Sometimes you just need a kick in the you know what!

Okay, so just how many lines can you cast in the water before you lose control? I think I am personally approaching that limit! :-) From personal experience it is a pattern that I tend to follow (and don't realize it while it is happening) I get this swarm of new passions, try to do them all, get a taste for everything and then when I realize that I have really overloaded myself and I am forced to step back, re-evaluate and set priorities. I am at the peak of the cycle and can't focus on a damn thing!! Argh. My husband recognized it first he said I keep a hobby until I have purchased everything you need and then quit...actually that isn't true because he is assuming that what I do for SCOUTS are all my own hobbies. But what I am talking about is less about crafts and skills and more about dedications or what-I-think-are-going-to-be-life-hobbies or obligations...knitting, astronomy, podcasting, volunteering, training...these are all bigger things, well at least to me. Hummmm, okay let get a little attention deficit here...oh look a chicken! Stephanie got me all excited with her Alien Scarf. I remember going off and looking for all the illusion and shadow knit patterns I could find a while ago and then didn't do anything with them...except file them away in the back brain area and now Stephanie had triggered them to the front again so I decided to blog them up real quick so I don't need to remember them and can just come back to the post and find them. The timing is great because we are all madly knitting for the Breast Cancer Charity sale in February so I think an Illusion Heart Scarf would be fun, we had a bunch of white yarn donated and I didn’t know what to use it for and now I do. I was also looking for a gift for a fellow set of astronomy podcasters, actually the Slacker Astronomy is the top rated astronomy podcast and it mixes just the right amount of humor with hard core astronomy. The 3-person team is great and Dr. Pamela Gay has volunteered to come out and help me talk to teen-age girls about science and about podcasting. She is volunteering to come out from Harvard…to the Pacific NW…on her own dime! What a gal, AND she is a knitter!!! WunderWoman! I think that a set of Slacker Astronomy scarves is a definite and maybe a knitted Flying Spaghetti Monster to boot. Anyway here is a list to get you started if you go off and search on your own search for "illusion" and "shadow".... Greek Key Scarf from the MenKnits newsletter The Linux Illusion Scarf, perfect for any computer geeks out there even if they don't have a Linux box The Knister Scarf from DIY KnittyGritty Skull and Crossbones from Ysolda Emily Byrd's Snowflake scarf...which is perfect because I have all the white yarn someone donated! Stephanine told me that she got the Alien Head scarf from the Stitch and Bitch book but I also found the chart online at this UK site. Here is a chart for a Heart Illusion Sweater that could be modified for a scarf...nice Valentines Day gift. There is another sample on Heidi's page but apparently this chart is lost...sad. The book "Shadow Knitting" by Vivian Hoxbro gets very detailed and has some great patterns. She has some great application beyond the scarf on her website. There is a shawl that looks fun but I think I would rather figure it out than spend the money on a kit. It actually looks like a good weight for work! There is a "how to" posted on Jigsawknits that describes how to create the patterns so we can all go out and create illusion sample blocks to share with each other!!! Oh I just had a HUGE neuron surge!! I can't say too much in case my secret Valentine exchange partner is reading this blog....illusion knit Valentine Day sock! AH HAHAHAHA! Okay, I have to get back to the stuff that puts food on the table...gag. I hope GWEN is happy now, she was very nicely scolding me to get-on-the-blog! Getting bored eh Gwen??? :-) Anything for you sweetie!