Knit and Plenty

Brimming with Stash

It's the last day of March - the final hours of Major Knitter's March Madness - a fellow blogger's spirited drive to collect sock yarn for a project that she is planning. I hear that packages came from far and wide, and that everyone looked deep into their hearts and stashes to send along an errant skein or two. I can just imagine what her house might look like right about now! Congratulation, Major - once again you have led a battalion of good soldiers through a fun and rewarding effort.   And to all the rest of the troops (in the knitosphere and around the world): have a safe and peaceful weekend.

Lonely Hearts No More

I heard on the radio today that it's been discovered by the University of Chicago that loneliness is as bad for the heart as being overweight or inactive. I believe it. I have been there.

And it made me think of how lucky I am now to have so many Close Knit Friends. I think many of us are blessed, not only with the connection we enjoy on the knitosphere - but the camaraderie we find at the local yarn shop - and for those lucky enough to have one (or two) knitting groups. I think of my friend, Jenn, who moved to Seattle and within days had a new circle of compadres. (Of course, they're probably not as great as her buds back east, but I hear they are better knitters.)

I am lucky to have long-time knitting friends like Deb who taught me to knit 25 years ago, as well as many new pals I've met at craft fairs, yarn stores, through Major Knitter and especially YOU - reading this right now, who may never comment (hint/wink) and who I will probably never meet.

Now granted, I am also the kind of person who absolutely craves alone time. I have thought about launching a National "KNIT-A-LONE" where we, individually, just lock ourselves in our homes for a month or two to knit. Actually, Mary Ann calls this "winter."

But the truth is, when you have the heart of a knitter, you can always find a kindred soul. So, I am spreading the luv by linking us all to a nice graph of a heart to knit,

and a sweet pot holder pattern, which if you haven't tried, is a great way to learn double or reversible knitting. Share with your friends.

Of course, if your heart is in the right place, you could also try whipping up a nice aorta.

                           

 

Saturday Knit Fever

They say that pop culture goes in cycles, so I am not sure why I am so surprised that we've turned the clock back to the 1970's.  It was hard enough to live through Farrah and Bee Gee's eight-tracks and macrame once. Although, I must say, at 5 feet one inch, I was always fond of platform shoes. In fact, I wore a pair of brown platform boots all winter, and the little cropped sweater on the cover of this 1970's Pattern book could be right out of today's Vogue.>>

So, this past Saturday, I feverishly finished and felted a handbag  that would look like denim. I used a great, inexpensive yarn called Renaissance.

I added some old leather handles I cut off a purse I got at Goodwill (great way to get handles for $2.00, btw). And I lined it with an orange madris plaid. (I don't think I've even said the word "madris" since 1976.

Can you feel the funk? I think I'm just going to have to BOGART this one.
Later, dudes. I'm off to crimp my hair.

A sheep called Ambien.

I am sleep challenged. My past is peppered with bouts of insomnia and I have tried, at one time or another, every known sleep inducing technique. I don't stress about it much any more. Most nights, I stay up late watching "tivo'd" TV and knitting and luckily, I can function pretty well, most days, on only five or six hours. Last night, I tossed and turned for about an hour, and when sleep did not come, I decided to turn the light back on and start my new cardigan. Sounded easy enough: Cast on 70 stitches and work in K2P2 rib for 1.5 inches. So that's what I did. I cast on until I thought I was close, stopped and counted. Pretty good, 64 stitches. 64. 65. 66. 67.68. 69. 70. Ok. now I'd better check before I start the ribbing. So I counted again. 69 stitches. Ok. Add a stitch, count again. 70!!! Happily I am on to the ribbing and sleepily, I get to the end of the row and shit!!: P2,K2,P2...k1????  How does that happen?  I'd like to say it's because it's 1:00 in the morning, but I swear, this happens to me all the time. So, I am now sleep deprived and counting impaired.

And if it wasn't 1:00 in the morning, I might have started over. But at 1:00 in the morning, it's perfecty o.k. to just increase in the last stitch, and call it a night. Perhaps I should stick to counting sheep after all.

How we define ourselves.

Yesterday, I attended a memorial service for my former father-in-law, Robert (a WWII veteran who left us about 2 months ago at 83). We celebrated the life of a man who loved his family, his country, his garden.

I saw a lot of people that I have not seen since my divorce in 1996, and others -- since my wedding in 1981.  It was a day filled with many memories and catching up, and everyone commenting about how beautiful my daughters are, and lots of folks wanted to know what I was up to. I was delighted and surprised by my own answer. I didn't tell them about my work. I said, "I'm really loving knitting right now."

Isn't it wonderful to define yourself, not by what you do, but what you love? 

How do you define yourself?

I am grateful that I no longer describe myself as a marketing consultant or a corporate VP or a business owner. I am grateful that I call myself a mom. A daughter. A friend. A knitter. The fact is, when we go, no one will really care much about what we did for a living - but what we did for a loving just might be remembered. Godspeed, Bob. We'll miss you.

OK - I admit it. I'm a bed knitter.

The Royal Society of Medicine in London released, today, a report calling for more research into a very rare and poorly understood condition found in women called Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome (PSAS) which causes a constant, unprovoked feelings of excitement. Come on!  Is this really a problem? And what do they call this syndrome when it appears in men?  I have a few ideas for what I'd call it (besides NORMAL) but I'd love to hear what YOU have to say. And besides, do you think, for a minute, that in our male-powered world of medicine that anyone is going to be looking for a cure for this any time soon??

I am certain that any day I will be diagnosed with Perpetual Knitter's Arousal Syndrome (PKAS) . After all, if there is an activity that I do in bed that requires more than one hand, it definately is knitting. After a long day, I have to say I do get pretty worked up about getting into bed with a pair of sticks and a couple of balls. Now, that's what I call exciting -- and yes, as a knitter...normal!
I hope you get to enjoy some bed knitting this weekend!

Sweet thoughts of summer.

Gee, you'll never guess where I ended up yesterday. A lovely little shop in Greenwich, CT called The Knitting Niche, neatly tucked away on Mason Street. Hey, it wasn't my idea. I only went because Regina wanted to go. But since I was there anyway...well, you know how it goes.

So,  I started thinking about summer knitting, and the beach and ice cream and the hot sun and the big blue sky and wahla - I came upon this scrumptious BIG SKY cotton. Couldn't ya just eat it up?

Several of my Close Knit Friends are working on the little ribbon-tied cardigan from last Spring's Vogue's Knit.1 and I'm going to knit one in this wonderful pistachio and spearmint.

I can't wait to grab my sweater on a hot summer night and head on over to Mr. Chubby's (I'm not making that up) for a cookie-dough cone.  Of course, I can see it now -- the blob of sprinkles that I'll manage to drop square down the front of it.

But it will be summer. And there will be lots of ice cream. I better make the large.

PS: Thanks to all who helped unravel yesterday's query on the ins and outs of yarn endage. I have a few more critical surveys coming up - a rather tricky one on...(dare I say it)...gauge.

Do you go for the middle?

Perhaps it is not the biggest questions to come along the knitosphere, but I am wondering:

what is the consensus of opinion concerning whether to use the outer end of the yarn or to pull the yarn from the center of the ball? 

I always preferred outside in, but someone told me that my yarn would be less likely to unravel if I pulled from the inside. On my first attempts, I went for the middle and had to pull out (what my friend calls...) "the mucus plug" in order to find the end. Then, upon using the center yarn, I also found that it eventually got twisted around the outer yarn that was left flapping in the breeze. So, I have returned to the outer world.

Certainly, we are not debating evolution vs. intelligent design here - but I am curious what others think. Do I need to evolve in my thinking? What is the most intelligent choice? What's the upside of the inside  - or the downside of the outside?  And finally, GOT MILK?

Laughs in the Lounge

I had the best time last Thursday night at the Knotty Girl Knit and Yarn Club. What joy: A box of Samoa Girl Scout cookies and a pride gaggle of knitters sitting around for a few hours sharing projects and keeping each other in stitches. Knotty Girl has this incredibly comfortable knitting lounge surrounded by tons of beautiful yarn.

The best part was making new friends:

Joanna shared her amazing brown cable scarf and matching hat. She said it's become her favorite project - at least until tomorrow.  She also told us that she gave up buying yarn for Lent. If I picked that one, I'd most assuredly go to hell.

Susan brought a really intricate crocheted table lace that she started several years ago - and then - oh,no - she lost the vintage pattern book that belonged to her mother. Anybody have a spare copy of "Hungarian Crochet Stitchery"???

Joanne was there, and Megan and Regina.
And believe it or not -- I did not buy any yarn!

Maybe there is hope for me yet!

Where did they put the other needle?

Some of you may remember the giant red felted bag that Jennifer made (see post on January 21). We held a contest to try and come up with something she could do with it.  The best we came up with was a toilet tank cozy. Well, Jennifer moved to Seattle [the bad news], but the good news is that she finally found a use for the bag.

More good news: Jennifer has found an incredible group of knitters that call themselves The Purly Girls. She sent me a picture of (L to R) Stacia, Suzy and Daniel and a link to Stacia's blog. Jennifer says that they are terrific people and amazing knitters - and even though they are knitting beautiful intarsia socks and mosiac sweaters, they have welcomed our simple scarf girl in with open arms. I am sure they will love her as much as we all now miss her. Say hello, Seattle!