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As I said when I started this blog, I never finish anything, knitting-wise. I have hundreds, thousands… nay, millions of unfinished projects lurking in dark corners of the house, all hoping that the sun will shine on them again one day. It’s just get so excited by trying new things — new stiches, new patterns, new shaping, new yarn — that it’s impossible to resist until I’ve finished whatever I’m currently working on, and I find myself casting on something new — just to see — before the current project is even cool on the needles. And that’s ok, because I don’t knit for the final product — I’m a process knitter. It matters less to me to be that I come away with something at the end than that I just enjoy the knitting. The click-clack of the needles, and feel of the yarn in my hands, the smell of the wool, and the rhythm of the stitches… That’s what it’s about for me.
But when I saw Mary-Heather’s Simple Things shawlette, I wanted it. I wanted it. And that was a strange sensation — and one I didn’t trust. But I realised the project was small enough and quick enough that I might actually have a shot at getting it done before I moved on, like a drifter, to the next shiny thing that caught my eye.
No pattern available yet, but I studied Mary-Heather’s photos and reckoned I could work out at least a good approximation of the pattern. And so I looked through my stash for some decent yarn to try it out with, and cast on.
The funny thing is, I didn’t like the yarn as I was knitting. I wasn’t sure I liked it in the ball, but the more I knit with it, the less I liked it. The colours jarred. And pooled. It felt scratchy. It was too marroon-y, and I didn’t like the yellow or the orange bits. Time and again I thought to myself that I would just rip it all out and start over with another yarn… but I never had one to hand at that moment, so I carried on.
I finished it on the way home from MDSW and here’s the crazy thing about this scarf: as soon as I put it on, I loved the yarn. Loved it! Couldn’t stop looking at it! Then I took it off and looked at it and… I didn’t like it. Put it back on, and loved it… Took it off again, and didn’t like it.
And, I still don’t like it. Until I put it on — and then I love it. I just totally don’t get that.
I’ve got my knitting mojo back! I decided I wanted to use some yarn from my stash to make a lacy dress for E2, and found a pattern in KnitSimple that inspired me and gave me direction. I had new design ideas bouncing around in my head all last night. Went to bed hardly being able to wait for morning to come so I could get started!
And then I spotted an interesting design on Ravelry for an entirely different project — an intriguing scarf. There’s no pattern for it, but I studied the pictures… and studied and studied… until I think I figured out how it was done, and now all I want to do is cast on and see if I’m right. A whole month, totally dry and then… BAM! My mojo is back!
That’s the knitlust.
I joined Ravelry the other day and have been having a whale of a time exploring it!!! What a fantastic site it is, and what a lot of fun its going to be in the future, as it grows and gets better.
Already I’ve made my first “friend” (Abigail of Abigail Knits) and put my first project in my notebook. I’ve discovered a map of knitting shops in the UK and that led me on to KnitMap, which is a map of knitting shops throughout the world.
Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to log in using Firefox and I have to keep switching to IE, but I’m sure that’s a bug that they’ll fix soon. Other than that one little glitch, Ravelry seems to be a wonderful place …and someplace that I could lose far too much time in!
