i always feel as though right when i get really excited about something else i’m knitting, the actual knitting itself grinds to a horrible, rusty, ear-splittingly creaky halt. it leaves me with nothing to blog about! and that’s just a sad day. anyway, i ripped out my entrelac scarf and cast on again with one less column of diamonds so it wasn’t quite so unflattering wide. being pretty petite and not a waif does make knitting some accessories a little bit difficult, because anything that’s too wide looks very unbalanced, but having broad shoulders and hips makes knitting many more delicate things look almost too small. which is why i’m really hoping to start branching out into modifying patterns more for myself and also designing my own. i’m going on the hunt for a yarn that inspires me to create and submit something for publishing in knitty, hopefully for the next fall issue. obviously i’m still not jazzed about my chances of publication, since thousands of very skilled knitters put in projects, but a girl can hope. but about that entrelac scarf, well, now i just don’t feel like the yarn lends itself to the entrelac pattern; the color changes are a little bit too abrupt to really make good use of the pattern. and too bad, too!! i found this teeny tiny swatch i made (literally maybe 3″, blocked) just to test the pattern from the cherie amour body in that yarn to see if i could do it on straight needles instead of circs, and realized that the yarn looked much better as a lace pattern. so there just may be some more ripping in store for this scarf, which really is kind of sad, because i just want to be done with this yarn already. i spent more money than i could have wanted to on it and it’s such an odd amount, i don’t know what to do. maybe i should just do a set of heavy weight socks and a pair of mittens and then see what i’ve got left, for i am at wit’s end. these will, however, be the most expensive socks i will ever have made, because honestly, $13.50 for a ball of yarn is more than i’ve ever spent. of course, that’s not even that much considering what i got for that price, but when you’ve got to save money and you’re not working because you’re taking classes, it hurts. plus i want to buy some of the twinkle soft chunky so that i can do a twinkle pattern properly, since most internet reviews seem to say that substitutes are hard to find, and twinkle’s yarn does not come cheap.
so my really cool thing of the week was going to see stevie wonder perform last night at mohegan sun. it was a really excellent show and stevie’s music is not only beautiful and invigorating live, but he’s an extremely passionate person and really tries to raise awareness of some hot issues through his music. the one thing that did make me a little sad though, was watching and hearing everyone cheer as he begged them to be the change that must be seen in the world, to do something when they get home to try and make the world a better place, and knowing that almost every single one of those people was going to go home, go to sleep, and go on with their lives unchanged. it makes me want to do something, and now i just have to figure out what. i’ve long wanted to make my knitting and passion for it into something that can help the world, and maybe now i can start to make it happen, by selling notions and small finished knits and donating proceeds. we will see. i’m going to have a lot going on now that there’s only just over a month left in the semester (scary scary), but maybe over christmas break i can start to make a difference. i would feel much better as a knitter if i did, and although it’s one thing to donate chemo caps and things, i want to go another route. reach out beyond the in-your-face-obvious ways to help with knitting. again. we will see.
it’s rainy and cold and a little bit windy, which means that it’s ace weather for curling up with my knitting and a cup of tea. i’ve discovered a really excellent tea company, actually. their tea is certainly not cheap either, but it’s a splurge i’m willing to go for, since it’s still cheaper to feed my warm-beverage addiction than buying more yarn for my knitting addiction is. the company is St. James Tea Company, and they make marvelous green tea blends. i’ve had green tea with honeybush, green tea with nana mint, and green tea with sunflower; all of their blended green tea line i believe. and what i really love is that the tea comes in these little nylon sachets which really release all the goodness without a paper taste, and the leaves aren’t pulverized; they’re large-cut leaves and you can see everything. you can see the little blue dried up cornflowers, and the big chunky green tea leaves, and little bits of yellow petals. i highly recommend it, it’s the best green tea i have ever had, and i’ve had a few, that’s for sure. you can find it on amazon, and you can buy a pyramid of 20 sachets for around $20US. not bad for that kind of quality!! <</end sales pitch>>
you know, i should think about getting a job at my LYS. i can’t believe it never occurred to me until now, but i’m really going to have to check that out. so, blog, don’t let me forget, because excuse the awful pun, but it would, in fact, be grand.
-A
