For the last year I have mostly been a monogamous knitter. I would power through one project at a time, fully completing it, weaving in ends, and blocking it before moving on to the next cast on, no matter how much I was jonesing for the next project. This method is usually the most productive one for me personally. Otherwise I end up with mostly finished WIPs waiting patiently for their ends to be woven in or seams to be sewn and they can languish for YEARS that way.
But after I finished the
STRIPES! sweater I got cast-on-itis. I had previously cast on a
Love Note sweater by
Tin Can Knits for my daughter but I didn't love the way the yarns were together and I felt like it would end up with enough itch factor that she wouldn't wear it, so it had been set aside waiting for the right fingering weight yarn to go with the silk mohair I had ready. Once I had the * right * yarn it really began to fly but, of course, in the meantime while I looked for the right yarn I had a yen to cast on another pair of socks.
Enter the
Clearly Determined socks. I went back and forth on which yarn to use and clearly still didn't make the right choice because even though I went with a speckled not a variegated the speckling is heavy enough that it pretty much completely obscures the cabling down both sides of the leg. I am not one to rip out though because I really hate losing that much work and the yarn is still very pretty.
So now I am rocking along on the yoke of the Love Note and making slow but steady progress on the Clearly Determined socks, but I am not at the point in either project that they are easy to knit in the car or on the go. The socks have a pattern repeat that my brain seems determined not to memorize and the lace section of the yoke of the Love Note, though fairly simple, still requires a little bit out counting.
Then
Knitatude announces this KAL and I'm like, hmmmmm, I really love the simple beauty of the eyelets and I haven't made a cardigan in a while and oh look I have this stash yarn from 2007 that would be just perfect.... and my brain says WE MUST DO THIS. So thats how I ended up casting on for the
Easy Eyelet Yoke Cardigan even though I was already in the middle of the Love Note and the Clearly Determined Socks. (It is also quite possible I put ALL of those projects on hold for a couple weeks and knocked out a gift pair of boot socks, but more on that once I know the recipient have received them).
Even though all of these projects are growing steadily and I am spending about the same amount of time knitting as I usually do, I feel less productive because I am not seeing finished objects quite as quickly. It's all in my mind, and I know that. Knitting isn't about how fast I can finish all the things, even when sometimes I want it to be. It is more about having that time to make something with my hands that will be used and will last.
I love that my children are currently in a phase where they really *want* me to knit for them and they like wearing things I have made so sometimes it feels like I need to work as fast as I can to bust out those projects for them. Today though, I am going to remind myself to sit back and enjoy each stitch. Each inch of progress, the feel of the yarn, and the meditative repetition of the stitches. Today I am Dory or the Little Engine That Could. I am putting one stitch after the other and not worrying about how fast I can make it to the finish line.
Putting Love in Every Stitch,
Somer
But after I finished the STRIPES! sweater I got cast-on-itis. I had previously cast on a Love Note sweater by Tin Can Knits for my daughter but I didn't love the way the yarns were together and I felt like it would end up with enough itch factor that she wouldn't wear it, so it had been set aside waiting for the right fingering weight yarn to go with the silk mohair I had ready. Once I had the * right * yarn it really began to fly but, of course, in the meantime while I looked for the right yarn I had a yen to cast on another pair of socks. 
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