Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Sigh...

Harry Potter, sunshine, and new Swish DK in the perfect shade of red. What could possibly be better?

Except, of course, Harry Potter, sunshine, knitting and swedish fish:

So far, I am really enjoying Book 7 and am about halfway through. I am finding it a little weird that Hogwarts has not factored in the story much at all, but I guess I kind of expected as much. But there's been good and surprising character development and certainly a compelling story line. It's bittersweet, of course -- I think that's why I'm knitting and reading, to draw it out and make it last longer.

As for the Swish DK, I love love love the color, and am pretty pleased with the feel -- it certainly is not as smooth and tightly wound as some more expensive superwashes I have tried, like Karabella Aurora 8 or Filatura di Crosa Zara. But for the price, this seems like a great yarn. I am particularly excited about this red, because a lot of the other colors I ordered came out much brighter and louder than they appeared on the computer, which is a fact I often forget about Knitpicks yarn. But this one is true -- a deep, lovely adult cranberry, I'd say about two shades darker and perhaps further into the browns than the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino I used for the Peach Blossom jacket.

And the design, you ask? I am REALLY excited about this one. I thought long and hard about how to get all of the aspects of this sweater just right and came up with an ingenious scheme, if I do say so myself [laughs sinisterly and rubs hands together]. I'm excited enough that I think I'm going to keep this one under wraps, because it might be good enough to submit for publication.

I had a conversation with my mom last weekend about my knitting and my knitting blog (which she agrees is lovely but sees as somewhat of a waste of time and a possible reason I am not married and reproducing at this very moment). My take on it is that it gives me a goal and a place to show off my work and feel like there is a community I belong to that values what I do as much as I do. As for the designs, I have been really excited to get so much more traffic lately on the blog, and I chalk that up to some of my patterns' popping up on free pattern link sites. I'm proud of the things I design and it excites me that some other people like them too. My mom also suggested I try selling patterns like some other people do on their blogs, and she might be right that I could be making some money to support my yarn habit. But so far I've been pleased to be posting free patterns -- I turn to knitting blogs and free sites for inspiration a lot, and I like being part of this free community. So I've been working on some stuff to submit to Knitty, which is also gloriously free, but I don't think I'll be making up pdf's to sell, at least at the moment.

And as for the marriage and reproducing thing? Who knows. She might be right that the time I spent knitting (and blogging) I could have spent speed-dating or something. But after a month of speed dating I might rack up 3 or 4 awkward first dates, whereas after a month of knitting, I'm left with a sweater...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your mother is very lucky. For I have the dating all the time, all about money girl. Maybe we could work a trade. Tell your mom and old woman out in blogland is jealous. A DD that knits and seems happy and has a generous spirit could it get any better.

Jen said...

Thanks, Anon. -- though I realize now that previous post might have been a bit misleading; my mom is uber-supportive and wants the best for me (and her idea of this is marriage and kids ON TOP of knitting).

Anonymous said...

Maybe you need to combine your talents and needs. Say...a knitting pattern for a set up? Where do you live?

-Ilana

Anonymous said...

I watched a show once that said the worst thing you could do on a date was to bring along your knitting. I thought: Why lie about it. Love me, love my knitting. Thankfully for my husband I started knitting after we married so he never had to sit through a movie with me knitting beside him. Now at the movies, he's more likely to be taking one of the children to the washroom or chasing the toddler around the theater. When would he get the chance to notice the knitting?

Batty said...

I'm married (though not reproducing), and I have a knitting blog. Your blog is lovely and has nothing to do with the fact that you have not yet found a guy who is worthy of you. When you find him, he'll worship the ground you walk on and buy you yarn.

Don't settle for second best just to get your mom off your back. I know people who did and it wasn't pretty. You're a smart, articulate, good-looking woman who has a career and knits. You're quite the catch.

Dorothy said...

Dare to dream! Somewhere out there is a man who will spot you knitting on the subway, and will actually want to talk to you about it (I realize that's risky in NYC!) Or, a man who dreams of having a woman in his life who can keep him warm and cozy!

I also started knitting after I got married - my husband says he hasn't had a conversation with me without knitting needles present in quite a while. I think, "Wow, I'm a great multi-tasker!"

Keep knitting and blogging. You'll find the right person to reproduce with when the time is right!