Things I Wonder About....

* Why can I cheerfully give away a lace shawl that has taken me months to knit, while I am completely unwilling to give away even a single skein of the yarn in my stash?

* Why does buying yarn make me feel like I'm knitting faster?

* If I know I don't like the results from knitting with variegated lace yarn, why do I have so much of it?

* Why is knitting a gauge swatch such a big thing that I will knowingly risk having to rip out several inches of knitting rather than knitting the darn swatch?

* How much fuzz torture will it take before I finally learn not to knit with chenille?

* If everyone is knitting lace shawls, why don't I ever see anyone else wearing them?

* How long until my husband figures out that I keep the house cold not to save money, but to make sweaters more useful?

* Why was it a relief to figure out that I probably have a 6-year supply of yarn in my stash?

* Why do men prefer cabled sweater pattern in dark blue, dark brown, or black? Do they find squinting sexy?

* Why is a ball winder so much fun to use?

* Why is alpaca so much warmer than wool? Is there some sort of nuclear fusion going on?

* Why did knitting suddenly become popular with the rise in "novelty" yarns? If furry is really that darn attractive, why do I have to keep shaving my legs?

* Was knitting fun when it was the only way to get socks or a sweater?

* Why does Lopi exist? Are there knitters who prefer scratchy yarns?

* Why do we consider cotton a "light, summery" yarn when sweaters made from the darn stuff weight twice as much as wool sweaters?

* Was the idea of keeping knitting blogs the brainchild of knitters wanting to share, or their spouses who were sick of having to hear about the merits of wool over alpaca?

Comments

Dana said…
Maybe the Icelanders are just tougher than us? Because I am totally with you about the Lopi.
April 7, 2009 at 6:12 PM
YuLian said…
I agree with the cotton thing, but I think it has something to do with the fact that cotton is cooler to the touch than wool.
April 7, 2009 at 8:58 PM
toni in florida said…
"Why did knitting suddenly become popular with the rise in "novelty" yarns? If furry is really that darn attractive, why do I have to keep shaving my legs?"

Too funny! And too true, too!
April 8, 2009 at 6:05 AM
RobinH said…
The reason you can give away the finished product but not the yarn? The act of knitting sucks the fun out of the yarn. Once funless, the yarn is easier to give away. It's the fun that's addictive.

And I do believe that knitting was fun even when it was the only way. Otherwise, we'd have a long history of bulky-weight sweaters knit on big needles.

And I don't know about you, but I blog because if I ramble on about knitting too much, not only does he get the glazed look, but he retailiates with thirty years of baseball statistics. (Pretty much all the areas of the brain we use for things like storing knitting techniques and remembering your mother's second cousin is allergic to peanut butter? Men use those for sports statistics. Or the specifications of every American steam locomotive that ever plied the rails.)
April 8, 2009 at 6:16 AM
Daniele said…
I think we can give that shawl away because we've knitted and used the yarn. An unknit skein still has potential.

I'm with you on the skein swatch. We must have attended the same class on swatches.....

Keeping the house cold also helps keep away the wool beasties....

"Why did knitting suddenly become popular with the rise in "novelty" yarns? If furry is really that darn attractive, why do I have to keep shaving my legs?"

I don't know... I stopped years ago! (okay - should I be anonymous now?) hee hee hee
April 8, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Gaidig said…
You can hold the variegated lace together with something (or itself) and knit something that's not lace but shows off the pretty colors.

I love wearing my lace shawl at the office in summer when the A/C is turned up too high. As a consequence, I'm pretty sure some of my co-workers think I have a problem with matching outfits.

Lopi exists because it is super warm and waterproof, so it made a good outer garment for sailors. No one in their right mind would wear it next to the skin, but I do know three people who actually like lopi.

I think the cotton preference for summer comes from woven cotton and some people just don't get that knitted fabrics have different properties. Plus, I think some people don't understand that wool wicks as well as fancy synthetic outdoor gear.

Perhaps novelty yarns satisfy people's inner desire to be Muppets. Who knew Sesame Street would scar our adult lives in such a way?
April 8, 2009 at 8:54 PM
Ilix said…
Brilliant musings... I too wonder......
April 11, 2009 at 7:16 PM
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