Frugal Knitting

This post was originally written in November 2007 from my cozy knitting nook down at Edisto Island, SC-- complete with sunshine, acrylic afghan crocheted by D.'s grandmother, a mug of tea, and a pup for company. The good folks at Farmer's Telephone hooked up my DSL last night... a very nice gift for girl with a cold!

I've been in a bit of a knitting rut lately... So overwhelmed by the pile of projects that I've finished and then partially deconstructed (i.e. the Lace Leaf Pullover that I decided to unseam and do it "the right way," the Green Gable raglan with unraveled ribbing to be reknitted on smaller needles, and the Lacy Hug Me Tight that needs some work on the border-to-body seaming-- I fudged it a little bit when I realized I didn't have enough lace... this was hours before the wedding... and desperate times call for desperate measures) and all the large undertakings (Forest River Gansey for D.) that I have wanted to cast-on for but haven't had the energy. I've been working three weeks of night shifts and have discovered that I am a day worker! I barely have the energy for knitting, cooking, sudoku, or even having a glass of wine at the end of the day. I somehow manage to sleep all day and all night on my days off! It's reeking havoc on my knitting.

In addition to not having much inspiration, I've been trying to knit (and live) frugally. Examples, when tempted to buy the new Haruki Muraki book-- I request it using the online catalog at the library... when dying to order the new Patty Griffin DVD and have it two-day shipped from Amazon-- I put it at the top of my Netflix queue. Maybe these seem minor, but I'm trying hard to curb the little spending that adds up.

My only FOs in the last month have been another pair of Saartje's bootees and another Heart Sachet, both constructed from leftover yarn. As you can see, haven't been going too far out a limb lately. The Heart Sachet is knit from the Interlacements Tiny Toes sock yarn in color 220 purchased at SAFF 2006.

It was a tough decision this year not to go to SAFF. I still had 2 skeins of sock yarn (alotted for socks for D.) and two different bags of roving that were untouched from SAFF 2006. I felt like I didn't need to accumulate any more fiber and I wasn't enrolled in any classes (even though I considered dyeing, weaving, and finishing techniques for knitting.) Because I had already requested the weekend off, D. and I used the time to work in the yard and go to the local fall festival at Ovis Hill Sheep Farm. I think we were the only people there without children! It was a larger gathering than I expected with an older woman singing gospels and playing guitar, kids painting gourds, and a few spinning and weaving demonstrations. We bought local cheese, apple butter and lavender soap in the farm store. There were vendors selling hot, fair-trade coffee and homemade bread. D. helped with a shearing demonstration. The 500+ sheep live the good life at the Ovis Hill Farm. I didn't buy an inch of fiber.

So what's a girl to do in the midst of a frugal knitting rut, you ask? Cast-on for a simple, lovely pair of socks, of course!