Self-serving Giving (or, making stuff for the sake of making stuff)

bored bored bored...I'm not sure what is the matter with me the last two days. :oP I'm in one of those phases where I just want to crawl in a hole with my crafting and ignore that the rest of the world exists. Possibly this is because I am so close to finishing a project, but I'm not sure. I hate being so close to the end and then having life get in the way. :oP

And, of course, the rush I get from finishing a project pushes me to look at working on something else and that is when I end up starting 8 projects and finishing none. So I'm trying to keep myself a little more focused, but it's not working well. :oP

I did go to the Yarn Barn yesterday. It was nice...not as much variety as I would have liked and I felt a bit watched the whole time I was in there. It probably wouldn't have bothered anyone else but it drove me crazy. I think it was just because I was new. And the ladies that spoke to me were trying to be helpful, but I am the kind of person who prefers to be as ignored as possible until I actually come looking for help. Especially since I didn't really go in there looking for anything in particular. I wandered from yarn to yarn, looking and touching and reading labels and thinking and all the while feeling a little uncomfortably observed. It was 'workshop night' so there was a whole group of ladies in there working on their projects, and the whole room turned to look at me when I came in, and it was just a little freaky.

Again, I don't think any of this is necessarily unusual or bad, I am just paranoid and nervous by nature - if no one notices me, I can't do anything embarassing. If no one is looking at me, I can vascillate all I want without worrying.

Anyway, I did end up buying some pretty cotton thinking I could make Karen a kind of floppy sunhat with it to wear while she is on zoo duty. The only thing is, when I got home and read the knitter's review on the particular yarn that I got, the review said that it does not wear well. Which I guess is okay for someone like me who will not use a hat that often, but someone like Karen will probably want to be able to wad it up and stick it in a bag and stuff like that, and it might not work out so good. So now I just don't know what to do with it. :oP I might just go ahead and try the hat anyway, or I might just make a different one for myself. I don't know.

The yarn suggests using a needle size of 4-6.5 and the floppy hat uses a size 2 needle, so I'm also not sure about that...is the cotton she used a different weight than my cotton? Should I just knit a swatch and see how the guage comes out? I'm not sure. :oP

I have two skeins in a light blue and two skeins in a medium green. I think they would look nice either individually or striped together.

Maybe I should just give up the hat thing and put the cotton away for a while. I'm so wierd.

I have a problem in that I tend to make gifts for people based more on the fact that I want to make that project than on whether they will actually want/use the gift. I have stitched a ton of items for my mother and only one has she expressed any real enthusiasm over. I am always also suggesting things I could make for my dad and having her point out gently that he is not likely to use/want any of the stuff I have come up with. :oP

The crafter's curse, I guess. Self-serving giving is something I will always have to struggle against. I am having that problem with this Andean Treasure shawl from Knit Picks. I totally want to make it, and it is such a fancy yarn that it would make a great gift for my mother or grandmother...except that neither TX or Louisiana are really great states for shawl-wearing. :oP And my mother has reached that season of life where staying warm is not really an issue. I might just make it for myself sometime, but we'll see.

Of course, I must also be wary of getting in over my head. I am still new at this whole thing, so I really ought to practice some of these techniques on cheap yarn before I do anything fancy.

It is as with all of my crafts - must be wary of getting in over my head just because something is fun and challenging. :oP Enthusiasm can be a curse.