Wednesday, April 30, 2014

What we talk about when we talk about knitting

One of the many nice things about knitting in a group is the way every subject of conversation is filtered through the lens of knitting. 

Socks, being reflective.  Socks do that sometimes, have you noticed?

And also: the random way the conversation jumps around.  It's like your brain activity steps up as you work those needles, and more things occur to you that you absolutely have to share or ask about.

Yes.  These socks have a gusset.  Just wanted to be sure you could see it.

If we were knitting together right now, and not just at a computer looking at another set of finished sock pictures (this particular period of stripey sock obsession has nearly run its course, I promise), my contributions to the conversation would start with beets, and not only because of the colours in the socks I'm wearing, which would be beetlike if mixed together.
 
And that's because I had an amazing beet salad the other day.  Do you like beets too?  This one looked really easy to  replicate at home.  Three kinds of beets, some ripped up kale leaves, the whole thing tossed in a slightly sweet balsamic dressing with a couple of shards of onion, and a little goat cheese on top.  I am so going to put this together for lunch some time.

It makes me really, really happy when the stripes match up, even if it doesn't quite work out at the ankle.

And in related salad news, what does it say about me that I keep buying this other quinoa salad with bits of kale, carrot, raisins, apples, and some mystery substance that crunches like gravel?  Seriously: every time there is at least one bite that makes me think the kale wasn't washed all the way, or that some shards of crumby rock got in there.  I try to source healthy stuff for at least part of every day to compensate for sitting to knit, but I should probably be drawing the line here.

These colours are going to look so great with the rest of my wardrobe, because it's pretty much grey and cement-y too.

Speaking of drawing lines, I knit a couple of weeks ago with a friend who's putting together a home renovation.  It's a lot of work - she had to leave twice to take a call from her builder - but it is going to be worth it because she's managed to work a third-floor studio into the plan and she's going to keep yarn and a comfy chair and bright lamp up there.  Isn't that amazing?  I would love to have a dedicated yarn room.

What do you think of red and turquoise and lavender for a kitchen?

Or an office, since mine has outgrown the 3' x 4' space I've been allocated the last few years.  And I might actually get one because as soon as I get this month's chaos out of the way and before next month's takes hold, I will be talking to architects about drawings for plopping a second floor onto the top of The Tiny House.  It's going to be a lot of work and mean less knitting time for a while, but it will be worth it if I get an office to hide yarn in.

And maybe a lower basement floor so I can put an elliptical trainer in there and scale back on the quinoa/gravel salad?

I don't know why people don't wrap high heeled shoes around stripey socks more often.  The pose looks so great.
Of course, we'll have to move out of the house for at least part of the construction phase, and that means I'll have to shed either some yarn or some sanity, and probably both.  Frantically knitting up my Vesper supply has been a good move in that respect, but it's had a downside too because it's the only knitting I really like to stow in my purse, and I'm knitting on the go more these days than ever.

It's been worrying me, actually. All this time I've looked at other people's Vesper stash on Ravelry and been relieved to see that others have one or two dozen unknit skeins, whereas I've had fewer than six for quite a while now.  Right now I'm down to two and a half, and maybe that's too few.  I mean: what if I run out altogether?

I know it's hard to imagine that ever happening but look...


I've already set up the next two pairs of Vespers.  The day is coming closer.

But wow, in the meantime - isn't it cool to think that something pointy and cake-y can grow up to be socks?


Knitting is so magical.


Notes:

The finished socks are Abracadabra! from the Vesper Sock Club at Knitterly Things.  To think I left the club for a short time when I realized I wasn't keeping up!  Those were dark days I do not care to repeat.

The second floor will happen in June or so of 2015, assuming I can make the drawings and permits happen in time.  I don't know whether that means the long-suffering porch will also wait another year to get done, but either way - given the brief move out and the new house afterward, there will be some new photography backdrops coming out of this experience.  Yay!

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