A Meme from Joyce

#1 Is it about the finished item or about the process of knitting? Some of both? Has your focus changed one direction or the other over time?

For me it's a little of both. I think I used to be much more product oriented, but now I get much more satisfaction during knitting that it balances out. When I finally get the satisfaction of having finished a project, seeing it complete- I want to take a little break from knitting and then jump right in to the next thing.

#2 How do you view mistakes? Do you think they give your project character? Is it important to have one, as my Aunt says, because only God is perfect? Or would you rip all the way back to row 5 of your husband's finished sweater knit on size 3 needles to eradicate a mistake no one else would notice?

I enjoy fixing mistakes, but ripping out is hardly ever a reasonable solution. I usually catch mistakes soon after making them. I love doing difficult laddering fixes, like if a cable was twisted the wrong way. I also enjoy fixing mistakes for other people. It's fun to save the day. I don't fix mistakes because I'm a perfectionist- I fix them because I can, and because I get as much pleasure from fixing a mistake as I do from knitting- so why miss an opportunity? .... a question like the one you posed- rip back to row 3 of a finished sweater? No I would never do that... but I might actually cut the yarn back at the mistake- pick out the mistake and use a piece of scrap yarn to graft a seamless perfect patch in that spot.

#3 Would you rather knit a project that is comfortable for your skill level, or do you prefer a challenge that requires you to figure out new things?

I love a challenge. I enjoy the thinking and the rewards. I feel annoyed when I encounter people who are afraid to try new things in crafts- knitting, fiber arts- are such a low risk activity- there is nothing to lose in failing- so why not at least shoot high for succeeding!?

#4 What is something you really want to make but haven't yet? What holds you back? Is it money, skill level, time, fear of the unknown or something else?

I would like to make a blanket that I saw in the Knitter's Almanac. It's a blanket of mitered squares which are grafted together to produce a magical effect she claims looks of having been knit from all directions at once. Her blanket is of one solid color- but I would like to try a variation on this with color.

First I would knit one mitered square so that I could measure the length of yarn needed to do it. Then I would create 12 individual pieces of slow shading yarn. (for a 3x4 block blanket, or 20 for a 4x5) Now you might be asking yourself- what is the point of grafting the squares seamlessly if they are going to be different colors? Well- I dream that the finished blanket would be rainbow tones- and the blocks would be two color families- a warm set and a cool set- but both sets would finish with a common color.

For example- one set would be *green blue purple red* and the other set would be *yellow orange red* So all the squares would have red edges and when grafted the red would actually produce a grid effect. I think the shading between warms and cools as well as the angles and perpendiculars would be pretty. I can't decide if I'd like to spin dyed roving or dye spun yarn- but I am fascinated by the idea of an individaul strand that is created to play a specific role in a piece of knitting. ...imagining the project shoe-box containing 12 wound cakes of colorful yarn radiating color out from their cores, arranged in a little miniature plump grid version of the blanket they will be extrapolated into...