They Do Exist!

Ok, so . . . while exploring the wonders of the internets, I've stumbled upon a blog with an extremely interesting, unique, and entertaining topic.  Introducing Hot Guys Reading Books.  Yep.  It's a blog that features a different picture of a guy reading a book every day.  Because literature-loving guys always seem to be in short supply.  That's all I really had to say right now.  Honestly, I've had a few blog posts in my head over the course of the last month, but . . . whenever I went to write it, I was called to do something supposedly more "important."  By the time I got back to the computer, all of my brilliant thoughts were gone.  At the moment, I'm waiting to pack the car up with my family for a week-long trip to Myrtle Beach, so this post won't be very long or informative, unfortunately.  But stay tuned!

Of Following Dreams and Friendship

It's interesting how things can change.  I just finished reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.  I borrowed it from my sister, who got it from a garage sale for $0.50.  She started reading it, but stopped because she didn't like it.  I started reading it yesterday because I was bored and wanted to read something.  And, as I finished the book a little while ago, I realized that my sister and I are in two different stages.  Before, and during, high school, I was obsessed with fantasy stories.  I was able to slip into that Renaissance Fair-type persona.  I mean, I was never as obsessed with fairy tales as my sister is, but I did enjoy them.  Now, I feel like I appreciate stories taking place in real-life places more.  Like Friday Night Knitting Club.  It's the story of a single mom who successfully starts her own business and gains a motley band of friends in the process.  The way the women stuck together in the novel makes me think of the friends that I have.  Everyone comes from a different background, but we've all come together to support each other in rough times.  I've encountered so many different personalities, attitudes, beliefs.  Stuff's happened.  Friends have been gained and lost, and that's alright.  I've had the opportunity to reconnect with high school friends after being separated for a school year.

There are plenty of things I didn't like about The Friday Night Knitting Club, but I feel like it clearly speaks about how life is what you make of it.  The choice is yours.  Either you can sit at home or in that job you hate wishing you followed that dream, or you can go out and make it happen.  It won't be easy, but I've heard that it's worth it.

A Reflection on Friendship

Friends are such an important part of life.  I think a lot of hardships would be almost impossible to get through without the help of a good friend.  It doesn't matter where you are or when the last time you saw that person was.  A true friend is always there.  While watching Lord of the Rings recently, it struck me how Gandalf and Aragorn were really true friends.  In the story, I always think of Sam and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, and Legolas and Gimli.  But, really,  the books allude to how Gandalf and Aragorn have worked together for many dangerous missions.  Aragorn expressed concern for Gandalf during a discussion on whether they should go through the mines of Moria or not.  At another point, Tolkien implies that Gandalf encouraged Aragorn to return to Gondor and claim his right as king.  Both voice their trust in each other on several occasions.  And that's what friendship is all about, isn't it?  They were frequently separated for long periods of time, but they trust each other implicitly.  I think this is an aspect of friendship that isn't thought of today.  Shouldn't we work towards helping our friends rather than looking at what they can do for us?

Secret Admirer

So, for those of you who don't know, I have an account on this website called www.formspring.me.  It's a website where people can ask anonymous questions to other people to answer.  Now, this can create some interesting situations.  I've been lucky so far in that I haven't had anyone asking me completely inappropriate questions.  However, I signed in for the first time in a couple days, and I got a rather . . . unique and random question.  An anonymous person asked if I am currently dating anyone.  My response was, of course, a completely honest "no."  Well, I said more than just "no," but if you want to see exactly what I said, you can do so here. 

Now, I'm not sure the purpose of this question.  Whether it's completely serious and interested in something specific, or  just a curiosity about whether college-age girls who knit can actually acquire a boyfriend, I don't know.  However, as you all probably guessed, I pondered this over a little bit of knitting (my grey cardigan, to be exact).  My brain has been set on overload by a whole host of questions ranging from the topic of the story I'm currently writing to what I'm going to pack for the youth conference I'm going to in a few weeks to what I really want to do with my life.  I've discovered once again how soothing knitting is.  It relieves stress and allows you to contemplate the problems more calmly.

End contemplation of the value of knitting.

Once again, I would love to find out who it was that posed that question on formspring, regardless of the reasons.  It's not every day that I get asked that kind of question.

Oh, For the Love of Socks!

So, in my last post, I dreamed of owning this kit: Sock Cocktails (except in the Violet Martini flavor . . . they're now out of it).  And now, a couple of weeks later, guess what is now in my possession?

Yep.  The Violet Martini Sock Cocktail kit from Knit Picks is mine.  Now, for the first time in my life, I have ten skeins of quality sock yarn in my possession.  I know that, as Peter Parker so aptly declared, "with great fiber comes great responsibility."  All right . . . so it wasn't exactly like that, but you get the point.  It's good fiber, and I'm going to enjoy it.

Ahem . . . cough, cough.  Anyway.  At the beginning of the week, I cast on my first pair of toe-up socks!  It was exciting.  I'm really enjoying this method of sock-making.  It probably won't prevent the dreaded second-sock syndrome, but it definitely makes me happy.  I mean . . . the tricky part (the toe) is already done. 

The Call to be Frugal

In the May 2010 edition of The Reader's Digest, they feature an article highlighting some of the most frugal people in the United States and the difference between being frugal and being a cheapskate.  This made me think about myself and where I would fit on this scale of frugality.  I've been raised by parents who shop the sales and the thrift shops and my mother's prowess with the art of sale shopping is unparalleled.

Now, as you all probably know, I'm a college student.  I need every spare penny I can get.  I save change and look for the highest possible re-selling price on my used textbooks.  When it comes to knitting, is it wrong of me to go for the free patterns?  I save the links of patterns too pretty to be lost, but too expensive to be bought in addition to the already expensive yarn.  In the end, I always go for the free pattern that may not be exactly what I wanted, but close enough.  It's not for a lack of desire to support designers.  If I won a million dollars, I'd probably run to the yarn store after I finished paying for college, a car, and some savings.  (and for the record, the car would still be cheap.  I still need money for yarn!)

On a somewhat-related note, I'm almost done the lace part of my second sweater sleeve.  Hopefully, I'll have pictures soon.  We're moving into the warm-weather season where no one wants to be anywhere near worsted-weight wool.  I'm also planning to embark on several smaller projects.  I've realized that I really don't have any fun accessories for those rare days when I want to dress up.  More on that later, though.

And It's Come to an End

Classes are done as of two weeks ago.  After being in a dorm room for an entire school year, I'm still trying to adjust to being home.  I'm still trying to figure out how to fit everything in the room I share with my sister.  I managed to make the pile slightly smaller, but there are still two massive piles of stuff: one in front of the closet, and one in front of my desk.  The one in front of the closet involves my luggage and the crates I used for books, decorations, and dishes and cleaning products.  The other pile is a bunch of random stuff and my knitting supplies.  Speaking of knitting, I understand that this was meant to be a knitting blog, but I honestly haven't been doing that much knitting lately.  Most of my time in the last two weeks have been spent cleaning, sleeping, doing laundry, watching little siblings, and reworking a story I've been writing on and off since 6th or 7th grade.

However, while thinking about knitting, I stumbled upon a knitting kit on KnitPicks.  And it looks kind of amazing.  No, it looks really amazing.  KnitPick's Sock Cocktails.  Lately, I've been in the mood to knit a pair of socks.  There's just one problem:  I don't have sock yarn. This must be remedied.

Peace out, people.  Have a nice summer.