Wanderings

Just half an hour ago, I had all sorts of "mental wandering" thoughts in my head. Since then I opened a friend's email with the Chocolate Calculator game, and now all other thoughts have skittered away. (Thanks, Debbie!) If you haven't seen this game floating around on the web - and I've been told by Dave that it's been around for a while - you might want to look it up. I just Googled for Chocolate Calculator Game 2010 and came across many sites. I'll let you find one, since there are so many and none seem to be the "Official" site. It is fun. This kind of stuff always amazes me, even though I know there's a mathematical reason. It's like magic tricks - you know there's a logical explanation, but you want to believe what you "see".

Ah...now I'm starting to come out of my pre-breakfast chocolate fixation:

1. One of the coolest things about knitting is that your mind does wander to many interesting spots when it's released into that Zen atmosphere. I've heard many people talk about being able to sort through issues and solve problems while knitting. Just this morning I was sitting here, knitting in my hands, one dog by the fireplace (cool mornings), and the other dog asleep on my feet, when so many ideas and answers were popping around my head like last night's popcorn. I find that early mornings are best suited to the simpler projects. I'm currently working on a dishcloth (yeh, yeh, yeh, but they're great for using up bits of cotton, and it makes me smile while I'm cleaning pots and pans. And that's always a plus!) from the Monthly Dishcloth group on yahoogroups.com. Check it out sometime. Two cloths a month, 10 rows a day, perfect to wake up the fingers!

2. So, I (we) wander. Many times I'm asked, "Where is home?" Hmmm. Where do I live at the moment? Where was I born? Where did I spend most of my youth? Where is my heart connected? (Omaha, Germany, New Jersey, where the kids are) At times I envy my friends who have grown up and lived their lives in the same area. They seem to have such a connection to their surroundings. But, then, just think of all the interesting places we've lived, and all the interesting people who have crossed paths with us.

3. (Connected to #2) I'm designing a pair of socks for Twisted Yarns and their sock club. I've chosen to make socks with cables. Every time I work on the pattern I think of the cables as representing the paths crossing.

Yikes- This is getting too mushy and deep for a Sunday morning!

4. I'm also tossing around ideas for Stitch Play Studio. This is a new on-line knit and crochet magazine - the brain child of Lynn Burdick. (I sure hope I'm correct with the last name! I've misplaced the email where we discussed the fact that we both have the same first and middle names - different spellings.) I'll have something in the October edition. (Can't tell you what, though. You know, if I did...well, it wouldn't be good for you.) Anyway, check out this mag...the fiber community always needs new activity.

5. Yesterday I finished the Twisted Yarns sock club sock for April:

It's from Lisa Knits and is called "Sock of the Month - April". Appropriate. Dave felt them and said, "Yummy, " or the guy equivalent. Two hours later I have 4 balls of Cascade Yarns Cash Vera DK - guy grey, color 029. (Twisted Yarns sent Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK for their socks, but my LYS, String of Purls carries the Cash Vera - almost identical fiber content.) The yarn will become a very basic sock. I'll put the free pattern on my blog and Ravelry when the socks are completed.

6. (Connected to #5) I know that some people would just as soon go to their major discount store to buy a pair of men's grey socks, but for sock knitters it's the process and thought put into the socks. Don't we, as hand-knitters, try to explain this to non-knitters when they suggest that we could buy a sweater like the one we just spent $200 for on yarn, and used the last 7 weeks of our lives knitting? Process and thought.

7. I need to wander to the coffee maker for a refill.