Nothing More Satisfying...

...than taking the time to hand wind a nice, neat center-pull ball.

Knitting is NOT Meditative For Me
When folks ask if I knit to relax, I have to admit, I'm usually pressuring myself to make it to the next round of the stitch pattern I'm on so that I have some knit content about which to blog.

I'm more of a competitive knitter than a meditative, relaxed knitter.

And when I take the time to hand wind a ball of yarn, for me, the ball has to be nice looking and uniform, similar to what my plastic ball-winder can do.

I guess for me, the magic of knitting and anything hand-made that I find satisfying, is the fact that I can take raw ingredients, and mix them into something that can sometimes be amazing. I mean, just the simple fact that I have the ability to create fabric from yarn is rather awesome.

Current Knitting
More slow going on the Malabrigo Silky Merino pullover.

I've finally made it up to the arm-hole shaping, so the remainder of the back should move along a bit more quickly. Plus, I've gotten the left-slanting twisted stitch down a bit more easily (by doing a slightly looser purl on the wrong side of the row).

Readers' Comments/Questions
Carl writes, "So did I miss a fabulous MSKR? From the blogposts and facebook messages I've seen so far, it sounds like it was wonderful. Hopefully I can be back next year."

Like comparing the second one to the first one, it was very different, with a very new and eclectic group of guys, but yes, it was completely fabulous. It doesn't seem to matter what we do or who's there, but we have a magical time...this year was no exception, but it definitely wasn't the same without you. Hope your reason for missing it was fantastic...from all accounts, it sounds like it was....congratulations.

Thanks also to all the folks that commented on my last post...I got a lot out of your thoughts.