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I Hate When That Happens


I jinxed the good weather streak yesterday when I wrote about it, (yeah as if I have that power).  A cold front pushed down from Alaska last night causing the temperatures to dip below freezing.  And as if that weren't enough, it was cloudy enough this morning I did need my full winter weather walking gear to stay warm outside.





If I make a mistake on a project sometimes it has to go into the ¨Time Out¨ bag until it no longer makes me upset.

In addition to that I have had a bout of spring cleaning fever, probably brought on by the search for those buttons.  The knitting accessories have been sorted and organized, but there was the matter of what to do with the half dozen or so WIPs that have also cluttered up my office.  Among them were a couple of baby sweaters and blankets that stalled for any number of reasons. (Lack of enough yarn, lack of appropriate knitting skill, a poor choice of pattern vs. yarn, I became just plain tired of it.)  These projects were bundled together, pattern, yarn, needles and extra yarn into a singular bag and stacked in a pile each taking their own personal time out as it were.  Over time this pile has become precariously tall.  This weekend it was time to determine what will actually be finished.  The intent was then to reclaim the yarn and needles from those that won't ever be completed.  The decision making about what to save and what to frog was remarkably easy, leading me to believe all I needed was the distance of time from creation to later in order to figure out what to do.

Jan, you are merely ripping things apart, so what was the problem in this process, you ask?  There was only one problem really, I have a tendency to finish as I knit.  This means tails of yarn are hidden as I go, or a sleeve is sewn in place when the second one is still being knit.  It also means when I am done knitting I don't have to spend time finishing the project; when I am done knitting all that is left to do is the blocking, period.  Not a bad habit, but it comes with consequences.

Clearly being organized is not what is driving this need to finish.  This is driven by my need to see how things are going.  How will it look with a sleeve in place, are the buttons the right colour or size and will they keep the opening closed.  The little dangley bits of yarn distract my eye, the project needs to be clean.

Oh, and the consequences?  If one has done a good job of sewing in sleeves or hiding the loose ends, it is hard to find them and until you do, frogging is stopped in its tracks where a new yarn or a new colour was added.  This can be frustrating in a process that is otherwise rather enjoyable.  And who do I blame for these interruptions?  Oh, myself and myself only.  I hate when that happens   Upshot~no more finishing as I go; do the finishing when all the knitting is done.  In the long run it might save me a lot of time.


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