Truthiness

The term truthiness was coined by Stephen Colbert during his show The Colbert Report in October 2005.  He defines it as "truth that comes from the gut, not books."  The American Dialect Society in January 2006 stated truthiness is "the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true."  So today I'm going to reveal a real truth about my lace knitting; it won't be the truthiness version, because the way I want it to be, well that doesn't exist for me.

For starters I am an intuitive type in MBTI terms.  You can read the definition to see what professionals say it means.  Let me define it in terms of what it means to me.  I will live in the world of possibilities for about as long as I can without getting seriously hurt.  It means the here, the now, the present, although the life blood for approximately 75% of the population, does not regularly capture my attention.  It means I seem to be daydreaming a lot, which from a non-intuitive type's point of view is what it looks like, but I'm thinking or imagining the possibilities, potentials, probabilities.  Additionally, I more regularly rely on what my gut is telling me about a situation than whatever facts might be available, sometimes the two align, at others they do not.  I have learned to pay attention to my hunches or my gut over the years, it is reasonably reliable although very hard to adequately describe to others.

This aspect of my personality applies to knitting as well.  The idea of finding a wool or yarn, dreaming of what it can be used to make, finding the perfect pattern to use it with, imagining how it will look on the intended receiver, all this will fill me with much happiness as I knit.  This hope, probability, potential that I've been able to put all the right elements together motivates me, drives me to complete something for someone, generally.

Then there is lace knitting and this applies for me even with easy lace knitting.  It requires a certain degree of attention to detail.  There are increases and decreases, yarn overs and passing of slipped stitches that have to be done perfectly each time.  There's no room for fudging because each stitch in lace has to carry it own weight in terms of the design.  One can't just fake it by adding a stitch here or making an extra decrease there because it shows up with a big red flashing light pointing to it in lace knitting.  So put this need in a technique for being exacting with my own ability to daydream away my waking life together and you can imagine, it just isn't a good mix.  Daydreaming leads to mistakes and in lace knitting all mistakes show.

So the truthiness of my wanting to be a good lace knitter is bumping up all the time with the reality of my lack of focus to detail required to be a good lace knitter.  My skills in tinking (taking work apart one stitch at a time) has become very, very good.  I have also learned a few tricks to help keep myself focused:

• There can be no distractions when I knit lace.  No television, radio (am I the only one still listening to radio?), no conversations, no sitting on the deck.  The focus must solely be on the knitting.
• No matter what, after each "lace" row I must count to see if there are still the proper number of stitches.  If there is a stitch short or over, further investigation is required and a fix has to be done.  Doing it right away is the most efficient way to address the problem.  It is painful to rip out a chunk of perfectly complete lace knitting to fix the mistake made rows and rows earlier.
• During the off "lace" rows or wrong side of the piece, I think backwards in my head the pattern just completed as I purl my way to the right side of the lace.  Why?  It helps me keep focused and doesn't allow for that mental vacation I seem to have trouble returning from every other row.
• I have learned to read the work so well I can almost see the mistake.  I have also learned to fix errors on the purl row.  Both are good time-saving measures.
• There is a need for me to closely look at the design development after each purl row.  The work needs to be pulled open to show the design and so I can make sure all the holes, slip/knit-two-together and then psso, and column rows line up.

And you know what, if I faithfully follow these my own suggestions/rules, progress can be made.  I don't know what knitting with this degree of attention to detail might be like for a sensing type, they probably just naturally do this without considering any of it unusual.  I just know lace knitting is not as relaxing for me as other types of knitting, but I do love the end results so much I'll put up with following a short set of self-imposed requirements.

Arches and Columns, progress so far

So, here's the progress so far.  The Arches and Columns scarf is approximately 50% complete and perfect.  No need to squint or pretend things aren't the way they should be because doggone it, the work is right.  I am satisfied with the results and proud of myself for doing it the way it should be done.

As for the doldrums setting in after four weeks of retirement, not a chance.  With one son moving into town needing a bit of help, visitors and furniture shopping to do, there isn't a chance for boredom, much less finding a routine.  The only regular part of my life right now is the daily morning walk in the park.  And I am finding I like my life this way.  (It didn't hurt any that I got a card signed by everyone in the office yesterday wishing me well in my retirement.  The timing was very good indeed for that boost.)  

Must be off, there are pieces of furniture yet to find, things to be returned and money matters to address.   I always hated it when others said it, but I too seem to be busier now than when I was paid to do stuff.  Guess I was wrong for thinking that couldn't possibly be true for all those years.  Another illusion shattered; two in one post.