to knit or not to knit?

okay, that's not really the question here. i LOVE to knit. i would knit all day long if i could. if i could find the perfect job, it would be a job where i could spend 1/2 the day proofing fantasy books before they hit the shelves (because i'm all about grammar & spelling . . . no really) and i could spend the other 1/2 testing patterns & yarns for companies or for catalogues to show pieces. ooh, that would be sweet.

favorite cast on method? i prefer the knit cast on. why? you ask. because i can't figure out the ding-dang long-tail cast on no matter how many books i see it in & no matter how many different ways i've seen it demo'd. i like the cable cast on as a back-up, but only use it if i need something that isn't gonna move from the way i put it on the needle from stitch 1.

i hold the yarn with my left hand, but i'm right handed. probably a throw back from my years of crocheting.

i do not flip my knitting. i always knit backwards no matter what size the piece is or what stitch is called for (garter, stockinette, eyelets). i might flip the knitting in the first few rows so i can get the feel of a new pattern, but from then on, it's all backwards for me. it just feels so much easier for me. my tension was always off when i would flip the knitting and the ends would look gap toothed, but the middle would be tight. maybe i was nervous. who knows?

i have a lot of projects i am working on & a lot of other projects that i am planning. it makes me wish i could draw, but sadly all i can draw is rudimentary flowers. the most complicated thing i can draw is a "stick cat" with an oval body, circle head, triangle ears, stick legs, & S tail. yep. it's real tough on the artistically challenged.

i'm planning on writing some of my own patterns & adapting others since we don't have any of that "high-brow" cotton yarn in TN that most projects call for. we have wool, acrylic, & wool/acrylic blends. unless you want to by the 4 oz skein of cotton that comes in colors i think i saw my granny wearing.

if anyone knows where a girl can get a decent fix for her yarn habit in Nashville, let me know!

The Decline of Middle TN

Everyone has heard about the decline of Western Civilization. I've been hearing about it from my dad for as long as I've been able to comprehend what it means. But I've never really understood what it meant until this past Sunday 5/28/06. Let's go back in time:

I live in a somewhat upscale area of Middle TN. I'd prefer to call it Nouveau Riche. I had 2 teens from church & my 2 1/2 year old daughter piled into my Blue Toyota Matrix (a.k.a. Mommy Car). We had to stop and get gas on the way to my house because my tank was below 1/4 which was actually unusually low for me. I stopped at the same gas station I have been patronizing for the past 10 years. Imagine my surprise when I look to my left (gas tank's on the driver's side) and the guy at the pump next to me is urinating. I don't mean that I'm at this pump & he's at that pump. I mean I'm on this side & he's on that side. I could see the color of the stream & the froth as it hit the ground. Mmmm.

Not what I expect to see when I'm in my Sunday mostly-best on my way home from church in a pretty decent part of North Nashville.

What will my daughter see when she's driving in 13 years?