The Morning After

What a knit-nite! At the local Barnes and Noble once again (We do need to see about rotating through houses again once people are up to it). I will brag about myself first. I have graduated from geometric shapes to fitted garments!

My first shell is done! It is the one with lace from this quarter's Knitty.com. Last night K showed me how to do the single crochet edging around the openings. I still need to take the seemed shoulders apart. Not happy with the look or the length -- it's just a tad long. Anyway. I need to pick apart the seeming and the BO edges, unravel a few rows, and then do a three-needle BO (which, I actually already know how to do! Yeah!) to get a smoother seem.

L., having been traveling for work and the holiday was not in spirits. She seemed unsettled in mind and body and went home early. I'm hoping she gives me a call tonight to let me know how she's doing. If not, I'll pester her tomorrow.

A. makes stunning progress. She can do cables now, figured out errors in the "Knitting on the Edge" pattern she was using, and has started the wrap from this summer's "Knitters" in King Tut Egyptian cotton -- ohhh so soft.

I do wonder about the amount of time she is putting into this -- something another remarked on as well. She's pointed out herself that if she can't excel at something, she walks away. A general philosophy that can cause problems sometimes. I never realized how much I gain from being willing to enjoy what I'm doing, even if I'm not good at it yet or may not become good at it.

I'd never have been able to create Devlin's Dragon, or the picture of Scott (my brother) if I hadn't continued my drawing and decided to try painting the dragon. While my fiction writing is somewhat -- pedantic -- at times, many of my poems are good. I just don't write often anymore -- the intense emotional focus can be hard for me to shake off right now, so I stay away from it for the moment.

As I've noted in the past, I'm a generalist in many ways. No art lessons beyond public grade school. No music lessons either. Theatre proved outlets for many of these activities in the past, but since I haven't worked on a play in -- yikes! -- sixteen years, I've gone back to some of these pursuits. For what painting and drawing I do from time to time, my eyes serve -- I don't seem to need depth perception to do what I do.

I will never be brilliant at any of these things, but they do make me happy -- they enrich my life, just like the elementary ed. philosophies suggest. I can't imagine walking away from things just because I thought I might not be the best at it. Criminy, there's always someone out there who's got more talent or training. I sing, but I don't have perfect pitch. I fuddle around with my guitar, but I haven't managed to master all the chords yet. I've been fuddling off and on with it for five years. I'll get there. I have a lifetime to play with these things. They are for pleasure and for being creative and for sharing with my family -- at least for the most part.

Thought of doing something that she was not good at put terror into A.'s eyes. A difficult situation for her. Childhood training can do so much to us. Knitting is a positive thing to enjoy, and I can't really pass judgement on the amount of time A is putting into it right now -- I've been known to use it for thinking, working through stressful times, and procrastinating myself! (Just one more row and then I'll . . . ) but perhaps this is just another way of working. Her work is beautiful, and she's enjoying the hell out of it. Perhaps that's what she needs most right now.

Hmmm. Oh yes. K. And the Anna Falkenburg. My god this sweater will be gorgeous! Her colors are all brown-y heathery with some green and a bit of rust thrown in. The pictures of the geometric design did nothing for me, but seeing it flow from K's needles is another story -- so fine a stitch gauge, so beautiful a pallet. K is doing a lovely job with it. I sometimes envy her her yarn opportunities -- [sigh] okay, I covet her yarn. That's all there is to it. Often. Always. Maybe it's time to visit her stash and play with it again. I love fondling yarn, even yarn I will never own. I'm such a degenerate that way!

But the job hunt continues. And if I get the résumé's out this week that I've set as a goal, I will allow a small purchase of the four skeins I need of Fantasy Naturale cotton that I need to make the variegated entrelac shell I've started (hah! I learned to do that last night too -- or at least got it started. Such a good learning night for me!) We'll see. I want to have enough worked on the back to see if the colors will pool as I hope or if they will only stripe. if they will only stripe, I will wait until I can get some of this yarn in a solid color. I don't think Stitches has it in solids at this point. But the 20% off sale will have me looking for it bright at early Saturday morning!

We had others dropping in and out which increased the fun and is one of the advantages of holding our sessions there. And the Italian wedding cake and coffee were scrumptious. Gotta love that stuff as well.

Hrummph. Well. If I'm going to get those résumé's out, it's time to get going. More coffee. Off to the computer itself. Time to move.

Okay -- just one more row!