I want to knit...

So, I'm starting my third week of college now. Still no sewing, but I've figured out why. Sewing on a machine isn't social. It makes noise (especially if you have a machine like mine), you're usually facing away from people, and you can't look at them. It's also not portable and takes a fair amount of concentration.

You know what does none of that? Knitting. It's easy and doesn't take your eyes, if you pick the right stitch pattern. It's essentially silent, it's extremely portable, and you can sit wherever you want and look at whatever you like.

I want to knit. I used to be a knitter--freshman through junior year of high school I knitted nearly constantly. I knitted while reading, watching movies, studying, you name it, I had a project going. Mostly I knitted baby hats for a local hospital. I logged over nine hundred hours knitting those suckers. Then came carpal tunnel, or something similar. The last stitch I knitted was two weeks before Easter of junior year. I can honestly say I've mostly gotten over it, but there really is a little hole in my life, and sewing can't fill it. There's nothing quite like knitting.

The temptation to take knitting up again has never been stronger. My wrists have been so much better over the past few months--they now only hurt after several hours of writing, chopping, typing, or whatever. I've switched back from thick kindergartner pencils to regular mechanical pencils, and I'm able to write with ball point pens again. I just know, though, that I'll wreck my wrists again if I start knitting. Someone talk me down from this ledge!

Old project

I don't think I have free time any more, but while I'm trying to figure it out, I'll post some old projects of mine. I do go through these sewing slumps, and I haven't figured out a way to motivate myself back into sewing--I just have to let nature take its course.

This dress I sewed myself last summer. The shoulders are slightly large, but it fits fairly well overall, and since it's not a terribly fitted style, it doesn't look too bad.


I apologize; this photo is terrible. However, it's ten thirty, and I have less than no desire to go and change for the purpose of taking an (equally awkward) photo in the mirror on the back of my closet door. I should have another picture of me in this dress somewhere, as I wear it fairly often. I'll try and see if I can dig one up.

What I find intriguing about this dress is that it is far and away the piece of clothing I own that gets me the most compliments. I've never thought of it as particularly attractive or particularly flattering, but everyone else on the planet seems to love it.

Contest and update

I haven't even touched my sewing machine since I got to college. This campus is full of fun things to do, and my classes are turning out to be more work than I expected. For example, this week (the second week of school) I have two quizzes and two short papers due. I haven't had much unscheduled time, and what I have had has generally been spent with friends. (Yes, I have friends already. It's very nice.)

I thought that I would share a picture of my side of my dorm room:

This was taken before I really started living in it, of course, so there are now stacks of books and binders and papers all over my desk. I have managed to keep the floor relatively clear, though, at least so far.

In vaguely sewing-related news, have you seen Shabby Apple's Design Contest? It looks interesting. Since I am not in any way, shape, or form a pattern maker, does anyone know roughly how much it would cost to get a pattern made?

I am hoping to pick up my sewing again soon, but I can't promise anything, as I don't foresee the workload getting much lighter.