This has been a blast to knit! First of all, this is the first time I've used Zephyr and it's been just amazing. I love the texture of the yarn and feel like it's the absolute perfect weight - I wish I could knit everything in this! Secondly, the pattern is amazing. It's 77 stitches across and each pattern repeat is 84 lines, which makes it quite challenging... so much fun!
The pictures I'm sharing were taken last week and show 1 repeat and the beginning of the second repeat. Right now, I'm about 15 rows into the 4th repeat, so I'm just over halfway finished with it! It has a knitted on border, which I'm nervous about... I haven't done that yet! I'm just crossing my fingers and will trust the pattern.
Last night, I finished "Blackbird House" by Alice Hoffman. Blackbird House is a farm in Cape Cod, MA that was built by a sailor back in the 17 or 1800s and has survived the storms of the generations of families that lived there. As families come and go, the Blackbird House is always a silent backdrop to their interesting lives. The farm has white blackbirds, sweet peas, turnips, and ghosts of past residents - a wonderful and cozy book to read during Autumn.
Which brings me to my big dilemma: I cannot seem to figure out how to balance reading and knitting. I love reading and finishing books: the accomplishment and enjoyment both bring me big rushes. But it's the same with the knitting: I love the feeling of finishing a project and then giving it away. I love doing both equally, but I can't be as productive if I split my time between the two. The obvious fix is to not worry about finishing things so often and quickly and to stop being an over achiever. Sun: don't rise tomorrow. I just cannot figure out the best way to reconcile the two.
Here's the best things that I can come up with:
1) utilize audio books when I can. My public library has a nice selection which I hope can keep me pretty busy and occupied.
2) While I can't do complex patterns without looking at my work, I can get by with simple knit stitches - maybe I can work on larger projects with big sections of stockinette (such as sweaters?) and read at the same time. This would definitely take some practice but is not out of the question.
3) Make it a point to knit the complex patterns that I really want to complete (such as lace) at times when I'm going to be watching television anyway - such as during my favorite shows or the news.
I know that this is silly, but it has truly been bothering me. Last night, as I was trying to fall asleep, I actually felt my heart-rate rise and felt a little anxious because I was thinking about how I hadn't worked on Gerda all weekend. Then I started telling myself that if I had been working on it, I would almost be finished by now - and that would be one more Holiday gift completed... Like I said, it's silly, but I just can't help it! I'd love to hear how others work this out in their own lives.
2 comments:
Hi Wendy - I love your knitting! Everything is lovely. I live in New Hampshire, too, though down near the seacoast where winter is a little bit more moderate. I followed your thread here from LibraryThing 75 Books Challenge. I saw your comment here about reading vs. knitting and audiobooks at the library. I think that most public libraries in NH also have audiobook downloads available on their website, courtesy of the NH State Library. You download the book to your computer, a CD, an MP3 player or whatever you have. I think they're good for a limited time, though, but they're free.
How's your winter going?
boy this is beautiful. I've tried knitting several times and I just don't like doing it. I hate that because I love what you can do with it. I'm hopeful crocheting will be better although I'm still not very advanced.
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