Restless Knitter

Knit-alongs. I don’t do them. I rarely participate in them. I have a hard enough time actually finishing what I start without the added pressure of a knit-along. Another reason is that there is a part of me that rebels against making something that All The Cool Kids Are Making. (I know it’s not just the cool kids, don’t get your panties in a wad. Yet.) Now don’t get me wrong. I really do think that knit-alongs can be good. There’s the support if you’re stuck on the pattern, and it’s neat to see the different yarn choices and how they effect the finished object. They just aren’t for me. I swear some bug must’ve crawled up my ass the day I joined The Amazing Lace. It’s really out of character for me to do that. In my defense, everybody isn’t knitting the exact same thing. To see the Icarus Shawl-along start up almost pissed me off. I wanted to make that shawl, but now I can’t because I’m rebelling. Idiocy at it’s finest, right here folks. No cover charge, see it for free. What will I come up with tomorrow?
So anyway, here comes the part where someone is sure to get pissed. Mason Dixon Knitting, the book. I’ve browsed the book in the store and I didn’t buy it or make any plans to. The authors are wonderful writers, it’s nothing personal against them. But am I the only one who finds it ironic that people scoffed at the cheap cotton yarn that you can get at practically every discount and/or craft store, swore they wouldn’t use anything they knit on a countertop or dirty dish, are now buying this stuff up in bulk to make the Mason Dixon dishcloths? The same pattern that has been available for free on the web for who knows how long. The same pattern that is on the ballband of the cotton yarn. The same fugly pattern that no one would touch with a ten foot knitting pole until it was published in a book by popular blog authors. I don’t have anything against dishcloths, I’ve made several. I have one on the needles now truth be told, but it’s not that pattern. It just amazes me the way people will knit something (or buy a book, but I won’t talk about that author because she will hunt you down and publish your info) just because it’s from a popular blog author or because it’s What All The Cool Kids Are Making/Reading.

Now that I’ve offended everyone that ever joined a knit-along or knit a MD dishcloth, I’m gonna go have some quality time with yarn.