Well, the calendar says fall is here, although our weather doesn't seem to agree. It's been warm most days, with an occasional very hot day thrown in. But, our nights are cooler, and there's even been fog once!
In my head, I must think I live in the East, because I've just been on an Elann shopping trip, and bought a bunch of new yarn. (Not that I don't already have wayyyy too much yarn!) But the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Astrakhan in Summer Rose was calling my name, as was the Berroco Smart Mohair in Orchid and the Peruvian Highland Chunky in Hyacinth. I also picked up a Debbie Bliss book, Out of Town. It has a cute little cardigan just right for the Astrakhan.
I used to be all about pullovers in my knitting, but lately cardigans are appealing to me. I'm not even sure why. And I still have lots of pullovers in my waiting list, so I haven't given up on them. Maybe it's just that cardigans are more practical, but I'm not sure I believe that, either. So, who knows? Maybe I'll even, some day, get around to knitting socks! I have sock yarn, and sock needles already. Oh, and sock patterns too. It's just the will to knit socks that is missing.
I don't knit in the round(but I can), I don't like tiny needles(but I have used them), I don't knit just to try out some new technique. I knit sweaters I want to wear, or sweaters I want others to wear. And I don't have a lot of time during the school year to knit, so complicated stitching techniques just aren't for me. (When I do have a lot of time, it's in our blazing hot summer, and knitting slides down the list of things I want to do, living in my un-airconditioned apartment). It actually makes sense for me to knit socks during the summer, since they're small and won't make me feel hot with lots of partially complete sweater parts sitting in my lap. Maybe next summer will be my sock summer. Then again, maybe it won't.
I do knit lots of cabled sweaters. To me, that's uncomplicated knitting. I don't know why. The very first sweater I knitted was cabled, and I loved it. Large amounts of stockinette bore me to tears. Seed stitch I love, but large amounts of it put me off. (I'm a thrower). I guess I just don't need mindless knitting, because my free time isn't really free. Either I'm online, in graduate school, or I'm grading papers, or I'm reading for my graduate classes. I can't knit during any of that, so when I do knit, I'm not doing anything else at the same time. I envy people who can sit for long stretches and just knit. I wish I could. I'd be way more productive if I could devote real time to knitting. I keep telling myself that when I retire, I'll knit up a storm. (I keep telling myself that cause my stash keeps growing, and I already have enough stashed to keep me knitting for more years than I have left, most likely. Unless I live to 120 or so.)
But, like clockwork, when fall arrives, I start buying yarn, and planning what to make from it, and actually knitting. I may not knit anything from what I buy when I buy it, but eventually, it will all be used. I hope.
