this is not a knitting blog
not that there’s anything wrong with a knitting blog, just that this isn’t one of them. i started this whole thing about two years and a half years ago in an attempt to learn html, calm my parents about what i was doing with my life (which is now funny cause they never ever look at this site, ay), and have a place to store links and such. in the past nine months, i’ve been moving more and more towards primarily knitting content, which is great since i really enoy knitting a lot, more than i thought i ever would, but sometimes i feel like if i don’t post about knitting, i’m letting people down, or something like that. there’s this pressure that builds up around having a blog, or even a web site at all, that is weird and also totally unexpected.
i love knitting.. don’t get me wrong, but i also love books (even more than knitting!), and geeky html and web design stuff, and cooking is great, and some political stuff gets me all pissed off and/or excited, and random postings and link lists are totally fun, and we all know i’m a moody monster so moody posts are just what i need sometimes to get things off my chest and be able to breathe a bit better, etc etc. (!) my recent postings on italy, and the lovely and enthusiastic comments i got about them, made me feel really happy because i didn’t feel like i had let anyone down, or that people were feeling ‘ok, but what about yarn?!?’—which would be understandable since i always talk about yarn lately—but still i’m glad it didn’t happen. ah, so what am i trying to say here? ...
though i love love! my secret pal (and i cannot wait to find out who you are!), and the whole secret pal exchange as an idea, i think this is why i haven’t signed up for secret pal 5, though i’ve been awfully tempted, and instead have signed up for a postcard swap and a notions bag swap. i know i tend to burn out, or just get all antsy, and i’m looking for some balance so that this lovely feeling of happiness i feel about knitting doesn’t go away.
this is my space and i need to feel free in it. while some people love, and thrive on, a targeted subject with their blog, i am not one of those. if you knew me in real life, you’d see what a random freak i am at times and how i, instead, thrive on bouncing around trying a little of this, a little of that. so, though i fear it sounds like i’m making big predictions here about some crazy (possibly creative) growth that in reality i have no idea of it actually happening, don’t be surprised, or disappointed i hope!, if i veer off knitting now and then.
ok, i think i said all this like i mean in my head—i’ve been thinking about it for a while. really these are just notes, i’ll try and clarify the thoughts later. lastly, this didn’t come about from anything specifically, just a vague feeling of unease that perhaps i was passing myself off, or this site, as something i’m not. does that make sense?
with all that said, now on to the knitting content
~ for some reason i had an extra copy of the recent interweave knits sent to me, anyone want it?—it’s on its way to you, lori z.!
~ i bought some elizabeth lavold silky wool yesterday to make knitty’s branching out – only one skein, i couldn’t resist, plus after lelah, i really want to do more lacey stuff. plum is my color of choice, yay
~ i haven’t done any knitting, i repeat no knitting, in two weeks and the withdrawal symptoms are bad. last night, before i went out with my italian friends, i happily sat for two hours winding yarn and organizing needles, somethings i normally would feel all impatient about.
~ remember that teva durham lace leaf pullover i was swooning about weeks ago? well, i’m still determined to make it. however, i was thinking instead of the wool/acrylic/alpaca yarn it calls for, to use rowan’s summer tweed. but, what color, what color? i’m thinking vibrant, something that will make the lace leaf really pop..
~ i’m off the ucla/l.a. time book festival—i have to work six hours today and eight hours tomorrow—it truly bites but at least i’ll get two days off sometime in the next two weeks. that will be lovely indeed. however, you better believe i’m taking some knitting (yay!) as well as some reading material (mark haddon’s the curious incident of the dog in the night-time – which was february’s selection by the knitonereadtoo group, and yes i know i’m very behind and that it is april. but what can you do?)
have a lovely weekend everyone ~ it’s nice to be back!
{ posted 23 April 05, under branching out & cranky }
comments
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Blogging is such a funny thing. Sometimes there is so little communication with the audience that you need to justify changes in you style. Go for what feels right!!
If the extra copy of Interweave that you have is the summer issue, I’d love to take it off your hands. I can send you some yarn in return, if you’d like!~ lori z
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You are 100% right: this is your space, Andrea, so with it what you want! The reason I come to your blog is because I love your writing and your pictures—no matter what they are about. My blog is never ALL about knitting either… it is about life!
The book festival sounds grand—lucky you! I am behind on my K1R2 as well, don’t worry about it!
Have fun!~ Lolly
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So, yea, I’m so tempted to link to this entry with a simple “what she said”! I’ve been feeling the same way for a very long time. I think with blogging there comes a tyranny of expectation, but, I also think that a lot of the time, we place that expectation on ourselves. For me, I often stumble upon a blog based on the subject(s) it deals with, but that’s not the reason I keep reading it – I usually keep reading it if I like the writing style and feel like I can relate to the author (yarn content or not!). So, yea, this is your space Andrea – no matter what you say, we’re going to keep coming back :)
and PS: I personally like a little variety ;)~ amanda
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Yes, Yes, yes! I can totally relate to what you are saying here! I agree with what everyone else has said. I read because there is something I connect with, and the content really doesn’t matter at all. I think it is important to write whatever you feel you want to write. don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.
~ Moni
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See, now THAT’S why I like you so much! Hee hee!
When you find out WHO I AM (hee hee) you’ll see that I too have a pluthera of other interests (perhaps too damned many…nah!) that I feel are blog worthy, me worthy and generally writing-about-it-and-getting-it-off-of-my-chest-makes-me-feel-good-worthy. I think it all depends upon my mood!
Working on your final package…although you realy do need to stalk your postman…there are things out there lingering that should have arrived already…hmmmm.
Happy Weekend!
xx YSP -
I totally understand your point here. One thing about berrystained that has gotten to be too much for me is that pressure. I had/have readers that are knitters, and I would go for jags where I’d talk about knitting a lot. And then I’d feel like people were missing the knitting content when it wasn’t around. But I also felt like other readers were bored when I wrote about knitting too much. For a while I just tried to post more, so that there’d be plenty of knitting content AND plenty of other stuff. But that was another kind of pressure, and I still I ended up feeling like I wasn’t satisfying anyone. Every once in a while it’s really helpful to take stock and remember that this is your space to do with what you wish. There’s a nice aspect to it being out in the open for other people to read. But that doesn’t mean that you should be confined by their expectations. Anyway, I think most of the people (like me) who read your entries here and are interested in knitting content are also interested in other stuff—in my case, pretty much everything you post about except for the very rare programming stuff that I don’t get.
~ susan
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Aha—maybe now I understand why I was compelled to have a header of pro-wrestling toys on my blog! Blog first, knitting second (or third, or seventh, depending on the day)...
~ Heidi
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The thing is, there is so much more to us as people than just a single hobby. If we all just talked knitting all the time, I would be so incredibly BoRED, so I’m glad you’re well-rounded and have a lot of interests. Can you imagine if my blog was just about the ducks: this one quacked today, that one sat in poop. So don’t feel that you need to pigeonhole yourself into a single category. I certainly don’t and wouldn’t want you to!
~ Liz
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i second (nineth) the sentiments already expressed by others. this blog is your creation—slices of whatever is meaningful to you.
i think i read blogs to see the world from other eyes. it is an expression of your world; you alone are most apt for choosing what belongs here.~ MeowGirl
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I’m concurring with everyone here!
Personally, I over-knitified my blog during SP4 because (and this is a bit silly of me) I wanted to keep it simple and un-offensive to anyone who might be visiting during the ‘game’. Now that it’s ramping down, I suspect I’ll go back to a “jack of all trades” blog, although knitting will still be in the content.~ Miri