Status report: why there have been no posts for a while, and won't be for another while

As long-time readers know, I have always had in mind to write a book.  I've made several attempts over the past three decades.  These attempts have failed. All I have to show are several half-finished manuscripts, not to mention half-finished projects, meant to be photo-samples.

What changed, and why am I telling you all this?

One of my kids studies Latin at University.  In the ordinary course of things, I've been exposed.  A certain Latin tag really struck me: Ars longa, vita brevis.  In English, "life so short, the craft so long to learn." And, yeah, I'm not getting any younger.

So--in yet another victory of optimism over experience--I'm taking another run at it.  Instead of writing the "giant book o' knitting" I've aimed for in the past, I've decided to narrow it down for this try--maybe it will only be a booklet--and the subject has been narrowed, too: color knitting.

The plan is to start from the simplest--stripes--then run right through some wonderful new tricks for dealing with long floats.  These new tricks finally make possible giant picture knitting. These are tricks which free stranded knitting completely from the "5 stitches before touchdown" rule, and let you go wild with super-long floats in intarsia, too, with no show-through whatsoever on the outside, no, not even when the fabric is stretched. (Yes, these tricks exist, have been knitted up and really work.  I just need to write them up.) Other tricks I need to write up include a new trick for knitting and dyeing combined which I call "shadow dyeing," new tricks for keeping track of color patterns, new tricks with weaving, oh, so many new tricks, all fighting to get out.

I didn't want you all to think I had fallen off a cliff, or lost interest--nothing could be further from the truth.  I'm trying hard get all these ideas down in one place, not to mention the relief it would bring: these ideas have been racing around my head trying to get out and are just starting to pile up in the.most.annoying.way.

Will a book(let) actually happen?  If past experience is anything to go by, then no.  
So, don't be disappointed, OK?  Probably, I will have to come crawling back to you in a few months, book-less.  

Nevertheless, I hope that coming right out in public and saying what I'm working on might hold my feet to the fire.  And, you know, reassure you all that TECHknitting is only taking a work-break. New ideas are continuing to be generated, tried out, knitted up, illustrated and described.

(Not to mention that I have many new ideas--OH so many new ideas--about cables, too. Also a whole new afterthought buttonhole--a button-though one right in the middle of the buttonband that is completely and utterly afterthought. Oh dear...more distractions.)

Well, hopefully I will see you all soon-ish, with an announcement of success, and an e-book(let) for sale.  At the worst, I will at least return with a bunch of new posts on color knitting.

Until then, good knitting, from your (lazy-and-disorganized-but-trying-to-get-over-it) TK