Perseverance

What quality makes a successful knitter? Most non-knitters seem to think it's patience. I happen to know it stubborness and perserverance.

Stick-to-it-iveness
Someone on one of my lists mentioned that I shouldn't make a fiber project something that I dreaded. It should be fun and enjoyable. The writer also mentioned that projects are much easier to start than to finish.

I agree with the last premise. Projects are a lot easier to start than to finish, but I don't necessarily agree with the first part.

Don't get me wrong, there have been a few abandonned projects in my knitting past. But sticking to something, even after I've gotten to the point where I absolutely hate it, has been an important part in my success as a knitter. I see knitting projects more like marathons. While I could never hope to finish first in a contest, I'll be damned before I let a knitting project prevent me from finishing.

There have been a few projects where by the time I've gotten to the sleeve, I hate the color, I hate the design and I hate knitting.

But I persist, knowing that after I finish the garment, and put it in my armoire of completed sweaters, and forget about it for six months, I will have a brand new, beautiful sweater to wear. Sometimes it happens in as little as 3 months.

And being tired of "kitty porn", I decided to give you "Poppy"...he's the sister-out-of-law's dog...most beautiful dog on the planet.



Knitting/Crocheting
Speaking of stubborn perseverance, I've completed the back of the crochet jacket.



I've even done some minimal shaping of the neck opening on the back and a small amount of shoulder shaping.

Given how wide this garment is, I'll be interested to see how it drapes on a human form after it's done. Having seen many of Carol Lapin's designs in the past that were very wide, I think this one will work well with the intended recipient.

Mountain Dew Code Red
I've worked for some very large companies as part of my consulting work. Companies like Campbell Soup, Cisco Systems, General Electric, and many others. I was working for one of those large companies, Pepsi, when they came out with a new soda, Mountain Dew Code Red.

I had always loved Mountain Dew (I always say that "too sweet" is an oxymoron), and now they had a cherry flavored version of it. How excellent.

The only problem, was that they didn't have a diet version of it...or so I thought...



A wonderful co-worker brought this in for me, and now my life is complete.