Oh dear, I hope I didn’t paint my poor Skeptic in too negative of a light. He really is a sweetheart and his skepticisms are always said kindly; he just can’t help himself. He comes from a community of Central Wisconsin farmers who are, shall we say, practical people. If you’ve ever listened to Lake Wobegon you’ll know what I mean. The accent is a little different but that practical nature is the same. They are genetically coded to notice the one thing that might need some improvement before they notice anything else. The noticing does drive me a little nuts, the fact that he is right quite often drives me even more nuts. Case in point:

1. The bag, as gorgeous as it is, has straps that are too narrow. When I made the bag I originally screwed up the measurement. Being too lazy to re-cut I just thought “Cute! Skinny straps!” and sewed them on.

If the Skeptic had been making the bag he would have thought, “Hmmm, skinny straps on a very large bag would equal uneven weight distribution, cutting off all circulation on my shoulders when the bag is crammed full of junk. I’d better re-cut.”

So now, I’ve been dragging a large heavy bag full of stuff around that keeps digging into my shoulders. And, at least three other people have said to me, “Cute bag. Wow, those are some thin straps. Do they hold all that?”

2. The socks, which he complained were too pointy in the heel and felt too big, were ripped back just past the heel, knit one more time and now fit him perfectly. And, I will be victorious when the garter-stitch rib does not fall down. (Ironically, we were having this debate while his coveted Eddie Bauer socks were sagging near his ankles). As soon as he is not working a bizzilion hours a day I will have non-sagging shot for all to admire.

Anyway, my whole point in this story is that I hope I didn’t sound angry with him. Yup, he can drive me a bit crazy but I think all husbands/wives/partners are capable of that. And the bottom line is that he is the reason I usually do quality work. I tend to get sick of something, want it done, and might not bother to fix the minor mistakes. Then I get mad at myself later when I’m unhappy with it. So when I hear him start to say, “Hmmm….” I tend to give him a listen.

And on the other side of it, I am the reason that things do get done around here. My get busy attitude keeps him moving when he tends to spend too much time thinking about something. He will spend weeks agonizing about some little detail if I don’t step in and get him moving. Bottom line is we compliment each other perfectly, which is the way it should be, right? 🙂

Anyway, enough rambling about the Skeptic and I, although this does make me wonder now, what kind of knitter are you? Do you ponder through heavily detailed, washed and blocked swatches? Do you fix every detail? Do you just jump right in and hope it works out in the end? A little of both perhaps? And do you have someone who keeps you balanced, maybe when you’re freaking out about the 1/16 of an inch difference in swatches, or when you’re insisting that your sweater really isn’t too tight?

Lastly, so this isn’t too word heavy, photos of my recently completed apron.

And the conditions in which I worked:

I rarely sew in the presence of my boys, as you can see it’s not the ideal set-up. But my mom was here and I was desperate to get this done. Note Little Man’s rockin’ hairdo. He is quite into his long hair, but I do think it’s time for a trim…