I Put A Spell On You

Posted on January 25, 2017

Every knitter has an idiot project. You might not call it that, but you have one if you are a knitter. The perfect idiot project meets several requirements. It must be easy enough to knit without needing a pattern. It must be portable to take with you. It ought to be enough to sustain your attention and enthusiasm, but if you look at the first two requirements, this is usually where the wheels fall off the cart. Because something it is both something you can knit without a pattern and kinds, sorta portable is usually rather boring. Nine times out of ten, and idiot project (for me, at least) is a pair of socks. Once you get them cast on, they are relatively smooth…

Categories: Knitting

Chasing Shadows

Posted on July 9, 2014

I used to be a very monogamous knitter. Key phrase there is used to be. When you first start to knit, it’s a labor of love. You drop stitches. You revel in the grotesque thing appearing on your needles because, well, you’re making it. My first few projects were beyond hideous, but they were mine. And since as a new knitter you concentrate on making one simple movement after another, you don’t have time to get distracted by multiple projects. Knit, purl, knit, purl, repeat. But after a while, it tends to get boring because after you’ve mastered the knit and purl stitches, you start realizing that there is a world of new skills to be learned. So your eye starts to wander a bit. Ooooh, look…

Categories: Knitting, Weight Loss

Tagged: knitting, sweater, WIPs

Knocking On Mine

Posted on June 22, 2014

Knitting was not something that I wanted to like. I took my first class because I didn’t want my friend to be by herself, and I fought with the needles every single second the first few times I was there. But I persevered and created a most hideous scarf. Later, I made a “charming” sweater for a bear out of kitchen cotton, and then I set the needles aside for a few years and forgot how to purl. But one thing led to another, and soon knitting became kind of an obsession. Had you asked me after that first ugly scarf (and truly, I can’t impress the ugliness enough) if I would ever make a sweater for a person that involved fit and patterns…

Categories: Knitting, Summer, Uncategorized

Tagged: knitting, modifications, sprig

Monument

Posted on June 19, 2014

Ahhh, summer! To tell you the truth, I’m not a huge fan. Part of it is the heat, but a bigger part is the unstructured nature of it. I don’t do well without structure. My summer alarm clock? About an hour later than my school year one, which is 4:50 AM. Yes . . . in summer, I give myself a whole extra hour of sleep. Each summer, I bring home books to read, books I swear will help the following year. And each fall, I schlep them back to my classroom having given them an exquisite taste of what life is like on outside of school. Yet each summer, I vow to be better with the organization. Nothing, however, seems to work for…

Categories: Knitting, Summer

Tagged: bullet journal, knitting, self-improvement, summer

3/30 – Plan B

Posted on November 3, 2012

Usually with a Gratitude project, you’re supposed to take a photo of something that day and then post it. Or at least that’s what the person who introduced this project to me says. Today, I’m going with my own interpretations on the project because I know what I’m doing after the day is done, and it won’t involve time to blog and post and all that good shit. Considering I have photos about today’s reason to be cheerful, I’m using those. Forgive me . . . or don’t. Several years ago, possibly a decade or slightly more, I learned how to knit. I took a class with a friend, created the most ass-tacular scrf ever known to God and man, and then signed up…

Categories: Gratitude, Knitting

Red Rain

Posted on June 3, 2012

Dear Little One, When you’re born, everyone will “Oooh” and “Aaah” over your every move. It’s kinda like that when you’re a baby … you’re incredibly cute and you smell good and people make a big deal over you because you are a big deal. And you’ll be loved. How do I know this? Because I know your momma. Trust me on this one. Things you should know before you make your grand debut. – your parents are teachers, which means people think they make a ton of money for little work. Nothing could be further from the truth. They teach because they believe in it. They see the good in all kids, and they make a difference. – you better like soccer. Since…

Categories: Knitting, School

Idioteque

Posted on April 1, 2012

I knit for a variety of reasons but the biggest one is it staves boredom. Shopping with the Girls? Knitting. Sitting on a crowded subway? Knitting. On a long flight? Knitting. Participating in a three-day conference? Ummm . . . knitting. Consequently, I usually have an idiot project with me at all times. I never get more than a few rows done of the easily memorizable, and you know what. That’s fine by me. Sometimes the idiot project is a pair of socks (I think I knit a pair while we were prom dress shopping), but the past two have been scarves. I’m not sure why because I don’t usually wear scarves, and they aren’t as transportable as a sock. However, the scarves have…