Cheatin' -- Kinda

So this is a bit of a cheat since it isn't a completely Gwen composed post, but with the shoulder out of commission, it seemed like a good substitute!




Your Five Factor Personality Profile



Extroversion:



You have high extroversion.

You are outgoing and engaging, with both strangers and friends.

You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation.

Enthusiastic and fun, you're the first to say "let's go!"



Conscientiousness:



You have medium conscientiousness.

You're generally good at balancing work and play.

When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.

But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.



Agreeableness:



You have medium agreeableness.

You're generally a friendly and trusting person.

But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism.

You get along well with others, as long as they play fair.



Neuroticism:



You have low neuroticism.

You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.

Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.

Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure.



Openness to experience:



Your openness to new experiences is high.

In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.

You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.

A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

Spiritual Retreat

This past weekend I spent 72 hours on a Spiritual Retreat called the Walk to Emmaus. It was one of the most powerful events I have ever attended. Tomorrow I go in for shoulder surgery which will leave me significantly incapacitated for at least a week or two. The rest of March is going to be strange for me and I anticipate that April will be only slightly better!!

I am not sure where God is leading me right now. I don't know if knitting will continue to be a primary focus. I cannot even be sure if I am properly equipped (education and skill wise) for my upcoming journey. But I am going to utilize the down time to try and figure it out.

I ask for prayers and thoughts of clarity of purpose and quick healing!!

I am a Knitting Goddess

At least that is what came out from the Quizilla site see:

Knitting Goddess
You appear to be a Knitting Goddess.
You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with

reward, you simply want others to love

knitting as much as you do. If someone wants

to knit miles of novelty yarns, you are there

for them. If someone wants to learn short row

shaping, you can help. There are no taboos in

knitting, only opportunities to grow.

Everyone should have friend like you around

if they want to learn to knit, and there's a

good chance that your passion has rubbed off

on a few others.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Stitches West 2006

So I am back and starting to get myself together after Stitches West. This was an interesting show for several reasons, a) for the most part we only sold patterns in the booth, b) I had two other designers featured in the booth and c) this was the last time I would be doing a retail booth.

Only selling patterns is WAY easier to prepare for, but you have to sell a lot of $5 patterns to pay for a booth. The flip side is that dropping $5, $10 or $15 dollars is an impulse buy and thus easier to make the sale. I also think it helped that all three designers samples were mixed together. However, we found it interesting that even so, as customers would jump from one piece to the next, they would still be looking at only one designer. This was particularly interesting given that they were not marked in any significant way and although our styles are somewhat different, there is not a drastic or what we would consider obvious difference. Even though the process was interesting and much easier than before, I am still glad I am done with trying to do both a booth and teaching. Teaching is my passion and it is just too hard to try and do both.

I wish I could tell you about some new something or another, but I honestly did not get ANY time to wander the show floor. So we will both have to wait until August for Stitches Midwest. It will be here before we know it. Tomorrow it is off to Tahoe for a ski trip -- need to get in as many days as possible before shoulder surgery later next month!

Math versus Verbal

So once again I was just over visiting my good friend Annie Modesitt's blog and was once again thrown into a deep depression. Well, actually, it is probably more a fit of jealousy than depression. Let me explain!

Most of our lives we hear (and see evidence of) that people tend to be strong in math and science skills OR they tend to be strong in language and verbal skills. Although I believe it to be more of a cultural thing, men fall in the math camp whiled women fall in the verbal camp. I always thought that it was cool that I was "unique" being female and very strong in math skills.

But then you meet people like Annie and I just want more! If I were to ask her, she would probably say that her strength is in the verbal arena, and it is clear from reading her blog, but I know her math skills are nothing to sneeze at. And then with all that, where does creativity fall?

So the question remains, are we really math or verbal dominant, or can we have it all?