Comfy Processes

If you quit on the process, you are quitting on the result. ― Idowu Koyenikan

In amongst all my experimenting with my sewing machine, I have been continuing with my knitting project behind the scenes. I finished my latest project last weekend and gave it a good soaking and blocking in the heat of the sun. I am really loving the look of this ostrich plume lace stitch in this cotton yarn:

I opted for a plain stockinette front for this tee. It was exactly as I expected: long and tedious and boring, but exactly the look I was going for:

And the back shows off the lace stitch beautifully:

It's a tad on the long side, but I think I won't mind it so much as I get used to wearing it. The weather is starting to cool a bit so I think it will get some wear before the autumn. I think it will also be great for layering once short-sleeve season finishes:

You can't really tell from these photos (and you probably wouldn't be able to tell in person either), but I had a small problem with "rowing out" in the front panel of this tee. This is when you have a row or two (or in this case, three) which are slightly wonky due to a random change in tension while you knit. I don't normally have this problem, but sometimes your hands work a little bit differently on a random day and your tension just changes. Sometimes it's because you're having a stressful day. Sometimes it's because you are feeling a bit tired. Or sometimes, you have something that is affecting the way you hold your knitting on that particular day:

Whatever the cause, it results in a strip of stitches that just look.... weird. And you can't block it out. You either have to rip back to the wonky row or you sit back with a darning needle and fiddle with the stitches until it all kind of blends in (which it never really does). It's just the reality of knitting... sometimes it's just a bit wonky.

As I was sitting there trying to even out my rows, I contemplated how often I find myself sitting hunched over a project working through teeny tiny details, whether it be with darning needles, knitting needles, crochet hooks, or seam rippers. I have probably spent a third of all my crafting history undoing, resetting, redistributing, unpicking, or restitching a project. And it got me thinking about how many times people have asked me to teach them how to knit and why I have resisted it for such a long time.

I think that if you want to be a knitter, you have to be the kind of person that is fascinated by the process. Sure, everyone wants the product - a sweater, a scarf, a hat, some mittens - but if that's the only reason you want to knit, you're going to hate it. Because knitting and crochet are slow, difficult skills. And you're gonna screw up a lot, and you're going to be hunched over your project a lot, and you're going to swear a lot. And if you're not interested in understanding how it all works and how you made your mistake, you're just really going to hate it.

Someone recently asked me to show them how to use their sewing machine. While I am by no means an expert at sewing, I feel like my last sewing project really forced me to sit down and understand how I make sewing mistakes. And I think I wouldn't have been willing to do that if I hadn't already learned that process with my knit and crochet projects.

Anyway, I'm taking a break from my sewing machine to revel in a skill I feel very comfortable with. This is another cotton tee that I'm making in a very sensible gauge using size 4 needles. It's like riding a bike on a smooth, level road. Sometimes, you just need to take comfort in familiar things:

Time for a cuppa. Have a great week!