Thursday, November 3, 2011

Happy first Thursday in November

This weekend I have knitting on my mind: I'm knitting a gift (I don't dare say more about it until it's given, just in case), knitting samples for my November/December classes, finishing a design for submission to a book (I am so excited! But again, I don't dare say anything more until it's finished. It's just a submission, there's a huge chance it won't get in. But just the thought that it might!), and starting what I like to call the Christmas cast-on: wherein I get way too ambitious about making gifts for friends and family for the holidays. I am hoping (hoping) this year to pare down my grandiose ideas to something more achievable. The theme of my holiday gifts will be thrifty, handmade, loving and reasonable. Although, as I type that I can hear the tiny voice of my more reasonable self saying, "J'accuse! You already have one grandiose idea that is in a medium with which you are not proficient and you are in love with it! Take heed!" Uh, my reasonable but dramatic self, apparently. Annnyway, I'm starting the planning process of my holiday gifts and I'm looking forward to it. I have matured recently as a knitter in that I actually knit gauge swatches and design before I start the actual project instead of during. It's still not my favorite part, my fingers still itch to get those stitches on the needle and just get started already but I have noticed that my designs are better and my finished products are nicer if I take some time to think about what I'm going to do before I do it. Somewhere, my mother just heard a thousand angles break into song and said quietly to herself, "One of the many, many lessons I tried to teach my willful daughters just sunk in to one of their thick skulls! Glory, glory!"

In case any of you knitters out there haven't seen this yet, feast your eyes on this video. And if any of you non-knitters actually made it through a paragraph about nothing but gauge swatches and designing, you will still appreciate this:

It makes my vision blur just thinking about knitting on a scale that small. And the colorwork on some of those pieces... I am in awe.

Other activities for the weekend: watching Coraline, cleaning and cooking, a party for a friend, an open-house at JoAnn Fabrics (if you live in the Mt Pleasant area and want to take a class at JoAnn's (not just knitting, there are lots of other classes offered) come sign up this Saturday for 50% off! And if you don't want to take a class, maybe you just come and visit me!), cinnamon buns/coffee/knitting at Erica's so I can meet her new kittens, and playing Boggle with my Grandma. And if the Interlibrary Loan gods smile upon me, Season 3 of Moonlighting will come in and I can spend some more time with David and Maddie.

1 comment:

  1. Yay Coraline! I love that movie so, so much. (Also the book!)

    Yay Boggle! That was a classic game we used to play with my mom's parents. That obnoxiously loud clatter is somehow a good sound.

    And also yay gift knitting! Or, for me, thinking about it. I'm currently knitting up a storm to build inventory for the Detroit Urban Craft Fair, and once that's done I can dive into gift knitting in a serious way. Why do I always leave it until the last minute? :)

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