My Best Things About Stitches List

I got back from Stitches Midwest on Sunday night, just missing a real fun time in the Chicago airport, apparently. It was a great weekend and here is what made me smile:

• Rooming with Debbie Radtke. She's just awesome.
• My classes all went really well, or at least I felt good about them.
• Teaching my Thursday class in Nirvana and my Sunday class in Epiphany (those are the whimsical room names at the Renaissance Schaumburg. It was cool.
  
• I got to spend time with and get to know better Sarah and Margaret. They are super-talented yet down to earth and so very nice.
  
• I still get star-struck when I meet designers whose work I really admire (and have made their designs) like Jolene Treace.
• Dinner at Sam and Harry's with a whole bunch of lovely people
• Helping a table full of cute young girls from the Chicago area learn to knit. They were eager and beautiful.
  
• Room Service breakfast on my birthday. It was actually fun to be there on my birthday. I got sung to twice. Can't beat that.
  
• Working backstage at the fashion show. I love seeing the garments close-up.
• Seeing Gwen and Beth.
• Helping Gwen finish her amazing sweater. We team knitted until 15 minutes before the banquet started on Saturday night.
  
• The market, of course. People always ask if I still knit for pleasure and if the market still dazzles me. Definitely yes to the first, and to the second, while it doesn't dazzle me like it used to, it still inspires me and I still feel the urge to possess the beautiful yarns and tools.
  
• The fact that I'm even THERE! At at national venue! Doing what I love!

I'm so grateful for this gig and I hope it lasts a long time.

Finding My Muse

I've always been a creative person. I can solve problems, come up with original ideas, make just about anything, plan stuff, and lots of other things. I've tried just about every craft out there and frankly, enjoyed them all. I often turn back to old friends like quilting and sewing as a foil to knitting and photography. So why am I a bit stuck right now?

One of my students, in describing herself, expressed an aspect of my own personality so succinctly and perfectly that it caused me to catch my breath. So here it is:

I am more curious than ambitious.

Why is that significant you ask? WHY???

Because curiosity is what gets a person to try something. Ambition is what gets them to finish it. Curiosity is the path to vision. Ambition is the path to productivity. I have vision. I love to start things. After that, there is nothing pulling me strongly to make what I like to do into a product. There is nothing urging me to get the word out to the whole world and get published and make money. I'm really happy helping one person at a time learn something that to the world seems small. I'm okay living in my small corner of the world.

But the question nags at me:

Should I desire MORE???
Should I WANT to be a businesswoman and have a real, professional website from which folks can buy my patterns? Should I WANT to work full-time at all this creative stuff and publish books? Or have 10 photo shoots a month and be a "real" photographer?
Is it OKAY to just enjoy the process?

I submit as my answer, Yes. Why in small type instead of screaming it out in big, bold letters? Because I think that is the answer but I worry that it's not. I worry that I'm somehow living below my abilities or being selfish or something. I want yes to be the answer though. I want to not feel stuck because I'm satisfied with my life. I want to free myself from comparisons to other women who have made their creative skills into businesses or parlayed it into a kind of niche-y fame.

Here is one bit of advice from someone that I admire as an artist that gives me some confidence that my path is correct. For. Me. Alone. I read this often to remind myself that art is not for the people, in the end it is for the artist. I like thinking of all this stuff I do in that way. It frees me from the perfectionism that plagues me and in the end, I think it is what will free me to learn to trust the process and let it lead me to be successful in whatever way I eventually want to be.

Back to Knitting

I've been on a bit of a knitting hiatus. I have several instructional posts half-written, but I'll get to them later. As for "hiatus," that really means I have 2 projects in active rotation-an original sock and a baby sweater. My hands have started being more sensitive to my knitting and my thumbs get numb after just a few minutes, no matter what style or hand position I use. Maybe it's time to get to the doctor. Anyway, I've been quite inspired looking through my stash for bits to send to the prison project in So. Dakota, and am on my way to finishing a bright little baby sweater in just a few days. 3 since I started, to be exact. I'm gearing up to do some test knitting and I want to get my daily knitting habits back in place. I'm also gearing up for the intensity of two Stitches Expo events only about 8 weeks apart as well as the fall teaching schedule.

It has been a good thing to rediscover how soothing it all is: in, around, out and off. Lovely. Photography feeds a different part of my soul I guess.

I'm glad to discover that I still love knitting more than just about anything I do, even when I need the occasional break from it.

Why I Knit. (or one of the main reasons, anyway)

I love yarn. Sometimes more than knitting. Should I have said that in a whisper?? Oh well, it's true.
Really, I don't have to say anything more than that, but I will tell you about it.

These are the three colorways of Fleece Artist's Bluefaced Leicester from Little Knits, which I, like the knitting sheep that I am, obediently ordered after clicking on the link next to the Knitty Spring Surprise. I mean really. How was I supposed to resist pressure like that? One of my favorite fibers, a new shop to try (fabulous by the way-great customer service) and a fun design to inspire me. I won't be making Tempest, lovely as it is, because the idea of horizontal stripes on my thickish torso just makes me laugh out loud, but I will be doing something with it. I've been doing a lot of fair isle with handpaints against a solid, so that's what I have these slated for. They'll go together if I don't mind a little harmonic color disappearance (they share a shade of green) or they'll go beautifully with one of the hundred hanks of Harrisville Shetland style that I have.

The Maryland Sheep and Wool festival was really fun this year. I always enjoy that. I got to do a bit of work with Leslye Solomon and found her to be a really lovely woman. I taught my usual duo of knitting and crochet for kids, which, in only an hour time with up to 10 kids, really amount to a try-it class with a plea to the parents at the end to find them another teacher with more time and less kids. But, they go on, everyone seems to enjoy them and I like doing it.

In other news, Cloverhill is officially in the hands of Jolene Mosley and I'm very excited about it. She is already bringing in some wonderful boutique yarn lines. Yummy stuff. I will be getting back to teaching there this summer and fall, albeit on a limited basis just because the family wheel continues to need at least one hub to rotate around, that hub being me. So, watch for a few classes this summer and fall, and we'll see where things go from there.

Tomorrow I teach up at Schweitzer's Countryside (her website is still pending, but it is a great little shop) in Seven Valleys, PA. Beyond that, not much till Stitches Midwest in August. In the meantime, I'm always available for the odd private lesson, so don't hesitate to drop me a line at kellienuss@gmail.com and we'll set something up.

Okay, so I suck at blogging about knitting.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee I ain't, but that's okay because I love her and wouldn't want another one like her. I just don't always know what to blog about, plus I have the added challenge of not giving away too much so I'll still have stuff to actually teach. In addition, I really don't want my designs to be influenced too much by existing knitwear patterns, so I've kind of put myself in design quarantine-thus I don't read too many other knitting blogs. I look at other things for inspiration, but I don't want to just be recycling things. Obviously, there are other designers that I like, and sometimes I just want to knit without having to work it all out first. On the other hand, I do, however, want to balance those considerations against the principles of good karma and my belief in idea of Creative Commons where information can and should be shared as freely as possible, but then what is left for folks to make a living off of, eh? So, sometimes I hesitate too much to write about this passion of mine, which is too bad, because I have a lot to say. In the interest of making yet another go, which is such a boring thing to read (yet again) here are some photographs and words about a couple of projects.

The first photos are Sam in his vest, the process of which was chronicled here. I am really happy with how it turned out, and he wears it often. I think it will get too hot for him pretty soon, so I'm already considering a version in a lighter gauge and maybe in cotton.



These two are of my wonderful collaboration with one of my students-The Patch Jacket concept. She has some hand mobility and usage issues, and one solution she has found to continue knitting is to make many small pieces, then build them into a sweater. She likes to make them one by one then sew them together creatively using blanket stitch or something else textural. On this one, she added just a hint of pink in the buttons and running stitch trim to really make it perfect. I have loved this process of working with her to make a completely unique, personal piece of art that so exactly expresses who she is and what she is about. This is why I teach. There is nothing better than helping someone create what is already inside them.

Scarves, Scarves and more Scarves

I have been heading up a charity project for our women's group at church, and we are up to 25 completed scarves. I am really very happy with the results. According to my records, I've taught 4 people how to knit, 2 or 3 how to crochet, and managed to find uses for quite a lot of my yarn. Several knitters have made up to 8 scarves. The scarves are simple garter stitch in many different textured yarns and they will go into gift bags for mastectomy patients. They are bright and beautiful for certain, even if they are not everyone's cup of knitting tea. This is where I toss any yarn snobbery that I might be guilty of out the window and go with the spirit of the project. The scarves are intended to be bright and cheerful and to give a woman who has just experienced a trauma a way to express some hope. They are not intended to show off knitting skills, be advertisements for knitting yarns or anything else. The cause of comfort and rebuilding confidence far outstrips any other consideration. So, bring on the Fun Fur, the extreme textures, the glitz! God bless these brave women who are continuing on, and here's to hoping one of our scarves might give one of them something to smile about.

Stitches, etc.

Last weekend was Stitches West. It was my eighth time teaching at stitches and I am starting to feel like I know what I'm doing. I still just LOVE interacting with the students. One of my favorite moments is when I go round and ask what students want to get out of a particular class and I know I can help them. I really enjoy the friends I've made and feel really fortunate to have met the people I've met.

The weekend began as it has for the last 2 years, with a stop at my brother's home near Travis AFB in Fairfield, CA. They live about 70 miles from Santa Clara, but a visit to family is always worth the trip. They are always good to ask about and be genuinely interested in and supportive of my career as a professional knitter. I still get the occasional odd look when I tell people what I am and what I do, but then the skepticism usually gives way to appreciation that such a knitting community exists.

Vickie Howell, of Knitty Gritty fame, was there and I heard her speak at the fashion show. She spoke of the strength of the knitting community, and I agree with her. I love that I've been able to meet people from literally every walk of life, every political and religious persuasion, and yet we are all able to find that common (yes, I'm going to say it) thread. I especially enjoy, with my students, the sense of healing, peace and comfort that so many of them find in knitting. In this wild world, I am truly grateful for something that builds community instead of breaking it down.

My classes went well, if one pays attention to evaluations, in-class comments and participation. I certainly enjoyed myself. I liked the intensity and variety of the 8 market sessions that I taught and instead of feeling burned out, I left each class looking forward to the next one and what I could do to tweak and improve and streamline for the one-hour format.

I am coming more and more to the conclusion that teaching is my art as much as knitting. I was once talking to another teacher who is really well-known, greatly admired and has a long and distinguished list of great designs. She has given up design almost entirely to focus on teaching. I am tending toward that end myself. I like designing to solve very specific problems, to illustrate a teaching point and to create something that can be used to build skills. Designing to sell patterns holds little appeal for me. It is a good thing to come to that point and to feel like I can continue to make a lasting place in the knitting world instead of only trying to make a name for myself. (There is a LOT LESS pressure this way!) Rather than being known for being good at something in the knitting world and having the sole end be attention on me, I'd rather be good for the knitting world and make it a better place. Perhaps that sounds corny, or perhaps naive, but I hope that people like me and some of my more passionate and talented teaching friends can make sure is a pathway lit for the knitters who will come after us, and not just a large ouvre of best-selling designs.

Too Long

So, I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted here. If you are one of my 5 readers and have been checking back, I'm sorry to leave you hanging. Life has been a little bit thick lately. Things have calmed down but I'm right in the middle of two charity projects at church: a project Linus blanket to teach the teen girls to knit and a scarf project for cancer patients with the women's group. It has been fun and satisfying, but add to the mix a disabled friend moving to a new assisted living facility after multiple hospitalizations and getting ready for then attending Stitches West, and you get the picture. I had an absolutely fabulous time in every way, but I am glad to be home. XRX puts on a good show and they are great to work with. I am really grateful for the opportunities I've had because of their confidence in me. Plus, I'm trying to learn my way around Ravelry, so that has taken some of my blogging time. Over the next couple of days, I will report on my Stitches experience. Anyhow, I'm back...

New Shop

I went up to PA to teach at Heather Sweitzer's wonderful new shop, Sweitzer's Countryside Fibers and Gifts. It was great fun. I met 5 lovely knitters who did a great job in the classes. In spite of being "on leave of absence" from Cloverhill, I seem to be teaching plenty, with daytime private lessons and pro-bono opportunities at church. I'm helping with a Project Linus blanket with the teen-aged girls and scarves for cancer patients with the women. It is typical for me-if I have time I will fill it up. It has been good to be home when I need to though. That has been the big change. I can tell Eric is calmer knowing that I won't be gone on Wednesday nights and then again on Saturday. It seems like a big sacrifice, but considering he has never pressured me to bring home a real paycheck and he pretty much supports my every move on the planet-both wise and whimsical, it pretty much evens out. He works hard to support our family, and I feel like our roles are completely complementary and equal. I am just grateful that knitting fits in around it all so I can stay sane, be creative and have an ambition for the future, when I will no longer be at the center my kids' universe.

Knit on with confidence and hope...

So I've recently met A. who lives in an assisted living home. She is a member of my church, and we are pretty active about taking care of each other, so I get to watch over her. I already love her to pieces. She likes visits pretty much every day. I was stressing about this, thinking that I just really didn't have the time. I love old people. I love looking in their eyes and seeing them look out at me through years of living. The other folks in the lobby of the facility are starting to know me, and it is a very good place to be. But every day??? For crying out loud. I have way too much to do, I thought. A. is anxious and worried about everything, but just having someone there brings her a little security that she hasn't had before. Her life has had a lot of pain, so I determined that I would be a safety net for her. Today it clicked. Today I grabbed my knitting to take with me (don't know why I didn't think of this a month ago) and after we did a little word searching in her Giant Puzzle book, she said, "Now I want to watch you knit." I knitted, uninterrupted, for an hour. She listened to the volunteer piano player, dozed and asked about the vest. She was calm, happy and resting. It was like magic. It reminds me of the days when, after I would sing them lullabies, my kids would ask me to get my knitting and just sit outside their door for a little while longer. In this crazy world, if someone can just sit there and knit, then things can't be too bad, right?

FO

I finished a PhD. gift for a friend and it turned out really well. It is a beanie in UMD colors with a secret message of congratulations knitted into the lining. Many people are nervous about wool these days, that I've taken to lining a lot of things I give away. This was done in Knitpicks Palette, so it is a fine gauge-about 7 sts per inch. I used white and yellow from the Palette line and some red Satakielli from Schoolhouse Press. I used Rowan Cotton Glace for the lining and it came together nicely. I know a cotton lining is not ideal from a technical, wicking standpoint, but it feels pretty comfortable. I wore it around last night while it was drying, and my head was quite cozy and warm. It has the heft and feel of an expensive beanie from the sporting goods store. It is a teeny tiny big big on me, so I'm hoping that means it will fit my friend Clint really well. I'll try to talk him into a photo with it on once I give it to him.



Sam's vest is ready for the armhole steeks. I'm excited to move on and get this done. I love the cable pattern. It is a twisted stitch pattern, which means all the knit stitches in the cable panels are knitted through the back loops. That makes them stand up a bit more and look more embossed from the reverse stockinette background. It is a great design and I am knitting it pretty much per Meg Swansen's specifications, except I'm using Galway instead of the Berrocco Alpaca blend.

Hold Bag

So, I looked through my hold bag at Cloverhill and it has easily 300 bucks worth of stuff in there. Holy Cow! I wasn't inclined to put much of it back though, just a few patterns. So, I will endeavor to bring a bit of it home every paycheck until it is gone. I just wish I could get tired of yarn. Hasn't happened yet.
Also, the new cycle of classes has begun and it is very strange not to be a part of it. Though I feel it is the right thing to do, and I am still doing plenty of teaching in spite of being on a "leave of absence," I feel the void of not being part of the camaraderie of the staff of the shop. I love working with those gals.

Good Feeling

This is a cross-post, so if you read both my blogs, you don't even need to check the other one.
Among the several charity organizations for which I knit and donate, Afghans for Afghans is one of the ones I have very warm feelings for. They are a wonderful group of committed, caring people who have figured out a totally non-partisan, peaceful way to make a difference in the face of war. They have rallied knitters and crocheters all over the US and Canada to make wool blankets, hats, mittens, sweaters and other items for the people of Afghanistan. I know there are lots of needy people right here in the US, and I know that it might seem like a small knitted item from a stranger far away would not make much of a difference, but my heart tells me differently. I just feel good about helping the people of this particular country. They've been at war for so long, and I have been aware of their struggles in a major way ever since I was about 14. The mission of A4A goes along with my attitude toward the current political climate in the US. Frankly I'm tired of it, and my motto is "Shut up and do something." I can't stop the wars, I can't totally understand the reasons behind them, I can't always know what's really true, and I can't stop the media from making everything so scary. But I can send a pair of socks to a lady in San Francisco who will put it on a plane to Afghanistan. And some little kid might have warm feet this winter. Maybe that kid will get a good feeling and pay it forward someday. And on and on. Maybe.
Over the past couple of years, I have tried to knit something for them every year. This year it was socks and hats. Here is a slide show of the kids receiving the socks that were sent over in the spring. In the very last picture, the pair of socks 2nd from the left on the front row is a pair I sent! Now I can put that little face with my socks and think of that boy or girl wearing them. I think she's a girl, but most of them seem to have their heads covered, so I'm not sure. This just makes my day. I share this not in the spirit of self-aggrandizement, but in the spirit of the pride I feel for the good people who do this, the love I've developed for the people of this nation, and the little light of hope that it plants in me to have this tenuous but now tangible thread of connection between me and a child so far away.

Ravelry

I've finally been invited to Ravelry! I had just heard about this a few weeks ago because I'm such an on-again, off-again blogger. I read few other blogs but I am aware of the power of this type of networking. Anyway, Ravelry looks really fun. I am looking forward to playing on it and using it as a another way to catalogue, record and share my knitting life.

Getting the Tree

We took the family out to Triadelphia Lake View Farm for a Christmas Tree. That is Sara in her knitted Santa Hat. I've made many of those hats. Evan can't find his, so I may have to make him a new one. On the way out of the farm, without my camera handy, there was another knitting sighting. The Mrs. Claus on the farm sign was knitting. I wish I'd gotten a picture.

Ya Just Never Know

I wore my Buenos Aires Jacket in Manos del Uruguay yarns in Forest and Woodland to church this past Sunday. It is a dead simple sweater made in fabulous yarn. No fancy shaping, the stitch is a variant of garter stitch, it doesn't even have buttons.

I got more complements on that sweater than I have ever gotten on any knitted item that has graced my frame. Everyone I passed, including men, for crying out loud, complemented me. Of course it was gratifying and I enjoyed it, but I kept thinking of how simple the sweater was to knit.

What this shows, of course, is the power of a great yarn and a classic design. One doesn't necessarily have to jump through hoops as a designer to come up with something really amazing. My hat goes off to Judith Shangold for her great work pairing Manos up with good architecture.

Overheard at My House:

Tonight, Eric was doing the dishes, including the handwashing of the big stuff. He doesn't usually do that so he commented that maybe he was buttering me up because he dented the car. So we got into a conversation about how we are pretty low-key about stuff like that-he has never gotten upset about car things, or spending money, etc. When we got to the spending part of the conversation, he said, "I've gotten upset a few times about spending," to which I replied, "Well, at least I've never had to hide my yarn, like half the knitters I meet. " My daughter, listening from the other room said, "Um, mom, it's not like you could hide your yarn." My husband started laughing really hard at that one. I don't know what's so funny...

Cloverhill

Cloverhill Yarn Shop, my beloved professional home for the past 7 1/2 years, is for sale. I am taking the news quite personally because this place means so much to me. Chris's reasons for selling are personal and important, and because she's become a friend, I totally support her in this decision. I have been associated with it since before it was Cloverhill. When I started working on Saturdays to save my sanity during Eric's law school years, it was The Weaver's Place. It was Terry Flynn who first thought I could teach and gave me that opportunity. When Chris took over, thanks to Ginger's influence, I ended up back in my old classroom with a new name. Chris took over where Terry left off and continued to build the shop (which has been around in some form for about 30 years I think) into a place customers love to be. She changed things, such as refocusing the shop from weaving to entirely knitting with spinning on the side, but the atmosphere stayed cozy, unassuming and welcoming. The amazing education program continued, with fabulous teaching and a wide array of classes. Customers and students have become friends. It is so much more than a job to me. It has been the ticket to personal growth beyond my role as a stay-at-home mom, but within the confines of that first and most important focus. Teaching there gave me the confidence to teach at Stitches, which has grown to mean just as much to me. Chris has been a generous mentor, patient employer and great example to me of what a business woman should be. The other women who work there have become important friends in my life as well. I have no idea what will happen with the eventual new owners, but for some reason it feels like an ending to me. I was going to take a leave of absence from formal teaching in the winter anyway, so the news coincides with my own realignment of my professional goals. I certainly would still teach at the new shop if I find a place there, so I am not closing the door, but it is certainly the end of an era for me.

Please contact Chris through the shop if you are interested in acquiring this little gem of a place.

On the needles

Okay, okay, trying to post more often here. My knitting life is not my primary focus, as I am still very much in the middle of raising my kids. I have one out of the house, but 4 are still home and with me every day. But, here is what I'm up to.
I finished teaching my perfect sock class. It has good bones, but needs some focus and refinement. I have been reworking the handouts and class outline for that. I thank my intrepid students from the bottom of my heart for being my guinea pigs. They all did wonderfully.
I am working on Stitches West classes. I am very proud and excited to be a part of the Market Sessions there, and am beefing up my classes for that sector of the conference.
My short-row intensive class went really well. It is intense, but everyone stayed with me and did great.
Wrestling season starts next week, so I am knitting furiously on Sam's vest. (He has to wear a shirt and tie every day during the season and likes a sweater vest. He outgrew his favorite cotton one and requested one in his high school colors.) He finally decided on the cover vest of Meg Swansen's Woolgathering #77. It is coming along beautifully in Hammond Maroon Galway wool.
I am working on the appearance of this blog and getting the settings back to rights.
I am still teaching 2-4 hours of private lessons per week. I have some lovely students who have passed beyond the realm of clients to becoming friends. That is one of the most satisfying parts of this little part-time career of mine.
So, all is good in the knitting part of my world. Hope it's the same for you.

Stitches East

I am just hours back from teaching about 18 hours of classes at Stitches East. It was so much fun in so many ways. I just feel all goose-bumpy when I think that I am among such a group of teachers, let alone all the amazing knitters there.
I like this show the best because of all the familiar faces I see. I saw many of my students cum friends from Cloverhill. That was just so satisfying. The absolute highlight of the entire weekend for me was watching Karen Porter of Children in Common and one of those dear friends made through my teaching, be named Knitter of the Year. She started a wonderful organization to help children in Russian and Eastern European Orphanages when she adopted her own children from Russian and saw the challenges faced by the people trying to care for the children there. Being Knitter of the Year will mean loads of good publicity for the organization as well as an award that Karen will put to good use as to help the kids. It was such a lovely moment. I was overcome. When I saw Karen in the market today, her comment was so humble and gracious. She said that for herself, she would never want this kind of recognition, but for the kids, she'll do it. Watch for the write-up in a future issue of Knitters.
Another highlight was meeting a wonderful gal from Seven Valleys, PA who is starting up a yarn shop. It will be called Sweitzer's Countryside Fibers and Gifts. I will post a link when her website is up. She is just about ready to open, and I told her I'd love to come up and teach for her. It sounds like her shop will be really nice, with a selection of yarn, felting supplies, and gifts as well as classes. I wish her much luck.
As for shopping, there were a few treasures to speak of. I found some beautiful hand-carved needles and crochet hooks at Mangham Manor from Virginia. I should show pictures of these things-absolute beauty, and carved from one piece of wood. They are formed into exquisite spirals, with rings around them or tiny cages with tiny beads inside. I found what may become my new favorite sock yarn--from Green Mountain Spinnery! It is not even up on their website yet, but it is so lovely. Yes, I know, more photos I have to take. It is not superwash wool, which I like. I have no trouble taking a bit of extra care of my socks. It is wool blended with either mohair or tencel and it is quite yummy. I can't wait to design with it. I succumbed to a few skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts stuff, mostly because the dyeing is so incredible. Their socks do feel great upon being placed upon grateful feet. I fell head over with this bit of genius brought to life in yarn. I was good though, and didn't buy it. Maybe when I finish the La Lana kit I bought at West. Uh Huh.
I got to spend time with my friends Gwen, Beth, Jeanne and Cindy, which is always enjoyable. It is great to continue to get to know the other teachers better as well. I discovered another blog to follow along that line, the lovely and talented Karen Alfke's. Her blog is everything mine is not: spare, elegant and brief. Check it out. My roomie, Debbie, and I are a perfect match and being with her makes the weekend even better.
My stitches experience gets to last one more day as I will be picking some friends up at the hotel tomorrow to go for lunch then giving them a ride to el Aeropuerto de BWI.
I am exhausted, but it is that good kind of tired, the tired that comes from giving your all. My mind is energized even though my body is the opposite of energized. I always know that teaching is my calling because the teaching itself never drains me, it always makes me feel happy, capable and excited. I am happy to be part of Stitches and happy I get to interact with knitters I would never have met otherwise.
To bed now.