Married knitting

Lynn has been telling me about her current run of Really Exciting Knitting - projects she can't wait to start, loves making, and is enthusiastic about wearing - and it has led me to realize something quite shocking: I have become an old married knitter.

Not your regular socks with sandals: socks with shabby, scuffed PATENT sandals.  Yep, married.

I can't remember the last time I looked at a pattern and thought WOW, the possibilities!  I look at patterns and think, pretty much in this order:

1. Would I ever wear or use that - or be able to give it away?
2. Can knitting it knock down some of my stash?
3. Will I be able to talk on the phone and/or read a book while I'm knitting it?

Honestly.  Talk about taking your knitting relationship for granted: I shouldn't go through all that before appreciating the beauty of the piece itself.

It gets worse, because not only do I avoid projects that require me to buy yarn specifically for them (yarn stash panic) I avoid trying new yarns.  I only want to put my time into projects with yarns I can trust.  Yarns that will perform well in the finished product (no pilling, no pooling, no itching) and feel great under my hands as I work (no joins, no plastics, no shortage of elasticity.)

In fact I would say the only yarns I love and haven't worked with religiously the last year are Biscotte yarns - especially Felix, which is great for gift socks because it feels amazing and has some nylon blended in for longevity.  And Rowan yarns also... they always knit up well, and for the most part they're priced for practicality.

Ugh, there's that word again: practical.  The bottom line for married knitting!

Still... it's not really like knitting and I don't have a close and caring relationship.  I do keep up with Hugs after all... and I love, really love, every pair of socks I put on.  Especially the ones I'm wearing right now, because they match my shirt.  (okay, they all match my shirts.  I have a lot of colour options.)  When I think of what would be a good gift for somebody I care for, the first question is Can I knit something? and when I have a problem, I ask myself the same question before I think of other solutions.  Even when I'm spinning yarn, it's with a view to what special thing I can knit with it.

So: married knitter.  That's me.  But happily married, and that's pretty good!

What about you?  Are you married too, or still falling in love?