I have done virtually no knitting for a month. I have been busy, sure. But mostly, I have just not been filled with a burning desire to pull my knitting out. In my spare time, I have wanted to sit and chat with old friends and family, to relax by a fire on a cold evening, to go for a walk, or cuddle up with a book. I have not felt the need to multi-task. I have hardly spent a minute on Ravelry (gasp!) or reading knitting blogs. New patterns have been released in that time, undoubtedly, and I haven’t seen them. The world keeps turning. I continue to breathe in and breathe out.
We have been wearing a lot of hand knitted items, because it has been very cold:
However, despite carefully packing travel knitting and carrying it with me across the ocean and around North America, I knitted all of six rows while I was gone, and none since I’ve been back.
And life goes on.
I´ve been following your blog for quite some time now and have always been looking forward to new entries; I very much like your writing, share most of your opinions on knitting (e.g I like variegated yarn only as long as it has not been knit into some kind of speckeld mess, I don´t like rolled edges, but prefer neat ones that are neat all around, whereas rolled ones tend to unroll at the seams and visually tear the garment down at the edges; the only point where I disagree is the Carbeth-issue: I knitted one slightly longer than the original, but not really long, and it´s perfect, the design itself is very thoughtfully written) and thougt that it was time to tell you how much I appreciate your blog. I tought myself to knit in my thirties and had knitting-like-mad-spells and no-knitting-at-all-spells, but for a very long time I only knitted from those rather simple knitting magazines readily available in Austria, and there is no sophistication or refinement in these designs (short rows unknown, all in- and decreases leaning in the same direction etc.), so the results were rather esthetically disappointing. When my last and lasting knitting spell started, I discovered that there was so much more to know and to learn, so I acquired a whole “knitting library” mostly in English, learnd to read the english instructions and became a devoted follower of some designers (Kate Davies for one or Elizabeth Zimmermann). And I started to design my own pieces. I have 40 or so Hermès-scarfs (the big cashmere ones) and I made it a target to knit a piece to go with each one of those (I will send you pictures of the combinations if you would like me to). I am now a firm member of the SABLE-community (stash acquired beyond life-expectancy) and refurnished my hall to incorporate two antique stone pine chests for my stash (stone-pine allegedly being helpful against moths)…..
I am a forensic psychiatrist and need my knitting to unwind and produce something instantly useful and nice (aspects that my job usually does not deliver easily). So I very much hope that you will take up your knitting again and maintain the added value of feeling knittingly connected to someone who seems to share many of my views (not only on knitting).
kind regards,
Heidi Kastner
Dear Heidi, thank you so much for taking the time to write such a lovely comment. First, let me say that although I am enjoying a bit of a break at the moment from knitting, I don’t expect it to last very long. I, too, am a firm believer in the added value of knitting, from its mental health benefits to the joy that comes from creative enterprise. I will certainly be knitting again very soon. (Especially since the girls are due home for the holiday and I am half-way through a sweater for Emma.)
Second, thank you for telling me a bit about your knitting history. I think your project to knit a garment to go with each of your Hermes scarves is fantastic! And so inspiring. That is the kind of grand, creative enterprise I love. I think I may need to come up with a big idea for next year; in the last few years as my work life has gotten more demanding, I have tended to knit less demanding projects.
Finally, I am pleased that you enjoy reading the blog. I enjoy writing it, and thus carry on doing so even now that blogs are passé. -Kelly
You will come back to it when you are ready. Keep posting, though I love reading about your travels and life
Oh yes, there are times like this. Right now it is quite the opposite for me. I spent a couple of weeks furiously knitting, so quickly that now I need to work on the seams of my Earthen cardigan. What, so soon? I need something new on my needles stat, because finishing is really a chore. Sometimes not knitting or reading anything knitting related is necessary, it is like q long deep breath before taking a plunge. You’ll dive back soon, I’m sure.
Sometimes a little break – even from something you enjoy – is in order. You’ll pick it back up, maybe even a little more happily, for the pause 🙂