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Weekend Knitting

Another weekend where I had hoped to get a ton of knitting done, and yet, there has been only a small amount of progress. I’m still working on this:

E.B. in progress
E.B. in progress

which, I am convinced, has now been in progress since at least the dawn of time and is, as far as I can tell, about a month and a half behind schedule. I am about to change colors yet again… to do another small stripe of the brown and then back to the cream color. I do enjoy knitting it, but its one main fault is that I cast on to make it TOO BIG, too wide, exactly, so it takes far longer to complete a row than I wish it would. On the other hand, by virtue of its enormousness, it will not be quickly outgrown, and, I hope, will become a much-loved thing. At least I can hope, right? I know it is the dream of every knitter that his or her knitted object would be the one thing that the recipient uses most often and cannot live without, when in fact, the opposite is most likely true. Most recipients wind up under-using their gift for fear of “ruining” such a special thing. If you’re reading this, and you’ve been gifted with a handmade thing? USE IT! The person who made it for you will want to know that you love it and use it well. And, if it gets worn out? So what? A good excuse to ask for another knitted thing.

So, I do not know what will become of this project when it is gifted. I hope that it will be used and loved, but I am resigned to the fact that I have no control over what becomes of it. So, for me, it is the loving of the making that motivates me, not what the recipient will do. It has to be that way. Or, let’s face it. I’d lose what’s left of my mind.

In the “Knitting Day is a Good Day” category, yesterday at knit group, everyone was excited about a new (to us) knit book. And here’s why we were excited:

This knitting book was on sale for $2.99!
This knitting book was on sale for $2.99!
Get a load of that price tag! I must admit that I never met a knitting book in the bargain bin before. For the right price, I’ll buy anything! Haha. I think thanks to our group, there was not one copy left behind yesterday. And, well, upon getting it home, I think I can see why it was in the bargain bin. This book is no Handknit Holidays, which, I thought, was an exquisite collection of patterns.

I do like that the book offers some “quick knit” type gifts, and I guess they are well suited to a beginner (mostly). The thing is? They look like it. Is there such a thing as a simple knit that doesn’t look like it was a simple knit? I can’t put my finger on it, but a lot of the things in this book just looked, well, sloppy. Oddly-shaped Christmas stockings (more than one!) and a sweater that I wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything other than housework in. Then there’s the just plain odd: a baby hat with a pocket, yes a pocket, they say, for tucking a small toy in. A toy in a pocket on your head. Ok, what baby isn’t going to find that annoying?

Perhaps I’m being far too critical. I’m usually not like this; I always find something to like about every book I buy. But this one? So far the only thing I loved about it was–the price. Dear bookstore, please keep putting your overstocked knitting books in the bargain bin and yes, even if they’re weird, you know I’ll buy them There’s a sucker born every minute.

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