As the dust flies . . .

So I spent the last few days preparing for the new tax year. One of the clients dropped off 4 small boxes of paper. What is it about men & paper anyway?? I prefer the guys who save everything as opposed to those who show up with an invoice book & want me to file a tax return! But, why do they take every piece of paper & fold it into a one inch square?? I get boxes of folded, one inch squares to unfold. I think unfolding paper is the worst part of doing a tax return for a small business! So, after two evenings of unfolding in front of the tv - instead of knitting!!!! - I now have ONE box of organized receipts. And 10 bucks, Four Popeye dollars, a SLAB card with several stamps on it, a McGavins card with a full set of stamps & two Canadian Tire dollars . . . I've found uncashed cheques & once, a hundred dollar bill in the boxes of paper! The Canadian tire money is MINE, MINE, MINE but the rest goes back, dammit.

And what, if anything, have I knit?? Nothing. Haven't even finished the socks for the Ex. But I did spend an evening looking through 6 or 7 years of Interweave Knits, Knitters, Cast On & Spin Off. I was looking for a pattern for the next pair of socks. I like my basic formula for socks. I can knit them from memory without any problems but now & then, I like to vary them for fun. I like socks because they're simple, fast, take little yarn, comfortable & fit everyone. But, even with the wild yarns I prefer, it's nice to have a challenge. Yes, I could knit one of Cookie A's patterns but I like the Queen Kahuna heel with no stitches to pick up - I can't SEE in the evening to pick them up!! And until Opticana gets my reading glasses prescription right, I can't read the fine print, neither!! So, I was trolling for something to catch my fancy which I could incorporate into a new pair of socks.

You know how it is, you start looking for one thing & find several others that you want to start, NOW! I love going through piles of craft magazines. But the sheer volume of reading material in magazine collections adds up as quickly as the magazines themselves. I wish there was a simple way to put them all on disc!! But, I digress . . . I found oodles of things I wanted to knit. And crochet. Amazing how your interests & preferences change over time though - I found things I hadn't even noticed before. And I found things I hadn't considered before. I haven't knit any lace patterns since I made my friend Pat a gold lace cardigan in a fine mohair/wool blend about 25 years ago. I planned on making myself one in cherry at the time but never did. I find myself taking a closer look at lace patterns these days.
I've knit several aran sweaters for friends in the past as well. I liked the challenge of the cables & bobbles & collected very complicated patterns at one time. I bought Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown Reinsel because I loved the simple, basic designs but never knit one for myself as I had planned. Did I find a pattern for my next socks? Nope. But I found my next sweater . . .