Late. Very, Very Late.

If we were giving out prizes to the person who “completed” her holiday knitting last, I think I would win.

This Clapotis was intended for my sister, as a Christmas present. I finished it about a week ago, just in time for the weather to turn. My sister does live in St. Paul, Minnesota, so she may still get some use out of it before October. This, in fact, was part of the problem … knowing that her winters are so long made it feel as though I had all the time in the world.

The yarn is that pseudo-Noro stuff that you can buy at Jo-Ann craft stores. It’s not bad; a little over-twisted in places, a little under-spun in others. And it started to look a little fuzzy even before it was done. But it’s soft and was definitely improved by a bath.

And now, I am obsessed with the thought of pretty spring and summer sweaters. I think I queued 100 of them on Ravelry. I started the Shaped Lace Tee from Knitting Lingerie Style and it’s moving along.  As an aside, the book is incredibly lovely, with patterns for actual garments, not just underwear.  I highly recommend.  And if, like me, the idea of knitting an underwire bra intrigues you, you really ought to run along and pick up a copy.

I’m using Cotton-Ease and, while it’s more pleasant than dishcloth cotton, it’s not the most comfortable yarn on the hands. I am determined, though, to perservere. My goal is to have this done before, say, autumn.

Welcome to the Cafe.

Almost three years ago, I started a knitting blog called Affiknitty. At the time, I was a married, stay-at-home mom with a five-year-old autistic son and a two-year-old (mostly) typically developing son. I rarely got out of the house. My relationships with other adults were largely limited to my parents and my older son’s therapists. My marriage was not working, I was isolated and lonely, and I needed a creative outlet. Knitting was one such outlet, but I missed writing. After finding other knitting blogs, I thought Hey, I could do that.

I never thought that anyone other than me would actually read it. But people did read it. At one point, I had lots of visitors every day (thank you, Eunny). People commented. They came back. I began reading very many blogs. I found many kindred souls and made many friends. And, if there was one thing I needed at that point, it was friends.

Since the summer of 2005, I have been through the lowest times of my life. But during this time, I also found the courage to change the things about my life that weren’t working. Today, I’m working again, as an investment banker, and I’m a single mom now. It’s a cliche at this point, but in my case it is true. Knitting taught me something important about life. Sometimes you just have to frog and start something new. It’s hard to take apart what you’ve made, but if you don’t, you’re just going to end up with a mess.

Since I started working, I’ve rarely posted at Affiknitty. Of course, part of the problem is that I have much less time. I’m not finishing knitting projects at the rate that I used to. But also, I sort of feel that Affiknitty represents a very different time in my life and that it’s time for something new. I’d like to keep blogging, but I don’t know that I can still maintain a blog that’s (almost) exclusively comprised of detailed posts on crafting. I was, until recently, pretty careful not to write about personal things on Affiknitty, but I think I might like to do that here. Sometimes, I’d like to write about Cleveland, music, autism, beer, investment banking, movies, food, or any of a number of other things that I currently find fascinating or frustrating or fun. But there will always be coffee, with wool.