To "tink" or not to "tink," that is the question…

To "tink" or not to "tink," that is the question…

It has been a day of progression, learning, and letting go. I have always told myself I am a process knitter rather than a product knitter, and today I learned that that is most certainly true. I cast on for this sweater some two years ago or so. I painstakingly knit, and knit, and knit, and knit some more on it and as you can see, the end was in sight. One sleeve and the neckband was all that needed to be finished for this sweater to move into the “product” pile. However, I hated it. I did not like how it fit, how it looked, and how it felt… I kept telling myself that it would “grow” on me and wait until more of it is complete and then see how you like it. There were months on end that it languished in my knitting bag while I ignored it, living by the “out of sight, out of mind” policy. Well, all that changed today. In my process of life simplification, I have begun to address all that is “unfinished” in my life, which includes all various knitting projects in all their varied states.

Today, it was this poor sweater’s Day of Atonement…and in the Knitter’s vernacular, the tinking process began. (Tink: (verb) the opposite of Knit, Knit backwards)

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A Unifying Rally Cry…

A Unifying Rally Cry…

I was never more appalled nor ashamed of the comments made by the leader of the amoral majority, Pat Robertson regarding the disaster that has befallen Haiti.

Yes, you read that right, amoral.

However, today my President put Mr. Robertson in his place and did so far better than I ever could with these words of wisdom that he shared today, the entirety of his speech can be found here

“To the people of Haiti, we say clearly, and with conviction, you will not be forsaken; you will not be forgotten. In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands     with you. The world stands with you. We know that you are a strong and resilient people. You have endured a history of slavery and struggle, of natural disaster and recovery. And through it all, your spirit has been unbroken and your faith has been unwavering. So today, you must know that help is arriving — much, much more help is on the way.”

Bravo, Mr. President, well said!

I would like to invite all of you, Gentle Readers, to stand united with the Citizens of Haiti. If you’d like to make a contribution to assist in the recovery, I would encourage you to do so with Medecins Sans Frontieres – Doctors Without Borders, you can do so via this link.

Support Doctors Without Borders in Haiti

We all need a little more yarn in our lives, or not…

It is a sad state of affairs that in the past year I have purchased little or no new yarn with which to knit.

Seriously…

No. New. Yarn.

I have been progressively knitting through my stash and as 2009 draws to a close, and I still have yarn to make choices from!

This fact has astounded even me…and has made me feel incredibly materialistic and not in a good way at all. I have enough sock yarn to knit socks for an army of feet and if I were to knit one pair in a week, I would be able to knit socks for the entire year of 2010. Yes – that means I have at least 52 skeins of sock yarn, or pretty darn close!

Oy.

Not a thing to be proud of, to be sure!

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What are you doing New Years…

It has been quite a year here at Casa del KatKnits. I have come through mostly unscathed and I am reluctant to complain – especially when I see friends who have had much greater trials who utter not a word of discontent. The lesson of their quiet fortitude is one that I need much practice on!

I am however looking forward to the start of a New Year, with great anticipation.

However, I feel that a bit of a recap is in order … sort of a what’s what in the of the Year of the Kat.

It all began with me moving into a new place to live. A nice change. No flooding in the lower level was a vast improvement. The more cost efficient payment was a bonus as well.

I made the transition from being a “day” person to working nights. Not an easy feat for a person who was up without an alarm clock at 5AM for years. This taught me that I can truly do anything, a good lesson to have learned. More on the job later in the post.

I managed to find some time during the year to work on improving my craft – I acquired a loom or two and have found that I love weaving. I also did some spinning that won some awards at the local fiber festival. And, as for knitting – I have discovered the joy of knitting with yarn that  I  have made. A true joy indeed and this has given me a renewed interest in spinning  There is just something wonderfully indulgent about putting socks on that you have spun and knit. It was a year of selfish knitting though, and my knitted wardrobe has increased nicely.

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