“Beware the ides of March.” William Shakespeare
The Ides of March are upon us and with each passing day, the grasp that winter has on us loosens. The Snowdrops outside my back door are bravely baring their blossoms to the hints of warmer weather that have coaxed them forth. They have a sense of urgency…
It has almost been 5 months since my last blog post. Five very long months that included me traveling back to Michigan to see my kids, some more knitting for a friend, some personal knitting for myself, some Christmas knitting, and a little tiny bit of Beginning Spinning teaching at my LYS.
Many things to fill the days and none of them having much to do with writing or blogging, which feels very much like failure when I look at my blog. I like to think that the process of blogging activates my brain and encourages me to write creatively. Sad that I so easily let this fall by the wayside.
The New Year came with no list of resolutions for me, at least nothing specific or defined – a purposeful decision on my part. No resolution, no failure – a simple, yet very motivating factor. Rather, my goals this year are simple – Be Healthy, Be Happy, Read More, and Learn More.
I love wool and I really love people who share my obsession.
In my perfect world, Beth Smith would be my next-door neighbor, I would be able to have her over for tea, and we would spin together. She would share her vast knowledge of all things wool from her encyclopedic brain and I would become her best student – soaking up every bit of what she knows and using it to improve my spinning skills.
Such a dream could only be improved if Beth lived with me and was there to answer every question and show me how to do all things wool. Every. Minute. All. Day.
Sadly, I do not think that Beth’s family would like it if she moved in with me but imagine my good fortune when I discovered a way that I could have Beth in my house 24/7!
How, you ask?
This was the second summer that I participated in Camp Loopy and it was as fun this year as it was last year. I completed three projects over the summer months, two of which checked off items on my “Gift Knitting” list.
Our project for August was to select a color that we love, I took the opportunity to do a bit of “selfish” knitting for myself, and I selected a pattern by Melanie Berg that had been in my Ravelry queue for some time now. My Beautiful Golden Green was just what was needed to finish out my summer camp. The pattern is very well written and a truly fun knit with enough to keep your interest while easy enough to make it almost be a mindless knitting project. I selected the yarn that Melanie knit hers out of – madelinetosh tosh light in the Filigree color way. The colors are spectacular, but the yarn itself was the antithesis of that. In the first few yards of knitting, I had over a dozen knots. This continued throughout both skeins, which led me to think this was not an anomaly. It was enough to put me off madelinetosh for any future projects. A very sad determination indeed, as her colorways are so lovely.
Some years ago, I bought two pointy sticks, some fake yarn, and a ‘how to’ book and I taught myself to knit. It was a painful process to start out – everything just felt so awkward in my hands, as it is with any new thing we try. However, I persevered and stayed the course. I found a nice knitting shop where I took a class or two, and forged ahead. I do not remember at what point holding the needles in my hands no longer felt cumbersome and instead felt like a comfortable old friend – but that moment happened.
And, garments were made. Some good and some not so good, but I learned along the way.
