About the only thing that could possibly make me feel better is this:
When I took to my bed yesterday, I wanted to knit. But not socks or the cardigan or any of the other half knit stuff I have laying around the house. I wanted to knit a mitered square. I really really REALLY wanted to knit a mitered square. So I laid out all the TCC I have and started moving colors around on the bed and I came up with a couple of possibilities but nothing I loved. And my head hurt so I told myself don’t push it. Wait. Be patient. Today I was rewarded! One of my new batches of TCC arrived and I see a MILLION possibilities! I’m going to try to be good and get everything ready for the weekend and get some work out of the way and THEN I will be allowed to knit my miters. Only then. I might plan a few out before hand, might move some colors around, but NO KNITTING. No. I will be good. It’s a very lucky thing that I have to watch those kids this weekend, or we all might be in trouble. You might find me Monday one very sick girl mumbling miter miter miter miter over and over again rocking back and forth with imaginary needles and imaginary yarn in hand. DUDES! WAIT! IDEA! I’ve never wanted to take LSD before, for fear I’d lose myself in some kind of psychedelic haze – but OH MY GOD! What if you could take LSD and KNIT MITERS?!?! Seriously. I haven’t taken any cold medicine at all. I swear.
Before I sign off for the weekend, I wanted to sincerely thank you all for your comments on my post yesterday and especially over at Steph’s. Thank you for the tremendous insight you left here, and over there, and thank you for being respectful. I promise you: I read EVERY SINGLE COMMENT left here. I even read the fucking spam comments. I may not be able to reply to every one, but I READ THEM. And I appreciate every one of you – whether you leave a comment or not. ETA: I have my blog set up so that every comment I get comes in as an email. This way it makes it easier for me to reply back to the commenter (when I can – I’m sorry I’m not better than I am.) You might want to check your blog to see if you have this setting – it makes communication so much easier!
Have a fantastic weekend!
Just wanted to tell you I hope you feel better soon, and have a great weekend with those little ones! And even if you just wrote “miter, miter, miter” over and over again, I would read your blog and still be a huge fan!
Somebody (I think it may have been that one Canadian woman–what’s her name? Fiber Ho? You know her, don’t you? A few people read her blog…) said something a little while ago about the freedom of creating within a set parameter or limit. The geometry and limits of the miter are giving you such a marvelous canvas for creativity. Aaaaaaaeee! I feel myself being sucked into the miter vortex…
Oh, and another precious peice of kiddy advice (because I can’t seem to help myself): Play-dough. I’m not talking about Play-Doh, which is okay if you’re desperate, but is rather overpriced and heaven help you if you get it in the carpet or hopelessly wedged in the garlic press–No, I’m talking about make-your-own-from flour-and-salt play-dough. You can make buckets of it–enough for every child to be satisfied–for less than the price of 3 cans of the Hasbro variety. It’s really easy to make, honestly, and you can use kitchen utensils to mold it without fear of what it might leave behind. There are recipes to be found if you want to google it, or email me and I’ll send my favorite. Just an idea…
Can you teach the kids to knit miters? The new colors are gorgeous, and I can’t wait to see what color combinations you come up with!
Cara, doll… you’re scaring me now. :^) Methinks thou needest something stronger than tea and antihistimines.
Ahhhh, the package was waiting when you got back home, eh? You’re having flashbacks from LSD without ever taking any? Groovy, dude, groovy.
Isn’t it amazing how yarny goodness can make you feel better no matter what ails you?
Ooh the colors! You’re making my fingers itch to try my hand at miters, too. But the log cabin squares I’ve been working on are very insistent.
I can’t wait to see the new combinations you come up with! Have a great weekend with the kids.
I’ve been coveting your miters since you started them and have been tempted to be a copycat even though I HATE sewing that stuff up. Then yesterday I went to my LYS and she showed me the HUGE box of Butterfly Super 10 Cotton that had just arrived in all the colours of the rainbow. So. Hard. To. Resist.
I have emerged from lurkdom to put in my two cents about the “why do you blog” phenomenon. I’ve recently thrown my hat into the blog-ring, and I have virtually no readers thus far. I’ve not been too discouraged by that because my blog is such a young, green thing. Still, all of this talk has me thinking about blogs and comments. I have several, several blogs I read faithfully everyday, and I rarely to never comment. Why? Because I don’t think the authors read the comments. Today you said that you read every comment, and I was SHOCKED! Well, your blog is one of my daily reads, and so here I am, commenting! I absolutely love to see what you are knitting, what your thoughts are about your knitting… Isn’t it weird how you read blogs and feel like you have a friendship, or at least a familiarity, with someone you have never met? Anyway, thanks for being out there in blogland and for sharing your life and your talents.
I just love your mitered squares! Are you planning on doing some of them in the no-sew method?
The new colors are beautiful. I’m sure you’ll come up with some fabulous combos, you have such an eye for color.
I love the shot of color I always get over here. Today’s picture is a great one!
Feel better soon! 🙂
Oh God! The colors! The Colors!
I swear girl, you are single-handedly going to get me out of the “I must knit a sweater if I am going to knit at all” rut.
Well, I *have* taken LSD, just once, and part of me is screaming NO NO NO DO NOT TAKE LSD PLEASE GOD WHATEVER YOU DO and another part (an evil one) says “hey, that might be really fun to watch.”
My acid trip consisted almost entirely of sitting on a sofa staring at the ceiling, trying to decipher the messages I was convinced it was sending me. The only other thing I can recall (this was 30 years ago, you understand) is that anything vaguely colored became much more brilliant and pulsated and rippled, so that the crappy faded green-and-blue paisley carpet became *brilliant* green and blue, with purples and yellows coming and going.
Hmm… after that, I guess I should tell you one more thing. For about a week afterward I felt utterly crummy, like I was almost but not quite over a stomach virus. That’s a big part of the reason I never tried the stuff again.
Thanks for linking to the discussion about blogging and comments!
Can I still comment on the comment issue? Or is it too late? Because I have a pretty strong opinion about it, on account of the fact that I don’t get many comments.
Good luck with the kids this weekend. I remember baby sitting my cousins for a night once and thought that was bad enough. You’re very brave.
Oh the yarn! It’s beautiful..I can’t wait to see what combinations you come up with next… Hope you are feeling better and that you have a blast with the kids this weekend…
Oh the yarn! It’s beautiful..I can’t wait to see what combinations you come up with next… Hope you are feeling better and that you have a blast with the kids this weekend…oh and thanks for the email yesterday…you do read all the comments:)
Thanks, Cara, for this piece of information:
>>I have my blog set up so that every comment I get comes in as an email. This way it makes it easier for me to reply back to the commenter (when I can – I’m sorry I’m not better than I am.<<
As one of the blogless, I sometimes refrain from commenting because I think it’s prolly a p.i.t.a. for the blogger to reply to me…and I’ve missed some good learning opportunities because of that. Noe I will feel less guilty about commenting and asking questions.
Feel better and have a great week-end.
…and I agree with Lucia. LSD wasn’t *all that* (prolly because I am too much of a control freak). lol
Okay… I am not sure how your stitch gauge would look knitting on LSD! Who’d of thunk how much I’d be hankering for some TCC and that mitre pattern! I love how the squares are looking! 🙂
Hi Cara! Love the colors– I keep coming back to your blog just to look at all the colors! As for the cold, have you tried Emergen-C? It’s a vitamin C supplement thingy that you get in little packets, and you pour them into water and they fizz up and you drink it, and it has 1000 mg of vitamin C and it’s yummy. And they have lots of different flavors (my favorite is tangerine), but when I go to the store to look at all the flavors that are all in different color boxes, it reminds me of looking at pretty yarn. Good luck resisting the knitting!!
Wow, beautiful colors! I love, LOVE your miters. I feel this force coming over me, saying, “MUST START MITERING!!”. Trust me, I am trying to fight it for now, but I believe that when yours is complete and all pretty, I won’t be able to handle it anymore 🙂
Thanks also for linking to Steph’s blog.. I had no idea people could get so fired up about something as simple as comments! I can totally understand both sides, but I think everyone needs to realize that every blog is different and people HAVE blogs for different reasons.. ya know?! I first started my blog as a way to document my knitting, as a journal for me.. but then it grew into a lil’ circle of friends through comments and emails 🙂
Oh my gosh with the miters. Seriously, though, I love them. That is going to be an awesome blanket. The photos of your miters alone may get me to buy Mason-Dixon Knitting. I haven’t yet, but now I am starting to see some possibilities.
Also, a little late, but I appreciated you making us all aware of this blog post. It really got me thinking about my own motives for blogging, and actually made me feel really good about myself, in an odd way.
Hope you feel better soon! Don’t forget the VICKS Vapo-Rub!
I have been inspired. Yesterday I popped over to Elann.com and ordered bunches of Sonata (similar to TCC) in bunches of colors to make my own. I love the portability of this project! Thanks for making it sound so irresistible!
I’ve been at that level of obsession before – dreaming, tossing and turning, trying to find the solution to the design puzzle. Who needs drugs when we’ve got colour??
Heehee, I think I like the miter-knitting/LSD idea… though I don’t think it would be easy to concentrate on the actions of knitting, the colors would be so brilliant! Now why didn’t I knit back in my quasi-hippie-ish days? (erm, I have *no* idea what I’m talking about here, of course… *ahem!* move along…)
Hope you feel better soon, glad the shots of color are brightening your day!
LSD and miters! Why wasn’t I knitting when I was sowing my wild oats? I think that’s the question so many of us are asking.
Let me also say that I’m green with envy with you obsessed you are with your knitting. I’ve somehow lost my mojo. Did you take it? Did you? Confess now and I won’t be mad. 😉
The yarn is so pretty – if anyone has an eye for color, it would be you! Can’t wait to see your miters coming out of your psychedelic haze. 😉
I think the drugs are kicking in. Whether you think they are or not 🙂
How’d the weekend go?
I too have the email setting enabled… I like replying that way and I do feel that a comment deserves a reply (mostly).
By the way. You are breaking me in half! Stop with the Tahki and the mitred squares already. We have a wall of Tahki at the store and I caught myself three times today planning mitred squares. Just stop it. If I buy more yarn and start another project, it’s on your head. Which would probably be ok. See, I want to do greens and brick-y browns and ecru and … well you know. Crud.
I vote you try the LSD/colour thing and capture it on video. I would love to see a knitter trying to get gauge while being hopelessly distracted by all the pretty colours. 🙂
All of these colors and miters are making me think of a wall hanging. We here are fascinated with spectrum, (love the yarn shops that organize by color) so it might be cool to knit a bunch of miters and decorate the house with them.
Sorry you don’t feel good, I didn’t read blogs yesterday. (Made me cranky) The very thought of LSD and mitered squares…Imagine waking up the next day to see what you’ve made! I know these are gonna be knockouts and can’t wait to see. Have fun this weekend.
I can’t wait to see the color combinations you come up with. Oh, and my husband had a similar experience to Lucia’s, except involving an orange juice carton that had arms. For him, it was also a one-time thing that he did not care to repeat.
Well, you finally inspired me to come out of lurkdom and post! Maybe I’ll get some commenters. 🙂 Anyway, I totally agree with what you said in your last post. It takes work!
I hope you feel better soon. And those colors are just great. I can’t wait to see the new squares!
ACK! Again with the missed opportunities! I’ll be in the city for an overnight this weekend. And where will you be? With the kiddos again! We really need to plan these things better.
Geesh, am I jerk! I hope you know that it goes without me saying it, but I should. I’m really pulling for you to feel better. Mostly because I think the illness has gotten into your brain cells. Miter, miter, mitermitermiter. You sound like a seagull.
LOL LSD and knitting mitters. You “crack” (get it??? Hahahahaha!!!) me up.
I am sure that the kids are going to have a great time with you. Have a great time and enjoy yourselves.
Have a Wonderful Weekend!!
Yep, I love my Mason Dixon book, but the miters? No onerous blanket projects for me, thanks. Except now I DO want to make them, because your miters have brainwashed me and look delicious… and I have exactly two skeins of TCC and nothing worthwhile to do with them… hmmmmm.
Ooh yeah the colors pile um all together & see what fits. Have you seen this? Granted it’s stripes but so fun. http://www.kissyourshadow.com/stripe_maker.php
Great mitres!
Oh, more wonderful colors. I love the color “system” you’ve worked out. Having done acid once myself in my youth (i.e., before marriage and child), I can say that the mitered square blanket would have been fodder for one entire nite. It would have been great but not nearly as funny as the naked man doing calisthenics in the next apartment bldg. That was hysterical but then we were fucked up and the next day we weren’t really sure we saw it!
Oh my gosh, you crack me up..LSD and miters..hahahaha..If you stared at the miters I have sewn up so far, you’d probably think you were on LSD…I absolutely love your squares. If I were to make this blanket again (maybe, someday) I will take your rule..Hope you get to feeling better soon!
P.S. Do you know how TCC compares to Classic Elite Premiere? It’s 50% cotton & 50% tencel. Very soft and yummy but I’m curious about the Tahki. Thanks
oh, the COLOURS! rest up, my friend. hugs.
So you really can OD on knitting. I’m wary of those mitres now.
Those colors are gorgeous. I’ve recently picked up my Log Cabin again, that you inspired me to start last fall. Playing with the colors is the best part.
You are very good at responding to comments and linking to blogs with fewer readers. I have found some of my favorite blogs by following your links.
I have always had my comments sent to my e-mail and second you in saying that it is so much easier to respond and read the blogs of those who comment on my blog.
Thank you. 🙂
I just read yesterday’s post, as well as today’s, and while I have a lot to say on the subject of comments, colors, and children…all I can come up with is:
Gerl! You so crazy when you’re sick! Take a nap!
But I mean that in the nicest way possible. Feel better soon!
Hope you feel better soon and have a great weekend.
Cara, you are an inspiration to me. Your colors, the crazy way you dive into a project, your photography. All of it. It’s probably -my- germ factory meds, but I’m all verklempt.
I had no idea how blogging would find me such kindred spirits. Truly. It’s enough to know someone out there gets it.
The colours look scrummy-licious! Good luck with it all and picking the best colours to go with each… Just wondering though, in total how much cotton will you end up using? Asuming you will end up with a blanket size? (well the amount you do seem to be knitting)
Damn you mitre-aholics. I now need to begin making them. I would read your blog solely for the beautiful photos but your amusing prose and inspirational stitches have got me hooked 🙂
On Blogger I can get my comments as e-mails, but it doesn’t give me the commenter’s return address, only something like mary@no.reply something or other…
Cara, there’s a garter st version here: http://posy.typepad.com/posy/2007/03/magic_squares.html
oh cara, these colors… you have brightened up my morning so much! hope you’re feeling a bit better and get to knit some of the miters this weekend.
very thought-provoking post on comments. i realize that i need to be better about leaving comments on the blogs i love… sometimes my feeling is “well, they get a lot of comments so i won’t leave one” and i am more inclined to comment if the person does not have many comments… does that make sense? but you make a good point– it is a community and when i love a post and am moved by it, commenting is good stuff. i know that as a new blogger (only 6 months) i adore each and every comment i get.
Have a great weekend with the kids. I have two young kids, so I know what a *great* service you are doing for their parents. What a nice aunt you are. And happy mitering!
Cara, thank you for taking the time to share bits of your life with your readers. If the rest of them are anything like me, it’s one of those “little joys” to read your posts and view your beautiful pictures. I hope you get better soon, and have fun with those miters!
Yeah…knitters on acid…the possibilities would be great for about 28 hours. Or so I hear.
Hope you feel better! You’ve got me thinking about knitting a quilt!
Hope you are feeling better and have fun with the wee ones this weekend 🙂
Wow, look at all those colors! It will be so fun to put them together 🙂 Good luck this weekend — I’m sure you’ll do great!
Hope you’re feeling better – those colors are GORGEOUS together, can’t wait to see the mitres.
Thanks for your comments on commenting! I talked to a new blogger last night who wondered why I participated in swaps, read blogs, and such. I had to say, “it’s advertising!” And it is. As is commenting.
But it’s SOOOO much more – we’re developing relationships here – I may never get to meet you in 3-D but I can be a friend here, when you need one, and you’ll be a friend when I need one, and we’ll be friends to others because we friends here, and so on…
I so love the “would it kill ya to comment?” button I see around on blogs! I read my stats, too! I know how many folks are visiting and not commenting! I WANT to hear from everyone, too!
Have a wonderful weekend…and enjoy every one of those mitres!
(((hugs)))
Oh, those colors are so pretty! I just want to dive into them. I have future plans for a mitered blanket and a log cabin blanket (so far my log cabin experience is limited to a bath mat and a bib). I am holding myself back, until I finish up a few other projects (mom’s wrist warmers, Joe’s socks, my sweater). I do plan on taking the plunge prior to finishing Lizard Ridge, so the kids each know they are getting a blanket and can take some ownership of the works in progress.
Alright already – all this comment talk has me feeling guilty about not commenting (especially since I told you I would last time I saw you). Just afraid I’ll be outed as the non knitting voyeur that I am. Are there any other nonknitters out there that read you? Good luck with the kids – if you want more to take care of I’ll happily delilver mine to PA.
Lisa
Ohmygod. Stay away from the acid. Believe me. Go with mushrooms, they are much kinder and much more fun! And God gave them us, so they are not some evil human invention! You can hallucinate and laugh your head off at the same time. I’m pretty amazed at the mitered squares, I can’t do anything that repetitive, I would get burned out after two of them. With the mushrooms, that would be an entirely different issue! Hard to find though, buy from a reliable source. :))))
Love the colors! Have a fun weekend with the kids. I sometimes think the anticipation of knitting something you really want to knit is the next-to-best part!
How nice to be rewarded for taking care of yourself. Enjoy your time with the kids. The commenting/blogging/clique topic has been very interesting.
On the matter of LSD, you might want to consider the advice of Loudon Wainwright III: “Hold out for mushrooms instead.” 😉 Great miters!
As the mother to 5 kids….I think you are smart to forget the knitting for the weekend and just contemplate the possibilities….LOL
Have fun with the kids!!
As far as I know, only my Mom, sister, and a couple of real life friends read my blog. That’s cool. As long as I have fun writing it and they have fun reading it, I don’t care about anything else.
I love all the eye candy on your blog. Gorgeous stuff. Your work lures me into a yarn store all the time.
LOL! THAT would be a heck of a “trip” – I’d almost want to join you, except I’m already enough of a space cadet, and I already find the play of sticks’n’string just a LEETLE too interesting….(Case in point: am about to head out to a club to hear a funk band – and had to juggle what went into my purse to make room for my knitting. At the nightclub. Uh huh.)
Oh, and: Good luck with the kids! DH and I took my nephew camping (one night – 16 hours in total) for his 5th birthday, and we both had to sleep about 18 hours when we got home. The grown-ups, not the kid.
Hope you’re feeling better. (Haven’t you heard: the source of childhood energy is the direct extraction from any adults in the immediate vicinity.)
Gorgeous colors 🙂 I’m glad they’re at your house, I wouldn’t be able to resist. At mine the choices are: taxes, walk dog, knit. oooooh … its raining and I can hardly wait to see which I pick.
GORGEOUS!! You have inspired me…I too loved the look of those miters when I saw them…but you have reminded me of them again…em..gotta go get the book!
Hope you’re feeling better!
Where are you getting all your great TCC?
I found I really liked knitting squares–it’s amazing how creative you can get within that constraints.
Thanks for sending over all the traffic to get in on the discussion.
PS I don’t think LSD will make you feel better.
Feel better bubeleh – you need some matzo ball soup (or wonton is a close second.) Your mitred squares are beautiful by the way.
Ugh – I hope you’re feeling better now. You’ll have a weekend full of kid cooties too. Just think how you’re building your immune system!!!
I can’t wait to see more mitered squares this week!
On the subject of blogging/commenting, I’m a former lurker who’s trying to mend my ways! I just started a blog myself, and realize now the importance of commenting and interacting with others in the knitting community! I’m fine for now with the lack of comments I’ve received – I figure a readership and comments are things you earn over time.
By the way, I found your blog when I was googling the Diamond Fantasy Shawl. I was toying with the idea of trying a project in lace and I was floored when I found yours – the one you made in black with the beads. Gorgeous!! Since then I’ve been a regular reader!
Hey, I don’t blog. I knit. I read blogs (maybe 8 of them) by knitters. Until you mentioned it, it never occurred to me that any of you cared if I was out here reading what you wrote. I always kind of figured you were writing for each other and just sort of let the rest of us peek in on the conversation. Hmmm.
If you DO care, I love your photos. Love the blog. And I love remembering how much fun it was to spin (don’t do that so much anymore). I guess you have to assume that, for every comment, there are bunches of us out here just reading and enjoying.
Hope you feel better and had a fun weekend with the kids. I can’t wait to see what you do with those fabulous colours.
I hope you had a sniffle-less weekend with the young’uns! I, miraculously, managed not to fall on my face or my other end ice-skating on Friday. Can’t wait to see the fun you have arranging the miters.
Hi Cara,
We haven’t met yet. When I read you were joining the spinning group, I was all excited. But I missed that meeting, then you were sick the next meeting. So, I thought it was about time for me to come out of lurkdom, and say hello to you.And also to say that I hope you are feeling better from that cold.And that your photographs are gorgeous.And that your mitter madness is really enticing.
Take care,
Rosane.
My goodness… your mitered squares are gorgeous! I’m working on my first mitered square project right now – a baby blanket. 🙂
Just discovered your blog and I have to tell you how much I love your photography and changing picture in your Banner.
Good Job!
Hi Cara! I was wondering how heavy your squares are. I’m thinking of doing a ripple blanket (I know, jumping on the bandwagon) and am thinking of doing it in a cotton, but I didn’t know how heavy the TCC would be.
Is that a weird question? Probably 😉
Oh, and feel better soon!
Looking forward to seeing what you knitted over the weekend!
Hi Cara.
I am so glad Tara interviewed you at Create a Connection.
What an amazing, inspiring blog you have!
I am in love with your banner (s). How cool that they keep changing!!!
And I Love your last post. Yes, if you want people to read your blog you have to read other people’s blogs! It is a community! I tell this to new bloggers all the time (and even bloggers who have been blogging for a while, but keep to themselves, yet long for more connections…)
It takes balance not to be on the computer all the time, but if someone wants blogging connections (that can be deep and meaningful and supportive and Fun!) it is worth it.
I have two young children too so I know when I get sick I still have to be the Fun Mama!
I hope you are all better by the time you get this comment.
Lovely Blog!!!
XOXO,
Melba
Hope the weekend with the kids went well and you got to start in on some more wonderful colors! Just wanted to mention that I have a contest running over on my blog if you’re interested.
I’ve been thinking of you, hope you’re healing.
I found a button on my blog to unblock comments??!! I thank you for getting me to think about it more. I’m happy sending it out to those who care about my passions. About the clique thing, most of us have a closer group of friends in real life too because we want to have the energy to nurture those relationships. If one person is happy and fed by 20 or 30 bloggers, then there just isn’t human strength to spread.
The knitting is the excuse. We’re really trying to care with and for one another.
HI Angie…
the squares are gorgeous…!! How do you do this?
Enid