Not another one!

This past New Year's Eve at my parents' house, Tom predicted--to the horror of the rest of us there assembled--that a year hence I would be giving birth to a second child. While I would like to state for the record that 2007 will bring Edith no siblings, I said nothing about kin for that other child o' mine, Emelank Blogspot.

I realize that Emelank is already plenty demanding, with terrible night-owl hours and a voracious appetite. She does her best not to infringe on dissertation time or Edith's time, yet she can slip into those unguarded moments when thoughts meander, whispering "Feed me more stories....feed me more pictures...." in the most beguiling manner. So arguably the last thing I need in a year when my dissertation takes center stage and the job market looms is another Blogspot baby.

But this one, I think, will be quieter and better behaved. Or at least, less demanding. I hope so, in any case, for I intend to feed her only occasionally, otherwise allowing her to tend herself for long stretches of time. When it comes to parental care, Gebknits will be the cat to Emelank's dog. I will curl up with her just now and then, when I need an entirely different kind of animal.

I felt the urge for such a critter--that is, a knitting blog--for several reasons. One is that I have started to enjoy the knitting blogs of a few other folks, discovering that creative arts are just as intriguing a window onto friends' lives as a baby. One such blogging knitter is my friend Alex, now resident in Colorado, once resident in Princeton, where she was a warm and welcome presence in our little graduate student knitting circle. But all members of the circle save me have moved on to bigger and better things in bigger and better states, such that I have no one here in town with whom to share the inspirations, frustrations, dilemmas, and coziness of knitting. Thus the second reason for the blog.

The third is that the dawn of 2007 brought me an unexpected bounty of luscious, rich, colorful yarns, a stash such as I've never had before. First, my generous mother gave me a knitting gift certificate for Christmas that I turned into the most beautiful, variegated Manos del Uruguay skeins you've ever seen. I had always looked wistfully at Manos in the knitting stores but could never justify the expense, until this gift. A week later my favorite local knitting store went out of business, and while I mourn its departure, I was not above taking advantage of its closing sales. Now here I am, queen atop a rainbow of soft woollen possibilities for the new year. As any knitter knows, the best part is the anticipation of projects to come.

So in my excitement, I needed to start talking to other people about knitting again. And absent a local stitch-n-bitch cadre, I avail myself of the internet. Where hopefully there will be a few friendly souls who will take interest enough to teach me new skills, point me to patterns, advise me of tricks, review yarns, request gifts, and of course, share their own pleasure in knitting.