F.O.B #14: These Are a Few of My Craftiest Things

I'm late! I'm late! For a very important BAL! The weekend definitely threw off my loose version of organization and I've spent this morning frantically trying to catch up on all the Christmas knitting I didn't do Saturday or Sunday. I'll be coming around shortly to catch up on your FOBbers out there- sorry I've been lax in the commenting arena this weekend. So, in the spirit of knitting and crafting (as this blog was once something to do with that topic) I ask you F.O.B. #14:

What are a few of your craftiest things? What have you learned from knitting/crocheting/sewing/macrame/whatever your skill, what do you particularly enjoy, how have you benefited? Put all your dear yarn thoughts out there for the rest of us. For myself it's been:

14. Doing a knitting BAL reminds me that Christmas really will arrive at a set date. This is good for my tralalala self regarding the finishing of gifts.

13. I love small projects like a pair of socks or gloves. This coming from a girl who's never read a short story half as good as a five-hundred page novel, but there's something to be said for little enterprises that take just as much detail as the big ones.

12. THE Harry Potter scarf.

11. Be kind to your cabled Gap sweater. For that sweater might be a fine wool or wool blend. Clothes I never questioned the material and make of, I now find myself looking at closely, reading the material, checking the tag for how to care for it, and treating our garments more gently. We saw the film "The Holiday" this weekend and I paid as much attention to the construction of the actors' scarves, sweaters and hats as I paid to the plot.

10. I like weaving in ends, an art I put to a great deal of use during Knitty Yoda's surprise blanket. Probably this is the closest I will ever get to actual sewing, so I find something oddly soothing about pulling the yarn needle through the finished item and watching those little ends disappear.

9. Even with my slow Christmas knitting, I love making hand-knit gifts. It brings gifting to a whole new level of enjoyment.

8. I can't stand having idle hands. I've not yet risked the LOOK The Hubba would give me if I brought a project to a movie or sporting event, but there aren't many other times I won't knit through, including movies and games at home, cooking, and driving- passenger, of course, though occasionally at a drive-thru window I've been known to pick up my DPNs...

7. I love doing cables.

6. Did you know all wool is shorn by hand? A little fact I picked up from the Yarn Harlot's book "At Knit's End," wool cannot be got through any means other than by man. There is no piece of machinery yet built (no matter what Wallace and Gromit might suggest) that can remove the wool of a sheep. If, for some reason, it turns out this is inaccurate, I ask you not to tell me.

5. I'd rather do something small, with quality yarn, than something big with cheap yarn. I've nothing against acrylic because there's plenty of really interesting acrylic and acrylic blend yarns and there's a lot to be said for machine washable. Still, I know most of the time I'd rather do my socks than whip out a sweater from yarn I don't enjoy.

4. Adventure! Sure, I'm no Indiana Knitter, but I'm branching out and trying more complicated patterns. That's big- huge!- for me.

3. There has been some improvement to my math/analytical skills. Unlike reading a recipe, reading patterns has proved far more challenging, but slowly- SLOWLY!- I seem to be doing better. I no longer see lines and lines of pattern, feel my eyes start to cross, the world around me go black and need to lie down. Now I observe the lines of pattern, maybe even read a few sections, then lay it down and return to my HP scarf until I feel sanity return.

2. Taking something apart and putting it back together can be as worthwhile as getting it right the first time. Sometimes more worthwhile. Frogging bothers me less and less and it can be weirdly satisfying to yank all that kinky yarn out, rewind it, take a deep breath, and start over.

1. It's about the process, not the finished product, as one bright young woman, at the store, said the other day. This, too, is big for me, as I tend to wrap myself up in "finish! have something to show for yourself!" and not enjoy the movements and time it takes to reach the ending. Occasionally, when a project is very frustrating I have to remind myself of this. Often as not, I have to remind myself of this in other aspects of life too: "It's about the process not the finished product." It's a lovely life lesson, I think.

So please keep sharing! I'm enjoying your lists so much, this is a project I never expected to be half so interesing as it's turing out to be. So blog! Blog like your Christmas knitting depended on it!