Just when I think I'm doing OK using fewer lifelines, I flub one row and have to rip back 16. Oy. But I'll finish it one day!
The bag is from my friend Karen at Fringe Association. We were able to meet up briefly at Stitches West, which is a big-ass knitting convention in Santa Clara, Calif. (There's Stitches South, East and Midwest, too.) Yeah, I went to a knitting convention. I bought some yarn. I'll show you that later.
Right now I've got to go pick up some stitches and knit back up to the row I flubbed.
You should go buy a tote from Karen. You know you want one.
Your knitting these days is just so beautiful. I'm both inspired and intimidated by it, intimidated especially when you use the dreaded words "life lines." I have a question for you. What else do you do while knitting? Watch TV, talk to hubbie, listen to the radio, sit in silence? My handcrafts -- knitting and quilting -- are always done in tandem with something else although it does seem like a very worthy goal to sit in silence and knit or quilt. Very meditative. (I should re-read a book I bought a few yrs ago - The Zen and Art of Knitting.)
ReplyDeleteIn another post you asked what your readers are working on. I didn't reply because I'm working on not much at all, and it weighs heavily on me. I have about 20 quilts in progress, almost as many scarfs (scarves?), and a few pairs of socks. My life-long goal of reading in all my free time has been achieved but that means no TV and that means no quilting/knitting. Now that I'm in the twilight of my years I spend an inordinate amount of time fretting about all the unfinished projects I'm going to leave behind for someone to toss in the trash. Painful thought! The solution of course is to put down my book/Kindle and get out the needles and rejoin my husband in front of the TV. But I've grown to dislike TV so much that I always choose The Book over The Box. I make an exception for a couple of things (Mad Men and any showing of The Office) but that's about it.
The answer is moderation of course. Spend part of each evening doing a little quilting/knitting and another part reading. Not exactly rocket science.
And while I'm whining about trivial matters let me add that I've neglected my blog so long that I should just take it down. I think about my blog daily, take pictures often and compose headlines in my head, but I just don't post. A kind of embarrassment has set in about the whole thing.
You know what I really think? I think I'm bored by life, I'm tired of living, and I'm just sort of in an all-day, all-the-time funk. No, I'm not depressed and I keep pretty busy with three volunteer gigs a week, lunch with old friends weekly, and occasional dinners out with husband+ friends. It's not like I'm hiding in a corner sucking my thumb. But man oh man am I tired of being me. Thanks Doctor Kitt! It feels good, in a perverse way, to say all this on your blog.
Now back to The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Great novel that takes me out of 2013 and puts me firmly into the mid-19th century.
It sounds like you need something to look forward to. What about a road trip? Come out to Colorado!
ReplyDeleteThis knitting requires focus, but only every fourth row, where all the increases and decreases happen. The other rows, you still have to look at what you're doing, but there's no counting involved.
You shouldn't be intimidated by it. I use lifelines because I don't know how to fix my mistakes in this kind of knitting. It's just easier to rip back and knit a few rows again. I really still think of myself as an "adventurous beginner." Being able to follow close-up video made it all possible
I usually put on public radio or listen to a podcast or something on the computer while knitting. TV would be much too distracting. We don't watch it, in any case -- we both prefer to read.
Don't get rid of your blog -- maybe you could use it to document your projects. Maybe documenting your projects would inspire you to finish them?
I need to post more, but yeah, it's work. Facebook is easier. But less permanent (as if a blog has any permanency ...).
If you could be someone else, who would you be?
Er, WHOM would you be?
ReplyDeleteWhom ("who" does sound better BTW) would I be if I could be someone else? You really know how to get into someone's head don't you because I've been pondering that question for the past 24 hours. An excellent mental exercise! My tentative conclusion is that I don't want to be someone else, not because I think I'm as happy as I could possibly be and certainly not because I believe I'm accomplished as much as any woman would possibly accomplish. Mostly because I do recognize that I was born at a fabulous time and place in history and my life has been as free from distress and pain as a life could be. But...if I had to pick another life it would be my daughter's. She lives in NYC (my dream), she's confident but sweet, happy, full of ideas for now and the future. She pursued her educational dreams (in the arts no less--with the blessing and bucks from her adoring parents), has found a great job in the city using her art knowledge (how great is that in a time when many young people -- my son for one -- are kind of lost), is looking forward to a fun wedding in June, has traveled a lot, and has a bright future ahead of her. Her confidence and optimism are what I most envy -- she got both from her father, certainly not from me.
ReplyDeleteMy fantasies also led me to wonder if I'd like to be a lady of leisure, living near a beautiful old city in Italy -- Siena for example -- tending bees and raising sheep. I could do that!
I promise not to use your blog as a place to air my petty woes. But is has been nice to pour this out.
And who/whom would YOU be if you could be someone else?
Your daughter sounds pretty lucky! I wish more people could be optimistic, but you can't tell worriers not to worry.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit of a Pollyanna (or an ostrich, some might say), but it works for me. There are aspects of others' lives I'd like to have (lots of money, more musical or artistic talent, household staff), but I'm fairly happy being myself. I don't lack ambition, necessarily, but it's more achievable ambition, like learning how to do brioche knitting or planning a bigger tomato crop this year.
I feel pretty lucky. I wish I knew how to share that with you!
"I wish I knew how to share that with you!"
ReplyDeleteYou did! And today was a good day for right-sizing myself. I have a 5-hour Meals on Wheels gig every Monday and just delivering meals to people who are housebound, infirm, deaf, blind, or kind of drifting away mentally always makes me count my many blessings. Then I came home and starting installing yet another deer fence, so my legs and arms ache but it's a good ache. The kind that tells me I'm still able to do almost everything physically I want to do. I might even post on my blog tonight! What i really need is to try beekeeping again. I miss them terribly.
Glad I could help!
ReplyDeleteMy bees swarmed last summer and never recovered ... something must have happened to the new queen. And now I work days and can't go chasing after swarms easily, so I've ordered a package of bees from Wyoming.
It's never too late to start again. Or maybe you can find a beekeeping buddy to work with.