Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Somebody Stop Me!

I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?

Anthony always wants the bad news first, so here it is:
I started another new project last night.

There are two good newses though!
1. The new project can be found on the project lists on my door.
2. The new project is being made with yarn from my stash!

Any guesses as to what it is?









(Joy, your toe-up/cuff-down quandary will be answered shortly in its very own post.)

5 comments:

Joy said...

Oh goody! I can hardly wait! I cannot live without the answer to this burning question! Type! Faster!

Hmmm... I'll try a guess. I think your new project is the Christmas sweater for that adorable little niece who calls you "Annie Grook."

I have to say that as a beginning knitter, it is really encouraging for me to see that someone who does really challenging stuff and has been knitting for a few years still gets stuff wrong.

It appears to me (even in my inexperienced state) that there are a great many variables in this hobby and even the most experienced knitter is going to run into something they didn't account for. I knitted a guage and everything, and am still not convinced that the hat I'm making for my daughter for Christmas will really fit. It looks large to me.

I'm curious what Knitsie proposes as a solution for the yarn dilemma. What do you do if you can't find the right color or yarn for a project at your LYS?

I really don't think LYSs are going to lose much business to the local Walmart/Michael's/Hobby Lobby/etc. If you want something really specific...and NICE... you're not going to find it at Walmart! They only stock cheap bulky acrylic, trendy furry stuff, and a few cottons. Any knitter who advances beyond afghans and scarves and wants wearable yarns will have to look at specialty stores.

As a beginning knitter myself, I have looked for yarn at local discount stores and was really disappointed at what was available. I did find a few things that worked for the beginning projects I did, but the selection of really good quality yarn was poor and crowded out by the yucky cheap/scratchy stuff out there.

Plus discount stores have zero customer service. I have tons of questions as a beginning, but had to totally fend for myself. Rather than buy cheaper yarn that ends up not working (resulting in a total waste of money), I have become a loyal LYS customer willing to spend a little more to benefit from the knowledgeable staff and amazing selection of quality yarns. My wallet won't let me take on as many projects because it's a little more expensive, but at least I know that I have a better chance of creating a usable end product by shopping there!

Oh yeah. Another great perk is that the classes are taught by real people, not infallible knitting super-gods. (Sorry Brooke - you're not quite to the level of super-god! But if you were, I wouldn't be able to hang out with you anymore!)

Brenda said...

Just tell me what it is damn it!

It's big and flat so it must be a sweater. Or a blanket. Or an appliance cover.

I saw the list on your door! I know there's an appliance cover on there!

Joy said...

an appliance cover with matching ice-cream cozies and soda pop cozies!

brooke t. higgins said...

Brenda! You're right! It's a cozy for the washing machine I will someday own. (I don't want to give it to the washing machine I'm currently using, because of the whole appliance-cozy curse! You know, like the boyfriend-sweater curse, where he leaves you after you knit him the sweater!) I will save this one until I have my very own washer and then I will love it and hug it and hold it and cozy it with this beautiful green wool appliance cozy!!!

And Joy, you were close... only I'm going to be making a matching Clorox Bleach Pen-cozy and a Laundry Detergent-cozy instead.

Oh, and, y'all are freaks.

Brenda said...

Brilliant! A bleach pen cozy! I'm going to start on one immediately!