Blood and Shadows

I really liked the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer, and I had been looking forward to the release of the Twilight Movie for over a year. I made arrangements to go to see it with B1, Jester, and Pizza at the midnight showing weeks before it came out. And, as I usually do, I spent a lot of time pondering what I would wear. I wanted something appropriately festive...black and/or red. But, at the same time, I did not want anything "costumey" since I don't want to be one of those fans. So, being me, I decided on jeans, a long sleeved black shirt, and...a hand-knit Twilight inspired scarf. The only problem...I did not have a hand-knit Twilight inspired scarf. Still, it was over a month until the movie, which should have been plenty of time for me to make one.

I went to my LYS (Knit This, Purl That) and bought some beautiful variegated red, black, and grey wool yarn. It had some uninspiring name like color #something or other, I lost the ball band so don't remember what it was, or even what brand. I immediately renamed the yarn and the scarf "Blood and Shadows!" But, I didn't want to make just any old scarf, this was for an EVENT. It called for zip, zest, and zeitgeist. Since I have always gotten a lot of compliments on my meandering mohair scarf, I thought I would go with something like that.

After bemoaning the fact that all of my knitting books are in storage, I decided to bite the bullet and do an original design. It was only a scarf...how hard could it be? I had just made a set of coasters for the Sister, and so had mitered squares on the brain. I came up with a design that was a series of interlocked mitered squares, cast on, and merrily began knitting. Now the pattern itself was fairly easy. The only fidgety bits were when I had to cast on at the end of the rows to increase again for the next square.

There was one teensy little issue. My beautiful yarn was sock yarn, and I like really long scarves. It takes me long enough to knit socks, let alone a whole chain of socks. The scarf took forever. It was a black hole of time and effort. No matter how long I sat there and knit, it did not get any longer. Weeks passed and it still was nowhere near finished. (Confession...I worked simultaneously on another project, namely the berets and a sock, and grad school was really work intensive this quarter.) Needless to say, the scarf was NOT finished by the movie.

So, instead of wearing it TO the movie...I knit on it AT the movie. I had many hours of waiting for the film to actually start, first in line and then in the theater. Pizza thought it was hilarious that I was actually knitting, and Jester took a picture.

Once the movie was over, the rush/need/desire to finish Blood and Shadows waned considerably. If it weren't for the fact that I had to stay home from work sick one day, and have been spending a lot of time on the phone (lets hear it for hands-free that lets you chat and knit!), it still might not be done! I did finish it though, and personally think that it is quite lovely. I actually got it done in time to wear it to Berkeley's going away/graduation party. It is one of my favorites, so will not be given away...and it has good memories associated with it (the movie and the party). Not to mention the fact that everytime I wear it I think of Edward and all his wonderful vampire-ness!

Looking at the World Through Yarn Colored Glasses...

Observation #1: Friends are over for dinner and a movie. They are all perched on chairs and couch, awkwardly juggling plates with drinks clutched between their knees or left in designated spots on dining table.

My Deduction: They are not putting their drinks down because I have no coasters.

Solution: Knit and felt 6 coasters and a coaster caddy out of Noro Kureyon # 180.

Observation #2: Friends are over again for dinner and a movie. They are still perched on chairs and couch, awkwardly juggling plates with drinks clutched between their knees or left in designated spots on dining table. Or worse yet, clutching a beautiful coaster and looking around confusedly.

Realization: The problem was not a lack of coasters, but rather a lack of coffee tables or end tables on which to put coasters.

Conclusion: Handknits are not always the answer.

Does anyone have a pattern for a felted table?

Addendum: I wish I had made the coaster caddy a little smaller, but I was not entirely sure what the shrinkage factor would be during felting, so I over-compensated.

Time is Relative

I spend a lot of time knitting.

A lot of time.

I am often asked how long it took me to make something. This is difficult since I am constantly knitting. I knit in the car (as a passenger, not driver). I knit on my breaks at work. I knit during conversations with friends. I knit while watching television or movies. I knit at theaters before the show starts and, depending on who I am with, during the show itself. I knit while listening to professors lecture. I knit while waiting for the kettle to boil for my tea. Working on projects in spurts makes it nearly impossible to quantify the amount of time it took.

There are a few exceptions however.

Wrist Warmers: 1 Underworld movie per warmer.
Coffee Cup Cozies: 2 episodes of Monk each.
Felted Coaster Holder: 1 Sharpe movie (I love Sean Bean)
Felted Coasters: 1 lunch break each
Lace Scarf: Bus rides and breaks of one Grad School Residency.

I choose to not view knitting as a waste of time, but as a means of maximizing the time I have been given. I am going to watch the movies, I am going to listen to the lectures, I am going to go on car trips. Knitting enables me to make the time productive.

And, isn't that what a Superknitter does? Fight for truth, justice, and the American Way?

As the good American Protestant work ethic says...idle hands are the devil's tool!