My Thought Today...

Well my replacement phone came today so now begins the long process of adding back in contacts and downloading apps again.  Still I'm happy that it was replaced and I'm already starting to dream of next year when I qualify for an upgrade and can get the phone I really want...and iPhone :)  Of course that means I'll need to start a fund for purchasing it.  Taking donations now ;)

I just don't have it in me to try and post any pictures but I thought I might share a little knitterly advice/wisdom.  I am participating in luvinthemommyhood's Carefree Cowl KAL...which I love and have finished a cowl already and have another 'neck wear' accessory on the needles.  However, as I was reading through the forum on ravelry I noticed that some knitters are monogamous in their project relationship.  To be honest this has always baffled me, but that is mostly because I'm definitely a polygamous knitter and have many projects going at one time.  To be honest this applies to sewing too.

Yet as I contemplate my knitting preferences I remember how I was taught to knit like this.  That knitting isn't so much the finished product but the process.  The choosing a pattern, the picking out of yarn, the casting on the following directions, the changing directions...all of it.  Now I understand that all kinds of people knit, that how I knit isn't perfect for everyone.  Maybe you're a product knitter, that finishing is the reason you knit.  That's okay, I won't discourage you from that but maybe I can explain why I choose to knit many things at once, and perhaps I'll persuade you to rethink your knitting ways ;)

First, I try to always have a super simple project on the needles.  This is my go-to project when I need to knit but can't think, can't follow a pattern, but need to be doing something with my hands.  This project is usually a hat, or maybe some plain vanilla socks.  For some it is a scarf, or the simple back and forth knit & purl stockinette stitch for a baby sweater.  The point is, it is simple, portable and fast.  This is the project you grab when you're headed out the door to urgent care as you know you're gonna have to wait forever but you're nerves will be shot if you don't do something calming.  You need to have a project that can handle getting put down frequently so it can't have counting in it.

Next, I have a tangy project.  This is something easy enough for a knit night where there will be food and chatting, but complicated enough to keep me interested and not bored to tears.  There probably will be a stitch pattern, but something easily memorized.  This is the project you want to finish before casting on a new one.  This is your PRODUCT knit, the one you want to finish to show off.

Lastly, I like to have a complicated project going.  Something with a new technique I want to learn or maybe it's just a really pretty cabled sweater but you know it's gonna take a while.  This is the project that stretches you as a knitter.  This is what takes you from novice to expert.  This is the one you only knit on by yourself.  Currently my complicated pattern has been sitting for 19 months waiting to be finished...why you ask?  Because it's hard, I have to fix some mistakes and stretch my knowledge and lately I haven't had enough alone time to do it.  It will get done one day and once I finish it I will cast on for another hard project.  This is the project you knit, because you love to knit and not because you love the project.

Well there you have it.  My reason for the method of my madness.  I hope you love it as much as I do and that maybe I've inspired you to be a fearless knitter because I know I am and I want everyone to enjoy the craft I love so much as much as I do :)

{{hugs}}
Buffy

Honestly I think this applies to more than just knitting projects or even crafting in general.  I hope that you find some encouragement between the lines and if you want to share I'd love to read what you have to say!