Knitting Ramblings

Most of you wouldn't know that this blog, under a different name, started off as a knitting blog.   I wasn't sewing at all then, being burnt out from earning a fashion design degree.  For most of my 20's I didn't do anything creative at all.  My life long reading obsession filled my free time and I used my shopping skills to buy RTW clothing/shoes. (My sister got a lot of nice hand me downs when I got tired of things.)

Then I married my movie obsessed husband and found myself slowly going crazy sitting in front of the TV every night. That's when I taught myself to knit so that I could keep him company without resorting to any kind of stabbing.  I quickly became one of those people that are ALWAYS knitting and bought myself a yarn stash "overnight". It was the best hobby for the 2 hour train commute to work, with the benefit of being incredibly soothing.

I picked up sewing again after my son was born cause I'm in that weird no man's land of not skinny but not plus sized. Unless I wanted to spend most of my life in yoga pants I need to start making my own clothing again. Once I started sewing again knitting became my background hobby. Knitting just can't beat how fast a sewn garment comes together. When you're a product knitter/sewcialist like me that means sewing has more thrills.

But now I'm gonna let you in on my dirty secret...knitting usually makes me happy. (Unless a lot of slip stitches are involved and then those bastards can go straight to hell.) Sewing usually makes me want to throw things.   Don't get me wrong buying fabric and patterns and pairing them up is super happy fun times times infinity.  Wearing a garment that turned out well turns me into a smug little lady with a shit eating grin on my face. ("Yeah I made this. I MADE THIS! EVERYONE LOOK AT ME!!!")
But the actual process of sewing, tends to be more boring or rage inducing depending rather than fun. That's why I listen to podcasts while sewing, why I think hand sewing is my own personal cross to bear and why sewing for others is never gonna be on the top of my to do list.  I should probably slap a selfish seamstress sticker on my sewing machine and call it a day.

Non-selfish knitting is a little different, I do knit things for other people a couple times a year. Since the process is more enjoyable I can get into making something for fun and then giving it away.  Don't get me wrong I'm still happiest when I can take that finished item off the needles, call it "My precious", and then rub it all over my face. OK, now that I've admitted all of that for no reason let's look at some pretty pictures.

For over a year I've been knitting my friend Steve a Mason-Dixon mitered crosses blanket.  (Ravelry link, sadly the Mason-Dixon blog doesn't let you link to an individual post) He highly praised the one I made for myself, which was the perfect excuse to start another. If I had to knit one project for the rest of my life it would be this blanket. Every square is knit separately, so it's highly portable and easy to stop and start a random.  It's also the perfect TV knitting for when you actually want to pay attention to what you're watching.

I get excited every time I cast on a center with Noro Silk Garden.  How will the color gradient on this one knit up? Can I take some ends of two different balls and make them into a beautiful block?  The white frames are knit out of Elsa Wool Cormo, the most deliciously thick and soft wool I've ever touched. Perfect for miles and miles of garter stitch, just talking about it makes me feel all zen. (I loooove you blanket.)

Needless to say my friend was thrilled.  He sent me pictures of the blanket draped the back of his couch because he's cool like that.

And for a moment I understood why people like to do unselfish knitting or sewing, it's like giving away your love in a tangible form. So I took that warm fuzzy feeling and...... cast on a sweater for me.  My Precious!!!  Oh well, I'll have to keep working on my unselfish crafting, but that can wait till November.