Looking Back

With the end of 2008 upon us, it's time to look back before looking forward. I really began knitting only last year so this year has been incredibly productive for me. As with all finns (including men) I first learned to knit at primary school, but as most do, I sort of forgot about it until recently. I blame the Domiknitrix.

I probably should explain such wanton accusation, so here goes. I've been sewing clothes for myself and others for ages and I love corsets. So I bought myself Corsets and Crinolines the definitive work for anyone interested in historical undergarments. So Amazon faithfully started listing other stuff I might like which included the Domiknitrix book. It looked fun, and frankly I hadn't even imagined knitting looking like fun. Seems like a shock now, I know, but I was young and naive. So it arrived and with the first look of the Bob Dobbs vest Tommi asked if I could make him one and so I did. Nothing's been the same since.

So the completed projects for 2008 have been blogged about so recently that I don't see a need to blog about them again yet. What's up for 2009? I found out about the NaKniSweMoDo (or Nationa Knit a Sweater Month Dodecathlon) for 2009 today. The basic idea is to knit 12 sweaters during the year 2009. That doesn't sound too bad. This is when the knitting fates attack and make it impossible for me to complete even the one. Although that's been happening loads lately, so too late! *muahhahaha* I also intend to knit the garter stitch afghan by Elizabeth Zimmerman by the next time cold weather rolls around again. Add some socks in the mix and we have ourselves a productive knitting year to look forward to.

Knitting for peace

As the year is coming to a close I am grateful for so much. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say, I wholeheartedly agree with the Harlot that I am lucky if only because I'm able to knit. With resent events at the Gaza strip and elsewhere it seems that peace and wellbeing for all is not possible.

But I'm going to try the best that I can. Martti Ahtisaari said "Peace is a matter of will" when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. Even with the risk of sounding like the sort of person who makes their own granola (I'm not), I subscribe heavily to the sentiment voiced by Andy Maize of the Skydiggers at a concert before Christmas: "Things will be better if we all take care of each other than they will be if we don't take care of each other."

With that thought I'm challenging everyone around me, as well as any stragglers that might be reading this blog to make a point to do something to improve someone else's life better at least once a week for the whole of 2009. Being a knitter, I of course intend to knit many warm and useful things for people in need to be distributed by the SPR or Finnish Red Cross.

The Deal

The Darling Man (DM) has been making a lot of game purchases lately and I have been making a lot of yarn and other knitting related purchases lately. It's not like it's a problem, but we do have a wedding coming up and it would be a good idea to make more of an effort to save up for it. So we made a deal. Tommi will not buy any games for himself until he has played through half of the games he has bought lately and I will not buy any yarn untill I have knit through my WIP queue on ravelry + the Relm hat that I've been coveting for a while now and did actually buy the yarn for on my saturday trip to Priima. Both of us get one veto purchase, but if only one of us uses it, the other gets bragging rights.

We're both pretty happy with the deal. It's not like we're running out of room for either or anything, we just think it better that we "force ourselves" to take the time to enjoy the things we've got now. All the better to start after this self imposed fast.

In other news; christmas is starting to look dangerously close now. I've finished all the pieces for the baby jumper going as christmas present to Tommis brothers eldest, I just need to wash and block them and attach the sleeves and it's done. The torso and hood part are complete with all the ends sewn in and the hood secured and finished. At the moment the sleeves seem like a daunting task so I find myself putting off the blocking, cause that way I'm not scared of the sleeves. How stupid is that?

Tommi's cardi is not in such great shape. The body is worked up all the way up to the armholes, I've gotten one sleeve up to the elbow during today and I got the zipper today, but I don't think there's a snowballs chance in hell this thing will be ready for christmas. Maybe for new year's. It's going to be good though, when I finish it. I'm already loving it.

Spreading the word of the Knit

I've been sick since the beginning of November. Some kind of viral flu or something, doesn't matter. What matters on the other hand, is that I've been spending a lot of time waiting at the doctor's office, the lab and so on. Lot of knitting has gotten done during all that sitting around waiting. My doctor's been fascinated about my knitting and today I managed to egg her into to starting knitting as well.

Last night we were sitting as a group at a bar after a professional community meeting, having some drinks and talking about everything and anything that came to mind, me knitting away on my rinsessa hat when all of a sudden my little sister remarks that she might have to start knitting, because it looks like so much fun. This is a person who has never knit except for the mandatory stuff at grammar school. NEver even cared much for arts and crafts. I was so shocked I even dropped a couple of stitches.

If there's hope even for my little sister, there is clear indication that one day, the world will be run by knitters. And what a wonderful day that will be.

Kaamos

Kaamos is the finnish word for the perpetual darkness that comes in the winter. Many people living in the nordic regions of the world are effected by SAD aka Seasonal Affective Disorder. This manifests itself as increased craving for sugars and fats (aka chocolate), trouble sleeping, dramatically increased feeling of needing more sleep, tiredness, irritation, and in extreme cases clinical depression. Yesterday I finally copped up and admitted that I have SAD. I've been increasingly bad to live with, but I only admitted to having SAD, when I didn't want to knit anymore. How sad is that? (pun intended).

Last night I just couldn't bring myself to knit, on account of every single yarn I own being "all gray". I have pretty denim blue tweed, gorgeous yellow-orange-red sliding dyed wool from Estonia that made the rounds among Finnish knitters last year, Noro sock yarn that varies from bright turquoise to orange. But nonetheless, everything I own was "all grey". So I spent the evening admiring Cherry Tree Hill solid socks in colours so bright that they hurt the eyes.

The worst thing of it is, I have startitis as well. I've got waaaay too many things in the works, but nothing is getting done. Baaad combination.