Greatness Is Relative

I have self-esteem.  Oodles of it.  I also have a well-developed sense of reality.  This is how I know that, in most spaces and places, I will probably be the worst of the knitters.  In fact, in this here virtual blogger-type space, I am the worst knitter.  This does not make me a bad person. Or even a bad knitter, for that matter.  I just kind of know where I fit in the hierarchy of things and that isn't really such a bad kind of awareness to have.  It keeps me humble.

Today, though, I was in a different sort of place.  I had the sudden urge to go check out the pet supply store and see if they carried the healthy, organic and probably cat-repelling food that the vet tech suggested as a replacement for the junk food I have been using up until recently.  However, I was a bit overenthusiastic in my quest and ended up at the store with a full thirty minutes to kill before they opened.  This meant that I had some time to peruse the aisles of the local discount store where they just happened to be having a clearance sale and what they termed "The First Annual Indoor Yard Sale."  For the record, this yard sale consisted of two tables of leftover Christmas decorations and a bunch of broken stuff.  But, I am still easily amused by cheap goods so it was a pleasant way to pass half an hour.

This store happens to feature a small craft area and I found myself rummaging about for appropriately washable acrylic yarn in acceptably kaleidoscopic hues for the baby blanket I have scheduled for the next Baby Mania Knitting Extravaganza project.  And it was there I heard the words:

 "Do you happen to know anything about this stuff?"

There beside me stood a woman, clutching a couple of skeins of bluish yarn and looking rather confused.  She informed me that she needed cuffs.  I don't question these sorts of things.  I find that an explanation is sure to follow since I am known far and wide as the rescuer of shoppers in distress.  And I was not wrong.  It seems that she, being a typical, frugal sort of New Englander, was purchasing the yarn so that a friend could knit cuffs for her winter jacket.  This garment, while still perfectly serviceable, was in need of some cuff repair.  

I may be the worst knitter in most rooms.  But, in the craft section of the discount store, I have something of an edge.  The more high class knitters probably aren't lurking anywhere in the vicinity and I can rhapsodize about dye lots and appropriate gauge with wild abandon.  I looked like a freakin' genius.  Imagine her relief at learning that she did not need two 5 oz. skeins for a pair of four inch cuffs!

Does wonders for the ego, you know...

Sadly the trip to the pet store needed to be abandoned shortly after my crossing the threshold when I suddenly realized that today marks one month since the loss of my Smaller, Less Fluffy Kitty.  As is typical on a Saturday, the staff looked to be on the young side and I questioned their ability to deal with a middle aged woman suddenly flinging herself upon a pile of carefully stacked bags of dog food whilst howling uncontrollably.  I hate to generalize.  But it didn't seem like a good idea to test their customer service skills so early in the morning.  

Rest assured, the moment of distress was fleeting and probably brought on by the sight of the adoption center they sponsor for the local animal shelter.  I was fine by the time I got to the car.  But one never knows with these sorts of things and I'd hate to be banned from the closest pet supply store or have to pay for ten bags of soggy dog food.

I returned home with my discount store purchases and put my new yarn needles to use weaving in some ends.  And with that little task out of the way, I am now able to present

The Too Big Baby Sweater in all its gi-normous glory!

In keeping with my Not The Best Knitter status, I shall be honest and inform you that there are issues with this garment.  None are pattern related and all were purely operator error.  But, it is close enough to "good" to think of it thusly.  And thus I do.  The pattern is from Dyeing To Knit and sized for 6 months.  I probably have surpassed that, though.  I also needed to change the pattern slightly as it called for some rather lacy yarnovers at the yoke and I thought that might not work so well for a boy.  Hence, I swapped it out for bands of very manly garter stitch.

I also think that the button should be on the front.  But, I kind of messed up on the side that I think is supposed to be the front so now it is the back and I don't want to hear any more about it.  

But, here's a shot of the button just in case you happen to be interested.

I am assuming that the theory here is that babies have big noggins and require extra room at the neck for sweater donning.  It's either that or they are really self-conscious about their hair and hate having it messed up during sweatering.

I am also working on another pair of baby socks.  As much as I liked the Cute Widdle Baby Sox that recently came off the needles, I yearn for something even more widdler.  

We're getting there...

I remain hopelessly entranced by the widdle baby sox.  They knit up so quickly and are so cuuuute!  I find myself cooing and gurgling over them at random intervals throughout the day.  Sometimes I put them on my fingers and make them walk around...  Which may also make me the craziest person in the room.  Just to be safe, I've cast on for a pair of adult socks upon which I can knit when the baby-brain gets to be too much.

I don't think that there is an aisle in the discount store where I can feel superior about the crazy.

SA