Of Mice and Merino

It seems we have a mouse in our house. DH says he might be living in my yarn which is a no-no as far as I’m concerned. I’m a very tolerant person…usually…but mess with my knitting and watch out. Still, we hope to catch the little bugger and set him free miles from here. I hate hurting any living thing especially when I know he’s just trying to stay warm.

So I’m going through all my projects and realizing how many things I never got to this year. I also find myself pretty thankful that I bag my yarn instead of letting it hang out loose…even though mice can chew through almost anything if they want to…my yarn seems to be safe.

There are so many patterns I downloaded and bought and yarns I still haven’t even cast on needles in my stash…why does this happen?

But then I designed four items this year; a scarf, 2 shawls and a cowled sleeveless sweater. And it isn’t as if I haven’t made anything. I’ve made baby booties and bonnets, prayer shawls, scarves, bags, slippers, blankets and even a sweater and shawl for me.

I’ve worked hard to balance family, knitting and everything else and I think I’ve done okay. But my stash says otherwise. And I just added to it this weekend when I ordered 30 skein Sampler Pack of Palatte at Knitpicks. I have a hankering to design something in Fair Isle.

No, I don’t have a fever. Those of you who know me understand that this is a big step…getting over my fear of Fair Isle…dpns will be next. My biggest problem was I couldn’t change colors, but I had to learn that technique in order to do slip stitch…so I can’t use that excuse anymore. That sampler pack has been calling to me for a while now. So we’ll see what comes of it in the months to come.

So where does that leave my stash? Waiting…waiting for me to have enough time to make something just for the fun of it. But that is rare. I make things for the shop, for classes, for charity, for new babies and mothers, for gifts and for Vixenpath but there is little time to make anything just for me.

In all other walks of my life, I’ve made a place for me-time but not knitting. I’ve consoled myself this year that anything that lives at the shop will eventually come back to me…like my beloved slip-stitch cats.

But to grow as a knitter I need to try new patterns, learn new stitches and techniques, find new ways to shape items and sample new yarns. It is the nature of the beast. So I’m going to start my resolutions early this year.

I Ruinwen will:

Design two new patterns for each quarter – eight in all
Have patterns ready and made BEFORE I volunteer for the class
Make something in Fair Isle
Take four months and devote them to Vixenpath
Make at least four items for me
Not get upset when I don’t have time to blog
Not feel guilty when I don’t have time to knit

Okay, that seems simple enough. Now I just need an extra day in the week…don’t we all? :)

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen
:)