Skip to content


Litmus Test

So, if you’ve ever read this blog before, you know I like to knit. It’s relaxing, it generally results in something useful and/or nifty to have, and it’s low calorie (at least until I discover how to eat chocolate and knit simultaneously…I think I’m getting close). But one thing I’ve come to realize about knitting is that it’s possible to get tunnel vision.

The more you knit, the more you look for things that require you to learn something new. A twisted cable here, a bit of beaded lacework there — it’s enticing, and sometimes you can forget to take a step back and look at the big picture to determine if the pattern you’re working on is actually something you’re ever going to want or need. And it’s really hard to tell this on your own. But what are you to do if you’re an isolated knitter with no trusted knitting buddy to tell you when your wheels have started to slip off the rails? Well, rest easy, knitting friends for I — your web-crawling compatriot — have discovered the Knitter’s Litmus Test.

If at any time you find yourself looking at this picture…

h15f

…and thinking, “You know, that’s not a bad idea!” there is no more definitive sign of the clear and present danger you present to yourself and those closest to you. Drop your needles immediately and engage in benign activity until the madness passes. Read a book, take a walk, bake a cake — but for the love of heaven, do not allow yourself to bring another dickie into the world.

You might want to bookmark this page and reference it often, particularly as we embark on the annual Christmas Knitting frenzy. There is nothing like a looming deadline and a lack of sleep to enable an evil such as the one shown above to sneak into your Ravelry Queue.

Take care of yourself knitters. Don’t let a dickie happen to you or someone you love.

Posted in Knits & Knots.

Tagged with .


2 Responses

Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.

  1. bells says

    ok this is me catching up with a week’s worth of posts in one hit.

    That’s jsut Crazy. Big fat Crazy. What the hell? Thank you for the concept of the litmus test. It is needed.

  2. Kate says

    You know, I can’t help feeling that there is one circumstance wherein the dickie would be appropriate: if you knew a really unpleasant person called Richard. Especially in a pink colourway.



Some HTML is OK

or, reply to this post via trackback.