Archives

Help Me Help You

Mar20

The universe was working against me yesterday. I was supposed to have a crafternoon playdate with my SIL yesterday, and creating this blog kind of took up my morning. So I had lunch and then went to pack up my knitting bag. Remember that magic yarn from yesterday, the wondrous rainbow fingering? That’s what I wanted to start! I tossed it in my bag, found the pattern I wanted to use, and discovered I did not have the proper needles. Or anything even close. I play with thick yarn, so I don’t own any of those teeny-tiny needles.

Okay, fine. I had a pattern for a summer scarf I want to make out of some white Sprout, a fun chunky yarn that’s all nubby & full of texture. I found my size 15s, tossed them in the bag…but where was the yarn? I dug through the two yarn baskets in my living room, I dug through two of my yarn tubs in my craft room, and no Sprout. I was bewildered and befuddled. It was getting late, my knitting time was ticking away, and I had no project to take with me!

Desperate, I snatched up two different skeins of Malabrigo and tossed them in, along with two empty toilet paper rolls. I figured I could wind them while I was there. I stuffed in my pack of interchangeable circs too, in case I actually had time to cast on for something. It was a ridiculous bag, screaming of poor planning.

While I drove, I realized SIL lives two minutes away from a Joann store. And I really really wanted to cast on that rainbow yarn. Spring is coming–Spring is here, actually–and I wanted to be able to wear them before it got too cold. I’m sure you can guess what we did. We drove to Joann, I bought the size 1 DPNs I needed, and I ignored everything else in that stupid bag.

Here’s what I learned from this: my urge to finish one project before starting another actually works against me. It’s OKAY to have multiple projects. A big, complex project does me no good when I need a small, simple travel project. They serve different needs, and I have a lot of different needs. I need to help my knitting help me.

Oh, and my Sprout? I found it when I got home. I remembered I had tucked it into a cute little jar so it would be ready to use.

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Chasing Rainbows

Mar19

I’m Bonny, and I knit. I crochet too, but mostly knit, and besides, most people look at crochet and say “Ooh, what are you knitting?” So, I knit. I’m also a stay-at-home mom of two kids who are active and smart and delightful and also kids so they’re challenging. So, I knit. It makes me happy. A few days ago, I fell in love. Hard. So hard I saw rainbows. No, not with my husband–that happened many moons ago. This was yarn. I was out with my sister-in-law and my daughter at a local yarn store (LYS) http://www.thestudiokc.com/ and this little ball caught my eye. It wasn’t just any yarn, but rainbow yarn. (I feel like it deserves a special name, something more poetic than just “yarn”.) 

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See all the lovely colors, and how they just flow together? I gazed at this special yarn and imagined all the things it could grow up to be. Did it want to be a cowl? A scarf? I touched it, and it was soft. I picked it up, squeezed it, rolled a strand between my fingers and realized it was fingering weight. Uh oh. Trouble in paradise? I’m a bulky gal–I usually work at least in worsted weight if not thicker. I don’t have the patience for these thin yarns and the teeny needles they require. But this yarn was speaking to me: it said it needed to be beautiful fingerless gloves. For me! Well, in that case, I had to take it home.

After The Studio, we went to Knitcraft in Independence, MO. I found the same brand, the same colorway…in BULKY! Well, my heart just lifted and I sang “Hallelujah!”, only silently. I snatched up two balls that said they wanted to be a matching hat for my gloves. The next day, that’s what happened.

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I love how it turned out, especially the way the colors striped so smoothly. As I updated the project in Ravelry (you can find me here: http://www.ravelry.com/people/bonnyknitsforyou) I realized I had two more balls of this bulky yarn in a different colorway. This time I used a slightly different pattern, which made a nifty square design on the top.

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This is why I knit. I can find gorgeous raw material that speaks to me, and I can do something that relaxes me and feels good in my hands to create something equally beautiful–something that’s functional, something I can wear often to bring a smile to my face, and maybe even to yours. And if that happens, well, color me happy.