Lately, I've Been Knitting

Yeah, knitting has become more than a hobby. I can't tell you how satisfying it is to finally find something that I'm good at and I like. Yes, I said it: I'm good at this. You don't know me that well but just believe me when I say that I would have never admitted to being good at something, whether I thought I was or not. And if I did admit it, I would qualify it with "I'm pretty good" or "I'm OK at" or "I do OK but there's a lot I can't do." Pfffft. Enough of that.

So, here are a few of the things I've completed lately:

Cosette really wants to sit on the Modern Log Cabin Baby Blanket


Prayer Shawl


Fingerless Mittens (Christmas gifts this year!)


First attempt at Fair Isle


And the infamous (in the knitting world) clapotis pictures are on their way. Now, onto the next project! Or maybe I'll go back to one of the many I have already started. Choices, choices.

In Stitches

Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit, either. ~Elizabeth Zimmerman

Years ago, Al was diagnosed and successfully treated for testicular cancer. He has been cancer-free for almost 12 years, but I remember every minute of sitting in those cold waiting rooms while he went through more scans and while doctors reviewed the results before talking to us. “The Price Is Right” was showing in every room, and to this day I can’t listen to the theme music for that show.

I always had a book with me, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to read even a page. I tried crossword puzzles, but same problem. So, I mostly just sat there, tapping my foot. Near the end of his treatment, he had to have a long surgery to remove the scar tissue, and I knew that I would have to find something to do with my hands. I could hand-stitch quilt pieces together, but that would take a lot of prep work to cut out the pieces first. I decided to fall back on cross-stitch, an old favorite. During his over-6-hour surgery, I finished an old project and gave it to a friend for Christmas. Cross-stitch was the perfect thing for me at that time because it kept my hands busy and following a simple pattern was about all the concentration I could handle. Besides, the repetition of making those Xs was comforting some how. I haven’t done much cross-stitch since.

Flash forward some 6 years or so. After trying quilting again, honing my cooking/baking skills (gaining 40 pounds in the process), playing with paper and stamps making scrapbooks, and writing bits and pieces of a novel that wasn’t going any where, I took a good friend’s advice and tried knitting. My mother had tried to teach me when I was a teenager, but I didn’t like it, probably because I wasn’t good at it immediately and my pattern was to quit and move on to something else. I believe it was cross-stitch, actually. Anyway, I got the book Stitch and Bitch, some needles, and yarn and got started. Something my mother taught me must have been hiding in my subconscious because it came very easy to me. Not only that, I liked it! I felt I had found the craft for me, the one I could concentrate on and get really good at while still loving what I was doing.

As a bonus, learning to knit came at a time when I really needed something to keep me from cracking up. Yes, I say that flippantly, but for a couple of years there, I don’t know how I kept it all together. Actually I do know how, I knitted. I obsessively focused on learning how to knit, playing with yarn and learning how to follow a pattern. I won’t go so far as to say knitting saved my life, but it came damn close.

When I thought things were getting ready to turn around for me, I had an MRI done, expecting a migraine but finding lesions, the first step in diagnosing MS. Thus, I started spending a lot of time in waiting rooms again. The diagnosis process is a long one for MS, mostly because it is difficult to diagnose. One of these days, I’ll write more about why that is, but the point is that I now had something to do in the waiting rooms and at home while I waited for test results. As long as I followed simple patterns, I could easily sit and knit for as long as it took. Unfortunately, I couldn’t knit while in the MRI machine nor while getting a lumbar puncture.

It’s a testament to how much I love knitting that I haven’t turned away from it after my diagnosis and after things started to turn around for me. Whereas I can’t watch “The Price is Right” nor do I have any desire to cross-stitch, I happily continue to knit. I haven’t ignored the fact that I have a disease that could affect my dexterity, but luckily, my case is pretty mild and it hasn’t interfered too much. Actually, knitting is a pretty good gauge of how I’m doing. Sometimes, even on a bad day I can knit as long as it is a simple pattern not requiring a lot of concentration or the need to follow a chart. Then there are those days when I knit even a simple row over and over again and can’t get it right. We all have bad days, but I know that when I can’t complete a simple knit 2 purl 2 rib, something else might be going on and I should pay attention. But even on a bad day, I can listen to a knitting podcast (yes, there is such a thing) or look at a magazine to plan my next project. Sometimes, it’s just a bad day.

And now, knitting will help Join the Movement by raising money for MS research. At both of The Knitting Guild of America’s (TKGA) 2009 Knit & Crochet Shows in Portland, OR and Buffalo, NY, a silent auction will be held, featuring socks by various designers. Socks are a favorite project and an obsession with many knitters, so this is a wonderful idea. Proceeds will go to The National MS Society (NMSS). In their statement, the NMSS said, “The mission of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is to end the devastating effects of MS. Support from organizations like CGOA (Crochet Guild of America), TKGA and the Knit & Crochet Shows helps us to pursue new treatments so that no one will have to forgo the pleasure of being able to participate in activities that are so rewarding.”

Maybe knitting really is a life saver.

Another little life saver who wants to take a nap with Al.



My latest project--a market bag

Follow Through

How is it that I can feel restless and tired at the same time? How can I feel like I could sleep for hours, yet my head is spinning with ideas for projects and my fingers are itching to do something?

The problem is that I’m a great planner, but I’m usually not so good at follow through. I love planning. I love the excitement of those early moments in an idea. The gleam of “what if I . . .” completely redirects my attention me from whatever I’m doing.

For example, I decided that I needed a knitting journal. I have a spiral journal/notebook thingie (with sheep on it, of course) where I keep notes on what I’m working on. OK, that makes me sound sooooo much more organized than I am. Let’s try that again: When I think about it, I write down notes about what I’m working on, such as what yarn, what size needle, and any changes I’ve made to the pattern. But the notebook is haphazardly used, writing something down when I think about it and I have trouble finding the info later. So, I decided I needed a little more organization.

I thought about making my own first, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to look around the internet to see if there was already the perfect one out there. There were knitting journals, but back when I was looking at them, there weren’t that many and they all lacked a little something. They all had the basic info describing the project on a page, but somehow they just weren’t user-friendly enough for me, mostly I couldn’t take the pages out to categorize the projects so they’d be easier to find. Time to make my own!

I got a pretty binder and sat down with Excel to create my project pages. I tried different ways with different information, but finally ended up with something I liked. I made a lot of copies of blank journal pages, put them in the binder, then put the binder on the shelf of my knitting bookcase. And there it sat for I’m embarrassed to say how long. I did fill out a few pages, but for the most part, I didn’t want to take the time out of working on my projects to actually write all that stuff down. But when I got back from Virginia, I decided I needed to get out that journal and update it. I printed out photos of finished projects to tape to the pages, then filled out as much information as I could remember. While doing this, I realized there was a little more organizing to do: putting in dividers for projects in progress and projects completed. Then there was the growing list of projects I want to do. I decided I needed a page (or 20) so that I could list possible projects and where I can find the patterns and what yarn I would need. I even went through my magazines and tore out patterns, put them in protector pages, and I now have a “Wanna Do Projects” binder.



I’m so pleased with myself! Sure, I have new magazines I need to go through and patterns that I downloaded are still on my computer, but I have a good basis to build on. I do wish I was a better wiz with a computer and design programs because there are some things I would change about those journal pages, make them prettier. Also, right now, the binder is for 8 ½ x 11 paper, but I’d really like a smaller sized one, such as a 5 x 8 so it would be easier to carry around. It would come in really handy at the yarn shop to just pull my journal out of my purse and double check how much and what weight of yarn I need for that hiking scarf. I have a binder that size, but I can’t figure out an easy way to type up my journal pages on paper that size. Oh well, it’s nice having all the room on a page for my notes an pictures.

A quick Google search shows there are lots of journals out there now, even a woman who offers on her blog pdfs of her journal pages to download; they look a lot like mine, but are much prettier. Plus, there’s Ravelry, where you can keep an online journal and talk about your projects, even keep an inventory of your stash. I could be uber-cyber-organized, but I really like pen and paper, so I think I’ll stick to what I have.

Of course, there are more magazines coming in and several yarn companies offer free patterns for downloads, which are on my computer and need to be printed out. It seems like organization is an ongoing chore, I mean task. I shouldn’t think of it as a chore. OK, it’s a chore. It was fun to think about it and play around with the idea of having the journal, but now it’s a lot of work to keep that sucker updated. But in the end, it’s worth it.

It’s nice to have an idea and actually follow through with it for a change. Hmmm. Maybe this a brand new start to a whole new me! A disciplined, organized, and projects-completed kind of person. A person who finishes her projects instead of letting UFOs pile up around her. A person who keeps . . . hold on a minute. I just got an email from Knitting Daily. Maybe there’s a new pattern! Sometimes they have articles about spinning and weaving. You know, I’d love to learn how to spin. That would be so cool, wouldn’t it? Of course, I’d need to learn about the different types of yarns and understand better what “ply” means, but it would be so interesting. Then I could knit with the yarn I spin! Oooooh, oooooh, then I could start dying my own yarn! Yeah, I could try my hand at my own hand-painted yarns. Where’s my color wheel? What colors go well with sage green?

Sorry, I gotta go! You guys can let yourselves out, right? I got things to think about!!



P.S. Clip art from fotosearch.com

No, I haven't vanished from the face of the earth

But I've sure considered it. Or at least moving to New Zealand and raising sheep. And to all those people who say to me, "Oh there'd be problems any where else, too" I say "Pfffffffft." Not the point. The point is that the problems we are facing are almost unbearable. And the really irritating part is that people care more about playing the blame game and pointing a finger at everyone else, i.e. the other political party. There was even an editorial about all these financial problems are Clinton's fault. Please, please stop blaming each other, stop crowing about how much better your idea is to fix it, stop yelling about how wrong other people are. Here's an idea. Why don't our politicians, whom we elected, try thinking about what's best for American citizens first and actually doing something that would benefit us for a change. It's time for all these people who think they are examples of American success stories to step up and support the people in the country who propped them up.

Enough of that. I'm just going back to my knitting. Yes, the knitting obsession continues and grows, even. I listen to a knitting podcast while I walk Cosette and it fires me up to work on something. I'm busily trying to finish an afghan for my grandmother's 90th birthday present and a scarf for a friend before I go back home in October for the birthday festivities. And while I'm working on them, my mind is spinning with all the projects I want to work on next. Then, when I'm not knitting or listening to the knitting podcasts, I'm on knitting community websites, such as Ravelry. I can waste a lot of time looking at projects other knitters are doing, and one of these days, I'll stop looking around enough to figure out how to participate. I did start a knitting blog with a friend, but both of us got sick right after I set it up and I haven't done anything with it. Hell, I hardly ever update this blog, what made me think I'd keep a new one updated. But still, I might switch to that blog for awhile, just to be able to talk more indepth about what I'm doing. A kind of hobby journal, if you will.

I have gotten some reading in, too. I read The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library by Alice Kimberly. I got this from my mom, who decided she wasn't going to keep reading the series because it's just not her favorite thing. Me, seemingly always disagreeing with my mother, liked it and am looking forward to getting some more from the library. The premise is bookstore owner Penelope McClure who somehow (I haven't read the first one yet) is in possession of a coin that belonged to a private detective who was killed in the bookshop in the 40s and now the ghost of Jack Shepherd is with her, talking to her and helping her solve mysteries. The story has a modern day mystery that parallels a case that Jack had in the 40s, so it goes back and forth a little bit. Jack is a little bit of a stereotype and says "baby" a lot, but I enjoyed it and I think Kimberly is a good writer. So, I'll be reading more. But first, I'm enjoying Murder Runs in the Family by Anne George, part of her Southern Sisters Mysteries. It's funny, clever, and very Souther, and I like that. I have several books sitting on the waiting shelf, one of them is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I've wanted to read it for awhile, and when I found it at Half-Price Books, I snapped it up. Oh, but first I'll have to read Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn, which I borrowed from my best friend, Angie. I have to finish that and the Anne George, which I borrowed from Mom, so I can return them when I go back in October. That means I better get to reading. *Tsk* Oh the sacrifices I have to make, but I gave my word that I would return them and I can't go back on that, now can I?

So, how about some pictures?

A pause in licking Uncle Jay. The lull before the storm.


Baking pumpkin bread for a bake sale


Cosette hoping for a bite of said pumpkin bread


Yarn to finish the afghan


Cosette napping after her morning walk

Weekend-Wrap Up

I had been looking forward to this weekend for weeks. With my good friend and quilting buddy, M, I attended a needlework retreat at a local state park 4-H camp. I don't do embroidery like so many of these talented ladies, but I do cross-stitch and had a project I've wanted to work on for years.

I love retreats. They are exactly what they sound like--to get away for every day things and relax and concentrate on something else. And I like camping and not worrying about make-up and hair and knowing that the only decision I have to make is what I want to do next (read, knit, write, sleep, hike).

This retreat was really wonderful. The ladies were so inviting and made me feel welcome even though I was no where near on their level. They do some of the most beautiful needlework, using a pattern just as a suggestion, deciding what kind of embroidery stitches would look best. I only know how to make the X of a cross-stitch, so that's what I do. But even though some people may look down on cross-stitching as a baser needlework, these ladies were encouraging and made me feel like part of the group. In so many group situations, I usually feel like an outsider, but I didn't this time and it was great.

The 4-H camp was in a beautiful setting, tucked away and tree-covered.



The rooms were a little stark, but I wouldn't be doing much in there except sleeping.



We brought our own linens and a flashlight, since it is a dark walk from the lodge center to the cabins.



Usually at retreats, there are workshops on new techniques and sometimes even a massage therapist and yoga sessions--anything to encourage relaxation and fun. But this was purely a work retreat. No frills, except meals were provided. My husband couldn't quite wrap his head around what I'd be doing, so I told him we'd get up, work on our projects and chat, eat breakfast, go back to stitching, eat lunch, take a walk maybe, continue stitching and chatting, eat dinner, and stitch into the wee hours. Then get up the next day and start all over again! It's heaven! But he got his own little heaven--he rode his motorcycle, hung out at the motorcycle shops, and went to Beertopia to buy some Belgium beers that we haven't tried before. So we both had a good weekend. Here are some more pictures

In the lodge


Ladies busy stitching


Charlie came for a visit


My project. Yes, that's a sheep. One down, 11 to go.


Time for lunch


Don't forget WWC tomorrow! The words are Disguise and Reflection.

Goodies in the Mail

Newt had a contest and I won! I won good. She sent me my prize and look what I got:





Does she know me well, or what? She made the jewelry (check out the cool closing clasp on the bracelet) and post-its with the book! I'm starting the book today. I've been wanting to read it for a long time, so I guess the Harry Potter re-reads will just have wait.

Thanks, Newt. I can't wait for the next contest!

In other news in Kell's world, I’m knitting a shawl for my friend I’m going to Italy with. Not only is her birthday happening while we are there, but also her husband has bought her an expensive dress so that they can get dressed up and go out to dinner while we are there. Al and I are passing on that, BTW. I like getting dressed up, but I don’t want to bring all that stuff with me. And Al’s idea of a special night isn’t defined as wearing a suit and paying a lot of money for a little bit of food with a lot of sauce around it. He likes it more than he used to, and he did say that if I want to go, we’ll go. But nah.

Anyway, her husband bought her a dress, and I said I would make her a soft, pretty shawl to go with it. Me and my big mouth. I forgot about his taste, so it’s been a struggle trying to find a good yarn to go with it and to decide on a pattern. The dress is metallic green and gold and strapless. I was thinking it would be a little black dress with a little bling, but no, it’s a lot of bling. She’ll look lovely in it, and even though it’s not my style, it is pretty.

So, I bought an ivory silk yarn. It has a little shimmer and it feels luxurious. I was going to make a rectangle shawl because I thought it would be more dramatic, but after 4 goes at this thing and not being happy with any of them, I’m making a triangular one with no pattern instead. It’s just easier. I’m also knitting it on larger needles so that it will look kind of lacey and because I have, of course, waited until the last minute and now have to knit in my sleep to get it done in time.

That's all for today. Y'all have a great weekend.