The race that is my life continues as my resolution to be a better blogger this year falls by the wayside. It was another crazy-making week, full of stress and frustration, but also joy that I get to make a living doing things that I love. So I count my blessings and keep moving.
In knitting, I've been consumed this week by the sampler baby blanket. The knitting is more than half done, and I'm loving trying out so many different stitch patterns. Here's a really sucky picture, the best I do take on this cloudy day as my camera batteries were about to die on me:
See the pile of yarn in the upper left corner? That represents how I keep having to rip out when I realize that I'm not going to end on a good row of the pattern, or when I realize that the square is coming out too wide or too narrow. It's sort of a fascinating study in how different stitch patterns effect gauge. Since the squares are only 6"x6", they don't take very long to work, and ripping out is no big deal. My design life is all about trial and error.
I figured out that the border will be crocheted - a row of single crochet, and then a row of reverse single crochet, which is also called crab stitch. I just learned this stitch on a sample for the store, and it is very attractive and simple to work.
Limited as my knitting time is these days (I had to drive in to work last week, so I didn't even get my train time), other knitting projects have been untouched. Like my blue socks, which are nearly finished. I have a major issue in my life with finishing what I start. In many arenas, not just knitting, I will get about 80% of the way through a project, and then get distracted or tired and stop. This is something I should work on.
Like this weekend when we finally took down our Christmas tree. It's a good thing I wasn't doing this alone, since several times during the process I stopped, checked e-mail, got more coffee, read some blogs, and only returned to the tree dismantling when I guiltily looked up to see Scott still going strong.
Are we the last people to take down our holiday decorations? At least we got it down while it was still January; I'd started imagining us turning into one of those families that still has their tree up in the summer and then decides to just leave it until next Christmas season. This tactic works less well with a real tree, as we had, than an artificial one. The resulting piles of pine needles were so massive that I thought they deserved photo documentation. But as I was uploading the photos I realized that piles of pine needles make very boring pictures. So you'll just have to use your imagination.
Just stopping by to let you know that you aren't the only one struggling with all those little odds and ends. i think that the baby blanket is going to look real nice when done.
Posted by: marti | February 03, 2006 at 01:15 PM
You are not the last one to have your Christmas tree up. Joe has had his artificial tree up since we met in December 2004. I don't know if that is a record but I'm sure it is pretty damn close.....
Posted by: Ellen | February 04, 2006 at 07:35 AM
great baby blanket! recently trying again to learn crab stitch. knit guru, gwen, says it's about the difference in using one's wrist between knit and crochet. thanks for the instructive link. there's also a video www.learn-crochet-now.com which you may know about.
Posted by: Naomi Dagen Bloom | February 04, 2006 at 03:27 PM