Friday, January 12, 2007

OhmyGAWDFriday.

I wish I could blog about my job. I can't. It's too risky, so all I can say is OhMyGawd. Oh. My. Gawd. It's interesting, it's not boring, it's better than the last job by an incalculable factor, but it is brain-crushing pressure combined with soap opera drama. We have Major Issues, Colorful Characters and Drama. I can handle two out of three at a time, but all three is a bit much.

So, since I can't talk about work, I'll talk about knitting and shamelessly steal from other bloggers who are stealing my thoughts and that means I need to get my tinfoil hat repaired.

Kerstin makes an observation about the knitblogger stashing thing. I don't know that it's only about knitbloggers - from my observations, quiltbloggers and beaders and all the rest of the cult of craft has its share of mad stashing.

I can account for my stash, I know how it developed, and compared to some others, it ain't much. It's just more than I want to have, so I'm committed to eliminating it. And I will say flat out that for me, while my husband was dying, buying yarn was a lifeline. One I don't need anymore. But I also have that bump of responsibility that means that if I bought it I will use it up, so I'm using it up.

Which leads me to my own source of amazement - the bloggers who appear to crank out a sweater every two weeks and never seem to be knitting for others. I can't fathom this - unless you are on an Arctic Expedition or work on an oil rig in the North Sea, how many sweaters and scarves and socks can one knitter wear? Where do they store them? Do they have, in addition to a yarn room, a room converted to a knitted things cedar closet? Temperature controlled, bugproofed, like a wine cellar but for the 30 sweaters they make each year? It's like the flip-side of the stash - I want to know what the hell you do with all of the things you knit. I give away 3 out of 4, and hardly use the ones I make for myself. I'm going to end up at giving away 9 out of 10 this year.

Laurie is the other one living in my head this week, from the not spending money absent-mindedly to the cleaning binges. My big accomplishment of this weekend will be to get the old Dell off this desk and turn the desk over to this wee Mac. The Dell still squats, pushed off to the side, because I keep thinking of things I need to back up off it (surprisingly Not Much, but still, Things) and I haven't gotten around to uncabling and hoisting it off the desk. Because I have to figure out where to put it.

My plan is to store it for six months, while I empty out the rest of the house. If in 6 months I haven't had one of those "OhmyGAWD it was on the Dell's hard drive!!!" moments, I will wipe its brain and donate it to charity.

I pulled out some lovely handpainted wool I bought at MDS&W two years ago, and started a cute little rolled-brim kid-sized hat for Dulaan. And there's a lot of this yarn, so I'm swatching and test-felting tomorrow. Maybe pictures. NO, really, there will be pictures.

5 comments:

Debi said...

Seriously Catherine, TWO cameras and no pics? :)

Anonymous said...

I hope National Delurking Week isn't over yet. Of course, technically I am not a lurker.

I am also in major stash reduction mode. Kid sized raglans for Dulaan are so portable and mindless, how can you not not knit them?

Nana Sadie said...

I'm in destashing, decluttering mode b/c I'm being forced to MOVE and I'm PO'd about it. But...there are good things about this (I'm "looking at the bright side").
I agree with you, I try to knit some every day, but I don't "churn out" sweaters and socks and such by the gazillion. Where do they find the time?
I'm hoping the job gives you only 2 of the 3 next week!
(((hugs)))

Francesca said...

Yeah, maybe just Colorful Characters. If you're not involved in the issues and the drama, you can just watch the color. :-)

I actually want to watch the sweater-a-month contingent knit. I know I knit slowly, but I must knit glacially slowly.

I am in early spring-cleaning/some refurbishing mode, for various reasons. (Argh.) I should have a lot less yarn than I do, but I don't have enough of any one thing. The baby jacket idea might very well be a good one!

Marfa's Mewsings said...

Miz C,
I agree w/the "how & why do some folks knit only for themselves?" & sometimes I wonder why some only knit for themselves &/or as gifts for others & never anything for a deserving organization. ??
Good luck w/the drama-trauma that seems to currently inhabit your Workplace. That adds extra stress to what is inherent in almost any job.
XOXO