Knit Once, Purl Forever

Neither Here Nor There?

Do you knit for the process or the product? That seems to be the burning question for all knitters. Julie at Booga J recently hosted a poll about this. You can read the poll results here. Apparently, most of her respondents knit for both the process and the product.

But what happens if you knit for neither reason? What kind of knitter would that be?

I used to think that I was a process knitter; however, I'm no longer certain that's the case as I quickly lose interest with any project. I knit as if my life depends on finishing said project so that I can start the next project, but I don't necessarily enjoy the process. Take the Gioia scarf for instance, I absolutely love this pattern. I like the way it looks and I find that it's a fun pattern to knit. I'm just anxious to finish it already. I've lost patience/interest/desire to knit the scarf,  but I push on towards completion.

As with any project, after a while I just knit for the completed product.

So that would make me a product knitter, right? I would agree except for one little thing: I rarely keep or use anything I knit. I often knit for others or end up gifting the resulting product when I realize that I would never use said item. I would think that a product knitter would have a lot to show for his or her knitting time. I have very little to show--unless you're looking in the project gallery, that is.

So what else is there? Has anyone else found that they don't really fit into either category? Why do we devote so much of our limited free time to knitting if we don't even know why we knit or what "type" of knitter we are?

Maybe it's neither here nor there. Maybe it's one of those 'I knit, therefore I am' things. What do you think?

Really Now

Here at the Knit Once blog we don't advocate the following knitting acts:

1. We don't recommend swatching with parts of real projects such as the sleeves. We always create as many swatches as it takes to get the proper gauge for the proper project. Proper is what we're about.
2. We would never think of using whatever yarn strikes our fancy under the guise that we would worry about freakin' gauge later. We always select the suggested yarn, or a proper substitute of the suggested yarn.
3. We wouldn't dream of blatantly modifying any and all patterns on a whim. No, we trust the designer implicitly so we stick to the pattern, as written, and we never stray.
4. And we would never, EVER, sign up for a knit along, such as the Knit On The Road Knit-along unless we planned to actually participate. We would never neglect to knit Whitby and we would never let our fellow knit-along buddies move on the the next sock without us.
5. We would never make a point to mention Sockapaloooza and then forget to sign up on time.

We would never do any of the above. And we would only admit to such things on Monday. Really now.

Lateral Knitting

In a lateral move, since finishing up on the red scarf, I've been knitting away on the Gioia Scarf. No photos yet as there really isn't much to see. It's just a lot longer than it was. I'm rounding third base, or nearing the end of the third of four balls of yarn for this project--however you want to look at it. 

I'm hanging in strong on the stashalong. We were in the neighborhood of my favorite yarn store yesterday and I was barely tempted at all. Just a tad tempted, but it was easy to push down that temptation. According to Kim, our fearless knit-along leader, we can have a grace period on Valentine's Day and can purchase yarn if we like. I'm going to try to resist the temptation because I'm really enjoying using the yarn I already have. I'm finding that it's kind of rewarding and surprising to shop at home instead. It's quite a treat to find that I have just the right yarn for my project without the need to go to the store.

Of course, when this is all over I'm sure to go on a yarn shopping bender. I haven't completely lost my mind, just so you know.

Sorry for the boring entry. That's what happens when The Hubby has a birthday and we party half the week. More later. I promise.

The Redeye

I feel as if I've been on the redeye. Tired. A bit grumpy. A woman of few words.

Anyway, the red scarf is ready to go. My hat is off to those who managed to knit more than one red scarf during this short period of time. It was all I could do to finish this scarf in time. I kid you not.

The Specs.

Scarf for the Red Scarf project (PDF)in what else but red yarn from my stash. I'm using a pattern from Lion Brand's site and 3 balls of 100% Merinos wool. I think it's the basket weave stitch, but don't quote me on that one. The pattern calls for Lion Brand's Cashmere Blend, but I think the Merinos wool worked out okay.

Why Lie?

That's what the Panhandler's sign read. How refreshing--an honest bum. The people in the cars near the corner where he stood seemed to think so as well since they readily contributed money to his "cause." I was in the far lane, wishing I had my camera to capture the sight.  I never have my camera at times like these.

Of course not having it guarantees I will see one of the  following sights:

• The Jesus Wagon parked near a public park on my route to the office. The Jesus Wagon is a converted school bus that is now plastered with signs and flags destined to save souls. It makes infrequent visits to this particular neighborhood and is so over the top it always makes me smile.
• A string of traffic backed up as two turkeys crossed the street directly in front of the deer-crossing sign. Obviously, they couldn't read.
• The panhandler in front of the gas station with his "Need Gas" sign. His car was nearby with the hood up for effect. What that has to do with his gas tank, I don't know. I've never seen a car with the gas tank located under the hood.
• Other crazy ass shit I have probably forgotten.

The reason I don't bring my camera? I brought it along one day last summer and managed to capture these gems:

I have no idea what I was trying to capture, but I'm sure it isn't captured in any of these pictures. I put the camera away when I became afraid of doing this:

It was probably the right decision.

Real on Monday

Mondays are for getting real here at the Knit Once blog. Of course, things are always real around here, but this is the day when we share just a little more.

Reality TV Tip
When watching reality TV, I'm always looking for that little sliver of truth that makes up for wasting my time on mindless programming. In watching a few episodes of The Biggest Loser, I was struck by how hard these people workout. They work OUT with every fiber of their being. In fact, their workouts appear to give new meaning to the phrase 'No pain, no gain.'

And I have to say that I've never subscribed to the no pain, no gain way of thinking. I've always eased into a workout routine. Quite frankly, I haven't always put enough effort into getting fit in the past. This reality show has opened my eyes to just what it takes to get in shape. I've realized that I need to be willing to really extend myself and give it my all to achieve my fitness goals. I'm thinking there needs to be a little more pain for my gain...

Reality Knitting
Still working on the red scarf for the Red Scarf Project. But there is a finished scarf in my near future. I estimate that I will be finished within the next couple of days. The scarf is about 6-foot long right now--I plan to make the scarf as long as I can by Wednesday or to knit until I'm out of red yarn, whichever occurs first. I'm blocking this baby on Wednesday to ensure that I meet the deadline for mailing it out.

The reality of scarf knitting is that it's just not that exciting. I do find it therapeutic and relaxing, though. Plus, this scarf is for an excellent cause.

Reality Work
After struggling (for HOURS) to get the new software to work at the office, who would have thought the problem I was facing was caused by a conflict with a version of another program that I run? I deleted the conflicting program version and reinstalled an older version and now I'm back in bid'ness business. Just a two version setback, but at least I'm working...Stupid computers.  Can't figure 'em out, can can't punch a hole in the monitor.

And that's a wrap for Reality Monday!

Eating Worms

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me. Think I'll go eat worms...

I spent the morning cleaning up and updating the links in my sidebar. As I was adding links and testing to make sure everything was working properly, I spent a bit of time reflecting on blogs and blogging in general.

What makes a blog popular? All things being equal, why do some blogs appeal to the masses, while others garner a smaller, loyal audience? Have you ever read a "popular" blog, and no offense to the author, wondered what others see in it--what sets it apart from any other blog?

Now, sometimes the answer to that question is obvious. Some blogs shine a little brighter than others due to excellent writing and/or great design. But sometimes it's not so obvious to me. Anyone else wonder about this, or is it just me?

Of course, some are more than happy to eat worms!

Sockapaloooza 2006

The Blue Blog posted a countdown to Sockapaloooza. Sign up begins on Tuesday. I always miss this thing, so I'm adding it here as a reminder.

Goal Q&A

Goals. We all have them, or at least most of us do. And when I wrote my last entry I really didn't expect that there would be so much interest about my goal blog. What a surprise! I will try to respond to your comments and questions to the best of my ability:

Jacqui asked, "So what type of updates are you doing? Completed goals? Progress reports? Would it be more like a journal?"

Excellent questions. Yeah, I think it's kind of like a journal. It's a place to log my progress for each goal. Mostly I just wanted to get the goals in front of me as a daily (or almost daily) reminder.

Beth asked, "I also like your idea of the private blog. How would one go about setting up something like what you've done?"

I subscribe to Typepad. There used to be a function available for creating new blogs. I initially created three blogs: the original blog, my knitting blog, and a fitness blog. I converted the fitness blog to a goal blog instead and set it up, through Typepad's configuration settings, so that it is password protected and private. We seem to have lost this functionality (for creating new blogs) during the latest upgrade--or maybe they decided three blogs is enough for any given blogger. I do not disagree.

Update: The downside to having more than one Typepad blog, is that it's very easy to post the wrong entry to the wrong blog. I learned this the hard way earlier today. If you subscribe to Bloglines, you probably know what I'm talking about. Sorry.

I found the following information on Blogger:

"How can I password protect my blog?
We do not currently offer a password protection service for Blog*Spot blogs. However, if you host your blog on your own server you may be able to do this, since many hosting providers include this service. Check with your system administator for information on how to set it up."

Hope this helps.

Gina commented, "I must remember that answer when I'm at a job interview."

Hah! Your comment threw me for a second because I really wasn't talking about those kind of goals. There are goals and then there are goals. And, no, while I still think there's something to say for acting on your goals instead of merely speaking of them, I wouldn't try that one at a job interview. Of course, my answer for a job interview only involves my career goals.

No Talk, All Action

Earlier in the week, I caught a snippet of an old interview with a much younger, and very cute I might add, Brad Pitt. The reporter asked him what his future goals were and he replied that he would rather not say as he would rather work towards them than talk about them. His answer stopped me in my tracks. Or, rather, it would have had I been making tracks.

Over the years, I have spent many hours admiring Brad for his undeniable hunkiness, but I have to say I've never been in awe of his wit.  Now, it could be that I was always too busy drooling over the hotness that surrounds him. Whatever the case, I can really relate to what he said about his goals as that's how I feel as well. It seems that whenever I voice my goals out loud, I lose momentum. And, really, what good does it do to talk about them? Who really cares to hear about them?

I decided that this year would be different. As I like to say: 2006 Kicks!

And here it is halfway into January and I still haven't made any resolutions for the new year--not any that I've communicated with others.  Instead, I recorded my goals for the year in a private, password protected blog. And I made that blog my home page. The thought process behind this is that it will help in achieving my goals if they are the first thing I see whenever I surf the Internet. In fact, the rule is that I have to post an update to my Goal Blog before I can browse to another site.

Is it working? Yes, I believe it is. But I can't really talk about it.

LATE-BREAKING KNITTING NEWS
Still working on the red scarf for the Red Scarf Project. I don't have a photo as it really hasn't changed much--it's just a bit longer. Plus, this thing doesn't seem to like having its picture taken. I did see a cute button for the project over at Norma's. Check this out:

Pretty cute, huh?

And of course I read all about the newest knit-along craze, Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics.

Am I joining this? OH, HELL NO! I have too much going on to commit to completing a project in 16 days. I don't need the stress, thankyouverymuch! No, instead I'm joining the Homer Simpson Olympic Knit-along! We're not starting any new projects during the Olympics and completing a project gets you kicked off the island. AND we're too lazy to make a button, so there.

UPDATE: We have a (non)button! Here's the Homer Simpson Olympic Knit-Along Not a Button button:

That's it in my world. It's not much, but it's mine! I'm afraid that no talk, all action may make for a very dull blog. =(