Knitter’s Block
When a yarn causes mass paralysis…
I knit up the lovely Lady Eleanor (yes, there’s a Flickr group dedicated to just this one knitting project) a few years back using gorgeous Noro Silk Garden yarn. It was a great project and was extremely satisfying. Sometimes with knitting new things, once you figure out the tricks, it’s no longer fun to do a second time (why i have so many fancy single socks knit..) – but this wasn’t one of those projects. I decided to go bigger with my second attempt and knit a larger lap blanket in a soft beige merino wool which has now become Jack’s blanket. Again, a great fun mindless project – so i decided to give it a third try. I bought a huge stash of Pink Noro Silk Garden to start another Entralac Shawl and began knitting as soon as it arrived in the mail…but then it happened. I got knitter’s block…
I knit a foot or so of the shawl and just wasn’t feeling it – was it the needles? shawl not wide enough? started with the wrong ball of yarn first? I just couldn’t put my finger on it. So I did what you do in these situations, i Frogged the whole thing and decided to knit a sweater instead. I finished the front and back of the sweater, working out some great complicated techniques i hadn’t tried before, but before starting the sleeves – it happened again. I didn’t like what i was seeing, so I Frogged the project as well. Then on to round three – i began Lady Eleanor all over again – this time with a different number of squares across and a size up in needles. I was determined to make it work…so i knit, and knit and knit. Well, this particular project has now been to New York twice, to Brazil, Argentina, Berlin and Barcelona -and has celebrated a birthday in this form….clearly i’m not inspired because with that many airplane hours this baby should have been done by now.
The real issue is that i haven’t allowed myself to start any other project while this albatross sits on my needles. I couldn’t stand for this beautiful yarn to linger in the land of the UFO (un-finished objects) so i had to finish it before i could buy more yarn or start on something else.
That was until last week.
A co-worker, who is due on November, is having her baby-shower in October and I felt the need to knit up another baby sweater. I grabbed wool at Unwind last Sunday before flying to NYC and it has been utter liberation. I have almost finished the fronts and backs and should have the entire thing done by the end of this weekend. If feel great to jam through a knitting project rather than counting each stitch with disdain – knitting should be fun and full of discovery not an ball of guilt that glares at you from your knitting bag.
here’s a shot of the pieces – i’ll post more as it shapes up further…
and here is the project i’m really excited about! I bought some baby suri (no, not that suri, this suri) and am knitting Jack a body toupee. The weather is turning a bit and i want Jack to not have to always wear mini people clothes but instead have a knit body suit that can look “natural” and protect him like his own fur (yep, i’m on the train to crazy town, i know). I found this great soft yarn that matches his remaining hair pretty well.
color matching – not bad, right?
Jack checking out the goods.
I’m glad that i’m back on the “stick” and am even okay with the fact that i will probably Frog Lady Eleanor once more….
