Wednesday, March 2, 2011

New things

I got so distracted yesterday by the sewing of tote bags, there was essentially no active knitting in my house.  At all.  I was thinking about knitting though, specifically this: how is it that everything I want to make takes so long? I need to find a way to simplify things so I can go faster and not ponder as I go and then rip out whole seams, or in the case of knitting, sections.

The tote bags were meant for food shopping (deep enough for a baguette) but with spring coming I could definitely use a few more differently outfitted ones for knitting on the go.  You know, with an outside pocket to hold the yarn you're knitting from that's just big enough to jam a sock or hat into when you have to get off the bus or something?  I would love to have a ton of bags like that made up and set aside to go with different outfits or be ready to give as gifts, but I'm not prepared to give up sock time for it.

Finally it struck me that there is a simpler way to do what I do, which starts with making each tote from a front and a back and not one big piece I fold over. The new idea would eliminate all the excuses I use to keep from coming up with set math for the size of each piece, and allow me to

(are you ready for this?)

cut pieces in advance.

Like, just get out a ton of fabric one day and do nothing but cut, and get the machine out a different day and just embellish and maybe even assemble individual pieces including three different types of strap length (hand, shoulder, messenger), and then another day to finish. 

Of course that means I want today to be that day but No.  I want to knit. Also, I have to edit a pattern to conform to somebody else's style sheet and - gasp - write some marketing copy for a client.

You know what's sad?  Writing marketing copy for a client is the very last creative outlet I will approach with enthusiasm, and not only does it pay the best, it goes the fastest. Like, really really fast.  I should love it more than anything else.

Even though I don't, today it's good that marketing copy goes fast because yesterday was the first of the month and that means:


New yarn from the Biscotte Club!

I love these stripes.  And I am wondering what I have in the stash that will go with them, because the Pinkerton Shawl I also like is made from sock yarn and there is a suggestion to knit its two segments in two contrasting or striped yarns.  Or maybe I could just do it all in one striped yarn since the multidirectional aspect would set the stripes against each other.  Must check yardage. 

In the time I win back from being so good at writing.

1 comment:

Karen said...

Whoa! You like Pinkerton too? I saw it and thought it might be the answer to my 600 yards of non-matching merino/silk problem.