And the moral of the story…
Oct 30th, 2012 by Tana
I’ve been thinking more about the failure of those pullovers. It seems as of late that all of the knitting I have blogged about has been a dismal failure. That isn’t true really – it’s that the failures are more interesting to talk about so they make the news.
Here’s what happened with the pullovers: We were going on vacation, a trip through the Sandhills of Nebraska. Sightseeing. I brought the pullovers and some socks. I quickly realized that for this trip, sock knitting was not appropriate as the sts were too small and the road was too bumpy. So I stuck with the pullovers and their larger st gauge and pattern that was fairly easy to knit without looking. I cast on when we left, and I knew a few inches into the first piece that my gauge was 16 sts over 4 inches instead of the 14 sts over 4 inches that my swatch had indicated. But I had nothing else to knit and it seemed like a waste of time to sit there and not knit, so I pressed on, telling myself that blocking would fix any problems. I knit most of Joey’s pullover on that trip, and I must confess I was rather tired of the stitch pattern, and it seemed to be going rather slowly because I did it in short spurts here and there as I was looking around a lot at all the sights. Then I blocked the sweater, and it didn’t fit Ben and hardly fit Joey. So it goes.
So basically I kept going on a project that had gone awry because I didn’t want to “waste” my knitting time and all of my effort ended up being to no avail (and thus a complete waste, to state it bluntly). That’s the thing about frogging – the sooner you frog, the better. If you think it’s going wrong, for goodness sake, stop! Don’t finish it!
All of this has led to a new rule. I’ve come up with a sort of formula for a set of knitting projects to always have on the needles and in the queue. Single projects can fill more than one category or each project may count for only one category (even though it may qualify for more) meaning this is not a criteria for the number of projects on my needles at any given time but rather simply a way of balancing my efforts. Hence, the categories:
- Socks. I always like having a pair of socks on the needles. They are portable, interesting, and great to grab at the last minute as insurance knitting for when I walk out the door. Insurance knitting, meaning that if there were some accident or the car broke down or I was otherwise detained along the way, I would have something to do. I also always have my Kindle with me for the same reason (and I specifically bought a purse that my Kindle would fit into without being an over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder, but that’s another story).
- Lace. I knit lace for the sheer joy of it, and I do wear the shawls and wraps that I make. They come in very handy during the summer when the chill of air conditioning is too much. Other projects, such as socks and sweaters, may have lace patterns, so they may fill this category as well, though knitting a shawl is always a good thing.
- A sweater. I love sweater-knitting. I love wearing sweaters. It’s a good thing to always have one on the needles, regardless of how long it takes me to actually finish the project.
- Something for someone else. There have been times in my knitting life when everything I was making was for someone else. I’ve learned the joy of making and wearing my own knits. I also think I appreciate my own hand-knits more than anyone else because I know exactly what went into them. But knitting for others is always a good thing. Thus this category.
- Something for on-the-go. Socks can be a great on-the-go project as they are small, but sometimes the st pattern requires a bit more thought that I would like, or I am at a part of the project where I need to think, such as turning the heel. So socks aren’t always what I want to take with me when I walk out the door. Something in St st or garter with very little shaping is great for this category. An endless shawl with miles and miles of St st or even the back of a sweater can fit well here. And the project in this category can constantly be changing. I just want something mindless that can easily be worked on without making a mistake while I am being sociable.
- An accessory or other small project. Key words: instant gratification. Sometimes socks, sweaters and shawls go on for miles and miles seemingly without progress. That’s where hats and mittens and other single skein projects come in. They’re quick knits, and they make you feel like you’re accomplishing something. They’re also a nice change a of pace, and a great way to try a different yarn without making a commitment.
- Finally, a project just for vacations. We don’t travel much, so this is something that is mostly in the queue. But it needs to be ready to go at a moments notice. Currently Color Affection {Ravelry link} and Wingspan {Ravelry link} are queued for this purpose, though I have not yet purchased yarn for either. They are both simple stitch patterns where gauge is not critical for success (though being in the ballpark is always a good thing). I may bring other projects with me, but these will be my default projects for when I travel. Thus I won’t spend hours in the car working on projects I know are doomed if I would only stop long enough to admit it. You might say Something for On-the-go might fulfill this category, but it is fun to have a new project for a trip and leave the old behind for a few days. I’m weird like that.
I’ve been an avid knitter for almost ten years, and I’ve often longed to have a list of categories like this, but it wasn’t until The Pullovers that I finally came up with something that felt right. So The Pullovers were not all in vain. Just a bump along the road.
On a side note, if you’re wondering about the picture at the top of this post, that would be my latest Instant Gratification projects. Three hats for my three little people. Not in the infamous Peace Fleece yarn. The green hat on the needles is actually the second version knit for Ben. The first fit him but not as I had intended so it has become a store sample at my new favorite yarn store while I started a bigger one. The design is similar to one I knit in the past (but could not find the pattern to and wanted to do the crown shaping differently anyway so it is basically my own as far as how it is executed). And I love how those three colors go together!