I found myself caught between projects upon completion of the Blue Wave Wrap. I had a bag of yarn for a project I really wanted to knit, based solely on the yarns and colors, but I did not yet have a pattern. I had other projects as well, but that bag of colored yarns was calling my name.
In the meantime, it was not like I didn't have other projects crying out for attention after all. Three of then to be exact. I picked up the cotton wrap I started in order to have a portable, easy, project that could be be knitted while chatting with others. You can see the full progression of the colors in the swatch above. The colors remind me of Nantucket, and Nantucket can easily be cool enough in the morning or evening to require a wrap, so I am calling it Nantucket Summer. Even though I am not in Nantucket, knitting this project brings back many happy memories of lazy days and walks on that island. I've used up two of my eight skeins of the background color and gotten one full color repeat; I can state that this length will work and the wrap is therefore about a quarter done. I will end up having some of the lighter blue-gray and blue-green yarns left over but should use up everything else.
As much as I am happy with the cotton wrap however, my attentions were also pulled back to the temperature blanket. I had put it aside just as I began knitting April. Even though I didn't start this project until March, it has become abundantly evident that I am not the kind of person who can routinely knit one garter ridge a day. I am more of an all-in, or all-out kind of person. I knit and knit and knit and knit, until I am bored with something and then I work on something else.
Truthfully this has been true my whole life. I do finish things, but I don't necessarily work on them at an even pace straight through. In fact the only thing I consistently manage to accomplish in a routine, orderly, evenly-paced way is housekeeping, and that only because doing so allows me more time for my passions. That doesn't mean that housework doesn't fall by the wayside; everything fell by the wayside over the past two years between falls, and cardiac irregularities and cancer, and I am just beginning to get myself back on an even keel.
But, blankets. Above is April. The project is fun because it is fun to see what is going to happen next. I get long calming rows of garter stitch, a great meditative and relaxing knit, and I get fun color changes. Well, I also love knitting with Rowan's felted tweed. I was so excited about knitting April that I thought I could knit straight through and get caught up, at least until the end of June.
I finished May in 5 days, 34 garter rows, or 68 rows total. There are three ridges at the end of each month representing the average high for that month. As you can see, May is warmer, more pink rows heading into red. In fact the average high in May 2022 was 10 degrees higher than our historical average high for May. Knitting this blanket is bringing all kinds of interesting information into my head.
May 2022 was as hot as May 2012, my first year here, the year I thought we had been crazy to move here from New York and I terribly missed the cold. I don't think it even got below 50 in January or February that year, and I was in shock. Perhaps I still am, although there have been colder winters and milder springs. Every year in the past 10 years has been above our historical average, although there have occasionally been wide temperature swings. But that is not just true of Knoxville. The phenomenon is much more widespread. For me, a person who does not thrive in the sun and who hates heat (yes I know I grew up in Texas), all I can do is bear up and remind myself it could be worse. Actually, there have been worse years, heat-wise at least, here since I moved here.
It would be fascinating to knit a series of temperature blankets over the course of a person's life, at least if that person stayed in one place as their home base. Moving could be problematic. Regional differences would not be terribly significant, but wider moves would throw everything off, at least if one was comparing one blanket to the previous one as there would be no fixed comparison point. I've moved too much, although given the internet, one could get that information for any locale. Just random thoughts, I am not (yet) contemplating knitting a series of blankets.
Anyway, as I finished knitting May, I was hit by a case of ennui. I still wish, on an intellectual level at least, to finish June, but I am less thrilled about the prospect. There will be wider swaths of a single color. Although not changing colors will be slightly faster, it will also be more boring. Therefore I do not believe I will be as devoted to the project and finish it up in another five days, although it is possible I could surprise myself.
How I love the colors you've chosen. Mindless knitting is a meditative pleasure, and I love it, too. Perhaps that's why I enjoy weeding, as well. Progress without incessant thought. Such a relief in our world.
Posted by: Diane E | Monday, August 01, 2022 at 11:02 AM