The Lovely & The Very Ugly
I've been forcing myself to finish some of my WIP's. Believe me, force is not too strong a word for some of these projects. I really had to grit my teeth and knit like the wind to get the mucky brown, very ugly socks (nearly) off the needles.
You see, I'm not a half-finished WIP sort of person. I don't have bags of abandoned projects lying around. Well, that's not entirely true. I do have a number of half-finished or very nearly finished projects all over the place, it's just that I do have plans to finish them. Eventually. Generally, I like to get stuff off the needles. If I do go off a project, or decide it isn't working, I'll usually frog it. Although that's not until it's sat around unloved for a few months/years and I've tossed and turned a bit about whether it's worth finishing.
Which brings me to my recent revelation. When it comes to knitting, I have an interest time limit of about a month. Six weeks max. If a project is taking longer I start to get antsy. Restless. Bored with it. What starts as an exciting adventure begins to feel like drudgery after about a month or so. My mind wanders off thinking of the next lovely thing to knit and I find myself buying the odd skein here and there in the hopes that I might start something else.
You see, I'm not a half-finished WIP sort of person. I don't have bags of abandoned projects lying around. Well, that's not entirely true. I do have a number of half-finished or very nearly finished projects all over the place, it's just that I do have plans to finish them. Eventually. Generally, I like to get stuff off the needles. If I do go off a project, or decide it isn't working, I'll usually frog it. Although that's not until it's sat around unloved for a few months/years and I've tossed and turned a bit about whether it's worth finishing.
Which brings me to my recent revelation. When it comes to knitting, I have an interest time limit of about a month. Six weeks max. If a project is taking longer I start to get antsy. Restless. Bored with it. What starts as an exciting adventure begins to feel like drudgery after about a month or so. My mind wanders off thinking of the next lovely thing to knit and I find myself buying the odd skein here and there in the hopes that I might start something else.
I guess that's why I prefer to have only a few things on the needles at any one time. Any more and it all starts to take too long. That month creeps up too fast and, before I know it, I'm feeling a bit cross with my knitting.
I certainly felt cross with the very ugly autumn-coloured socks. The colours that looked so fabulous in the ball, were really not working for me knitted up. Plus, the yarn was splitty and coarse. Argh! My father in Law watched me knit them, heard me grumble and told me he liked them. His comments encouraged me to keep going. "Maybe it's just me" I thought. "Maybe I'll like them when they're finished".
Well, they're nearly finished and I still think they're yuck. All I have to do is kitchener the toes and weave in my ends but I can't quite bring myself to pick them up again. I've gone way past the point of frogging them. Instead, I think I'll make myself spend the 20 minutes I need to get them done, block them and give them to my father in law.
On the other hand, I did really enjoy finishing my lovely indigo blue lace socks. Aren't they so pretty? I love that they're a mirror image of one another. It was a delight to knit these. The pattern was fun and the yarn looked and felt delicious.
When I popped them on my feet my 4 year old niece expressed concern that I'd get cold. She showed me how her finger could poke through the holes and she wondered if I might like to sew them up. She might be right, they might be a bit drafty on especially cold days. But, I'm pretty sure I won't be sewing up any holes. I love those holes. Instead, I think I might try to find a groovy pair of winter shoes to show them off in.
If you're after more details about patterns and yarns, my lovely blue socks are on Ravelry here. The very ugly ones are here.
If you're after more details about patterns and yarns, my lovely blue socks are on Ravelry here. The very ugly ones are here.
We're moving into our new house tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also nervous about unpacking all those boxes. 10 years ago, when we had one small baby, we shipped exactly 100 boxes to our new house. This time, three more children later, we've got over 300. Oh dear.
Wish me luck.