A well-knit story

This week has been busy, and I am surprised to find that here we are, almost at the weekend! I attribute the rapid pace of the week to both a lot of work at the office and a lot of commitments in the evenings. Even though these evening commitments mean a lot of running around during peak traffic times in the Silicon Valley, I really don't mind them. They are part of my self-care routine and provide my mind, body, and soul with nourishment. Tonight, I jump back into the Sophomore knitting class that I took regularly before we bought the house. I take it at my favorite LYS. I love this class because I can bring any project that I am working on and get help, learn new mad knitting skills, and socialize with some really great women. Not to mention the yarn. Oh dear! I could spend a lot of time and a lot of money in this place. Such pretty fibers and so many exciting projects, often way beyond my skill level! Oh, and I get a 10% discount on any supplies for a project that I work on while taking the class. Could you ask for anything more? This is one of the projects that I currently have going. I have one other big project going and another big project lined up. I am not going to divulge any of the details, because these hopefully will be gifts, if they turn out okay.

Since I began knitting, I completed only one project that I gave as a gift. I made a baby blanket for my sweet Penelope's Naming and Dedication Ceremony back in March. Let me tell you, one of the reasons that Jenn (P's mama) is such an amazing friend is that she accepted that gift with all the grace in the world. Sorry Jenn and P, but that blanket brings such shame to the world of knitting!

I chose this fuzzy, feathery, ultra soft yarn to knit with, and about every 6-8 inches I knit both the fuzzy yarn and a dingle-berry type yarn together for a few rows. Well, let me tell you what. Even though the pattern was straight forward knit stitch all the way through, that yarn was ridiculous to work with. It was my first time working with a novelty yarn and because of all the fuzzy feathery goodness, I kept adding and dropping stitches. I was going cross-eyed trying to keep track of the stitches! I persevered, and finished the blanket.



It was beautiful, really. I was so pleased with myself that I had made it through and it actually looked a notch above decent (albeit a tad bit more trapezoidal than rectangular). And then I washed it. Swiss cheese, anyone? Three or four holes popped up where I had dropped stitches, one of which was at least three inches in diameter. Okay, now what? I decided that I could stitch the holes closed, since the yarn was so fuzzy you wouldn't even know the difference, right? Exactly. It worked like a charm. The only thing is, the blanket completely lost its shape when I washed it. At that time, I hadn't learned about how to block a pattern yet. I knew what blocking was, but for some reason it didn't even occur to me that this would be one of those situations where blocking is a must. So, there I was with a periwinkle animal pelt. Seriously, it looked like something that you'd throw down in front of a very wee fireplace, to lay on in the coldest days of winter and bask in its warmth and fuzziness. Well, if you are an infant under 15 lbs, that is. I decided to still give it to Penelope, though. I had to give it, if only to tell a good story and get a good laugh out of my learning process. More so, though, I wanted to give it to her because it was truly a labor of love. I had the privilege of being present when that darling girl came into this world and I wanted to create a little something special for her. In retrospect, I also like the idea that the blanket, just like life and love, is imperfect. Perfection isn't a reality, and life sure as hell isn't perfect. Sometimes, despite our best laid plans, things just don't turn out the way we expect them to. The love is still there, as is the intention, and that is what counts. So, to those of you who receive a knitted gift from me, please keep that in mind. :)