I just got my new Interweave KNITS. Getting a knitting magazine in the mail is like finding money on the sidewalk or seeing the first glimps of crocus green after a long winter or receiving an unexpected gift. It is so exciting. I subscribe to three knitting magazines: Interweave KNITS, Vogue Knitting and my favorite, Knitters. I always do a quick once through to see if anything jumps off the page with the WOW factor before I seriously get into it. Honestly, some of the WOW things are in the ads. I posted the picture of the WOW for me in this Interweave KNITS. I think it's great. After many years of seeing WOWs and then forgetting where I saw them, I have developed a strategy. I immediately make a copy and put it in a plastic sleeve. Whenever I knit, I make a copy of the pattern and put it in a plastic sleeve. That way you can write on it or even loose it without wrecking the pattern book.

Then I immediately went to my yarn room (some day I'll do a post which takes you on a field trip through my yarn room) to see if some where in a tub of yarn (remember I am a yarn collector) I had the perfect yarn. And I did! I found a yarn that I fell in love with several years ago. It is what I call UDY or undesignated yarn. It is yarn that you have no idea how you will use it, you just can't walk out of the store without it. This particular discovery is really two yarns by Isager Wool #1 and Alpaca #2 in a beautiful plum. When I put these two fingering weights together, they became the perfect gage for this fabulous sweater. Was that fun or what!?! Friends often go "shopping" in my yarn room. I was on vacation once when a new yarn store opened in our area. I called my knitting buddy and great friend Linda to ask her how it was, she said, "You have more." That really is the danger of becoming a yarn collector. I am off to start my WOW. I know many people won't start something new until they've finished what they are working on, but that's not me. I could spend a year just finishing things I've started then moved on.

As you can tell from my last post, Survivor Shawls are my favorite project ever. I loved everything about them. I loved the gorgeous pink yarn. I loved the relaxing rhythm of the pattern. I loved putting different yarns together to make the Magic Balls (more to come on this fabulous discovery). I loved the journey and the outcome which you can see in the picture of my first Casting for Recovery donation. I also loved becoming a Pink Yarn Collector. I am always on the look out for that unique skein of pink yarn with a different color or texture or sparkle to add to my collection. Since I was only purchasing one skein, price was no object. Beautiful, unique and the "I love it" factor were really the only criteria.

I am excited to share this project. It is so simple but so intriguing. I remember when I told my sister-in-law what I was going to do (knit 17 shawls), she said, "You'll be bored silly after two." After 60, I was never bored. I think that was because of the excitement of the Magic Ball and the joy of where the shawls were going.

You will need #15 circular needles and 10 to 15 different skeins of beautiful pink yarn. That's it. Now let's make a Magic Ball.

Cut your yarn into 5 yard to 25 yard pieces equal to about 400 yards. They don't have to be exact they just have to be varied. Wind your yarn into little balls. Now organize your yarns in a color blend which is beautiful. Begin with a worsted weight which is your anchor yarn. You will use this a couple more times and to bind off. This gives you your color theme. Lay all of the little balls out and line them up like they will appear on the shawl, taking care not to put very thin fibers next to each other or very thick fibers. When you love your blend of colors begin tying together. Tie with an over hand knot leaving about a four inch tail. The tail will become an embellishment on the right side of the shawl. Wind the yarn into a ball as you go. Remember, you are going to cast on and bind off using the same worsted weight yarn. I have a giant yarn winder so I always rewind to make a "pull from the center" ball. That way you don't end up chasing your ball of yarn around the room.

This shawl is knit end to end.

Cast on 120 or more stitches using the cable cast on or other stretchy method. Long tail cast on is much too tight. Now knit every row until shawl is desired width. It is so beautiful to watch the change of color with the change of yarn. Cast off very loosely. Some times it is a good idea to use one size larger needle to bind off if you tend to bind off tight. If your magic ball runs out of yarn cut more. If it is the width you want and you still have lots of yarn, that's ok, too.

Steam stretching the fabric a bit to give it a lacy look.

Fringe.

That's it. Isn't that the easiest project ever!

I worked so hard knitting for others in 2009 that I declared 2010 "The Year of Selfish Knitting." The rule was no "have to" knitting, only "want to" knitting. It started really well. Selfish felt good. Then I had lunch with my beloved Annabelle, my critic teacher from student teaching many, many years ago. Annabelle had breast cancer surgery during the summer of 2009 and participated in Casting for Recovery in April of 2010. CFR is a national organization providing retreat experiences for breast cancer survivors. Annabelle was gathering gifts for participants for the next CFR. All Annabelle had to do was ask and I decided I could design and knit a Survivor's Shawl. My first CFR retreat was in April 2011 and I made 17 shawls. The second was in 2012, and I made 20 shawls. I soon found I was addicted and couldn't stop knitting Survivor Shawls. I have made close to 60 and have given them to survivors all over the country.

Not only did I become addicted to knitting Survivor Shawls, I became addicted to pink yarn. Every time I was in a LYS or looking at a yarn catalogue or looking at an online yarn store I would be on the prowl for different pink yarn. Did you know that pink can be pale or deep, shaded with peach or blue or purple or green, or sparkly? I currently have 15 tubs of pink yarn. I bought hundreds of pink skeins to represent the hundreds of breast cancer survivors. The pinks are pale/bright, thick/thin, dark/pastel, plain/fancy, deep/light, soft/ruff, bold/subdued, hot/cool just like survivors. Bringing individual colors together to form the shawl represents all of those things breast cancer survivors have in common. Just as each fiber is beautiful on its own, so is each survivor. Bringing fibers and survivors together creates something spectacular.

I thought I was making the shawls for Annabelle and breast cancer survivors, but really I was making them for myself. As I worked on the shawls I found I could not feel angry, sad, upset or depressed. I could only feel joyous.

In my next post, I will share the Survivor Shawl pattern.

You may wonder why the name "Knitting:  A Love Story."  My heart races with excitement at the thought of it.  I catch myself thinking about it through out the day.  When I think about it I smile.  Even when it's boring, even when it's hard, I can't imagine not having knitting in my life  If that's not love I don't know what is.

One day I was reflecting on the importance of knitting in my life.  As I thought about my life of knitting, my body of work so to speak, I wanted to keep insights and build on them.  I knew I couldn't do this with words rattling around in my brain.  I also knew that I am not always committed to a journal, so I decided to develop a blog where I could share my love of knitting and others could share their love of knitting with me. 

In my work life, I was a strategic planner.  "If you carefully and accurately describe where you've been and creatively and precisely describe where you want to be, then setting your path to get there is easy."  I have said that hundreds of times to clients.  So that is what I will do.  I will post once or twice a week reflecting on my knitting past and sharing my knitting future.  I encourage you to take this journey with me. 

My mission is to "Preserve, promote and share the love of knitting.:

My bold initiatives are:  1)  Encourage knitting bravely through trying new fibers, new tools and new techniques,  2)  Reflect on my life of knitting so that I can learn from and appreciate what I already know and have done, and 3) Help others do the same.

In the future I will talk about:  1) My favorite knitting teachers, 2) Favorite yarn shops, 3) Mile markers in knitting, 3) Being a yarn collector, 4) Favorite projects and many other things.  I will have plenty of pictures.

See you in a week.