Friday, July 13, 2007

I'm Simple Like That

I am not a multi-tasker when it comes to knitting…why, then, do I have three things going at once??? This will not last. I actually get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when I have more than one thing going knitting-wise…it feels kind of like I’ve compromised my allegiance to the original work by adding more. Man, do I need to get a life.



Thing #1:





Well, things, actually. I’m learning to spin on a drop spindle…how neat is that? A fellow SnB'er graciously taught me the basics last week (thank you Barb!), and I've been practicing since. I hereby present to you my first, gruesome piece of work:





My second mini-skein, approaching even a vague linear form in some parts:



And my third, that, dare I say it?..... Almost looks like something that comes close to resembling real honest-to-goodness yarn!! I’m so excited! It’s so easy, much easier than I’d anticipated. It just takes practice, and you get better and better the more you do it. Barb's the one who's got it going on spindle-wise (not to mention that she was nice enough to even watch my how-to-spin DVD that I never got around to watching and to tell me what it said!) but I'm pretty ok with how I’m progressing.




Thing #2:




A sock. A simple, ordinary sock, but I am so digging these colors. The yarn is Fashion Trend Sportivo, #5763 by Gedifra. The colors remind me of sunbursts and berry sorbet, all rolled up together, although of course you couldn’t really do that, what with the sorbet getting all melty in the sun. Wow, that reminds me of a weird nitrous dream I had in the dentist’s chair when I was five.... ok, moving on...

Thing #3:


Yes, the Isabella from Knitty Spring '07…I’m actually working on it! And close to finishing the back. Considering that there really is only a front and a back to this piece, turns out I might actually get to wear this before the first frost!

Now, you didn’t happen to notice that half of it is, shall we say, soaking wet??????

This thing, I was so proud of it. Just pleased as punch about it all. Quite smug, actually, until I spattered COFFEE over it last night at SnB. Yes, I am 43 years old and apparently that whole drinking-while-knitting thing remains elusive. I got some wonderful ideas from our resident textiles maven for how to remove the stain (thanks Val!) and they worked, yay! But it ended up being pretty messy and soapier than it probably should have been. Laundry is really not my thing.. Anyway, now it’s half soaked with water, and I’m holding my breath waiting for it to dry and hoping that there aren’t any lasting water marks. And frankly I really hope it doesn’t get any bigger as the water seeps into it (it is cotton, after all).

But you know, whatever. I’ve decided I’m going to wear it anyway. Why? Because 1) this is all happening on the back and I can ignore things pretty easily; 2) I’ve put too much time and effort into this already; and 3) I’m really, really stubborn.

So, turns out that not only do I not like to do lots of projects at once, I can't even manage doing it without causing physical harm to one of them. Well, like they say, self-awareness is a GOOD THING.

6 comments:

costumechick said...

I'm glad it came out! also, who wants to be a laundry maven anyway? Knitting maven, Glamour maven, even a cooking maven - buit a laundry maven? no way!

KnelleyBelley said...

Look at you go! Your spinning looks great, I envy you your sock, and I'm so happy the coffee came out! (I had a very nasty spot on one of my miters last night. I set it out on the floor to photograph it, and my cat did a boot scoot on it - she dragged her butt - and left a mark! Horrifying. I washed it and it came out - but I think I have to reknit that miter. Can't imagine using it because I KNOW what used to be there.) Anyway - it might be fun for you to have several things going at once. I usually do. I get bored and want to try a new pattern or a different yarn.

acambras said...

I know what you mean about feeling like your allegiance is split up among multiple projects -- I don't feel like I can start anything else until Baby Helen is wearing her sweater!

All your projects look great, especially the sweater. Don't forget those special yarnovers. ;-)

Anne

mad knitter said...

Costumechick, thanks! You are right...what was I thinking? Who *wants* to be good at doing laundry??? LOL! Thanks again for your help at SnB.

mad knitter said...

Knelley -

Thanks so much...and don't envy me my sock...let's do socks together! I'll be working on these for a while longer. And OMG that boot scoot thing has happened with my cat on the carpet...how completely gross! I get so mad thinking what bad manners she has, LOL! Thanks for checking in!

mad knitter said...

A -

Yup, a knitter after my own heart..I just can't split my attention well among a few projects like others do. Here's to finishing Baby Helen's sweater!!

Yarnovers...ya, very funny :/