The Knit Geek

I spotted this article, written by Holly Burnham, at Search Warp. Not only can I personally relate to her story, but I was attracted to her beautiful, tongue-in-cheek writing style. I am a sucker for well written prose.

I wrote to her and asked if I could reprint her beautiful words here, and she graciously gave her permission.

Enjoy!

I Am a Knitting Addict by Holly Burnham

If you are a passionate knitter; you know who you are…..you are the person who, just for a fleeting second, wonder if it might be worth taking your knitting into the bathroom with you instead of a magazine. You are also the person who feels a smidgen guilty you spend too much time fondling yarn.

Recently there was a topic thread on a knitting forum I visit asking how much time we all spend knitting every day. I lied. It was a forum; I didn’t know any one personally on it….and I lied. I believe I recorded a quarter of the time I actually do knit every day. That was a clear cry for help.

That was also the day I started to think about my knitting passion and how it affects my life.

I am lucky enough to be a stay at home wife. My children are grown and have homes of their own, so I also have a lot more free time than I have had at any other point in my life.

You might think my house is clean, orderly and well run; that I make a point of keeping in touch with good friends; spend time nurturing my relationship with my children and projecting the essence of grandmothering onto my eight grandchildren by making and sending them cookies as a treat. You’d think my husband would be greeted by a delicious home cooked meal every night when he came home from work and that my gardens are visual delights for neighbors who stroll by my home. You’d think……but……I knit. I knit all the time. When I’m not knitting I’m reading about knitting, or I’m in knitting chat rooms talking about knitting. (more…)

How to Knit Invisible Stitches - Grafting by Karen Lonergan Karens Variety

I will be trying her instructions when I finish my son’s sweater. I have had the hardest time getting this right!

We got back last Tuesday, and boy were we tired. We were all up from 11:30 EST to about 6:00 PM the next day. Then we passed out. Our 3 year old did brilliantly on the flight back, which was appreciated. He usually drives us mad.

My MIL took me to the only fabric store in Frankfurt an der Oder (where we were), and the woman was SO pushy, and things were so expensive. Later that day I stopped in the LYS up the street from their apartment, and the woman was a pleasure, and didn’t even cringe when I forgot to use the formal German speech with her (which hubby quickly corrected). The yarns were beautiful, and so inexpensive in comparison to some of the ‘fine’ yarns here in the states. I got this lovely, soft chunky cotton for a sweater pattern I found in a German knitting magazine I picked up over there, and several skeins of this wild black and grey animal print fabric yarn that was marked down. I have no idea what I’ll make with it, but it was too cool to pass up. I also picked up my first set of Addis (much cheaper than I would have paid here). It was like going to an amusement park for me.

Anyway, we’re back now, and as promised, I will soon be posting my first knit pattern - the Kimono Shrug.

I just ordered the Harry Potter knitting book, ‘Charmed Knits’ by Alison Hansel of the blue blog. I am a terribly huge Harry Potter fan, and the fact that this book, the final book of the series, and a new movie are coming out, all within a month, is greatly taxing my brain. Anyway, I want to share the yummy goodness!

Oh! And I noticed that they finally posted the Book 7, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ cover art. Not too shabby, but not as much oomph as I expected for the last book of the series.

Anyway, I’ll post about ‘Charmed Knits’ again once I get to delve into my new geek knitting book!

Why is it that I can never have just one project? I now have 4 WIPs on needles in my bags….no, wait - 5. I am so tangled and scattered, I don’t know what to work on more! One project is briefly on hold as I wait for circular needles I had to order, due to the fact that the stores near me don’t seem to believe in 16-inch circulars. Luckily I got them on discount, so even with shipping, they will cost pretty much the same as full price at the local places. However, the other 4, well we have:

• 1. A lighthouse dishcloth - only one of several pieces to redo my kitchen linens.
• 2. The Lion Brand Homespun Hooded Knit Sweater (which is what I need the 16-inch circs for - I’m converting it to in the round, since my finishing abilities are a little ‘off’).
• 3. The Picovoli T-shirt from MagKnits which is painstakingly long for me. These are the smallest needles I have ever used!
• 4. Another skinny scarf - w00h00!
• 5. And a self-made pattern for a sleeveless shell/t-shirt in Lion Brand Suede yarn. I couldn’t find a pattern I liked with the Lion Brand Suede, so I opted to create my own. We’ll see how that goes. I hear Lion Brand Suede is evil…

At least I find knitting enjoyable….most of the time! I really want to make a Mr. Bean Teddy Bear too, but that will have to wait a bit.

Imagine my surprise and delight last night when we were watching 30Rock, one of my absolute favorite shows, and Kenneth the Paige is shown talking to Tracy Jordan and knitting a bikini FOR HIS GRANDMOTHER. I had tears in my eyes, I laughed so hard. It was just so great!

The night before, hubby and I were watching an animated German movie for the popular German comic ‘Werner’, and there was a bulging biker that everyone was afraid of, who was knitting while hanging out one night drinking beer. Can it get any better than this?

Sometimes media can be a wonderful thing.

I am on a skinny scarf kick. We watch a lot of German television programs, and they are quite popular wardrobe staples for many of the hip, young, female characters, so I had to have one. Then two, and then three. And now I’m working on number four. I just love doubling up pretty yarns that compliment each other. And they are so quick and easy! Mostly mindless knitting, except the one I dubbed ‘Hex Code’ - the vibrant, multicolored one. And now for your review, Three Skinny Scarves!

And closeups:

Hex Code:

Turquoise & Chocolate Heaven:

Industrial:

These are really fun to make. I have a few more in mind, and am considering selling them. I’m not sure how popular they would be, but I certainly can’t wear all of them!