Everyone’s best blog bud, Pam, is turning 30 years old today! Back on my triumphant day, she told me that she was fearing turning 30. So like any caring, loving friend, I decided I would find a way to rub her face in her 30-ness as much as possible. And what better way than to make her wear a shirt featuring herself, declaring her 30-ness?
Lately the knitting has been sitting in a pile on the coffeetable—three ongoing projects all in need of some attention, hence, they are being ignored. What do I do in these situations? I break out the cross stitch. I just love the meditative quality of stitching—more meditative than knitting, for me. Because there’s absolutely no thought involved in stitching; I count, and I watch the boxes fill in. When I’m knitting, I’m thinking, designing, planning, perfecting. The scope for perfection in cross stitch is very narrow, and I love it.
Apologies in advance, guys. I just got a scanner, so I suspect I’m going to start scanning everything in sight . . .
My apartment is overflowing with cardboard boxes these days—from ordering a printer, envelopes, etc. for setting up my home office to ordering groceries from Fresh Direct, I’ve got boxes all over the place. I need to break them down and throw them in the recycling, but I always wonder if they’re going to come in handy in the future.
Like the way cardboard boxes were an actual necessity for a project I did in architecture class in college. The challenge was to make a chair out of cardboard using a minimal amount of cardboard and no external fasteners—only cardboard. My friend Emily made an adorable little “hard-backed” chair. One woman made something that could only be described as a plush chair, and while she completely ignored the “minimal amount of cardboard” rule, it was downright comfy. I took the charge to use a minimum of material to heart and decided to make a pyramidal stool.
I never quite understood the difference between a true process knitter and a product knitter until recently. I knew, deep down, that I am not a process knitter, but I couldn’t grasp what it would feel like to be one. I mean, I like the process of knitting! I like forming stitches–stockinette is satisfying, sure. A friend once tried to explain to me how the finished object is like some happy surprise “when it happens.” That got me closest to understanding; in fact it emphasized how much I am NOT a process knitter–I love the finished object! This is probably why I knit so many small things and can’t get through sweaters.
Anyway, I started a cross stitch project in the spring, and lately I’m obsessed with it. In working each stitch, I’ve realized that I’m a true process stitcher. I don’t really care about having the final project. This could go on forever, stitches upon stitches, and that would be fine. It took me a long time to find a project that I would be happy to have the finished picture, but I was close to buying something that just had a lot of stitching interest because I didn’t care what it would look like at the end.
30 
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