Rambling Post

When last I left you, I believe I was gushing about the Knit Picks Shimmer laceweight with which I had begun another Branching Out.

I had cast on...and knit the five rows of garter. I felt a little clumsy, but put it off to knitting quickly in a few stolen moments before work. At break time....I realized I have no hope of knitting with this yarn on Denise's. The tips are too blunt...too round. About drove me insane trying to get through two rows of the lace pattern. At lunch time, I dug around for a set of bamboo in the needed size. Could I find the right size? Of course not. I used a good portion of my lunch making myself crazy looking too. Finally, in desperation that I would have no knitting at my afternoon break if I didn't do something - horrors!- I grabbed more Lion Brand Cotton, correct size needles and decided another dishcloth would be preferable to nothing. Cast on for this dishcloth pattern, Lacy Mock Cable....and I am enjoying it very much.

What is it with dishcloths? Somehow they seem so....blah. But in truth...I really enjoy them. I love knitting with cotton...they are small enough to not trigger my adult-onset knitter's ADD...Dishcloths are an opportunity to try patterns in small doses...like swatches...with purpose.
One of the things I did last year that I really enjoyed....and have somehow stopped doing...was buying just one skein of a yarn I really loved and just playing with it. Trying it on different needles...different gauges...assorted patterns. I enjoyed it...but it also triggered some childhood leftover stuff about "wasting." Mostly I think, who cares? Who cares if I use up a ball of yarn and have "nothing" to show for it but some swatches? It's the experience gained...the pleasure in experimenting...dare I say, "the process" that counts, isn't it? So I use up $7-10 worth of yarn and have "nothing to show" for it...isn't that cheap therapy?

Which leads me to ask, why do I knit in the first place? Why blog? Why post on the internet for the boredom of the masses? I knit because I can't NOT knit. It soothes my soul...delights me in a very deep way...calms the anxieties that hound me. I blog because...it is about connection. I have a handful of blogs I read daily...and these women (so far all women anyway) make me think. They make me think about my knitting....about my life. Today, Margene posted and it could have been me, everthing she said about clutter.

Knitting connects me internally....blogging connects me to other knitters....other women who "get it." So I don't have a lot to show...still haven't figured out the picture posting thing...still haven't finished complex sweaters or designed my own patterns. So what. I'm happy. Good enough, aye?