Sunday, July 30, 2006

Happiness Happens Here


So I decided that turning my knitting needles into weapons of mass destruction is definitely not a good idea, and I began thinking - what would make me happy, if slaying my fellow knitters with my size zero needles wasn't going to do the trick? Finishing my own knitting, and keeping it - that would make me happy (ok, ok, I do have a few unfinished projects in the cue that are earmarked for gifts) - strangely enough - Knitty D had the same idea at the same time (gee, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we're both going bankrupt buying yarn???). Anyway, I googled "August" to see if I could come up with a clever, pithy Knit-A-Long Name, and low and behold, did you know that the Secret Society of Happy People has dubbed August "Happiness Happens" Month (it used to be called Admit You're Happy Month, but I guess that was too optimistic?). I read their website, and well, it's all a bit too touchy feely for me (especially the part about August 8th being all about Silver, i.e., look for the silver lining, and when you find it, pass it off to the guy selling pencils in front of the train station), but I do think that for me, for Happiness to Happen Here this August, I must clean the cue, and make room for my fall projects. Therefore, I am starting the August Happiness Happens Here Half of a Half Marathon, in which I complete at least 6.5 projects - one project for every mile of half of a half marathon. And, in furtherance of my pursuit of happiness, I pledge the following:

1. I will not cast on during the month of August
2. I will not buy any new yarn in August (unless it's a one of a kind skein, that will cause me to lose sleep, and therefore the necessary stamina to reach my goal, or, could cause long term, permanent unhappiness, which would defeat the intended purpose of the Half of a Half Marathon of Happiness)
3. I will not cast on during the month of August.

Easy, right? If you'd like to join me - leave me a comment, and maybe we'll open up a blog - whatever makes you happy!

Of course, I had to cast on something before I started the Cast-On Freeze (less calories than a real Freeze, and we could use an iceberg here in Philly). Knitty D and I roadtripped to Kennett Square and Chadds Ford this weekend (for our adventures, the podcast should be up tomorrow), and I picked up Katia to make Lisa Mason's Tulip.Knit in the round, until the arm hole, it's going very quickly - of course, it would have gone even quicker if I hadn't created a moebius last nght after knitting about an inch. Oops. And, when the pattern switched from ribbing to reverse stockinette, I kind of forgot how to do that in the round, and I knit a bit of garter - that was quite a bit of unknitting - but, all is well know - and I'm happy happy!

Pics tomorrow!

3 comments:

Liz K. said...

I'm curious to hear your impressions of Garden of Yarn. It has a lot of great yarns, but oh, so much novelty yarn.

August is my last month of Summer of Stash. I found all my yarn buying was stressing me out, like my to-do list just kept getting longer. So this summer, I focused on finishing, knitting projects in stash, etc. It has been a welcome change of pace.

Sherry W said...

I'm in!
I reserve the right to break the buying restriction for my birthday, though!

Wendy said...

I need another day to cast on one last project!