INSPIRATION (Life and Art)

Final Days in San Francisco

Wed. September 1st 2010 10pm

Full Moon over the East Bay in San Francisco At long last, my final days in San Francisco have arrived. Allthough I have been here since last March, I have not planted my roots in San Francisco soil for I knew that being here was only for a short amount of time. In a week, we will be heading to our final desitination: New York City. The very first time I visited New York City was in October 2001. I remember how intimidated I was, I felt like a deer in...

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Where's my Muse?

Fri. August 27th 2010 1am

I am searching for my muse... I haven't seen her around in a bit and am anxiously awaiting her return. She comes to me in many forms and when she appears before me, I always recognize her immediately. Last time we had an encounter, she appeared to me as a burlesque dancer during an art exhibit at the COBRA Museum in Amsterdam, December 2009: As soon as I saw her dancing and prancing around with her bright blue and red feathers, I was hold spellbound and wanted to knit something naughty. Her free, unapologetic, feminine and sexy energy stuck with me and I was able to translate it...

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Images, Mood and Inspiration

Tue. August 24th 2010 11pm

Ever since I purchased the natural color Malabrigo Rasta yarn, and ever since I mentioned the ermine, lots of images have been popping up in my mind's eye. These images evoked a certain mood within me, which leads to inspiration and ultimately a better understanding of design #1 which I am having a lot of trouble with. Slowly but surely, design #1 is allowing me to capture her, to define her, to find a name for her. I know she wants to reveal herself, but as soon as I think I have a grip on her, she slips through my hands and leaves me grasping in nothing much but...

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Why do you knit?

Tue. June 8th 2010 9pm

It is only 4 years ago that knitting came into my life. I vividly remember the day that my friend Mary gave me some black worsted weight yarn, number 7 needles and away I went. Knitting couldn't have come to me at a better time...because right about that time 4 years ago, I was about to go crazy out of my mind. And knitting, literally saved me. Feeling lonely on the road It was in March 2006 when we found ourselves in Pittsburgh, Pennsylviania. By that time we had traveled to so many different US cities because of my husband's job and although it was an exciting experience, at some point I...

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A challenging project

Thu. May 20th 2010 6am

My wooden basket became too small for the amount of poppies I have knitted so far and I had to transfer my colorful pretties to a glass bowl. I have knitted 80 poppies so far, only 20 more to go. My glass bowl can hardly contain this abundance of goodness and is about to overflow. I simply love it! Knitting the poppies for my Poppies of Endearment project has been easy. The challenging part is yet to come. A challenging project on several levels After I have knitted a 100 poppies, I will cluster 3 poppies together, attach an affirmation/saying/poem, place them somewhere in San...

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Where have you been revisited

Sat. May 1st 2010 6pm

I am very busy packing and running around doing all kinds of stuff and have absolutely no time to blog! I can however, show you one of my favorite blogpost called "Where have you been". I wrote this in July 2007. Enjoy... Where have you been..? "I have always been here, you silly. Waiting for you to open the gates..." ~ Inspiration This morning I heard a firm knock on my front door. It woke me up immediately and a sweet sense of excitement bloomed in my heart. With my hair still ruffled and my eyes swollen from a good night's rest I rushed to the front door,...

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I broke through!

Sun. April 25th 2010 8pm

I did it! I broke through! For the past few days, I wrapped my head around my website, figured out stuff, explored, played and got things done. This morning, me and web developer Andy Bottman have had some e-mail correspondence in which I gave him my feedback and together we are going to make it happen. We still have to get down to the nitty-gritty, and you know how the devil is in the detail, but I stepped away from the preconceived notion that everything has to be perfect. I feel so relieved and free now... the only one that keeps you from doing great things, is yourself, so I...

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Procrastination..? What is that?

Fri. April 23rd 2010 3am

I have been very productive over the past month. Very productive. I finished 3 shawls: Next up was the Hilde hat, and then several Nettie hats: Aside from the knitting, I have been blogging regularly and even published two patterns with picture tutorials. If you think I am taking it easy now, you are mistaken. Over the past few days I have been working on another hat pattern of which I have finished two prototypes, and a third prototype is laying flat to dry as I type this. When it comes to knitting, designing and writing patterns, I am highly productive. I have no explanation how...

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Our Ability to Inspire

Fri. April 9th 2010 4am

Last Saturday, my friend Chris Tolomei took me on an East Bay yarnshop tour. We had a wonderful day, with lots of yarn fondling, good lunch, a photo shoot of the Miss Jenni Shawl, and lots of conversation. After our day together, I was filled with new blogpost ideas about photography and specifically photography with models. A few days later, I had an energetic telephone conversation with my new friend Jennifer Iannolo, the woman behind Foodphilisophy"and CEO/Chief editor of Culinary Media Network. We talked about all kinds of inspiring topics; new media, social media, following your...

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Reaching for my Highest Potential

Wed. April 7th 2010 3am

Today, very suddenly, I got completely overwhelmed by gratitude. I completed a red pair of "Sally Gloves" and had just finished a hat made out of golden thread, when it hit me hard. Here I am in San Francisco, so happy to be with my husband, and doing the things that I am so very passionate about: knitting, designing and blogging. I don't need to worry about work, I don't need to worry about health issues, I got a roof over my head, plenty of food, and a whole lot of loving from my man. Dear reader, I thank the Universe on my bare knees for this wonderful situation. What great...

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