A Job Well Done - 31st

I will pride myself on being a procrastinator later. For now I am so proud to have completed some wonderful projects. I am a knitting novice and like any new relationship yarn, needles and I are in the romantic stages of our ménage a trios. It’s like going out on a date when I yarn shop. I do a yarn crawl making sure to perversely fondle each skein and explore its most intimate details – what’s it made of, dye lots, how to wash. I imagine our lives together sharing nights on the couch or the bed, going out to wonderful new places, introducing them to my friends who will ooh and ahh and fall in love like I did. I may even share them with my friends in a swap, but know that no matter how much my friends love them, they were mine first and their distinct qualities and inspirations will always be attributed to my loving hands.


Yes there are the dark days of not knowing what to do with them, not really being in the mood as they taunt me from the basket. The needles may take particular strife into account and leave a hidden bruise upon my finger tips as I kept them moving in and out all night for hours. But in the morning and especially when the project is complete, we both say “I love you” and all woes are forgiven and forgotten.


Our charming union has created such wonderfully fulfilling offspring. Starting out simple I was told to do a scarf, but in Florida, that is a bit inappropriate. So instead I made fashion scarves that are still too warm to wear during the hot months (all 10 of them), but they do add a touch of metropolitan chic in the evenings or over my leather coat in January. With these I paired up yarns, tried some new stitches and even some beading, getting braver each day that unlike the men I date, my romantic liason with knitting is true and the love is real. I can mess up and needles and yarn are so forgiving encouraging me to try again with them, no hard feelings, no lost moments only unconditional love.
I went to a knitting store with my friend Barbara and she introduced me to the owner who also taught. We sat around the table and the owner shared tales of knitting socks for the soldiers in WWII. It was intriguing, but I sucked. I wanted to be as fast at the other naughty knitters with their sweaters and tanks and socks, but I was inept at talking, listening and knitting. However, I was inspired to make a nice wrap. I took it a step further adding several different threads, opening it up a bit and sort of cocooning the design. I loved it, but once again, too hot to wear in Florida.


Practicality set in and belts and headbands became my repertoire of knitted fashion sense. They were easy to do, even while waiting in traffic, common sense since I wear headbands a couple times a week and pretty much all weekend and fun. This is when Renee, an Etsy fiend, stepped in and kept repeating her mantra to me in regards to the new crafts I was creating – “Etsy Etsy Etsy”. Still not sure of what I was doing I instead made treats for others in the forms of fashion headwear and left it at that.


Then I was given an ultimatum. Michelle demanded a knitted purse for her birthday. My new found love had given me confidence so I ventured out to new patterns. I failed miserably as the felted panels of the first purse came out uneven and squashy. I was not happy, but I found new yarn and another affair began. I eventually ended up making her a nice little red purse with a pink rose (Michelle is a rose girl). I was so proud of it. I knitted the swatch, felted it, did all the embellishing, hunted for the right beading (a red glass fish since she is a native), added the handles, hand sewed the lining (I still can’t figure out the sewing machine yet) and then sewed up the sides. I was so proud of myself. This was the moment that all women wait for – it was a proposal from knitting to me that we will always be together and nothing will keep us apart. It all came together on a day when my world was supposed to be falling apart, but like in a romance novel, one love walked away and my true love asked for my hand.


Being the stubborn kind, I had to see if I could recreate this event or see if it was really a fluke. I still was not self-assured enough to believe that I could really have a talent in this domestic realm. So I fashioned another piece, a little bit different style, but the same premise. I knitted the entire swatch, felted it (this time a little longer), added suede flowers and a button, added the funky pink sparkly handles, lined the inside in suede (very hard on the fingers since this too was hand done) and then sewed it together. I did it again. Now I really believed our love was forever. It even occurred to me that this may also be a way for me to make some sort of living, or at least some extra cash.


Maybe our love affair would produce purses and trinkets that would open up a world of possibilities. After watching the Coco Chanel Story last night I thought, why not. She too had loved and lost and coming from tragedy there is glory with, in her case hats and then the empire. Now I don’t want to work so hard as to create an empire, but I would like to make a decent living from what I love to do. In either case it is just fun.


So my latest project is a scarf – it is September and bound to get cold sometime. I found the yarn yesterday and there was only one so no purses, but the asymetrical quality of the new wool and the hues of watermelon really inspired me and it was a bit pricier than I normally spend, but I had to have it. A treat from my love to me.

I am just so pleased that I have been able to finish these projects and still have ideas and inspirations for more. A deep gratitude fills me with the thoughts that maybe the procrastinator in me has turned over a new leaf. My life seems to be changing at a high speed and this is one of the good changes to come.
It’s grand being in love!