It's only the begining

And really it is.

I know you love the feeling of starting something new. The possibilities are endless, and almost enough to make you go dizzy with all the possible options. You sit down and decide to knit a sweater (we won't ask how you decided to knit a sweater, that's a lot more possibilities) and even knowing what it'll be has a lot of choices. Cardigan or pullover (cardigan), What kind of sleeves, what kind of collar, what yarn, solid colored, or striped, or even Fair Isle? Steeked or knit flat? What pattern should it be based on, if any? Should I do Elizabeth Zimmermann's seamless yoke sweater, or the seamless raglan sweater? Or should I just ditch EZ and go with someone who's already done all the math I need? (I'll take EZ any day though, speak softly and carry a big calculator!)

And with every choice you make about your sweater you lose so much of the potential for anything else. If I make the edge ribbed than I can't have it be hemmed, seed stitch, garter stitch, or a million other things. If I give it stripes than I can't make it solid. If the yoke is garter stitch, then it can't be Fair Isle.

It's kind of like writing a book. With every sentence you write there are million less things that you can do to your plot. If you make it take place in San Francisco, than it can't be in New York, or anywhere else equally amazing. If the main character is a woman, than it can't be about a man (unless it's like a really unimportant character telling the story, or if it shifts the view point a lot) Every time you take the left fork there is no way for you to take the right fork. (Unless you rip it out.)

Boy I keep mixing all those metaphors. I'll try to stop. Off to go attempt to felt a store bought sweater, I don't think it'll work, but more on that later. (I've got a lot left to do today, but I've been stewing on this post for days, and I wanted to get it out there ASAP)

And does anyone know the reason for the spike in hits on the sixteenth? I expected maybe ten-ish, and I got like twenty-three. Not that I'm complaining, but did I win something or did someone link to me?