I have become more comfortable with this particular part of my process over the last few years and no longer wring my hands, gnash my teeth and worry that I'll never write again. I know it's just a part of the ebb and flow of my creative process.
So when the tide goes out, I read good writing and make sure I sit quietly in front of the page for a little while every day. If I don't write anything, I don't panic. I just come back the next day until eventually a little idea lights on my shoulder.
Another thing I do when I'm not writing much is knit. I finished the socks I've been working on.
And yes, for those of you keeping score, I finished the first sock a thousand years ago but then came down with a bad case of second sock syndrome.
Now I've started knitting the prototype for what may very well be my hand made Christmas gift this year. It's a market tote bag, kind of european in design with a lace stitch pattern that may drive me insane. I'm going to knit one and give it to The Kid for the durability test and if it passes, knit a slew of them between now and December.
Meanwhile, I'm coming back to the page every morning.
I'm a relative newcomer to the knitting world. I started knitting a few years ago and I taught myself, by reading a book (gasp). So I'm telling you, if you want to knit something for the holidays, you still have time to LEARN HOW TO KNIT and KNIT SOMETHING!
Go out and buy this book.
It includes everything you need to knit six great projects. The book will teach you how to start (cast on) and how to finish (cast off) and every little stitch in between. The directions are illustrated and painstakingly detailed. If you need more visual assistance, the web is full of sites like this to help you through. So remember even if you didn't learn to knit at your grandmother's knee, or your mother's for that matter, you can knit if you want to. It's not brain surgery – it is tying knots with string and sticks and anyone can do it.
One other point, knitters love to talk to other knitters about knitting. Anyone who knits will surely be happy to pass along some of their knitterly wisdom.
Now, here's my favorite scarf pattern. Cast on twenty stitches. Knit every row until the scarf is as long as you'd like. Cast off. Wear hand knit scarf with pride.
It's what all the cool Jedi will be wearing this season!
Here's the roundup of holiday knitting projects.
Cheryl at Ink & Paper has knitted some precious wee slippers. (You have to scroll down to find them.) I'm sure she'd fork over the details if you ask nicely.
Melanie of In Search of Wonder has a pattern for a Christmas stocking ornament.
Nicki at Domestic Cents turned a knitting mishap into a beautiful hat for her daughter. Knitting is a forgiving art.
Kelly of how I knit to stay sane has knit a lovely Christmas stocking. What goodies could Santa stash in those beauties?
Katherine of Curiositys has knit a beautiful, flowing lap blanket.
Ann at Vintage Mommy has some clever ways to use up yarn from your stash.
Don't forget next Tuesday, December 2nd when Nicole at Gidget Goes Home will host Holidays By Hand and feature QUILTING projects. Contact Nicole at nicoleviola at gmail.com to participate.
robin_titan.We prepared like crazy for Hurricane Ike. Given it's size, we knew that even this far inland we could be in trouble. But that last minute jog to the north took it completely off our radar screen. We barely had a sprinkle of rain on Saturday.
I'm counting my blessings and my heart goes out to the folks who weren't so lucky.
We stayed at home for most of the weekend and I finished my second pair of socks – this pair for The Kid – and immediately started the next pair for Lefty. I am hopelessly addicted to knitting socks.
I'm still experiencing the dregs of the viral thing I caught last week. My head feels like it's stuffed with something soft and fluffy, maybe cat hair or dryer lint.
I finished my sock! I know it seems like I've been working on it for a long time and it's true, I have. I taught myself as I went along and sometimes the going was rough. There were tears. There was tangled yarn. There were evenings when it taunted me from my knitting basket and I turned my back on it and watched TV instead.
Looking closely, I can see the exact row where I finally got the hang of using the double pointed needles - from that point on the sock looks amazing. The top of the sock is all learning curve in it's loose, rather uneven floppiness and it may be the part I love the most because it was the hardest part, the part where I wanted to give up and shove the whole project in the bottom of a drawer, the part that gave me (eventually) the confidence that shows in the heel and toe of the darn thing.
It's not lovely to look at. It's not the most beautiful sock in the world but it's mine. I made it myself and now I'm busy making it a mate.
It was a catch up weekend for me. I completed and finished three (yes, three) knitting projects that were languishing in the basket pathetically close to being done. I knitted in a very gung ho manner on the baby blanket I'm trying to finish for a March baby and made one of those ridiculous mistakes where the only choice you have is to rip back about four inches (yes, four) and proceed with caution. While this is a small paragraph, the above took up an inordinately large chunk of my weekend.
I made some list for the camping trip we're taking over spring break. I'm in San Antonio remember? It's almost 80 degrees here today. This is my favorite part of a trip or a project, while I'm just making lists in my little notebook and everything is still shiny and possible. This will be The Kid's first full-fledged camping trip, and the first time we've been camping in years and years. It's been so long I've completely forgotten the horror of state park campground bathrooms and the taste of bug repellant.
I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We stopped reading it with The Kid, but I know he'll want to come back to it eventually and I wanted to know what we would be dealing with. I found the book unrelentingly upsetting and thoroughly oppressive. Don't get me wrong, it is well written, but the mood is so well set and feels so hopeless and sad. Even the bright jewel of an ending does little to alleviate the sadness that just oozes out of it. I finished almost every chapter with a shudder and closed the book thinking, "Oh thank god, that's over." Maybe it's just me. Harry has been a part of our family life for so long, I may be having a particularly hard time letting him go.
We are going through another bumpy patch with The Kid and his refusal to eat almost anything except peanut butter, granny smith apples and macaroni and cheese. Wish us luck.
Oh, and here's my boy up in a tree!
I taught myself to knit two years ago with a book I gave myself for Christmas. I was reading some self-help creativity book that challenged me to learn something new – I picked knitting. I loved it from the start, but I was a terrible knitter. I kept dropping stitches and picking up extra stitches at the beginning of a row. The first few things I knitted were lopsided and featured dramatic gaping holes, but I kept at it, I think because it relaxed me. As crazy as this may sound, picking up a knitting project is like instant valium, my breathing slows, my shoulders relax, I lose track of time.
Last year, I tried knitting some things to give as gifts. Scarves and shawls are pretty simple. I made some hats that were daunting. One hat was so terribly misshapen and awful I nearly threw it away, but Lefty claimed it and actually wears the hideous thing every chance he gets. I just hope my nephews never felt obliged to wear the hats I sent them.
This year, I've chosen something very simple. I'm giving these chunky, kind of retro, cotton dishcloths to the cooks in my family. The pattern for the one above is from Mason Dixon Knitting.
I love to knit. I'm not a particularly crafty person so I get quite a kick out of creating one thing out of something else. It's like writing in a way, but so much more tactile.
I am a knitter now. Next year I'm going to learn how to knit socks and knit myself a sweater!
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