Planning
For most of this year, I have been on something of a knitting hiatus.
The needles and yarn have been close by, but for several months, I found I was only kitting when my lovely group of office ladies got together at lunch on Wednesdays for an hour.
An hour a week is not conducive to very many finished projects.
A couple of weeks ago, I took the crazy sock project home, the one where I knit a pair of socks from two different Zauberballs. Spending a few dedicated hours on them, and they fell off the needles.
Instead of casting on one of the dozens of new projects dancing in my head, I immediately began working on their matching pairs. Keeping them near me at all times, to and from work, I was able to complete them in a few days.
Knitting and all crafting, for that matter, have taken a back seat the last few weeks, as I have been in the kitchen cooking and freezing vats of gumbo base, etouffee, lentil soup, butternut squash soup, charro beans, and roast and gravy to share with friends whose families are facing difficult times. (Cancer sucks!)
As I tried to infuse strength and love into the food I prepared, as I stirred, I also thought about new projects.
The planning stage is one of the delightful parts of knitting (and weaving) for me. Thinking about all the possibilities, as I pour through my Ravelry queue and stash, makes me happy. Saved patterns greet me as old friends as the memories of searching for just the right yarn and color bring a smile to my face and eagerness tickles the tips of my fingers.
The actual knitting itself is a very different enterprise. I find the feel of the yarn as it is pulled through my hands and the rhythm of the needles to be a zen-like, meditative experience.
Finishing a project, of course, comes with a sense of accomplishment, but it is also accompanied by a bit of a let-down that has almost nothing to do with the satisfaction of the finished object, just a vague feeling of disappointment the pleasure of doing the thing has come to an end.
Fortunately, the let-down is fleeting and often lost in the excitement of the next new yarny adventure.
When I first began knitting, I considered myself motivated by results, i.e., finished projects; however, I have come to realize it is truly the process, which entrances me.
Looking around at the wealth of unfinished ventures before me, I decided to begin with them before casting on anything new, especially with Christmas only 80 days away!!
With that in mind, I finished something else!
The needles and yarn have been close by, but for several months, I found I was only kitting when my lovely group of office ladies got together at lunch on Wednesdays for an hour.
An hour a week is not conducive to very many finished projects.
A couple of weeks ago, I took the crazy sock project home, the one where I knit a pair of socks from two different Zauberballs. Spending a few dedicated hours on them, and they fell off the needles.
Instead of casting on one of the dozens of new projects dancing in my head, I immediately began working on their matching pairs. Keeping them near me at all times, to and from work, I was able to complete them in a few days.
Knitting and all crafting, for that matter, have taken a back seat the last few weeks, as I have been in the kitchen cooking and freezing vats of gumbo base, etouffee, lentil soup, butternut squash soup, charro beans, and roast and gravy to share with friends whose families are facing difficult times. (Cancer sucks!)
As I tried to infuse strength and love into the food I prepared, as I stirred, I also thought about new projects.
The planning stage is one of the delightful parts of knitting (and weaving) for me. Thinking about all the possibilities, as I pour through my Ravelry queue and stash, makes me happy. Saved patterns greet me as old friends as the memories of searching for just the right yarn and color bring a smile to my face and eagerness tickles the tips of my fingers.
The actual knitting itself is a very different enterprise. I find the feel of the yarn as it is pulled through my hands and the rhythm of the needles to be a zen-like, meditative experience.
Finishing a project, of course, comes with a sense of accomplishment, but it is also accompanied by a bit of a let-down that has almost nothing to do with the satisfaction of the finished object, just a vague feeling of disappointment the pleasure of doing the thing has come to an end.
Fortunately, the let-down is fleeting and often lost in the excitement of the next new yarny adventure.
When I first began knitting, I considered myself motivated by results, i.e., finished projects; however, I have come to realize it is truly the process, which entrances me.
Looking around at the wealth of unfinished ventures before me, I decided to begin with them before casting on anything new, especially with Christmas only 80 days away!!
With that in mind, I finished something else!
Back in June, I cast on and finished the first of these. After weighing the hat and the left over yarn, I thought I might have enough for a second one. I was right!!
Pattern: Shibui Mix No. 6
Yarn: Shibui Baby Alpaca dk and Silk Cloud in the Grounds colorway.
As I mentioned in the June post, the yarn was a bit pricey for one hat, but after I figured out I could get two out of them, well, I ordered more yarn...
The second pair of hats is now underway, as well, in Velvet.
There are also plans for even more colors (the teal is called Cove and the pink is Raspberry):
Anyone else knitting for Christmas?
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