Knitting Kninja

I cannot seem to keep my virtual mouth shut, even when it would be good for me.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot because Ravelry will be going public before too long.  I’m listed on there as a designer, and whoever entered me in used my real, full name, which they got off of the copyright on my Maude Louise pattern.  This is actually a good thing for me, since someday, when I am a better pattern writer, I might like to submit patterns to publications, and having some sort of repertoire probably wouldn’t hurt me in that regard.

Where it may or may not be such a good thing is that I cannot seem to stay away from the Big Issues Debate group on Ravelry.  I have opinions.  Many of them.  If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ve probably acquainted yourself with some of them in my occasional feminist rants that relate to knitting.  The danger on Ravelry is that the issues coming up in the Big Issues group are not related to knitting at all.  But I still have opinions.  Strong opinions. Controversial opinions.  Potentially alienating opinions.

I don’t want to alienate people.  I really don’t.  People who read my blog do so because we share a love of this craft, not because they want to hear me opine on stay at home parenting, or kid free zones or the obesity crisis.  I’m making this assumption, though perhaps I am wrong.  Perhaps there is a subsection of readers who are just dying to know what I think of the current Pope or my thoughts on the rights of man.

I used to have a political blog.  It was started by me so that I could quietly post rants when I felt like ranting.  What it turned out was that I do not often feel like ranting on my own.  I rant in discussion, not in monologue.   I had the blog for a year and posted in it maybe three or four times total.  No one read my rants.  Though it was posted on the world wide web, I might as well have been writing in a journal.

And you know something, even though I’ve always liked writing, I have never ever enjoyed journaling.  I like essays, but essays are read by someone, even if it’s just the person grading the essay.  They are written to an audience.  I like writing to an unseen audience.  It makes me feel like I’m in dialog, even when I’m not.  Heck, I’m an introvert who works better in a written medium.  Of course I like an unseen audience.  Introverts, contrary to popular opinion, often really enjoy the company of other people.  We just recharge by being alone.  The internet is our playground, because we can be alone and we can socialize all at once.

So you’ve got this thoughty introvert who spends all day in her own head thinking about the Big Issues, and usually surrounded by small children whose primary interests are Star Wars and mad potty skillz and when they will next be fed, and you give this introvert an entire site, the best designed Web 2.0 site on the net, all about her obsession, and you throw in people who want to talk about the things this knitter thinks about all day, and you end up with an opinionated little chatterbox who cannot seem to shut her virtual mouth.

Oy.   The thing about this that bothers me is that I want people to be able to enjoy my knitting the way I enjoy theirs – without a lot of baggage.  I am not ashamed of my opinions, and I am always happy to have a chance to express them.  At the same time, it seems a little much to bring them into a place that is about my hobby.  Hobbies are a break from the world, and I don’t knit to think about my political opinions.  I love my fellow knitters.  I’d hate for them to feel uncomfortable reading my blog because of my opinions on religion.

That said, I don’t know that I’m going to stop posting about my opinions on Ravelry.  It seems almost compulsive.  And there have been many opinionated knitters before me.  Sure, Elizabeth Zimmerman springs to mind, but though she was very opinionated, I realize I mostly am familiar with her strong opinions on yarn, aesthetic and method.  But how about Barbara Walker?  She’s a knitting genius.  The knitters of the world owe her a debt of gratitude.  But at the same time as she was compiling her fantastic stitch treasuries and instructional books, she was also writing about her atheism and feminism, her strong belief in spirituality, and her meditation guides for women.

You know what?  I’m an opinionated knitter.  I’m just going to have to own that.  No one ever imagined, I suppose, that I was nothing but a knitter.   Thinking on it now, it seems a little insulting to my readers to think that they’d never be interested in anything but my yarn.

But since we are interested in yarn, I’ll be nice and show you what arrived today.  In a moment of reckless abandon, I ordered two skeins of Sundara Yarn Sport Merino, because it was so beautiful, and because it is going to be temporarily discontinued.  I have no idea what I’m going to do with these beauties, but I think I’ll be taking them off to Thanksgiving with me, because my heavens!  They are a reason to give thanks.  That’s Lemon Lime on the bottom and Rust on top.  Oh, and my lovely woven scarf that Andrea made for me beneath .

There they are, all stacked up – the finished holiday gifts so far, with a few more to come. I actually still have some ends to sew in on some of these, or linings to place, but the knitting part of each of these is done, and I figure I’ll try to have a finishing night for myself sometime soon.

It’s November. I like November. It’s autumnal and crisp, and here in the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s not really cold, but it’s not too warm, either. It starts becoming appropriate to have a pleasant mug of hot apple cider, even if it’s still sunny most of the time. The autumn and winter rainy season makes everything green. For some reason, my yard has filled with shamrocks: tall, three leaved shamrocks. Eventually we’ll need to get in there and get the yard sorted, but for now the shamrocks, if not tidy and well ordered, are pleasant company.

Gabriel found a sycamore leaf on the way home from school today, and when the light shines through it just so, it’s really lovely.

The kids have been pretty companionable with each other lately. A typical scene, as discovered by Mr. Kninja:

We had a really positive IEP meeting yesterday, as well, and that’s taken a huge weight off my mind. I’m still a little down, but it’s harder to stay in a funk when you don’t have as many worries encroaching upon you. I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned it in this blog, since it’s not knitting related and all, but Liam, my younger son, is on the autism spectrum, and there’s a lot of work and worry involved in dealing with his schooling. We’re terribly fortunate this year in having a wonderful responsive and caring school district, but it’s still true that a lot of my stress has been related to Liam and school. The IEP (the most recent in an ongoing series of these meetings) really helped a lot. It’s wonderful to see how supported and cared for Liam is. He’s still going to have his bad days, but the constant stress that marked his first school year is gone.

Since I’m feeling a little more relaxed, I’m going to have a silly and fun day and, unsolicited, make a list of gift ideas for the knitter in your life. Mostly because it’s fun to shop around, even when it’s not for me. I don’t enjoy actually going out and shopping, but the web makes shopping fun for introverts who fear crowds.

So, without further ago, ten gift ideas for knitters, from simple to fancy.

1. I often see Kidsilk Haze put out there as a default gift for a knitter, and while it’s true that it’s lovely stuff, I’m going to go a different route and suggest a skein or two of ShibuiKnits Sock. It’s soft superwash merino, and it comes in really magnificent colors, and sock yarn can be put to a lot of non-sock uses for those who don’t want to knit socks.

2. Morehouse Farm has a lot of amazing patterns and kits, but their dragon scarf really leapt out at me. It looks like a very fun knit and a very fun wear, and it comes in four dragony colors.

3. Lantern Moon makes some of the most luxurious and beautiful knitting needles on the market. A pair would probably make a knitter’s day.

4. Back on yarns, Jade Sapphire Silk/Cashmere is about the most glorious looking stuff. Good heavens! A single skein will make a pair of Wine and Roses Mitts from Interweave.

5. There are pattern books galore, but Kim Hargreaves’ new book Heartfelt would be a fabulous gift for a female knitter. The patterns are classic, elegant, and straightforward – perfect for a beginner or someone with more experience.

6. A Rowan membership would be another great gift, ensuring delivery of two Rowan magazines a year. The word magazine is misleading in this case: Rowan’s magazines are large, durable, and are essentially books. While still aimed mostly at a female audience, Rowan also has far more appealing patterns for menswear than most knitting venues. Membership also comes with a gift and access to two free patterns a month, as well as access to the Rowan fora.

7. Knitters need needles, and Knitpicks’ Options are sharp, comfortable to use, durable, and to top it off, reasonably priced.

8. For the lace knitter in your life, a one pound cone of Jagger Spun Zephyr Wool-Silk would make an excellent gift that would last for a long time. A cone has about 5040 yards of yarn, and it comes in a wide variety of beautiful colors. I’ve touched this yarn, and it has a beautiful feel – warm, but smooth and soft.

9. There’s a variety of stylish knitting bags out there, but I think my personal favorite is the Namaste Jetsetter.

10. It’s not a cheap gift by any means, but should you wish to wow a knitter, the best gift I personally can think of is a subscription to Sundara Yarn’s Seasons Club. Six months of luxury yarns in beautiful seasonal colors, delivered to your door. The mind boggles. However, at $52 a month for a six month minimum, this is a luxury gift that should be saved for someone really, really special.

So that was fun. I don’t always get to go fantasy shopping and pretend I’m doing it for good reason. Oh, did I just type that? Um, no. That was no fun at all. I had a miserable time, but I do it all for you, the reader.

Seriously, though, I hope that my list is helpful, and that the price ranges spanned are also helpful. I know I have a hard time finding gifts for people sometimes, and seeing lists by interests has helped me in the past. I hope your November is going well!

I’ll leave you with a peek at one of the many, many projects on the needles right now. The stitch pattern is so beautiful that I can’t help plugging away at this thing, but man, it is a pain in the rear to knit.