Thursday, August 31, 2006

Why I rejoice when Summer wanes...

Well, that may sound like a horrible thing to say, especially since I live in a land where summer days are at a premium- especially this year. However, I am ready for some nice stormy days with only 5 hours of daylight in which I can justify spending 8+ hours on my rear end knitting something especially complicated and fiddly. The type of knit where you unplug the phone and forbid any partners/roommates to address you directly. I have been doing what feels like a lot of knitting this summer... there is the almost-finished blanket for an ill loved one, and the felt clogs for my future stepdaughter, as well as many other miscellanous goodies. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with my summer knitting, but it's sort of like a novel that you read on the beach- a lot of fluff (pun intended) without a lot of substance. But, during the busy summers in this area, when one is off playing and camping and fishing and frolicking, slightly no-brainer knitting is required if any is to be done at all. I know that there are many other people out there with more discipline, those who can knit a lace shawl while practically climbing mountains. I am not one of those people. I am OK with this.

But, now that I am planning for autumn/winter knitting, the only question is what to make? There is some nice cobweb alpaca in the stash that is begging to be made into a stole, some Kureyon that methinks would make a neat vest, loads of sportweight Halcyon 2-ply for a nice stranded colorwork sweater, enough natural worsted weight to handpaint and make some sort of kimono/wrap thing... the possibilities are endless... and that is just how I like it. In fact, I guarantee that I will change my mind at least 17.4 times before actually biting down on a good project. But hey, I am definetly more of a process knitter anyway, so it is really a win-win if I cast on several projects and end up with only a couple completed pieces. To paraphrase Ursula K. LeGuin, it is the journey that matters in the end...