Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I think fearlessness and stupidity go together. (Willie Nelson)

This is a really bad photo. It was taken in my car, late at night in the dark, with my cell phone. But I took it as proof that I am a Fearless Knitter.

I was sitting the parking lot last night, waiting for my daughter to get off work. (She's a hostess at a beachside restaurant, and when she works "closing" it means that she gets off sometime between 9 pm and 10:30ish. Since I don't want her waiting for me to pick her up after work in a dark parking lot of a strip mall with various tourist bars and restaurants, I get there early and knit while I wait for her. And for the record, I know could go inside and wait for her like a normal person. But they make a really irresistible killer chocolate cake, so I try to avoid temptation by knitting outside.)

Anyway, my project while I was sitting in my car in the dark, rainy parking lot was the Renita shawlette I started at Fiber-In. It's a simple lace pattern, so I can do it with only a minimum of concentration. Or so I thought. When I stopped to admire my work, I noticed that I probably should have paid a little more attention to it. There was a mistake sixteen rows back. (It was in the simple stockinette portion of the shawl, if you can believe that, and not in the actual lace. Go figure.) Without thinking, I went ahead and frogged back the sixteen rows. And then I had to put it back on my needles, still in the dark, tiny car.

That, my friends, is fearless knitting.

Of course, 'fearless' is a synonym for 'foolish.'

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. (Cyrilla Connelly)

Pattern: Crusoe Socks
Yarn: Koigu KPPM
Made for Cari


I've been avoiding this blog because I haven't decided what direction I want to go with it. Originally my intention was to produce a photo blog, in an effort to improve (or even just develop) my artistic eye. Then I started to write along with the pictures, with the grand idea that I would stay focused on the positive things in my life.

That was five years ago. Since then, my writing has gone in every direction with no real purpose other than to follow my mind's current whims. Looking at the labels, it seems that most of my posts in the past year or so has been about knitting. And what wasn't knitting, was mostly "Dear Diary" entries. Which probably explains why I don't have a very large readership.

There are lots of things this blog could become. I could make it official, and stick with the fiber topics. (After all, knitting and spinning seem to be a predominate part of my life anyway.) I could buckle down and assess my life, then record any progress I make toward achieving my life goals (to be a thin, organized, rich, and happy gypsy). Even just one of those life goals would be worth documenting the journey. I could go back to the original artistic premise, and post pictures accompanied by creative and amusing stories. I could even take up a new hobby (like mixology -- my daughter's suggestion) and obsessively write about that.

Or I could just continue to write whatever pops into my mind each day, with no effort to amuse anyone other than myself.