New Beginnings

It's been a long time since I've written on this blog and I figured the beginning of 2014 was a good time to get started again. This is going to be a great year, I know it. In 2013 both of my children were married and my son moved to Georgia. We traveled to Europe and Jason received a job promotion. I continue to work at both the high school and college but fiber continues to be one of my main loves. I love to knit and weave and this year I started spinning - yarn, not on a bike.

I can't wait to improve my fiber skills and hope to master spinning fine, consistently beautiful yarn! My first project of the year is a pair of socks. My little sister is having her first baby and can't wear the socks I knit her so she needed a pair of bigger socks to fit her new "mommy" sized feet. I hope she likes them. Making a special gift for a loved one is a great way to begin 2014!

Maybe tomorrow I'll let you know my knitting goals for this year :)

Projects started

At the beginning of the summer I took a picture of all the projects I was working on. Some needed minimum work to complete like adding buttons or piecing together while others needed considerable more work and were in the beginning stages. I had a cardigan to complete, a pair of socks, an Ishbel shawl, a fair isle sweater and other random projects. Mostly, I worked on completing projects but I did start, and complete, a few so I could work on something new for my trip. Here is a picture at the beginning of summer. In a few days I hope to show a completed version of this picture. I can't wait to see it!

WIPs

I have several works in progress but somehow can't say no to a test knit (as pictured on the right) or starting a new project. There is something about free yarn that consumes me and leaves me helpless to saying no or establishing boundaries. This morning I started a new project with 5 minutes left before I needed to go to work and last night I started two more before going to bed. The crazy thing is I think I will finish each of these within the allotted deadline I have set for myself. Not only that, I still have more I want to begin. I think about the ladies in the office who would love a mug cozy and the girls I work with and wanting to make them something special for our department Christmas party and family who would really appreciate a handmade gift. But then, of course, I begin thinking about the ladies in my knitting group and how I would really love to make them something but do you really knit something for the ladies who spend their evenings knitting? I don't know. Additionally, I can't help but thinking about the babies about to be born that I must knit for because I love their moms and grandmothers so much. Heaven forbid I should check Pinterest and see boards that are haunting me with the things I want to make my sister-in-law or my daughter. If all I did was knit, there still wouldn't be enough time but I also want to quilt and read and sew. Have you ever read the essay, "I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady? It's a great editorial on how much we all need someone to manage our appointments and chores so that we can take care of the things we want to do instead of what we have to do. I don't really want a wife - I hear they are pretty high maintenance - but a great quote written on a mug from my daughter comes to mind when I think of what I want to do and what I need to do; My job is interfering with my knitting. Yes, it is!

Knitting Sooths

Knitting sooths my soul and brings peace to situations filled with turmoil or busyness. When I’m most stressed I feel the greatest need to sit down and create which comforts and applies purpose to situations that seem too chaotic and “twirly,” as one of my dear friends suggests. But what also happens during these crazy times is that I begin several projects in order to satisfy that need. Currently, I have a shawl to finish that I’ve virtually ignored for months. I also have a pair of socks that are quite pretty and stem back to August when I decided to complete all the socks in the Master Sock Knitting book. I’ve only completed one pair and this is the second. So much for that personal challenge! I also have started two summer sweaters. I know that sounds like an oxymoron but I hope it actually works. I’m knitting them in cotton and linen blends, neither of which I really use all that often. I also have a beautiful skein of Madelintosh that was given to me as a gift that I want to do something special with but can’t quite figure out what. The wonderful thing is – I can take my time or set a deadline to finish these projects – whichever sooths my soul at the time!

Focusing

I might have ADD. Now, this isn’t a medical diagnosis and no doctor has been consulted in my determination. Let me explain. I knit to stay focused and to concentrate. But on what am I focusing? That is a good and logical question. Currently, I have several projects in the works. I am knitting a baby blanket, two pairs of socks, a shawl (another will be started this week and is for a test knit due the middle of February), a hat for charity, a baby sweater (another which I plan to start this evening), three adult sweaters, an afghan, a dishcloth and there is no guarantee that other knitting projects won’t be started before these are finished.

So, let’s get back to the ADD and focusing. I knit to think about my lesson plans, while I am watching my favorite program, and most recently, while listening to podcasts and audiobooks. So do I ever complete projects? Of course, I do! I finished the socks that I have been working on for 2 ½ weeks as a test knit. Actually, I made three socks because the first was knit on size 1 dpns when the pattern clearly said to knit on 0. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem but because the designs were a little more intricate than in other socks I’ve knit, they required more yarn. Of course, I didn’t realize my mistake until nearly finished with the second sock and I ran out of yarn. So, I did what any conscientious knitter would do and I took the first sock out and reknit it on a size 0. Taking such action should have solved my problem. NOT! I was still 10 rows short. Oh well, I kitchenered the toe and called it a day – which means, one toe is longer than the other and I will send a detailed email to the person for whom I am knitting the socks and let them determine an appropriate course of action. Should we simply shorten one toe or add more yarn and finish the other? Thankfully, not my decision since the socks have been sent to their new owner.

So where does my knitting lead me tonight? I’m finishing my 12^th hat for charity this month and then I will start on a baby sweater. I currently have three babies for whom I am knitting – two boys and one girl. Truly, knitting for babies is the best!

I am in the process of a Harry Potter marathon while I work toward a knitting deadline. I love that there is knitting in the movies. Although there are some jokes surrounding Mrs. Weasley’s knitting and the sweater Ronald received for Christmas, did you notice that he actually put it on prior to Harry waking up and coming into the room? If he really didn’t like the sweater, why try it on and continue to wear it when nobody was there with a camera and people expecting you to be excited about it? I’ll tell you why. He knew the value of a gift handcrafted by his mother who loved him more than anyone else. We don’t see Harry open his sweater but I like to think that part of his excitement about receiving a gift was the anticipation that Mrs. Weasley took the time to knit something special just for him and, he too, felt the love in the gift she had crafted.

Have you ever noticed the knitting needles in the second movie and how they were working on their own? I like when that happens and it really feels like magic. It’s not like it happens all the time but when it does, you are working along in a pattern and realize that hours have gone by and the design has developed into a work of art. Very satisfying!

Unfortunately, the magic is not happening right now. I’m working on a pair of socks that are taking hours and hours to finish. I’m removing as many stitches as I’m putting in because I am not paying attention to the stitches in the chart. I need to focus – and truthfully, it really is getting better as I’ve knit more on the chart. But this project will not last forever and soon I will be involved in some mindless knitting where the needles take over and the magic begins. I really want to make a Gryffindor scarf like those worn in the first movie or even the second. Have you noticed the difference between the two scarves? I have someone special in mind for the gift , someone who will squeal with delight and wear it with pride, and I even have the yarn as part of my stash.

Alas, that is not what I will do right now, because however much my mind may be wandering and lusting after starting a new project, one that is easy and quickly finished, I still need to work on these socks and be thankful that magic does occur but just of a different kind. Isn’t it magic to take miles of yarn and turn it into something beautiful?