The Back-up Sock

You know how when you leave the house, you always pack too much knitting. At least I do. I go to my mother's house for the afternoon and pack a sock in my purse, just in case. I go away for a weekend, and bring a current work in progress, or two, or three. I don't really expect to finish ALL of these projects, but I may finish (or arrive at an impasse) one, and I never really know what I am going to FEEL like knitting. So I pack a giant bag. Just in case.

Today, my pack rat quality saved me. I had more continuing education today. This was a video replay of a seminar, so the audience had no reservation in expressing their boredom, disinterest and endless ennui. People rustled newspapers, fiddled on their laptops, and sat with their eyes fixed glazed at the TV screen. I knit. And knit. And knit. I knit so much, I ran out of yarn! Luckily, true to form, I had a sock stuffed in the bag, just in case.

I am making a car seat blankie for a friend of mine that just found out she is pregnant. I received one, and it is by far the most-used craftie item that I have. My husband must like mine better, because he asked if we could keep the one that I am knitting, and send my friend ours. Hmm, can't do that, because there is no way I am going to claim broomstitck crocheting out of cheap yarn as my own, but maybe my three balls of yarn will miraculously be enough for two blankies.

Must pack more yarn, because I am doing part 2 of the continuing ed tomorrow.

Today, it is all about the spare.

Winter tableau

I was a living window display last weekend. A special event downtown encourages the stores to have special window displays demonstrating their crafts. I volunteered to knit in the window of my LYS. Almost two hours of uninterrupted, baby-free knitting time. What a rare treat!

I brought four projects with me, either in extreme denial over how fast I knit, or to allow myself a variety or projects. I knit. I smiled as people passed by. I ate chocolate, kindly provided by the yarn store owner as a thank you. I gawked at knitwear on the street to ward off the extreme cold. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Today, it is all about the memory.

A Little Slow

I have been embarassingly slow in coming to a recent realization about sock knitting. I should knit socks that match my clothes. I can't explain why that occurred to me before. I have been buying sock in any cool color combination that caught my eye. And the less said about my unexplained fascination with self-patterning sock yarn, the better. The result has been several pairs of finished socks that I hardly wear. Even the socks I am working on now: cool colors, that match nothing in my closet.

Obviously, I need to buy more sock yarn. Don't tell my husband.

Today, it is all about the clashing colors.

Any excuse

I was at a continuing education seminar this week. More interesting than most, if you forget about the presenter that simply read the power point parts to us, which were provided in our materials anyway. There was one unique section. They talked about ways to avoid attorney burnout. She instructed us to talk to our neighbor of things we do for mental health, or things we used to do and should really start again. I took that as a cue to take out my knitting. I normally don't knit during live seminars, no matter how mind-numbing, just because I think it is rude. (Even though simple knitting can actually focus the mind, which is completely under-rated in the muggle world.) After the neighborly discussion, she went around the room with the mike to share with the room (and I am certain that portion will be very stimulating for the video replay people), and my response was "I am doing it right now." Which I feel gave me free reign to knit for the rest of the seminar.

Finally! Some measurably progress on my sock! I had been only a few rows past the ribbing forever. I have been knitting a little on everything, so no single project looks like it is any further than before. I needed to be trapped with one project for an endless period of time, at least it seemed endless.

Here is the little guy modeling Mommy's sock. Does anyone else think it looks like a sleeve for him?

Today, it is all about the mental health.

Elective knitting

No matter who you vote for, be sure to vote. Finally, the end to election season. After today, no more mailings, TV or radio ads touting or bashing a candidate for something or other. The longest, most expensive election had finally drawn to a close. Personally, I can think of better ways to spend a billion dollars then endless, annoying ads every 15 minutes, but that is just me.

I voted last Friday, since I am frequently at the courthouse anyway, and I had the little guy with me. He got his first lesson in civic responsibility, though he slept through most of it. Now, we are ready to see the results unfold on TV. He had a long nap this afternoon, so should be ready to stay awake late (a mixed blessing), and I have knitting for every contingency: complex lace knitting for the early hours when there is nothing to really report but that doesn't stop idle network chatter, medium complex sock knitting for the hours when I want to pay attention to what is being said, and mindless knitting in case this thing drag on into the wee hours of night or worse, an early landslide for the other guy that leaves me wanting to crawl under my bed for four years with without my needles.

Tonight, it is all about the electoral math.

Baby's First Halloween

Ok, so maybe the little guy is too small to understand the concept or even think about eating candy, we still took him trick-or-treating at the mall. Thanks to an unusually warm evening, the cozy, thick originally-planned bumblebee costume had to be scrapped. Instead, we dressed him in one of his Colts onesies, and he became their littliest fans. Mommy and Daddy both wore Colts jerseys as well.

I have also been hard at work on the endless mindless hoodie. One skien done, four (maybe five) to go! Mommy, I think it will be a long time before I grow into this.

Meanwhile, I have been having a love affair with lace. I drool over whispy pictures on the internet, dream of yarn overs, and my eyes glaze over intricate charts and graphs. My next project is calling to me. The yarn is sitting there, mocking me with its delicate softness. The needles are resting nearby. The pattern is selected, downloaded, reviewed, and ready to start. All the pieces are in place. . . .and yet, I haven't started. Why, you ask? Because I know if I don't finish my first lace project, Branching Out, first, I never will. It will be like the first neglected sock that never gets a mate. So instead, I have been working on Branching Out, only slightly resentful that it is not the new lace that I really want to be working on.

Today, it is all about the anticipation.

Mental Knitting

I had to do some mental knitting a few days ago. I had finished the ribbing on my new socks for myself, Twisted Tweed. I started on the first pattern row, did three repeats, and realized that I was doing it wrong. I just did not understand the instructions, even though they were not difficult. When I slipped a few stitches with the yarn in front, then knitted a few, I kept ending up with an extra stitch in there. I pictures socks that increased by a dozen stitches every other row, and knew that definitely wasn't right.

I cruised onto Ravelry, to see if anyone had an explanation. I only had a few minutes, and didn't find one, but I did take a gander at some nice pictures that showed the stitch detail. After a day of mulling over the pictures and description, I finally figured it out.

I tested my theory, and sure enough. Lovely! Who knew that mental knitting could be so effective?

Today, it is all about the mind.