Knitting and Things

Well, February was my month of knitting, and so I have been knitting.  This has been my little evening project for when I'm watching tv with Chris, or American Idol which they do show over here.  (Speaking of, Keith Urban's presence this year has made me be all "Simon who?" to my previous favorite judge.  Seriously, they need to keep Keith Urban, because we can't stand Mariah or Nicki.  The end of my random AI rant.)  But Idol and knitting do seem to be a perfect pair.

I was invited to a craft group at the beginning of the month that was doing knitting as it's first project.  So, that week, I learned to cast on, and started knitting up this scarf for Jayce.  He's been excited about it, and will periodically grab it and wrap it around his neck, even when it was only the size of a potholder.  

I was advised, the day I learned to knit, not to make a scarf as my first project because they're boring.  I would never finish it and I would end up giving up on knitting out of sheer boredom.  But Jayce had been asking for a scarf, I hadn't bought him one yet, and I thought that a kids' scarf, particularly one that changed colors periodically, would keep my attention.  And it has.  

At the beginning I did think, "This is so boring, I hate this, I'm done knitting once this is done."  But the different colors of yarn are also different types of yarn, so it's been interesting to test out a little variety, and weaving in the ends kept my attention when I was getting bored with the whole project.

Also, doing the same thing over and over has helped me to get much better at it.  My blue stripes look so much nicer than the green stripes that I started with, and the edges, which I had been getting frustrated with, are much smoother and more uniform.  So it's a nice way to measure the fact that I have been making progress and I am getting better.

And now I don't have to be such a "pretend knitter" at my weekly knitting group, where I typically go just to visit, chat with my friends, have some cake and a drink, and wrestle Hannah while people knit around me.  I took my scarf a few weeks ago to show them all, and the lady who taught me how to knit months ago was like a proud mama bird.  I was too. :)

That said, I have let myself be distracted by a few little projects here and there, as I do.  I saw this and for some reason became immediately obsessed with making one for myself, and was sewing it by that evening.  I didn't have any embroidery floss, so I just used a few strands of regular thread and I can't really tell the difference.  

However, Jayce has claimed it as his own.  I was sewing it while we were all watching something one night, he looked over at it and said, 

Wow Mom.  That's some great knitting!  Is that for me?

Umm…do you want it?

Yeah!

Sure buddy.

I kind of thought that he would forget about it, but he didn't.  Actually, the day that I finished it, he carried it around in his pocket for the rest of the night, and then put it on his dresser with his many treasures.  A few days later I brought it back downstairs to take a picture of it, and when he got home from school, saw it out, put it in his pocket again, and back into his room.  He told Chris that he likes it because "Mom made it, and I love her."  So yeah, he gets to keep it.  He is good for my gift-giving soul.  :)

I also let myself get distracted from my knitting by this fun little travel card holder.  A friend, the one who loaned me the sewing machine, got a free kit to make it, thought it looked like me, (she was right), and passed it on to me at the beginning of the month as well.  I love it.  It is MUCH better than the plastic Ikea sleeve that my Oyster card came with. :)

And for now, that's it!  I've been filling up my notebook with other projects that I want to take on, but I'm trying to pace myself with this whole "one thing a month" thing.  I have realized that I have too many ideas flipping through my head at all times to just focus exclusively on one thing for a whole month, it just helps me to prioritize them all a little bit.  

I have another little knitting project that I'm going to start with a friend later this week that I'm really excited about, and it should be a bit more exciting.  

But I'm finishing the scarf this week, because Jayce needs it now, (it's cold here!), and I'm over it.

More soon.  Happy Monday!