Focus Damn It!

I'm having one of those periods in my life where I set sights in one direction only to be distracted seconds later by something else that grabs my interest. The result is I just keep turning in circles.

Restlessness
From a knitting perspective, I know what I need to do, and that is to finish Donegal. Once Donegal is done, the other projects that yearn for my attention will move along quickly, even if I can't focus on any one project for an extended period of time.

Be forewarned. Wendy makes doing Fair Isles look easy and fast, and they are definitely anything but that. She has an incredible persistence and endurance when it comes to her knitting Which I appreciate, but definitely don't have myself. Honestly, I'm not sure I would want those qualities. I often enjoy the scattered, unfocused nature of my knitting. It makes the act of knittng seem more creative, or at least more Bohemian to me. It's one of the few areas of my life where I can display creativity, so I don't want to have any level of rigor or structure to that outlet.

Donegal
All that being said, I am focusing mainly on Donegal this week. I did end up getting a 16" circular for the sleeve, and it is working out MUCH better for me. As the sleeve tapers down, I will have to switch to two circulars, but for now, I am enjoying the knitting significantly better with one needle.

I'll post a new picture on Friday or Saturday.

Old Socks
My first attempt at doing a pair of toe-up socks was following the instructions for Judy Gibson's "You're Putting Me On" socks. I followed the pattern blindly with some old purple Inca Alpaca, and they came out great. It was interesting doing a heel flap, since my only experience up until then was doing short-row heels on the sock knitting machine.



Since then, I realized I prefer the short-row heel, and so I've changed the heel when I do the toe-up sock. At one point, I may change to a short-row toe, but I don't mind the look of the increase toe as described in Judy's pattern, so I don't see the need to change that part.

Knit Enthusiasts Unite
It is a great thing when I get to meet up with talented knitters with the same level of enthusiasm for the craft as I have. It's a bonus when those folks have exquisite taste, so I can bounce ideas off of them about possible design directions. If those qualities weren't enough, these folks are also extremely fun to be around. Here's a picture of Marilyn and Kathy waiting for me to arrive for the last meeting.



That's the kind of meeting I'm expecting this Sunday when I meet up with Marilyn (Knitting Curmudgeon) and Kathy. The meeting was also supposed to expand to include Amber and Marcus, although I'm not sure if either of them will be there.

What Makes a Blog Interesting?
Obviously, I've thought a lot about this topic, even if I fall short of interesting sometimes. But I was reading Justin's Blog yesterday, and I was so pulled into his simple story of life at his house, that it made me think about this topic again. I love reading Justin's blog, but it doesn't fit into the standards I usually associate with a good blog. His doesn't have tons of pictures, he doesn't include a lot of technical knitting tips, and, in fact, there's not a whole lot of knitting content in his blog. And yet, I go to his site every day that I visit my own to check for comments (which is usually at least once a day).

I guess if I could figure that out, I'd be the next John Irving.