a wee confession

Posted on Posted in designing, lace/shawls, projects

apologies and confessions should always be accompanied by sun and roses (though it’s not actually sunny—it’s been raining all day. the garden however, is smiling.).

i have to tell you something.

i’ve become completely addicted to my secret project, to the abandonment of all others. i’ve been so caught up in it that i have practically nothing else to show you. i have not finished the second roger sock. i have not worked on the gold maze sweater. i have not started the signature socks. i did write up two patterns but that’s not a very sexy photo-op, if you know what i mean. the phrase that comes to mind is: knitting knitting everywhere but not a stitch to show.
i know . . . you deserve better.

i have a few sundry things to fill in with, but first, let’s start with a couple of announcements.

anyone who reads stephanie’s blog has probably come to love ken almost as much as she does—he’s a great friend, obviously, and doesn’t seem to mind being the straight man (little joke there, ken) to her schtick in their ongoing knitting and family adventures.

and now ken is turning his bike riding skills to a great cause—the toronto-to-montreal friends for life bike rally. please visit ken’s pledge page to offer a donation or leave a message of support for this wonderful cause. he’s halfway there already and every dollar and word of encouragement will get him to the finish line.

later this month (june 27-28), another fundraising event takes place that has been close to my heart since i first heard about it—claudia’s big ride for MS. thanks to knitters against MS, claudia has ridden for the last two wearing #1, having raised the most money for the cause two years running. let’s make it a third!
to sweeten the deal, all donors of $10 or more are eligible to be entered in claudia’s big, BIG raffle, replete with dozens of lavish prizes (click and scroll).

my dad died from advanced MS five years ago, after a 35-year struggle with this terribly debilitating illness. each year i try to think of a clever way to inspire readers to join me in helping claudia meet her ambitious fundraising goal. i think i’ve figured it out for this year—stay tuned to see what we’ll do for the last big push during the week before the ride.

in the meantime, if you have a few bucks to spare, please give any time—this is one cause where your dollars are actually giving people a fighting chance. MS treatments are advancing by leaps and bounds these days; more and more people with MS are living full, productive lives for longer.

and if you don’t have cash to spare, a quick note of encouragement to ken or claudia will be much appreciated—these marathon rides take a lot of training and hard work to get ready for; the weeks before the events are grueling for people who work all day, then train and do fundraising afterward, often in inclement weather. every note of thanks or support is a ray of sunshine.

ok, let’s talk about knitting now . . . i do have one other project that suddenly seems to have grown a respectable length this week

it’s fifteen inches long now—that’s about 25% done. i’m am surprised and suddenly pleased with it, which of course makes me want to work on it even more (i’m such a fair-weather friend to my knitting . . .). that hour-a-night regimen really works.

i also have some nice pictures from our monday morning class—we don’t get to see projects from that class very often because i’m not always awake enough to remember the camera, but dena and kathy delved into lace this spring and i’ve been remiss in not showing off their efforts.

they wanted to work together on a more challenging lace project and we decided that hoarfrost might be a good choice—worked in the round with lace, cabling, and a knit-on edge, this project is great for expanding on beginning lace skills. it took a little bit of time to adjust to the more complex lace pattern, but they surprised themselves by crossing over to the chart side with great success. and the knit-on edge proved to be of minimal challenge once they’d worked their way to that point in the pattern (as is often the case)

this is dena’s neckwarmer in a deep, rich kettle-dyed teal (ranco sock yarn); as you can see she’s just about finished with the edging here—a real achievement.
kathy knit hers in mountain colors bearfoot (deep cranberry). she didn’t have it with her, since it’s finished, but she has moved on right away to another lace project she loves

this is her new wing o’ the moth shawl, which she’s knitting up in fearless fibers cashmere laceweight. you just can’t believe how beautifully soft and glowing it is. sigh. it might end up felted for all the petting it gets . . .

i think that’s really all i’ve got today—i’ll try to do better next time. maybe if i scoot and get to my knittng chair now, i’ll have something interesting to show you next time . . .

16 thoughts on “a wee confession

  1. I donated my sock pattern as a prize to Claudia for the ride. 🙂

    Too bad we can’t see the secret project, it must be REALLY good if you’re stuck to it!

  2. Looking forward to the “sekrit” project. I already donated to Claudia’s ride. MS is a horrible disease. It must have been very hard watching a loved one go through life with it. Love the garden photos of your roses and epimideum.

  3. Boy- did I take a second look, when you said that beautiful lace may end up
    FELTED!! Oh the horrors!!

    Then I re-read it…

    I’m Okay now.

  4. I can’t wait until I see your secret project!!! I love what everyone is working on…..they all look “yummy.” 🙂

  5. Anne, you never have to apologize for all the good things that you do!! And this secret project must really be something – we are all dying to see it, I’m sure. Off to make a donation . . .

  6. I also donated today. Thanks for the inspiration. Thankfully I don’t know anyone that suffers from MS but thanks to the internet I donated so that people like your Dad hopefully won’t have to suffer in the future! I’m finishing up a vest for my father now so it’s good timing 🙂

  7. With all that knitting goodness you posted in the previous post, you should not feel guilty one teensy bit! Just finished my Twinings stole and happened to receive Maplewing a couple of days later. I am wiggling like a puppy in anticipation of starting this new one. Must confess I loved Twinings so much, I did not want to finish it!

    Looking forward to viewing the secret project,

    Cheers, Barbie O.

  8. Thanks for the reminder about the fundraising. I am donating bags to Claudia’s prizebasket and still need to make my donation.

    We know you are being productive even if you don’t show us pictures! Can’t wait to see the secret project! Plus, as the last poster said, you filled the last entry with wooliness!

  9. I was wondering if you might be doing a booster round of fundraising for Claudia this year! I’m so glad you are!! Let me know if I can donate a prize, $$, or help out in anyway!! You know this is a close one to my knitterly heart, too!

    It is so important to keep contributing to these organizations during this tough economic time. Even if it’s just a wee bit. Contributions to the NMSS are down 25%! Grants that have been approved to investigate cutting edge therapies are languishing because the funds aren’t available to release to the investigators!! Off my soapbox now…

    Go Anne! Go Claudia! Knitters Against MS rock!!

  10. I kinda like it that occasionally you get so caught up in the secret knitting that you have to show us things from your classes. I love seeing the pretties that people knit. And the yarns and colors they choose to knit them in. This post is chock full of my kinds of colors. And that Wing o’ the Moth shawl looks so pretty it has tipped me over the last bit. Liz’s at Fling had already primed me to fall anyway. I just needed a little extra push. Now all I need is a 96 hour day – while everyone else only gets the normal 24 that is. My want to knit pile would be getting oppressive if it weren’t knitting and fiber and all things joyful.

  11. The class projects are looking gorgeous; I love the colors on both of those projects. Can’t wait to see the secret project when the day comes — meanwhile, it sounds like you’re having a great time knitting it! 😉

  12. Anne, you are so funny! You start out berating yourself for nothing to show and then you pleasantly surprise! I doubt the day will come when you really have nothing to show. And you never disappoint.

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