Cleverness, Thy Name is Gleek

Very often, I find a simple idea and think, "why the heck didn't I think of that?" Such is the case when I was browsing around the other day and came across a very smart idea for something that has bothered me for a long, long time, (think through three children's infancy and toddler hood). When it is cold, and I'm carrying my kids, their pants ride up around their knees and their little legs freeze. I've noticed this on other babies too. So, what is a mom to do? Well if you are smart, like Gleek, then you simply whip up a pair of tiny leg warmers. Me? I just wait around complaining about a problem until someone else comes up with a solution. See.

But seriously! They are so spanking cute, and they were so easy to make, why didn't I think of them? Come to think of it, why don't I ever have any good knitting ideas? I am just not a person who says, Gee, Mimi's legs are exposed to sub-zero temperatures, perhaps a pair of legwarmers would take care of that problem. Gee, I need a new sweater, I guess I'll go make one, and I think I'll design it too. Gee, my feet are cold, and I have all this wool, perhaps I'll write up a pattern for some felted slippers. Gee, I don't like the way that this pattern is written, I think I'll change this and that to make it better. Me? Not so much. I am beginning to realize that there are people who think up this stuff, and then there are people like me, who follow the directions and never design things (except for once, I made a Barbie hat without a pattern). I had a friend from Poland who taught herself to knit by looking at books. Then, she cranked out about a sweater a week of her own designs. All the knowledge that she had was from books, and her understanding of how yarn and needles worked. (I know it isn't fair to compare myself to her, because she also taught herself English from a book, but still.) I don't get it.

The legwarmers were a break from the nonibag. Actually, they were a break from taking a break from the nonibag. There is no reason under the sun that I shouldn't be done with that thing by now. I got the stitch picking up all straightened out, I've got about eighty percent of the bag itself done, I just got bored and put it down for a while. Then I pulled out the size fives and some Magic Garden Buttons yarn and made those little legwarmers. Shall we see them again?

She was a somewhat reluctant model, as you can see. She missed her nap...But she is workin' those little legwarmers!

Right now, I am felting a pair of clogs in my washer. And I think that I have, in the past, spoken of how I detest my front-loader when it comes to felting. I am not exaggerating when I say I've been at this since about six o'clock. It is now 10:40. I've made good progress though, they are only slightly too large for a Sasquatch. I literally boil water in my electric tea-pot and pour it over them to get the water hot enough, thanks to my energy-star. I love that thing for all the laundry it does, it is like my own personal laundry work-horse, it is better for the environment, not to mention it is the only appliance I've ever purchased (albeit used), it's practically one of the kids. But for felting, it is no friend of mine. At this rate, I should be done about the time Ben goes off to college. And for the record, trying on wet clogs is not fantastic.