Ice T said it best:
(If Ice T isn’t your speed, Ann‘s got some Mr. Rogers You Tube goodness over on her site. Just sayin’.)
You don’t come out the other end of a weekend like I just had without learning some stuff about yourself. Things I learned while sitting on the couch knitting like a fiend for three and a half days:
– My husband is a saint. He can’t stand to be in the house all day and I thrive on it. So after the twenty-third hour of my sitting on the couch, knitting away furiously, saying “Isn’t this the greatest weekend ever!” over and over, it’s a miracle he didn’t hit me. He smiled and thanked me for being so happy. He also didn’t mention that I smelled. You think you’re not working up a funk sitting on that couch but you do. Trust me. I actually showered Saturday night at around 11:30 PM. (Which may not seem weird to you, but honestly, if I’m not leaving the house, I ain’t showering. Please call before you come over.) ETA: I should also say that I didn’t MAKE G stay in the house with me all weekend. He was allowed to leave. And he did. Just not as much as he would’ve liked.
– While I greatly admire the funkiness of Nona’s spectacular short row log cabin swatches (FANTASTIC TUTORIAL HERE), my mind can’t do that. How I would love to bend the way they do out in Gee’s land, but I get such satisfaction out of all those little v’s lined up in a precise, neat, orderly row that to deliberately knock things off their wack is something I’m not capable of. It makes me feel weird. AND I’M OKAY WITH THAT. I really really really am. Because I can bend and twist and turn and scare the bejeezus out of myself with COLOR. C-O-L-O-R. That’s what I’m all about.
I was particularly taken with this fuchsia color.
I used it as an accent in three of my miters.
Did you know fuchsia rhymes with Lucia?
– I’m not sure if this is really learned, because I’ve known it for a long time, but it really is all about COLOR for me. Rarely do I shoot with black & white in mind. My personal work has always been about color. My knitting has always been about color. My SPINNING has definitely always been about color. The only reason I started spinning was to make yarn like this. That was it. Not even to necessarily knit with it, just spin up all that color.
It’s funny too – my house is kind of drab in it’s decor. I have white walls EVERYWHERE. Well, the walls you can see because my living room/dining room is covered with wood-like (is particle board really wood?) bookcases thereby hiding the walls. There’s lots and lots of wood (which can be colorful, but my wood’s not) and my furniture is navy blue and my wall to wall carpeting is brown and my bedroom’s kind of brown with lots of wood and my sheets are dark and blue and so are the drapes and no wonder all I want is color in my life! Why limit myself to ROSE colored glasses?!? I want all the colors of the rainbow!
– I learned that I’m accepting of the dual nature of my obsessive tendencies. Because sometimes they can be truly grand and net me five glorious blocks of color, but sometimes they can fuck with me to the extreme and make me miserable and scared and feel vastly out of control. It’s okay though because I can take the bad with the very very good. Sometimes.
– I learned that on occasion I DO like Mondays because they give you the break you need after a weekend spent obsessing. And spinning guild. I’m extremely grateful for spinning guild because when you’re spinning you’re not knitting (because as much as we’d like to, we can’t knit ALL THE TIME, we must eat and sleep!) and yet you still get to play with COLOR!
Pre-Drafted Spunky Eclectic Fiber
Biffle – Tie Dye Colorway
Fluffy goodness all drafted up – ready to be spun!
Yesterday I knit a few rows on the KH Cardigan – it was comfort knitting is there ever was one. I learned that when you throw yourself into something – even something that COULD be comforting (like stockinette stitch miters) – when your brain is working overtime processing colors and ideas and thinking thinking thinking it’s NOT restful. Invigorating? Yes. Inspiring? Yes. Compelling? Creative? Fulfilling? Yes. Yes. Yes. Restful, though, it’s not. Today I’m going to spin a little and then I’m spending the night in the big city with my G. Tomorrow I’m off to Lawn Guyland to hang with my favorite martian and the guild. Thursday I’m off to my sister’s to BABYSIT. No rest for the weary. I’m not sure if I’ll be blogging at all until next week sometime. I will try to check in to let you all know that the kids are taking very good care of us – but if not, have no fear. My voice is back and it’s LOUD. (In fact, I wish I would just shut up already….)
Have a great week everyone!
Shout it out! You do love color and I love to watch you ‘play’ with color, too. IceT says it best, you knit it bestest! Say hey to that little piggy for me;-)
Ooh ooh, linky goodness, thank you! You probably already figured this out, but I love fuchsia too.
This is what I meant about your special gift for living in the moment. If at the moment you’re all about miters, to paraphrase one of my favorite movie lines, you’ll just be all about miters until you’re not doing miters any more and we’ll have to know that miters are what you’re doing. I’m actually not surprised that your place is on the monochromatic side — that way you can have resting parts in between the colorful parts.
Did G at least go out for a bike ride or something?
Amen for not bathing if you’re staying home. I should make my husband read this. Loving the fuchsia and how it contrasts with the other colors.
That was a mercifully short case of bloggy laryngitis–did you take Ann up on her offer of some cream for that?
It IS all about colors. I think it’s all about filling up your senses and experiencing the richness of life in every way you can. I think a lot of people are color-deprived and you’re helping to heal the world, one colorful post at a time. 😉
find another 60’s sitcom, I never liked that one with the martian ……
how about I’m going to hang on Morning Glory Circle ….. or I’m off to Petticoat Junction …. or I’m going to shake Genie out of her Bottle (maybe not that one) ……
You should really try your hand at dyeing. It’s fun, it’s creative, and it’s COLOR!!!!
The colors are lovely. You could save yourself some serious time if you pick-up stitches as you go…..just saying! I can’t even begin to think of all the sewing you have ahead!
So does this mean you won’t be at FIT this Thursday:-(
I wish I had a pinache for color like you do. I have to work really hard at putting colors together in my craft work. I’m thinking of taking a color theory class.
It’s all about color for me, too. I’ve taken color classes (plural) just because I love color so much that I don’t mind the redundancy. I’ve taught color classes. I like my walls and furniture neutral but everything else to zip with color. And I love what you’re mitering. And did you see the new one on the MDKAL? Oh, so zingy and pretty. Have fun w/ the kids and know that your enthusiastic voice will be missed!!
Lucia– funny quote! What is that from??
You sound so much happier than you have for a long time. This is good.
Ha!! Ice T huh? that completely blew my mental picture of you. Cracking up over here. Thanks for the laugh. Have a great week.
Oooo more miters. I love how adventurous you are with color. That roving is so pretty.
That multi-color yarn needs to be the next set of note cards!
Thanks for sharing the link to your photography site. Your work is amazing.
I was just thinking this morning that Ice-T had it right on. It was a totally different song, but what a silly coincidence! Knitters who love hip hop- possible blogring? ha.
No, don’t shut up! I am loving your beautiful and artistic use of colors. I thought I couldn’t be more jealous after I saw the great colors in the wool you spun recently, but now I am jealous all over again when I see your miters and great color combinations. It sounds like you’ve got plenty to keep you busy for awhile, but I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of those squares. Take care.
Mmmm, fuschia. I love your blog not only for the colors, but for your infectious enthusiasm!
Mmm, I love Spunky Eclectic BFL. It’s by far my favorite spinning fiber.
i just had this very funny moment when i read the part about being at home/husband not liking it/the greatest weekend ever/no shower/ahem smell — this is so much me! i’m just having this picture of lots of happily smelling knitting women with grumpy husbands – so funny! thanks for sharing!
You lock Ice T and Mr. Rogers in a room, and I’m putting my money on Mr. Rogers.
I’m a nice guy walkin’, puppeteer talkin’ . . .
I LOVE it! Such a great colour scheme. I am going to start a stash for a miter of my own.
I’m with you on the color thing. I get drunk on color! I spin just to be touching the color! I knit with the handspun just to play with the color! Well, not just…but almost.
I’m thinking about a log cabin blanket. Why I cannot tell you. I’ve got so many things in the queue right now! Only wish I had eight extra hours in the day just for knitting on the couch…
I’d NEVER leave the house if I didn’t have to. 3 Days of knitting sounds grand!
Love love love the fuchsia! I can’t wait to see that fiber spun up.
Kind of off the subject but not completely (colors), with all the chevron scarves going around right now. . . . . . has anyone tried doing one combining you and Georgie’s colorways???
I wonder how they would look together seeing that you two (in real life) go so well together. . . . . .
I don’t have any STR in EITHER colorway so all I can do is dream about it. . . . . . >sniffsniff<
Love Love Love all the wonderful photos you take. You don’t post one or two you post TEN (or more). It’s great being overwhelmed with something you are enjoying. And it’s obvious from your photos that you are having FUN!
Seeing someone have that much fun with a particular project inspires others/me. Yeah, so the miter knitting with all the wonderful mix and match and not-match colors is now niggling around in the back of my mind.