For the next little while, I’m going to try to relate the process of choosing and completing a knitting project to going on a trip, because sometimes that’s the way it feels. I recently started a rather complicated project and had to prepare myself mentally and knitterally (Nah, it’s not a word, but you know what I mean. You have to commit to the time and the attention and the yarn) before I was ready to begin. This week I’ll try to describe what it takes to choose a new project.
Choosing a destination:
This part of your journey is a lot like looking at travel brochures, websites and magazines and finding that place that you’ve always wanted to visit. Looking through patterns in a yarn store, online, or in a knitting magazine opens the whole wide world to you. You dream of the most luxurious fibers, the most elaborate cable designs, the most exotic colorwork. You browse through chunky arans and delicate lace, mentally trying them on and checking out the instructions, if they’re available. This process can take weeks, or longer. (Meanwhile, of course, you keep plugging away at that scarf, or blanket, or whatever it is that you’re a bit bored with, but hey, you can’t just sit in front of the TV at night with nothing in your hands to knit!)
When you find a design you like, you need to investigate a bit further. Just as you wouldn’t jump on a plane to heaven knows where without talking to someone who’s been there, or reading about it, or checking things out with an expert, you want to do your research before embarking on a project. Ask at the yarn shop – has anyone else done this project, is the designer reliable, and so on. If you don’t have that option, go to Ravelry.com and see if you can find the pattern. The Ravelry page will tell you what yarn the designer used (which may or may not still be available), gauge (if DK is your happy place, but the recommended gauge is 3 stitches per inch – or 12 stitches over 4 inches – indicating bulky yarn – you may want to keep looking), if yarn was held doubled or with another yarn, a size range, some notes about construction, and so on. Check out the tags in little bubbles underneath the basic specifications. You can find out a lot – is it seamless or seamed, top-down or bottom-up, etc. Then look at the projects for the pattern so you can see results from ordinary folk, not just the “beauty shots” that the designer posted.
Eventually, when choosing your destination, you begin to eliminate the ones that just won’t work. If you hate to sweat, Bangkok in the summer is not for you. If you can’t walk around the block without huffing and puffing, climbing Mount Everest is a hard no. Likewise, you have to evaluate knitting projects based on your preferences and requirements. It’s too fussy, you’d never wear it. It’s for your granddaughter but it doesn’t come in her size. It’s seamed and you hate sewing. As trendy as it is to wear cropped sweaters, you – well, okay, Trish – looks like a fireplug in them. The design is perfect except for that one weird thing that you can’t figure out how to get rid of. Your skills/patience/time available just won’t run to a whole Fair-isle sweater in fingering-weight. But this other thing right here is the perfect project for you right now. This sweater, blanket, pair of socks, hat, gloves – whatever it is, you heart it, it makes your skin tingle, it makes your fingers itch to get started. This is where you want to go.
Next time: Packing for your journey
Meanwhile, here is a peek at my holy grail of the moment.
