Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The evil plan and how it's going

Ah, Wednesday - the day when I traditionally take stock of the week and adjust my pace (usually by speeding it up) through the Must Do list.  Since this particular week is about tidying and regrouping, I thought I'd revisit the life plan as it pertains to knitting.

See, I'm a writer really.  This knitting thing was supposed to be wht I do in my downtime.  Then it got kinda all-consuming (bet that never happens to you) and I had to accept that For The Moment, knitting was going to be my creative outlet. The fact that I was consumed by designing my own things made the job easier because designing is an unbeLIEVable time hog, if you're going to share said designs with other knitters. 

But recently I noticed just how much time designing takes.  And incidentally that compared to pretty much all of the professional designers out there I am a writer who knits in her downtime. 

So I came up with the evil plan: Knit other people's designs for a while.  Relax already.  Just enjoy the fiber and the opportunity to learn some new stuff.

How the evil plan is going:   h'mmm.  Let's take a look at the works in progress.

Sock Sweater: my own design, complete with charts. But I haven't done the math for multiple sizes or anything, which means I get a biscuit, right?

Baby Sweater: supposedly a vintage Beehive design, but it's morphing owing to the yardage issue.  Let's not think about that.

Mariner Sweater: an actual published pattern (that I'm knitting with insufficient yardage such that I have to rework the math on the sleeves, minimum, and probably adjust the back hem design as well.)

Mystery KAL shawl: somebody else's design which I am following.  Slavishly.  Whew.  Now if only I wasn't plotting out a new shawl design of my own as I knit it.

Handspun Scarf: totally improvised, but at least I'm not writing down how.

The Stripey: totally my own design, but when it's done I'll be sharing it here so maybe I can forgive myself for that one.

Mawata Mitts: technically following a pattern, but with fiber I am drafting out to the wrong gauge such that I will end up having to figure out a whole lotta math (which is probably why all I have on those so far is cuffs.)


Sigh.

(I think I'll work on the KAL shawl today.  It's about 600 stitches wide now and, being lace, not mindless, but it's the closest thing there is to sticking to the plan.)

4 comments:

heklica said...

It would freak me out to have so many WIPs!

Sel and Poivre said...

"Plans"....I have those all the time but following through? Nah! There's no adrenaline rush in that! ;) That's why right now I'm going through my blog feed instead of cleaning up the clothes I've just ripped out of every drawer and closet in my room while I should really be getting ready for the dinner party I'm having tonight.

Kathleen Taylor said...

Sometimes, it's relaxing just to knit someone else's pattern, and that way if you find a mistake, it's not your problem.

Kathleen Taylor said...

(well, it IS your problem if you find a mistake in a pattern you're knitting and the mistake affects what you have done and what you hope to finish, but you know what I mean.)