End is Beginning, People are Forever

There are some things in life that everyone should experience.

Everyone should take an intensive class with a small group of strangers. Twice in my life now I have done this and each time it makes me appreciate humanity more.

The first time was when I went canoeing and writing in the Northwoods of Minnesota with six other women from Northland College. (I actually have an essay about that experience that needs to be edited).

A lot of us don't admit it to ourselves, but we like to be around people that are the same as us. Whether it's socio-economic or cultural or hobby/career wise, that old saying of 'you are who your friends are' is both true and a trope.

Connecting with people you normally wouldn't is one of my favorite things to do. In my opinion, real connections take time and effort to make and maintain them.

Man I sound like a hallmark card.

Point is, Mobile Makers was fantastic.

Even though I did allow myself the luxury of sleeping in til noon (and it felt so good), I've actually been productive today. I made a new resume, emailed some prospective interview leads, and am about to figure out what I want to do with my life (in specific ways, not just general things).

The only thing I'm a little disappointed in, is that I didn't finish my shawl to directly coincide with the ending of Mobile Makers. In my past, I like to mark events and adventures with a specific piece of knitting. I made a sweet cotton vest on my two week epic national park roadtrip. I made a pair of socks for my canoeing adventure. And I was so close to finishing a shawl during mobile makers!

Maybe that's what I'll do today. I'm about halfway done with the shawl edging. THE END IS DOABLE

Spring Cleaning

I'm pretty sure knitters don't understand how much yarn they have at one time, let alone how many unfinished objects they have (UFOs). Yarn is pretty light and compact so it's easy to think that you don't really have enough and you can afford to buy just one more skein.

Me personally, I haven't bought much yarn in the past year. I have been on a bit of a fiber binge (1 lb of cotton, 1 lb of wool, assorted alpaca), but I've rationalized it by saying that I need it because I don't have as much fiber as I do yarn.

This past weekend I decided to organize my yarn stash.

Because.... Maybe it was a little out of control. But once I started going through my UFOs (unfinished objects for those slow readers out there), I found some things that I remembered the love and remembered the hurt.

Now these two projects above don't look too terrible. But let's microanalyze them. The hat looks quite lovely. It has a beautiful pattern and decent colors... The only problem is that it literally is too big for any normal human head. That entire hat either needs to find a Giant to wear it, or needs to be ripped out so I can reuse the yarn for something that could actually work. Next to it is an almost pair of socks. There is nothing obviously wrong about this project. The yarn is beautiful, the socks fit, the stitch pattern is interesting. The main problem? I ran out of yarn. That means I either have to spend twenty dollars to finish 1/4 of a sock, or rip out most of the first sock to finish the second. There is a third option. I could use some of my assorted leftover sock yarn to construct a not even remotely matching second sock. Which is not really an option.

Then I came across this red and pink mitten. It was a pain to knit. The yarn is much too thick for the needle size I used; which made knitting these like fitting a ham through a pin-needle (a feat I often attempt but never succeed).

Ergo. I have one mitten without a thumb.

Then you come across yarn that has decided to fraternize (yarn sex) with surrounding yarn (slutty yarn). This requires hours of untangling which would lead most mortals to insanity.

Luckily I'm not normal.

I love untangling yarn.


(spoiler alert. I'm a weirdo)

This is a lovely sock that stopped. Maybe I just needed some winding up.

These just need some finishing. And a baby.

This was a test knit that bored me to tears.

Although it's beautiful. and 3/4 of the way finished.

What do I end with? Knowledge that I should NOT buy more yarn until I make at least 30 more things.