Just your average Saturday.

I swear I never meant to become a knitter.
When my Mom first decided to introduce me to it when I was a young lass, I struggled through making a scarf that ended up looking more like a cape for a doll when I finally gave up on it. I picked yarn that was too small and needles that were too small for my short attention span. I then promptly gave up, bought a crochet hook, and set about making myself blankets, scarves, doll pillows, doll blankets, etc, etc.... and spent the next 8 years making variations on crocheted squares without much variation, if I did it at all.
For some reason I decided to try amigurumi. You guys have seen the aftermath. My office is covered in tiny stuffed animals now. Albeit cool ones, to be sure. But when I realized I actually ~did~ know how to read a pattern and could follow it to great effect, it started to crawl in to my mind that the same was probably true of other things, including knitting.
I have 3 balls of sock yarn waiting for me, and some merino and angora fingering weight yarn in light pink to make some knee-high lacy things out of. I have 10 skeins of twisted recycled silk sari yarn waiting for the perfect sweater pattern. I have wool and nylon yarn spun irregularly that I am uttelry convinced would make a bitchin' pullover. And right now I have bamboo yarn being worked in to handwarmers complete with a button hole and ribbing -on bamboo needles, I might add. I love the irony- and some wheat-colored angora mix that was on sale and I had to have with no planned project yet. I was looking in to knitted and crocheted lace for shawls and hand warmers and blankets and scarves and... And, of course, we continue out with my obsession for making plushies with yarn. (since I can't sew)
Seriously, I never meant to be a knitter. I play video games. I wire up home networks som the computers can share files with one another. I wardrive on other peoples' routers. I laugh at Robot Chicken and look forward to Heroes! I write FANFIC for World of Warcraft, for crying out loud! I was NOT aiming to be a knitter.
And yet... here I am staring at five double pointed needles and a ball of yarn in a most beautiful shade of cadet blue and deep violet. DOUBLE POINTED NEEDLES.
I often wondered at the strange tendency of women to horde yarn that they didn't already have plans for. Now I know. At some point you may come across the perfect pattern (or be struck with enormous inspiration) and simply HAVE to pull something out and work with it. Which is why I think I have upwards of something like 45 balls of yarn to my name. I would like to point out, however, that a large number of those are for plushie commissions. And it's funny that I'm feeling defensive over this. I guess in my head I associate knitting behavior with something to be embarassed about...
The final nail in the coffin was when I signed up for and received my invitation to Ravelry.com. It was a 2 day wait because of the popluarity backup. But when I got on I found patterns like the Rogue Hoodie Sweater with a celtic knot detail...and I am sworn to create this thing now. And it has cables.
Damnit.
Mom, if you read this, I'm fairly sure you'll love Ravelry and you should get on the site asap. They also have crochet patterns, if you survived my attempt to show you how to crochet over the Xmas holidays. There's also Fair Isle patterns, and a forum where you can ask questions. In addition, they've got this awesome grid that will let you keep track of what kinds of needles you have so you know to go dig deeper for them instead of spending money and getting more. In addition, it lets you record what project you're working on, how close you are to done, and how difficult it was for you. Even more than that? Lets you record your stash of yarn. So if you come across a pattern you love, and it calls for a certain kind of yarn, you can just flip over and see if you have it in your stash already. If not, you can either grab the yarn they recommend for it, or you can purchase it right there, since they usually have it linked on the website. Terribly, terribly handy.
~addendum, having been interrupted and returning now to finish this entry~
In the meantime, Snopacalypse really didn't happen. We got enough to make the ground white, but not enough to make a difference. I am somewhat disappointed.
In addition, the delivery guy for the treadmill called in "sick", and so it was not delivered. As you can probably tell, I am a bit dubious about his condition. I just find it convenient on a weekend day that's supposed to have bad weather, someone randomly calls off.
The last of my yarn came in, and since I found out I actually really love working on small details, I am looking forward to whipping all of these balls of yarn in to much improved foot-sweaters!
And perhaps the greatest thing my DS has ever managed to do for me, My Weightloss Coach showed up, along with the handy pedometer. It told me my BMI and gave me all kinds of little challenges to do during the day. It basically makes a video game out of weight loss. The more you lose, the more it rewards you. I hate to say it, but I like this method already. I'm sitting here with the pedometer strapped to my waistband now.
My totally awesome fox hat came from Pawstars today! I've been wearing it all afternoon. It is awesome and fuzzy and I look like one of the Lost Boys in it. Peter Pan's Lost Boys, not the vampiric ones in California. ;)
And on that note, I'm kinda tired and want to finish my other bamboo hand warmer before I pass out for the evening. We've booked the tickets and locked our seats together in. Now we just need the hotels, my passport, and the bullet train passes and we'll be set. That feels good.

PS - I actually justified purchasing an awl yesterday because of its possible use in defense against burglers, psychotics, and close range zombie-grappling. I may officially be bonkers. ^_^