Moving Along at a Snail's Pace

The knitting has been kept to a minimum around here. I did manage to finish, oh, a row on the Best Friend purse last night. It’s just been moving really, really slowly. What can I say? It’s summer and Stephen and I have been trying to walk the dog and make dinner at home these days. It doesn’t leave a ton of time for other things. Tonight I do plan to do something knitting related: start sewing up the Laura Jane Bear. All the pieces are dry, so it’s time. I’m actually looking forward to it.

Let me tell you about the Laura Jane Bear. It’s really cute. Click on the link and go look. Not only that but the shaping is completely new to me. Basically, each piece is shaped really cleverly through the use of increases and decreases, creating little pointy shapes, and really wide shapes. I was completely in the dark about what was going on until I actually saw the first finished piece (the head) and then I was pleasantly surprised at the finished piece. Hopefully I will be equally delighted when I sew it up tonight.

The one drawback to this pattern is that each piece is worked separately, and therefore, must be sewn up separately. In other words, there will be a lot of seaming going on at my house. But you know what? For some weird reason I’m really looking forward to it. I think I’m looking forward to it because it’s a new project (instead of yet another repeat of something I’ve already done) and I’m quite excited to see what it looks like when it’s done. Unlike a sweater, where you can really see what it’s going to look like before you seam it, this is different. The bear is in pieces and although I know what it should look like, since I have the pattern photo, I still don’t know what my bear will look like. It’s exciting.

And that brings me to my next dilemma. What to do with the bear? I know that I want one of these for myself but I really feel like I should give the bear away. I have two nieces, after all, both of whom have been deprived of stuffed knitted objects from their aunt. What I’m thinking, in fact, is that maybe I will keep the bear until a birthday or Christmas rolls around, then give it away. That way, I have a few months of the bear to myself, and then I still get to give it away. Plus, I have a finished present. It’s a good idea. Of course, I may just send it off next week, depending on my mood. I’m capricious, I’m complex. Sometimes I just want to unburden myself of knitted objects. Know what I mean?