Ballooney

This Thanksgiving I covered myself in glory – I am now officially the crazy out-of-it relative, because I thought the Beethoven giant balloon in the Macy's parade would be a scowling bust rather than a St. Bernard. Alas, the balloon dog suffered a puncture, partially deflated, and did not complete the parade. Maybe the maestro would have fared better. Hrumph.

I also made all and sundry admire my Up-Down Spiral Sox by Sandy Cushman (in Favorite Socks), which turned the rebel Ballooney colorway into a special effect.



Notice the stripes on the ribbing dip to the right = S-twist. The slip stitch pattern also is S-twist. But the resulting fabric is not striped and is adorned with small spirals that dip to the left = Z-twist. Whoa.

Flush with success or too much turkey, I signed up for NaKniSweMoDo, the brainchild of Susan, Margene, and Cheryl. The year-long knit-along has a simple, yet ambitious goal: to finish 12 adult-sized garments in 2009. Vests and shells are OK, WIPs and UFOs are OK, multiple FOs in a month and projects spanning more than one month are OK.

I see the dodecathon as an inspiration, rather than an objective. It seems to me that having high aspirations, knitting earnestly, producing some sweaters but possibly falling short is far better than moping, aiming low, and succeeding. Of course, if I actually manage to produce 12 garments in 2009, I’ll be insufferable.