I have a confession to make…

I’ve been knitting. And I think I like it.

Allow me to tell you the tale of my descent into this madness…it all began at Christmastime, when we took a lengthy trip back to visit our families. We stayed for several weeks with my husband’s family at the Farm, on which lived his mother in one house, his grandparents in another house, and us – my husband, my son and I, who stayed in the guest cabin. All three structures are almost as close as houses in the suburbs. (It didn’t make sense to me, either. They have hundreds of acres.) At any rate, it so happened that my husband had daily business to complete in the City, about half an hour away (he was assisting his old USAF recruiter). My darling husband’s mother worked, grandpa worked out on the farm, and that left me with a five month old over at grandma’s almost constantly for two weeks, as (despite honest efforts) there was not the best heating, no food, and no television over in the cabin.

And so it was that I spent my days sitting a little awkwardly on Grandma’s sofa, watching satellite TV, taking care of my baby. Boredom was inevitable. Grandma is a cheerful, crafty sort, and sometimes I’d go into her sewing room with her and watch her go about her various projects. At one point, it came up that she used to knit, something I’d never learned to do.

So she taught me.

Six months later, I had accomplished no more knitting than what I had done over Christmas, and I didn’t really think much of it until my hubby was talking on the phone to dear Grandma and she asked how I was doing with my knitting. She seemed a little disappointed to hear from my not-the-best-at-taking-hints-while-on-the-phone husband that I hadn’t done any at all…

So, to assuage my guilty conscience and to improve my rudimentary skills (I may as well, after all) I’m creating a scarf for her as a Christmas present for this year. And you know what, I think I like it. I really do. I quit the last time because the (very easy) pattern I was working on was ugly and difficult to keep track of, but I’m designing this scarf myself, and it’s still very easy, and it’s ribbed, and I may add smocked or cross-stitched accents, and it’s really quite attractive even while I’m working on it.

But the real reason I began a brand new project? It’s because I have others I’m supposed to be working on…