Freedom.
I won't let you down/I will not give you up/Gotta have some faith in the sound/It's the one good thing that I've GOT(I'm starting to think that every blog post should have a theme song. Don't you?)
Ah, freedom! Even though the semester's not quite over, the end is so close that I can almost taste it. I came home tonight from having dinner with friends, and even though I have some reading to do for my final class this week, I dropped my bags on the floor, grabbed my laptop, and sighed happily. I'm going to blog tonight!
And freedom from sock knitting on a deadline! Whew! I felt the collective sigh from all you sockapalooozers just now! I finally shipped my socks today, and imagined hundreds of knitters all over the country (nay, the globe!) heading into their post offices simultaneously with their little bundles.
As silly as it sounds, I felt connected to something that was larger than myself. (Of course, I could have gotten that on Monday, marching for immigration rights, but since I was home waiting for the UPS man, I gotta take my transcendent moments wherever I can get them.)
I had to fill out a customs declaration, because my sockpal is in the U.K. The clerk asked, what's the value of your package? I stood for a moment, thinking, how do I explain the value of hours spent deciding on yarn and a pattern, then worrying about the fit, and the time spent knitting the socks? Should I say, "priceless," and risk a sneer of outright hostility from the beleaguered postal clerk? I decided on declaring the price of the yarn, and left it at that.
Here's my Rib & Cables, posing on the University of Texas campus, before embarking on their journey:
Yep, folks, there in the distance is the University of Texas clock tower, from which Charles Whitman conducted his infamous shooting spree in 1966. What a little notoriety won't do to enhance a school's reputation, eh?
Anyway, so back to the topic at hand--freedom! Freedom to knit....anything but socks! What to knit, what to knit...the possibilities stretch out like glittering racks of goodies at Shoe Pavilion.
Lured by Laura's and Lolly's glowing reviews of Knitting Nature, I took my latest Border's coupon to the Arboretum over the weekend. I did my usual dance of desire with the book of the moment--I picked it up, stroked the pages, put it down, walked away, looked longingly over my shoulder, strode back....ah, you all know how it goes.
Ultimately, I couldn't justify the purchase, seeing as how I have multiple books/magazines/projects already at home, but good GOD! Those are just some of the most stunning patterns I've seen in a long time. They fit right in with my knitting philosophy, you know...if you're going to knit something, it may as well be beautiful and unique. Why put time and effort into knitting something that could have come from JCPenney's?
So, putting Knitting Nature on the back burner, I'm thinking that I want to knit a stole with the Helen's Laces I scored at Purl in NY over spring break, and I'm thinking I want to make Madli's Shawl, from one of my old Interweave Knits (I can't remember the issue, but will post it if I end up casting on for this). A beautiful shawl with yummy yarn--timeless, compelling to knit--what could be better?
By the way, I haven't really read any opinions on the new Vogue Knits...any of you have it out there? I finally caved and bought it because of the sweet tank tops, but I am also beginning to love the skirt on the cover:
I even had a delusionary moment when I saw this:
I generally have a strict rule against knitted swimwear (based, mostly, on my instinctive gag reflex), but I actually HAVE THE YARN TO KNIT THIS. Classic Elite Star, my friends. Someone, please come over here and slap me back to my senses.
7 Comments:
You actually want to knit a dog? That's madness Olga! Madness! Only God can make a dog (but kittens can be made with a kit from Hobby Lobby, FYI).
Almost as nuts as wanting to knit swimwear-- we must always remember that yarn is heavier (and saggier) when wet. Think of the trauma of you swim one way, bikini bottoms stay where they are until the slowly sink to the bottom of the pool.
The only thing that will save that swimmer will be the witness relocation program!
Ah, George Michael . . . that was the second concert I ever went to (child of the '80s that I am!!!). A big cheer for your (almost) freedom! Your socks came out awesome and you've posted the best Sockapalooza pic I've seen. Um, yeah, that bikini looks pretty . . . but if you have any thought of swimming - NO!!!! Wet yarn, yucky!!
On the one hand, if you can wear that bikini and look good, then dammit, you should knit it. On the other hand, I can see that it would be highly impractical for any activity other than remaining perfectly still on a lounge chair, accepting cold drinks from hot pool boys. I would fear sagging even without getting it wet. Bill would probably love it.
Knowing Olga personally, I can say that she totally could pull off the bikini, but I am nonetheless going to deliver the slap. NO KNITTED SWIMWEAR EVER. That cover skirt, though, would look adorable on you. Seriously. In red, maybe? Or ooooh chocolaty brown?
I am totally with you on the Sockapalooza excitement, btw--I love knowing that there are (well, almost) 606 pairs of socks winging their way around the world right now!
And I love me some George Michael. I'm going to have to go download that song from iTunes now.
and I would really really love to stick around/ Oh yeah I remember that video as if it were yesterday, with Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell and that Russian chick whose name I forgot. That was fun. Just what a self-conscious fifteen-year old with a large nose (the rest of my face finally grew into it years later, thank goodness) and plenty of acne needed to see. But I digress.
A song for a post, huh? Mine might be stuck on "I will survive" for the next couple of months - not because I got dumped; it's just that the lyrics need tweaking:
First I was afraid/ I was petrified/ Kept thinking my poor little brain would be forever fried/ But then I spent so many nights/ Studying through a mental haze/ That I learned things/ Although I was a little dazed/ And here I am/ On exam day/ Just saw the exam's question one and is it ever hell to pay/ I should have read that stupid book/ I should have been there for class three/ If I had known for just one second they'd be asking this of me/ But I must start/ Must start to write/ Failure is simply not an option it is too much of a plight/ Aren't they the ones trying to trip me with exams/ D'they think I'd pass out/ D'they think I'd have a mental drought/ Oh no not I/ I will survive/ Oh as long as I know how to think I know I'll stay alive/ I've got all my life to pay/ My law school loans and so I pray/ That I survive/ Let me survive/ Hey hey...
I have to agree with Karen here, wet yarn can't feel good against your skin. That's why I always wondered about patterns for knit or crocheted bikinis... Yuck. I mean, even cotton. Put me in something that dries fast.
Totally with you on the Knitting Nature thing. I've been drooling over the book myself... That and Stupid Sock Creatures.
You know I support any opportunity to turn life in to a musical, in my never-ending quest to prove that West Side Story could actually happen.
That said, do I hear a chorus of "hallelujah"?
And because I can't let the knitwear/swimwear go without comment, I agree you could pull it off, I agree it should never get wet, which brings me to this: imagine the "tan" pattern, depending on the knit!
If you decide to get Knitting Nature (or just want to look at things to tempt you), please visit (and/or join) the Knit Along I just started for projects in the book.
htt://knittingnature.blogspot.com
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