Jumper
You know those stories? The ones that end 'and the doctor says with physical therapy I'll be good as new in six months,' or 'but luckily, the lawyer got me off with just community service,' or 'so as long as I never go back to El Salvador, everything should be just fine?' Have you noticed they all have something in common? They've all got a moment when the story teller pauses and says 'that's the moment it all went wrong.' I'm convinced that part of living to a ripe old age is learning to recognize those moments as they approach, [...]
To The Gentleman To My Left At The Concert
Dear Sir, You sat to my left at the concert in Toronto on the 14th. I noticed you seemed to be a bit perplexed by me and my actions during the concert. Indeed, perplexed may not be a strong enough word. You appeared downright disturbed. To help allay your concerns, I thought I'd answer some of the questions that seemed to occur to you. So, without further ado: 1) Knitting. 2) Yes, really. 3) A sock. 4) Again, yes, really. 5) Because I like to. Because they are awesome. Because it's my job. Because it helps me respond with more [...]
Unexpected
Last Thursday, we headed over to Lakewood to see a show by Puscifer. Some of The Boy's friends from high school were in town for it. They had extra tickets and asked if we'd like to come along. Working on the theory that leaving the house and interacting with people is often more interesting than staying home in my pajamas and interacting with the cats, I went. It was...bracing. I actually liked much of the music, but some of the more, um, theatrical aspects of the show didn't appeal quite as much. I decided to take a little break in [...]
Missing in Action
Upon hearing of my current hat phase, my dad graciously offered up his head for swathing in woolly goodness. We talked about head sizes, yarn colors, and hat styles. A hat was planned and executed. I bound it off the other night. The next morning, I washed it, shaped it, and set it out to dry. Around these parts, hats get dried over the heating vent in our kitchen. Most of our heating vents are giant cookie sheet sized affairs in the walls, but the one in the kitchen happens to be on the floor. If you put a wet [...]
I Will Save You
So I've mentioned before that we have two wee kittens. They're not actually so wee anymore (Barry here is closing in on 15 pounds) but we still insist on calling them kittens. Now I have long suspected that Barry is the most knitterly of the two fellows. He's the one playing with the spindle in that earlier post. He's also the one hopelessly smitten by his wool pet. But now I've had it confirmed. You see I have this giant sweater coat. It's like an over-sized cardigan. It's warm and soft, and I often throw it on over whatever I'm [...]
Utterly Without Shame
So I've gone and done it. Once before I succumbed to the biggest knitting blog cliche out there and showed you my cat. Apparently doing it once broke some sort of internal restraint, because here I am doing it again. It seems all my kitten-based indiscretions are related to spinning. The last time I mentioned them, it was in a post where I declared that my affair with spinning was at an end. Two weeks later, I found out I was going to the silk retreat in Port Ludlow which features spinning. A deep and abiding fear of being the [...]
Ignominy
Every now and then I get these fits (and those who have seen them will testify that 'fits' is really the best word) where I have to get rid of stuff. Blame my peripatetic childhood, blame years spent in tiny apartments, blame the stars. Sometimes I just must.throw.things.away.right.now. It works for us. It lets us live in a smaller-than-average house and still have plenty of space. I was in the middle of one of these fits the other day, and my attention fell on my craft closet. I have recently realized that I just don't care for spinning. Heresy, I [...]
Resurrection
I promised to bore you with copious details of a new project. Now I'm not quite ready to cast on, but we all know that casting on is not the first step in a project. Before you cast on, you need to find some yarn. I've got some that's been hibernating in the sash for far too long. Long long ago, when I was just a wee baby knitter, I decided to make my first venture into a Real Yarn Store. I had finished a grand total of three socks (not three pairs...three socks, there is a fairly substantial difference), [...]
Progress, Part the Second
So there I was, feeling awfully pleased with myself. I had made socks, two whole pairs. They fit. They were lovely. I was quickly approaching smug. You know those lists you see detailing why you should knit socks? The ones that talk about the practicality and the comfort and the portability and the reasonable cost and the creativity? I proudly 'discovered' each and every one of these marvelous traits and was completely sure I was the very first to do so. There was just one problem. A pair of socks has an ungodly number of stitches. Do the math. It's [...]
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