At first the joke was funny...........
I had to start a sock because the thneed had had to become a shut-in and while we don't like to use the word chubby in this house, if the shoe fits.......
Then other people started making their "funny, ha-ha" comments - "good lord what are you making there? A new cover for the camper!"......
Remember how I mentioned I may run out of yarn because I am one ball short well unless someone is stealing in in the middle of night and running off an extra ball or 7 well then..... I am much more short than that let me tell ya.
Then I slipped into my state of denial that creativity can overcome all, think how great it will look with different colour sleeves! Gorgeous! Except as a more experienced knitter I had a niggly feeling that all may not be right.
Then I pulled the damn thing over my head and it fit like a sleeping bag.
Oh damn. My knitting mojo is off at the moment.
Remember those bright days of the cable down raglan. Headed for the frog pond as we speak -again. It turns out the yarn was so unbelievably wrong and not just because it isn't gray. A total beginners mistake. And yes I swatched like mad, just maybe I was a little blind with the swatches. Because it is like right in front my nose wrong. Like drive everyone at knit night crazy with the is it wrong kind of questions, wanting deep down for someone to confirm what it is I know but don't want to admit.
Jo Sharp Mohair Tank - frog pond. You haven't even seen this one. This one has been sitting in the dryer (oh yeah I keep my WIP's in an antique dryer that we use as a side table in the study, it is funny no one seems to think it strange we have a dryer as a side table but all have been taken back by the knitting and yarn inside it; muggles). Anyway it is sitting in the dryer waiting for me to wake up and smell the coffee. The yarn is great, it was a gift from the Yarns in the Farms Knit Night when I left (they are all so nice, seriously, go there) but the pattern just turned out all wrong. I kinda look like a sausage in it. I don't look good as a sausage.
And now the thneed..............
So last night as I got into bed totally despondent I said to Ted "all my knitting sucks, how can I still make all these silly mistakes, what's the point, I suck, maybe I should take a break.........."
To which he answered "maybe you should".
"No I mean really take a break, like no knitting kind of break, like NONE"
"Yeah maybe you should"
"No really, like put away the knitting, I am not joking, NO knitting"
"Yep I know"
And then sadly "but what would I do with myself? How would I stay busy?"
And I guess that is the crunch isn't it. I love to knit. I love the busyness of the act. I love how at all times I am a useful, creative being. But what if I am no longer useful? What if what I make has become so inconsistent that most of the time I am just wasting time? Should I stop? I wanted Ted to tell me not to be mad and of course I should keep knitting but maybe he said the truth. Maybe I do need a break. What do you think? Do I really want you to tell me the truth or do I just want you to talk me into carrying on? I don't know.
What do you do when/if you get to this place?
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7 comments:
Hehe. Don't be silly. Just find a project to knit that doesn't require gauge (shawls? I'm very into shawls right now, especially garter or stockinette based ones, so you get the plain-rows-back deal) or where you know you'll get gauge (socks?). The mojo will return. It has for me. Just wait until I post the yarn I found yesterday!
I take a long walk with the dog (feeling very sorry for myself); have a cup of tea and a snack, and cast on or swatch for something else. After a pause, I shall have the courage to either frog and resume, or frog and return to stash. BTW the 'pause' can last up to six months. I had a weaving teacher who said that, as long as you have learned what you needed to learn from the project, it is OK to cast it aside without completing it. If I were you, I would consider this series of knitting 'failures' as an intense learning period. Hitting the wall usually precedes a major leap forward, so it is not a good time to give up and knit something gaugeless.
As for taking a break from knitting...More power to you if you can. I couldn't.
One more thing: you might want to force yourself to start buying more yarn than you think you need... I know it is hard to see leftovers at the end of the project (one's Scottish ancestors spin in their graves at the very thought of such lack of thrift), but they can always be donated to a worthy cause if you don't want to use it up for small gifts, etc. I've been in 'one skein short' mode for over a year and, so far, have been lucky with dye lots when forced to buy more yarn. I doubt my luck can hold much longer! Looks like I'm going to be short one for the current cardigan too...
Hang in there!
Oof. Lots of frogging! It takes a strong person to do that much...
Do you have any other hobbies you could pick up for a little? Maybe try a sublime stitching kit or a small quilt?
It'll come back.
When It hink I should give up, I realise I'd probably have to take up smoking or biting my nails instead, to have something to do with my hands.
Hi Tanya,
Thanks for your comments on my pattern. So cool that folks from anywhere in the world can see it just like that online! My sister is married to a Kiwi and lives outside of Wellington as does my younger brother! I've been to New Zealand (before they lived there) and loved it and of course will be visiting soon to see my family!
On the subject of being stuck with knitting I wondered if you read the article on knitty about just that topic http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/FEATsum07MK.html
Check it out!
I enjoyed visiting your blog!
Gudrun
its just the flu, this to will pass, along with the high temp, and the feeling really ill.
And I'm with suzanne on this one, nothing wrong with a good break - but as you know busy hands wreck havoc if not calmed by something,
I'm good at knitting, it keeps me out of trouble .....you know starting stuff I can't handle and can't undo and costs money.
Having lost the knitting mojo a few times, I take a deep breath and find something different to work on...I block the unfinished objects sitting there and find something I know I will love, something that will feel good to knit and that I can accomplish relatively quickly. Sometimes I need to get back to a real yarn - something springy and lovely feeling.
Once I decide to rip something out (after I have cursed and cried of course)I do it with some gusto. I always buy one extra skein for each project - I never know when I will get to it and how long it will take and/or if I will run out. That totally sucks.
Be patient and don't be too hard on yourself.
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