I am a slow knitter. There are times when my fingers are speedier than others; just as there are times when my attention is more focused on competition and finishing. Neither of those options are in play at the moment, and I have decided I am ok with that.
Last week I may not have been quite so sanguine; may have, in fact, been rather frustrated with myself. Not that my frustration served to speed up my knitting. But I realized that, aside from a few brief moments of competitive spirit often sparked by necessity, I am simply not temperamentally so inclined. There was a period where I took a class on techniques to speed my knitting, and I probably diligently practiced for about six months, only to decide that, although it was true that I finished more objects during that time, I really didn't care about speed, and the focus on knitting quickly was antithetical to the the meandering flow of thoughts and ideas, the purling of life which accompanies the purling of a different sort that is employed in knitting. In short, there is a reason this blog is so named.
I finally finished the first part of the shawlography KAL, just as the third clue was being released. So, true, no speed here. I have accommodated myself to the idea that I shall simply not win this race, and it doesn't really matter. Only I will wear my shawl. Only I will enjoy the knitting. It is not as if this a last ditch effort to keep myself warm during the coming winter. There is a definite sense of privilege that comes with modern life after all.
I still have mixed feelings about my choice of colors, about whether or not I lined them up in the right order. I say this even as I recognize that there is no "right" in this equation, and I do in fact like the way the shawl is turning out so far. Whatever my choices, I have no idea what I will think of the finished shawl other than that I will have thoroughly enjoyed knitting it. I am enjoying the knitting, even when my fingers are slow and I need to take frequent breaks, during those periods I can let my murmuring thoughts wend their own way.
So there continues to be little to report in terms of knitting progress: I am currently only slightly into part two of the shawl, even though the fourth clue will be released this week. I haven't yet finished winding the yarn for the alpaca blanket project, much less started swatching. Nor have I seamed the raspberry confection cardigan. Last weekend my fingers were still a little too stiff and tingly to easily manage a darning needle.
Instead I have been focusing on a grand closet sort and purge. This is still in process as I am trying on everything I own from underpinnings to coats and everything in between. There are three large piles, so far about equal in size/volume: 1. Things that fit, look good, and I can wear now. 2. Things that are in good shape and are being donated; these are for the most part too large although there are a couple of items that fit my body but not my sense of what I want to wear. 3. Things that can be altered, need mending, or in which the fabric or yarn is nice and there is enough that I believe it can be reconfigured.
The third stack will probably shrink further as I look at the remaining clothes in my closet and start the process of thinking about what I actually need to fill in gaps so that everything I do own now has wearable companion pieces. In short, no closet orphans will be allowed and the same will apply to the mended/altered garments. What I knit/sew/alter will have to work with something already in my closet or fill a specific need, at least at the moment. There is no point in fixing something if it cannot be worn with anything else in my closet. This focus will shift as we move through winter and approach spring, because at the moment there is very little in my closet that can be worn next spring or summer. But it is too soon to think about that now.
The last part of the closet to be sorted are the sweater drawers, including hand-knits, so we will see what comes of that. Everything must be analyzed, including recent knits. There are moments I dream of sweaters I gave away because they had become much too small. I could probably wear them now. There are moments I put off trying on sweaters because I fear that everything I have knit recently will have to be pulled apart and started again. Already there are two old cashmere sweaters that are slated to be ripped, the yarn washed and reknit. One is lightweight, probably fingering, yarn from the late 1990s. I never actually wore that sweater much because as much as I loved it in an abstract sense, it was not then, and is not now, flattering. It is well past time to reclaim the yarn. The second is bulky weight cashmere, knit sometime between 2001 and 2005. It didn't get much wear after I moved to Knoxville, although I did wear it last year. Now it is noticeably too large but I believe the yarn is still usable. A part of me wants to reknit the sweater exactly as is, in the same pattern, except that I don't seem to have any records of what I knit before I started this blog in 2005. Of course this is exactly why I started the blog, to create my own knitting record, because notebooks and bits of paper tend to disappear when left under my management.
The actual status of the yarn from these projects will be determined at the time I start to rip. I have already lost one rediscovered sweater. I wore it a couple of times in the fall, until it needed washing. The sweater partially dissolved in the water and I was in tears. At least I got to wear it a few times before we said goodbye. In retrospect, I think that giving things away has benefit. I may miss something I gave away a long time ago, but I can also hope it had a good life and was loved by someone. Better to be worn and used than to sit lifeless in a drawer.
Anyway, I will keep you updated.
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