Shut Down!

I'm on a forced knitting hiatus right now, and I'm not happy about it one bit!

Ok, so that's a little dramatic, but I've been having a major flare up of my tendinitis and going to physical therapy, where they are telling me that if I want it to heal, I need to relax it as much as possible. Since I can't avoid signing or typing at work and something's gotta give, the answer to that is "no knitting." Which naturally I take as, "Do some knitting, but be sure to take an anti-inflammatory before, only knit for a measly 1/2 hour per day, and then afterward ice it and put on the splint."

Sigh. I try to be a good patient.

Ugly Hats for a Good Cause

Every year my work is a partial sponsor/coordinator for an all day holiday celebration, called Silent Sleigh, for the local Deaf kids. A lot of hands go into the preparation for this day in which countless kids get to socialize with their Deaf peers from all of the local school districts, watch performances all in sign, and best of all, tell a signing Santa in their own langauge what they want for Christmas without the use of an interpreter (and actually have him understand!).

Last week at my works community center there was a group of 5 Deaf/hard of hearing women hard at work at their sewing machines. When I inquired further, I discovered that they were making a slew of hats, so that every kid in attendance at the Silent Sleigh would be able to wear and take home their own holiday hat.

Since one of the virtues that I want to instill in my daughter is that of volunteerism and the best way to teach this is by example, when I saw this group of ladies sewing away at 100 plus hats, I knew that I had to lend a hand. I mentioned that I had a sewing machine at home and the ability to sew a (sorta straight) seam and they were more than happy to have my assistance.

I was sent home with a stack of neon green felt, thread, and some quick instructions how to sew it up. I was surprised that even with my novice abilities I was about to whip out 10 hats in only about 2 weekend nap times (so like a total of 2.5 hours).

Here's the final product:



Sure, they're an ugly color, but I'm certain that in the spirit of the holidays these kids will wear their hats with Joy as they carol in sign language and anxiously tell St. Nick their christmas wishes.

It Is What It Is, Flaws and All

As I had previously mentioned, I finished up the lovely Summit Shawl, only to discover a major flaw about halfway back. I contemplated for mere seconds whether I should rip it all the way back to the error, but seeing as that would have meant undoing nearly 500 yards of work I just couldn’t make myself do it.

Here’s the blocked picture of it... can you find the error?

How about now?

At some point in the middle of knitting I accidentally switched the direction I was going, creating a larger hole and two branches out of one. You’ll also note the circle on the bottom left – that’s where for some reason I decided to simply go back the other direction, rather than making the outer loop.

The thing of the matter is, I can’t help but still love the final product. Sure, I can see (and unabashedly point out) its flaws, but its overall beauty shines through regardless. I know that the recipient of this shawl won’t be sitting down to analyze my work and will admire it for what it is, not for what it isn’t.