's where things get complicated.

As you can see from this shot, the center cables extend all the way down the body and I wanted them to flow into the ribbing too.  That was harder than it sounded at first.  I couldn't seem to get the numbers to line up so that the center K2 column would continue down both sides (on the other side it became a P2) and when I finally decided that it didn't need to be that detailed, and that maybe I was the only one who really cared about that, I got to the end of the round and saw that it started and ended with a K2.  That's not good.  I needed to decrease two stitches so it would line up correctly.  So I decided to continue the cable-ribbing all the way down the hem, and to work a 2x2 ribbing over the front and back sts between them.  I needed to decrease the 2 sts from the front of the sweater to make that work and I think that has to do with where I started the neck shaping on the prototype...so I'm not sure if it will be necessary to do this in the actual pattern.  This is where the editor and the testers will be necessary.

Anyway, the reason you don't see the hem in any of these photos is that I haven't actually knit it yet.  I worked two rows and then put the body on a holder to start the sleeves.  This is unusual, but I decided that I needed to know how many yards were used in knitting the average length sweater (in order to calculate yardage for the other sizes) and the best way to do that, other than knitting two sweaters, was to stop knitting mine when I'd reached the finished length of the average 38" an work the sleeves until they are also the correct length of the average 38", and I'd get my numbers.  Then I'll go back and finish off my tall 38", and I'll know the difference between the tall and average yardages (in theory).  I have a very large swatch, and I'll have yardage for one size (in two different lengths), and I have an excellent reference book that discusses how to calculate yardage for a design...so once I finish and I've had some sleep (still working on that whole balance thing), I'll take a stab at it.

Oh, one more thing about the sleeves...they've got a fun surprise :)  A design element that I'm excited about and that I think you'll like...maybe.  Well, you'll either love it or you won't.  Let's just wait and see :)

last post of the year (probably)

Well, I thought I'd cap off my round-up with the last post, showing what I've knit and designed this year.  It was an adventure.  I had a child start high school, and another one start Kindergarten...all in the same year.  I started teaching the Senior Primary class at church, during a time when my life couldn't take one more responsibility, and surprisingly I've excelled at it (and had a wonderful time, I might add).  I took a great e-course from Kelly Rae Roberts that encouraged me to spread my wings and fly!  I've submitted projects to Interweave Knits, Twist Collective, Knitty, a few independent book proposals, and Cascade Yarns.  Most did not choose to go with my design but all were encouraging and kind, and asked me to try again.  Cascade published my most popular design ever (thus far...you know...the blanket).  And I sold dozens of patterns at my LYS during the first annual Great Rhody Yarn Crawl, which did wonders for my designing moral.

I started working with a very talented graphic artist who has helped me to create my brand.  I've got a new logo, a new facebook page, a pretty new Etsy shop (which is still a bit empty, but will fill up), a pretty new layout for my twitter account, and a brand spanking new blog which I'm going to start using first think next year!  The rest of this blog will be slurped over in due time.  I'll have new business cards to match soon, and labels for my custom work. 

This year was not very lucrative in terms of online pattern sales, but I was able to see from the reports that I sold more sock patterns than anything else, and this year my Night of the Lepus was by far the most popular.  I think that The Bride of Frankenstein is going to give it a run for it's money in 2012.  I've already got a pretty new ad that will start cycling through your Ravelry project page on January 1st, so you'll probably see it there!  I sold more patterns directly through the shop, so next year I'll continue to overhaul my current body of work and focus on getting hard copies printed, and contacting a sales rep to help me get into some of the area shops.  It will probably be an easier job, once I've graduated from school in the Fall :)

I also took on quite a bit of commissioned knitting this year, and at a fair price.  I realized (thanks mostly to the Ravelry Design forum group, and the Flying Lessons course) that if I charge what I'm truly worth, I'll only have to take on projects that I want to do, and the ones I'm not as excited about won't be nearly as bad because I'm being paid a fair price to do them.  I won't get stuck doing something I don't truly enjoy doing.  I've also learned the need to provide a quote in writing, so customers don't forget what we discussed going in, and that I have the right to refuse work if I know it won't be worth the time or cost to myself or the client.  I've gotten much smarter about it, and my self-assurance translates to customers, which makes them feel comfortable paying me what I ask (and I always try to be fair...because I know what it's like to have to work on a budget and I could never afford me).

Finally, this year I learned that other people see me and my work differently than I see myself and my work.  I've had the opportunity to 'talk' to other designers who I admire through Ravelry, or in person, and they're regular people just like me.  They have flaws that only they can see, and they hate some of their early work just like I do, lol.  They have all been encouraging, and have told me that I'm much better and I really am...which keeps me going ;)  I've had a chance to work with a very talented photographer who literally makes me look good, and recently a tech editor contacted me and asked about working with me on my latest collection.  She has worked on some of my favorite patterns, and with some of my favorite designers, and I was honored that she asked to take a look at my collection.  Maybe she sees something in my work that I can't see yet. 

So, now that I've reviewed what I've learned and what I'm still finishing up from this year, here's a look at what I managed to finish.  I hope you enjoy :)  There are photos for everything except the Rococo shawl, and the Owls sweater (which I'll be ripping out), and they are presented in no particular order:

Bride of Frankenstein

Crescent Park Beret (matching handwarmers not shown)

Effortless Cardigan, by Hannah Fettig

Heritage Silk Lace mittens, for Cascade Yarns

my Julissa test-knit, for Knit Rhapsody

freestyle striped Noro sweater

Night of the Living Sock

Alexander's Purple Sweater

Quilt and Cable Blanket, for Cascade

Regia socks

Rhodes Stranded sock (currently touring the Stitches conventions)

Shelby- A Handknit Tie for Little Boys (and Alex's go-to tie for church)

Takoma in-the-round

Vlad

Brambles Beret, and my Brambles Mittens

 

As is customary around here...

I'm blogging when I should be working on my homework assignments.  But I really need a mental break, and this blog is therapeutic.  I don't know why I though I'd enjoy taking criminal justice classes (must be the part of me that's a fan of crime shows), but I'm finding it difficult to connect psychology and criminal justice.  I know that there are course designers, and my professors are just doing their best to facilitate this course, but I've hardly seen anything in my forensic psych that addresses specifically how psychology is used in the legal system.  The reading is almost exactly the same as my reading in the juvenile delinquency classes (which only deals with kids and crime), so that tells me that the course designers didn't add much to this class that helps the student tie the two together, and most of the time I feel like I'm groping around in the dark trying to find that needle-in-the-haystack answer that they're looking for.  Meanwhile, my boys are home from school driving me nuts and making it almost impossible to get any school work done.

In knitting news, I cast on for the second of two Santa Clause intarsia Christmas stockings that I'm doing for a client on commission.  I've also got another stocking and a pair of mittens (I've mentioned these both before) and I'm working on the beautiful Flora knee highs.  I ended up pulling the sock back to the ribbing and getting rid of the cherry red from Cascade.  It's a beautiful color, but I just don't like it in combination with any other color.  It mutes it too much.  So I decided to go with white in combination with my pretty Tosh sock.  I'll save that red for one of the non-stranded knee highs.  I just keep looking at this book and I'm so inspired to knit knee highs that it's difficult for me to stay on task with any of my other projects.  I seriously want to knit my way through this book.  Maybe I will, as a side project ;)

Speaking of side projects...I just took a look back and realized that I owe you all a post for the Great Sweater Design Project 2012.  I haven't forgotten you, but with trying to catch up on my school work, I just haven't had the time.  But maybe you could help me with something.  I'm torn between starting with a pullover, or a cardigan.  Any preferences?  Leave me a comment and weigh in.

Impromptu day trip

Yesterday I was talking to my buddy Denise about my day and she mentioned that she was going to go out to Tiverton to hit Sakonnet Purls, then Provender sandwich shop, then possibly Greg's icecream shop and the farmer's market.  It sounded like so much fun, and I sort of passive-aggressively suggested that I would really love to come along on this trip (think whining about how much fun that sounded and how much I'd love to go, lol).  So she invited me along (wink, wink) and I jumped at it.  Sakonnet Purls is closing down at the end of September, (unless they find a buyer) so that the owner can retire after decades of running the shop.  Everything is 25% off right now (excluding the needle-point items), and I was hoping to find a really great deal on some Eco Wool for Aaron's birthday blanket.  This will be my second attempt at knitting him a blanket for his birthday, as last year's project is sitting in a bag not more than 10 feet from me right now, gathering dust.  Unfortunately, they don't carry Eco wool.  Of course, we carry plenty of it at Bella Yarns, but I figured that I might be able to get it at an even deeper discount than my usual employee discount but that's okay.  I did however find beautiful red wooden oval buttons for my future Henley design so I bought them.  Not much else appealed to me.

On the way back we stopped at Provender as planned.  It was a really cute little shop with gourmet foods, bulk gummy candies, various sauces and spreads, and sandwiches made to order.  I picked up a bag of four current scones for breakfast, but passed on the rest because everything was at a higher price point than I expected, given the size of the items.  However, it was a lovely shop and if I wasn't responsible to buy dinner for my entire family of growing boys and was only feeding myself...I would definitely have bought one of the sandwiches!  Denise got some of the gummies, so we passed on the icecream. 

After a quick stop at the local Subway (for my guys), we hit up the farmer's market where I bought the most beautiful, red, giant tomatoes!  Why I didn't bring my camera into the veggie stand is beyond me but I should have because you wouldn't believe the tomatoes.  I got two of them and some pickling cucumbers to make pickles with (of course).  When I got home, I got some cilantro from my garden and made a good amount of salsa.  It's fantastic and I got two decent sized canning jars full, just from those two tomatoes! 

Later that night, while the boys were eating their subway sandwiches, I finished off the last of the pesto I made a few days ago and put some water on for my corn-on-the-cob.  Denise told me about an interesting way to dress the corn and I just had to try it!  After it's all done and cools down a little, lightly spread mayo on the corn and then roll it in grated Parmesan cheese.  It's amazing!  I had one last night, but I'm definitely paying for it today (milk...) so I'll just have to eat the others the old fashioned way (with butter, salt, & pepper) although I'm thinking of adding some cilantro to mine to help use some of it up.  It's going nuts in the garden.

In knitting related news...I got a call to design another sock for the Super Sock Scarefest!  I'm really excited about it, because last year I was pushed into designing a pattern for the group and it sort of launched my design career.  Oh, and also because my name was mentioned in the same post as some real hard-hitting sock designers :)  It was like being acknowledged as a player in the sock design game.  I spent the rest of the day thinking about different ideas for a sock and I think I finally came up with something that's cool.  I just need to swatch and see how it goes. 

Oh, and while I was at it...I finally joined Twitter so you can follow me there if you want to.  I'll be posting my sneak-peaks there and updates about special offers and releases.  You can find me as: @CambriaWdesigns.  Hope to see you there!

sneak peak: Fabre socks

Fabre socks

This has been a tough school week.  I've got a project due this week and my reading was 40 detailed pages on Piaget and Vygotsky.  Sometimes, child development kills me!  Add to this the fact that I'm still catching up from the 40 rows I had to rip on the blanket last week, and my time at the gym.  I'm still working on the whole 'balanced life' thing and I've got to say...I'm way less productive, lol.  But I feel better and I'm off of the energy drinks. 

Saturday we went to a birthday party for my great-nephew and then to the gym.  We were out all day long, and when we got back I was exhausted.  I wanted to take a nap and then start work again on my project, but I passed out and my husband woke me up to send me to bed a midnight.  Then Sunday I pulled my neck out and spend the day hobbling around like an 80 year old, in major pain all day.  Today I woke up with better range of motion, but Alex got up with a racing heart and got sick so I had to take him up to the pediatrician to have some tests done.  This is the second time this has happened in the last few months and we think he might be having some trouble with hypoglycemia.  He was a real champ about having three vials of blood drawn, and we're celebrating by letting him play some Kinectamals.  It's that super cute game with baby jungle cats that play with you and respond to what you do.   It keeps him busy, and all the body movement helps him burn off some energy.  I only let him play once every few weeks as a special treat, and today seemed like a good day for it.

So now, I'm working on the reading for my other class and I got antsy so I decided to take a quick  break and upload a photo of the socks that I'm knitting for my brother-in-law.  I'm using Play at Life Fiber Arts Boundless Sock in a one-of-a-kind colorway that's perfect for my brother John.  I love this yarn!  The colors are fantastic and the stitch definition is amazing.  The yarn feels nice in your hands as you knit with it, even when knitting tight stitches, and I happen to know that the yarn is truly colorfast.  No bleeding at all when I washed my swatch!  My buddy Chrystee is the genius behind this yarn, and if you haven't done so yet, then you need to run right over and check out her etsy shop.  You might remember her yarn from my Night of the Lepus design.  This is going to be my second design in her yarn, and for a compulsive yarn/pattern jumper like myself, that's saying something!

It's Tuesday, so you know what that means...

Yep, dear readers.  I have a major school assignment due tonight before midnight and instead of working on it, I'm writing this blog post :)  Don't you feel special?  How is it that I still maintain a straight A average, you wonder?  What business is it of yours, I say! lol.

Anyway, yesterday I took Alex to school and after I dropped him off I went for a walk down the street to the library on Hope St in Providence (only to discover that it doesn't open until 1pm on Mondays).  Along the way I got to see some really pretty things that you just can't see from the car, like this Episcipalian church with the gorgeous red door.  I love it!  I've wanted to get a better look at it ever since the first time I saw it years ago on my way to Fresh Purls, but I never took the time.  And yesterday, on my grand adventure, I saw beautiful things all over the place and was in awe of all the things that I never noticed before or couldn't see from the car.  I was even moved to tears when I finally got a better look at the Jewish Temple, with the gold leaf and the round dome, and stone versions of the 10 commandments on the outside.  And I was totally going to share it all with you...only I left the camera at home :|  Then I had this great plan that involved bring the camera with me (which I did) but then my husband suggested that we go to Sam's Club today (and I needed him to get in because I lost my card) so he came along and I couldn't go on that same walk today.  So all I have to show for my big day out is sore shins and this one photo of a red door.

I wish I had something more clever to say, or more photos for the post, (and I actually did have something to say when I started this post) but I just spent the last 5 straight minutes playing referee to my boys and trying to keep them from killing themselves, and now I don't know what it was I was trying to say.  But maybe it's for the best.  I do, after all, still have a paper to write...  And two pairs of socks to knit and design...  And some research to do for a project I have going on the side...