Last night however, was the perfect knitter's night. Dinner was done and cleaned up early as well as the few loose ends I didn't get to during the day. Kids were quietly working away on homework, my Beloved was sitting with me but catching up on email. My herbal tea was hot and steaming, the first Boat Sweater was blocking and the second just needed a bit of sewing up. A soft rain was even audible on the roof for an extra hit of coziness. I was sure by the end of the second episode of Project Runway I'd be done with the Boat Sweaters at last!
Apparently too far into my state of blissful household and family perfection I mindlessly sewed up one seam and wove in the end without coming close to properly lining up the two seams. Picking out the end did two things...
1. Convinced me that my weaving in technique is extremely reliable and durable - it took forever pick it apart.
2. Gave rise to a tension headache that probably came from the day of painting but only emerged when I started to relax. It worked its way up my neck and wouldn't be ignored. I threw the knitting aside.
Unwilling to give up my whole knitting (k)night I reached down beside me to my wonderful pile of knitting reading and came up with my latest book borrowed from the library. "Knitter's Stash" by Interweave Press 2001. The book was started when letters were sent to every LYS in the US asking for contributions of the most popular original patterns the shops offered their patrons. As my headache moved into my eye sockets forcing me to even stop reading I wondered whether such an exercise would even be attempted today since it seems to me the majority of original design work is now found on line and so many designers have their own public profiles separate and distinct from those who might sell their work. I was most intrigued though by a quote from the editor's introduction describing the traits one LYS owner had observed among the knitters in her shop..."Knitters...delight in colour and form and have heightened tactile senses. They love containers and tools and have an almost endless amount of patience and ability for self-entertainment." The first sentence is pretty obvious but the second one is quite insightful. Of course knitter's love affair with bags has been all over blog land for years but lately I've also been seeing a bunch of blog posts about stash management and storage and even that new magazine "Studio" that Interweave is offering that certainly speaks to knitters' love of containers and tools. Also amazing is that new line of custom needles by Signature Needle Arts or how about the new Harmony Straights? I also have to say every element in that description - especially the last one is present in my personality and has been as long as I can remember. Can you relate to that description?
I'll have to muster up some of my "endless patience" tonight to take another run at finishing Boat Sweater #2. With the sun now shining again and my job site drying up I'd better head out for more painting. Tonight I'll be sure to do some stretching and to have a hot shower and to get the knots out before a(k)nother knitting (k)night) gets wrecked!
1 comment:
Last night was really nice around here too. The weather was finally cool and we sat outside on the patio for hours with our fountain going. My daughter studied, hubby read, doggy chewed on a bone, and I knitted away on the "man socks". So nice. Sorry to hear yours ended in a headache. That can be frustrating!
I love that book. I bought it years ago and look through it pretty often. That's a great quote.
Good luck today with your painting.
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