1.22.2009

Uptight? Type A? Surely you don't mean me!?

I'm feeling better after yesterday's queue-induced angst. I slashed and burned my Ravelry queue to 5 items.
  • 2 pairs of socks (Monkeys and Nancy Bush's Eesti Trail Hiking) for which I have purchased yarn
  • 2 cardigans, (Vivian and Tangled Yoke)which I need and both of which I love.
  • The Logan River Wrap which I would like and because I've never made a shawl or wrap. If I can't find yarn for it on my next yarn buying trip off to favourites it will go.
"Favourites" is where the rejected queued items were sent. This takes pressure off but keeps them handy if an opportunity/the mood arises.

Because having a stash gives me a rash - same issue as with a queue, I need to buy yarn just to keep knitting so going forward I was thinking about this and realized I generally buy yarn in batches, a few times a year... 
  • September I buy for the fall
  • January I buy for the winter
  • April (at the DKC Frolic)I pick up something for a spring project
  • In late June if I'm not still working on projects from earlier in the year I'll consider my summer project list and maybe buy more then.
I'm going to use my Ravelry queue in parallel with this pattern of buying and list there what I'm going to knit by the end of that season. I'll then revise the list in preparation for the beginning of each new season. I'm late into January without yet having made a shopping trip fit into the schedule but tonight I'm at the Purple Purl for the Knitty January Yarn Testing. I'll browse around and then also plan a trip to Romni et.al. in the next week or so. 

I'm going to further go through my favourites and look for some good candidates for summer knitting - projects suited to more time to knit but less interest in having a lap full of wool. (The mitered hearts were perfect in that regard last summer so that's the kind of thing I'm going for)

The "Zimmerman Four", as I am now going to think of EZ's collection of seamless sweater concepts, are going to be worked into the schedule between now and late next autumn - I need to think about yarn choice and embellishments.- I'll do that gradually in coming weeks. There'll be lots of mindless stockinette knitting in the round on those which I can always squeeze into car knitting and the like.

I know this might all sound ridiculous and at odds with enjoying a hobby but if I don't feel satisfied by what I'm doing and instead just feel frustrated by what I can't get to than the enjoyment is gone for me. In my dotage I've come to understand and accept that's just how my mind works. This exercise has proven that belief once again because as I said, I feel better already!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you my daughter? Sounds like we think alike. It is the same reason I don't subscribe to knitting magazines - too much pressure to get things knitted before the next issue arrives. And the same reason I don't join 'sock -of-the-month' or some such club. Too much pressure. I don't buy MacLeans magazine for the same reason. Too much reading in a week - too much pressure. What a wimp, eh?

Lorraine said...

I feel pressured sometimes by the amount of yarn I have, but I feel the joy is in the owning.

When I go to the Frolic or Kitchener I lose my mind, and buy on impulse- so I haven't been in a few years.

I've been to Stitches Midwest twice, and went totally crazy.

Acorn to Oak said...

I love what you left in your queue. The cardigans and Logan River Wrap are beautiful. I can say from personal experience that the Monkey socks are a fun and quick project. I enjoyed making mine.

I feel the same way about having a stash. I don't like to buy yarn just to have it. I need a reason...an immediate project reason. So, I don't buy yarn very often either. But, somehow I still have a stash. It does seem rather small compared to others I've seen. That helps. I was able to use a lot of stash yarn for Christmas gifts. That helps too. But, I feel like I keep kniting and knitting and I'm making very slow progress on projects I want to make. I put more pressure on myself by wanting to have things completed often enough to have worthwhile things to blog about. It helps me to complete projects but adds stress. And, it hasn't been working out so well lately as I haven't been able to finish much. I've also realized that thinking like that has put me behind on other things in my life. I need to figure out a balance.

I've had to remind myself lately, too, that it's ok to knit simple things just for the enjoyment of knitting. That I don't always have to knit things that are more challenging or impressive. So, this past week, I've been knitting simple socks from stash yarn and enjoying every minute of it. :-)