Thursday, October 18, 2007

I'm a Cleanin, Knittin Fool

There is a strange phenomena that takes place within my house when I'm working on a KAL. My house actually gets cleaned. No, little fairies or gnomes or dwarfs don't come out at night while I'm sleeping and clean to their little hearts content. I clean it!!!!!! Can you believe it? This phenomena doesn't happen when I'm knitting socks, sweaters or any other such knitting. It is only seen when I'm taking part in a KAL. I first noticed it during MS3.

When knitting a KAL I feel "knitting guilt." Why only with KALs I haven't a clue. Maybe because it is released in segments called clues over a course of 6 to 8 weeks and I know I'm going to be working on it for some time. It definitely affects my psyche differently. I knit a right side row, RS, and a wrong side row, WS, then I do a little house work. Yesterday, I got all the kitchen cabinets washed down, the stove cleaned, laundry done, kitchen, living room, kitchen bath, laundry room and foyer all swept and mopped. Plus, I cooked and went to the grocery. Strange huh?

I've finished Clue 1 of Secret of the Stole, SOTS, and I'm working on Clue 2. Clue 3 will be released tomorrow. I haven't gotten any more than Clue 1 on Secret of Chrysopolis, SOC. Clue 4 is to be released tomorrow. I'm taking it all in stride. Thankfully it has been decided that the Muir KAL will not start until Nov. 15th. Can I get a hallelujah!!!!!!

Here's a couple pictures of Clue 1 of SOTS.








The Mystic Waters KAL starts Oct 24th, I finally got the swatch done. I tried different needle sizes. US Size 5 is what the pattern calls for, but I didn't like the way it looked so I went down to a US size 3, didn't like it, and finally ended up with a US size 2. Bingo!!!!!

Here's a picture of the yarn I'm using, Knit Picks' Alpaca Cloud in Midnight. And a picture of the finished swatch which measures out to be approximately 17 cm by 15-16 cm.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your Secret of the Stole looks fabulous! Keep plugging along, you are making great progress! Whoo Hoo!

Anna said...

Lovely yarn for Mystic Waters.

Will you come clean my house as well?

Traci said...

Funny phenomenon!
very pretty - love alpaca!

Kat Robertson said...

Very Lovely work.. we are on 2 secret KAL's together... SotS and the Mystic Waters....
I just discovered I will be using the same yarn as you for the Mystic...LOL...small world....

Holly said...

Nuh-uh. No way, no how. I saw right through ya. You can't make me join and no sneaky, clever, subtle hints that a clean house will follow will sway my resolve.
Although the house could use it!

AnneH said...

Beautiful work. The color you are using for the secret of the stole looks very similar to the one I'm using for Mystic Waters. And I'm using a navy for SotS. Go figure

I second Anna - wanna come do my house, too?

Roseann said...

Your KAL projects are so inspirational and you manage them all so nicely. I am truly amazed and then you are cleaning on top of all that knitting. I look forward to seeing more!

Tabitha said...

What's your secret little missy?! Are you Wonder Woman in disguise as Peggy or something? I thought all the knitting was progress, now your gonna throw in house cleaning too! I don't think I like you much anymore :)

Opal said...

Dahyum. Why can't I get the cleaning bug when I join a KAL?

Lovely Mystic Waters yarn, BTW. :)

Valerie said...

-=giggle=- I wished that happened when I was doing a KAL. It's just the opposite with me, nothing gets done at all. -=giggle=-

Anonymous said...

Love your stole! Looks great! I know how that guilt thing works. I finished Clue 2 last night and came home tonight and cooked dinner (doesn't happen too often), then cleaned the kitchen before sitting down to Email and to finish up a UFO tonight while watching football! I am a Southern girl and we do love football (even if it's not an SEC team!)

Keep on knitting and encouraging! You're great at both!

Anonymous said...

I do that too! I think we clean to justify the time spent on knitting?

Whatever it is, everything looks wonderful. Love the Alpaca cloud!

Traci said...

I have a question. I am just learning to knit. I am about 8 inches into my first scarf. The kids or the dog got into my yarn and have tangled it terribly. Should I a). start over by unravelling the whole scarf and then untangling the yarn or b). cut the yarn, untangle and then tie it back on?
Thanks, Traci

Molly Bee said...

Your shawl looks great! What a lovely color!