Tuesday, April 18, 2006

The joys of Early Morning Knitting!

As much as I love Spring, it's not an easy time. Interesting since it's a time of yearly renewal and everything seems to glow as it comes to life. With the glowing, however, comes the pollen and therein lies the "rub". I tend to "rub" a lot in the Spring. My eyes, my nose, the early spring bug bites. I am a veritable "welter" of reaction - and that includes early morning headaches. So, how to handle the collosal bore that comes with that early morning drag? Knitting of course. It's such a lovely way to ease into the day. It's remarkable how the first cup of coffee, a little mood music and the soothing feeling of a mercerized cotton slipping on wooden needles can bring me peace and get me moving into the day.

Lately, I have been noticing a trend in the blogs I frequent. It seems that a number of people have more than one (or two) projects in progress. One went so far as to label it knitting ADD. I identify and I admit to suffering from the same syndrome Currently, I am working on about 3 things simultaneously and the urge to add to this list is overwhelming. Yesterday, I picked up the newest copy of Knitter's Magazine. There's a basic little cardigan in there (with a raglan sleeve) that shows stripes and a wonky kind of a pattern on the sleeve. With a little adjustment of color and design, it looks like it has the making of a great "standard". So, again, I cast on a new project last night, and woke up this morning to pull it all out and start again with another thought for the ribbing. It's a little disconcerting to be running from project to project, but I am working on redefining my thoughts about the creative process. I realized that I tend to try and control creative chaos by working on one project at a time. While this is good discipline, it tends to thwart experimentaiton and it's in the experimenting that one grows and learns. So, I am working on the non-control issue when it comes to my projects and letting the "muses" have their way with me. In between, I tend to do small "steadying" projects like hats. These little one-offs keep me grounded and at the end of the day some baby will have a warmer head - so that keeps me feeling as if something tangible is being issued as well. One of the many things I love about knitting is the fact that something functional (and useful) is turned out. Hence, the war that goes on between my creative experimental self and my very practical self.
The most recent project I ave completed is another hat. I used a very nice new yarn from Reynolds. It's that company's answer to Classic Elite's Fixation since it has a little elastic quality to it. The hand is definitely all cotton in feel, however, and it comes in the most marvelous array of tweedy but springtime colors. Pearl Chin will be carrying it at Knitty City within the next few weeks and you can see my sample there.

In closing, here's a shot of some of my fellow Springtime enthusiasts. We were driving home the other day when I spotted them in the field - and as soon as Richard stopped the car, over they came. The lead guy was the boldest - and he got the carrots I just happened to have on hand to reward him for his courage. The girl in the background was a lot shyer so she bided her time.

Livestock Update:
I just got word that Mae, the little orphaned lamb that I made mention of last year, is about to deliver her first lamb! I have to get over to my friend's place to check her baby out as soon as it arrives. I hope Mae is a better mom than her own mother proved to be. She wouldn't let Mae into the fold and Mae had to be raised by hand by her owner. Let's hope she learned from that and not from her mom's example.

New York Spring-time Scene: Shot from the moving car as I returned home to my beloved New York. A lovely and soothing site on the East River.