Not knitting,or NOT KNITTING!

I am a compulsive do-er. I can’t sit unless my hands are busy. I seldom leave the house without a bit of knitting or something read in my bag - just in case. I love knitting because it keeps my hands busy and has helped me focus my way through lengthy meetings, car trips, and movies on more than one occasion. Getting my haircut and my teeth cleaned are absolute black holes of despair (not to be overly dramatic) for me because hairdressers and dental hygienists need you to sit still (at least I can chat with my hair dresser). This is no way a reflection upon those 2 noble and required professions, my hair dresser and dental hygienists are wonderful human beings which is why my hair hasn’t grown to the ground and I still have teeth in my head.


So where am I going with this? A recent brush with the cold virus, turned ear infection resulting in a slight case of vertigo made it impossible for me to leave the house or knit for 6 days, 7 hours, 32 minutes and 27 seconds, but whose counting? Painful (mentally more than physically). For the first few days not only could I not knit, but I couldn’t read, focus on movies or pay attention to audio books. Ball winding was absolutely out of the question - all that spinning and turning and spinning, need I say more? Aside from medicating and sleeping my choices included either staring at the wall or my personal favourite, the ever popular staring at the ceiling.

As my world gradually stopped turning I started to look for things to help while away the hours when I wasn’t sleeping or staring at the ceiling. Stuck in the house I turned to my iPad and my computer and killed time flipping through digital editions of knitting, quilting and crafts magazines. I also picked my way through YouTube in search of knitting and quilting videos. Something I noticed about knitters and quilters online is that quilters don’t mind having their faces in their videos while knitters only want you to see their hands – just another one of the million things that make me go “hmmmm”.

So what did I read and what did I watch? Here’s a list:

Digital Magazines (I primarily looked at the pictures) :

1. Knitter’s Magazine
   
2. Interweave Knits
3. Knitscene
4. Simply Kntting
   
5. The Knitter
   
6. Knit!
   
7. Knitting
   
8. Knitting Life
   
9. Vogue Knitting
   
10. Creative Knitting
    
11. A Needle Pulling Thread
    
12. Piecework
    
13. Spin-off (appropriate title considering the vertigo)
    
14. Making Magazine
    
15. Mollie Makes
    
16. Quilts and More
    
17. Quilter’s World
    
18. Modern Patchwork
    
19. British Patchwork and Quilting
    
20. Australian Quilters Companion
    
21. Australian Homespun
    
22. Cloth, Paper, Scissors
    

Other spots of online interest included:

1. Craftsy.com (lots of great classes but they are not free)(but they are fun).
   
2. YouTube (tutorials and programs a-go-go, that are free but are at times quality challenged).
   
3. Ravelry.com (Nirvana for the knitting and crochet pattern hunter).
   
4. Kaye's Quilting Friends (on YouTube or at kayewood.com) - I found these shows dated and odd - perhaps it was my medication (or theirs) but it didn't stop me from watching numerous episodes.
   

eBooks – I didn’t read much because that involved focus – which I didn’t have (mentally or physically) but I took a stab at the following (to list only a few):

1. “Books can be Deceiving” by Jenn McKinlay – This book falls into the “cosy mystery” genre and is therefore quite light reading. I was intrigued by the beginning because it included a small town library and a knitting group that meets there (in a room with a fireplace while they knit and eat clam chowder for lunch no less). I was annoyed by the stereo-typical cranky female librarian (a minor character but painful nonetheless). I have no idea about the story line as I didn’t get more than a chapter in to the book I’ll finish it someday no doubt but I’m in no rush.
   
2. “The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick deWitt – Now this one I did finish. My son gave me this book for my birthday and declared a family book club. It’s not about knitting or quilting, but it was a fun read about 2 somewhat deranged hired killers in the old west (in a very brief nutshell).
   
3. “Modern Log Cabin Quilting “by Susan Beal
   
4. “Dancing with Thread: Your Guide to Free-Motioin Quilting “by Ann Fahl
   
5. “Foolproof Machine Quilting” by Mary Mashuta
   
6. “Free-Motion Quilting” by Donn Linn
   

So there it is. If you can’t knit, and you have the internet, you have options (after you are past the sleeping and medicating stage of course). Having access to the internet saved my mental bacon and helped kill time while I was killing the virus that ran amuck in my ears.

Back on my feet and ready to knit I am glad to say that the Prince Rupert Library Knitters will be meeting this Thursday May 31 at 7:00 pm. We’ll be meeting in June too - give the library a call and we’ll tell you when (250)627-1345

Don’t miss “A Summer of Colour 2012 Quilt Show" that will cover the library in beautiful quilts created by talented local fabric divas (and a knitter who shall for the moment remain nameless has popped her Irish Chain Afghan into the mix as well), from May 29th to sometime in September.

See you at the library!