On Optimism and Creativity

This is the product of last night's movie night at Nana's. About 8 of us gathered to watch Harold and Maude, that old Ruth Gordon and Bud Post story about a deranged, suicidal youth who falls in love with a deranged, suicidal woman four times his age. I'd seen this movie for a film class in college, and all I remembered was hating it. I can't even remember now why the professor picked it.

I did enjoy it more now than I did back in college. Some of the gags made me laugh right out loud. But I also remember why I hated it. This notion that a boy who was born with almost everything should become obsessed with death and suicide because he wants even more -- well, I just wanted to slap him. Spoiled brat.

But there was a very subtle theme underlying parts of that movie, so subtle that I'm still not entirely sure it was deliberate. Both main characters have creative temperaments. Neither one has figured out a good method for channeling that creativity. Both are suicidal -- and both are very damaged people in need of a lot of therapy.

So I watched this, and knit half the cuff of the second cashmere mitten, and pondered all the ways stifled creative urges can muck up a creative person's head, and then I came home to this:






















Miss Seven, our first grade diva, has always had a thing for writing notes. Even before she could write actual letters, she would write me "notes" of all kinds, chicken scratches and swoops that neatly followed the lines on the page. When she learned her alphabet and could start writing actual notes, they were always these heartfelt (and occasionally heartbreakingly sweet) notes about how much she loves different people and animals. These were usually appended, "P.S. No Boys!"

Lately, she has taken to sprawling across various surfaces in my office and concentrating fiercely to come up with these notes. The postscripts are gone. She talks to me at length about how sometimes she doesn't know what she wants to write, or doesn't know the exact words she wants to use, but she still wants to write all the time. There is usually much pencil-sucking and harrumphing while she writes these days. She is clearly going through a creative growth cycle that includes a bit of blockage.

And I adore her for it, and of course will do everything in my power to encourage her -- I mean, listen to the rhythm in her fledgling poem, the child has an ear for language -- but my god. Another writer in the family. Poor kid has no idea what she's in for.

So I've been getting her some personalized notepads from vistaprint -- if you guys don't already know about vistaprint, you should get on their mailing list for their free offers. You can get really nice personalized notecards and the like for the price of shipping and handling, and the quality is fantastic. Anyway, I thought personalized notes would be a subtle way to encourage her to keep her creative channel open and flowing. After that movie last night, I'm really feeling committed to that particular mission!

Summer of Sleeves? Oh, Yeah

Apologies for the terrible pictures. For some reason, blogger gave me error messages every time I tried to upload the good picture, but it lets me load this fuzzy crappy picture with no problem. Thereby proving that blogger still hates me.

The sleeves are now 5 inches long, and they feel like they're knitting up quickly. Of course, that's probably because this is the narrow end of the sleeves. Once I get to full width, I'm sure they'll feel like they're taking forever. I'm in the third pattern repeat and each repeat is getting me about an inch. So my row gauge is off -- I'm supposed to get ten rows to the inch, but I'm getting twelve. I've decided I can live with this, even if it means my sleeve width will flare a little too quickly.

All things considered, though, I'd say week one of my personal summer of sleeves is off to a decent start!

:0

You know that damned crib blanket? Of course you do. That would be the PINK and green crib blanket I knit for my uncle and his wife, who were told they were having a baby girl.

Yeah. They had another ultrasound.

The doctors "can no longer determine" the baby's gender.

*thunk*

How I Spent My Holiday Weekend

I'm calling these the lightning bolt socks because of the way the white bits pooled down the leg. Very cool. And I'm trying really, really hard NOT to think about whether the second sock will look anything like this. I think we already know the answer to that one. ::grinds teeth::

The yarn is Sisu, and it has the loftiness of the knitpicks sock yarn without that hard crunch. The knitpicks sock yarn tore my hands to shreds. This Sisu did not, not even close. I'd describe it as a slightly crunchier Baby Ull -- same loftiness, same hand and finish, but not quite as soft. I knit it to a medium-tight density to try to counteract some of that loftiness so the sock will wear better.

Anyway, this was the perfect thing to work on this weekend. I could take a handful of antihistamines and still knit without worrying that I would screw up the pattern. It's a plain sock. What could be easier or more relaxing?

Baby Sleeves

This blue is so electric that it's hard to photograph. It confuses the camera!

Last night, I did my sleeve math for Fulmar and knit the rest of the cuffs. Oh, yeah, baby, knitting again. For those of you in the Fulmar KAL, I shortened the cuffs to 5 cm (she calls for 7), and I will be using Starmore's rate of increases for the first part of the pattern. That's the faster rate of increase, adding one stitch every three rows. By extending that rate further up the arm and delaying the switch to the slower rate of increase, the sleeve will hit the maximum width a little closer to the elbow. This will make it easier to modify the drop sleeve to remove some of the underarm bulk. I shortened the cuffs that little bit because I have short arms, and that's an easy way to shave off a half-inch in sleeve length.

I love this pattern so much. This might be my favorite knit of all time. The instructions are so clean and easy to follow that she turns the whole process into a magic trick. You see this complex and detailed pattern? Presto-change-o! It's a piece of cake!

And the yarn. swoon! Can you imagine what high grade merino feels like after crocheting 2000 yards of Encore?

I'm a very, very happy knitter right now. With great reluctance, I won't take Fulmar with me to the lake house today for the holiday weekend. Many children + smallish house + cold and rainy weather = bad for Fulmar. The cashmere mittens are staying home, too. A simple sock, that's what I need. And I will be ready to tackle those sleeves, full speed ahead, when I return.

Finished!

Today, the crib blanket!

Tomorrow, the foundation!!!

And then both the current pains in my neck will be gone! Woo hoo!

All I need to do is give the blanket a spin through the washer and dryer to set it -- killing the acrylic will go a long way towards softening this blanket up. And then I can wrap it and get back to the very important business of knitting.

I'm really excited about the return to knitting and can't decide what to pick up next. Fulmar's sleeves? A sock? Or one of the other many knits-in-progress? Ah, what a happy dilemma.

The Latest Meme

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Practicing law. And this was back when the thrill of the courtroom was running through my veins. It was fun then. I had no life other than work, but that was okay. For a while.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today - not in any particular order?
1. Send out thank you cards for birthday gifts.
2. Call aol to yell about how they're still billing us for a service that was supposed to be free and was canceled immediately after the first time they billed us. (I hate aol.)
3. Finish editing one manuscript.
4. Harass some people who are past deadline.
5. Try not to go crazy from the noise in my basement.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Chocolate anything, plus crunchy-salty things like popcorn or pretzels.

4. Places I've lived:
Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, China.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I would do as little as possible. Isn't that the point of money? It liberates you from all the crap you gotta do.