Perspective: it all depends on where you are standing

Since I last posted, the only knitting I’ve done has been on my Koko shawl. I started knitting this just two weeks into our first lockdown, in March 2020. It is a beautiful project but it feels endless. It is A LOT of knitting. So, every once in a while I pull it out and try to put some dedicated time into it.

Can you see the little red stitch marker at the bottom of the above photo? That marks where I picked it up again three weeks ago when I finished Doug’s Opus hat. So much time, so little to show for it! I wanted to see how much I had left to knit, so I stretched it out on the floor next to my Soumak wrap for comparison:

Ugh! It looks like there is still an endless amount left to knit!

But wait; perhaps this is a matter of perspective. What would it look like if I was standing on the other end?

Aha! That looks more manageable. I can look at this and not lose the will to knit.

Maybe, however, I should try to see it as it really is, and not with the pessimistic perspective nor the optimistic perspective shown in the photos above. What would it look like if I was standing on top of it? It would look like this:

There is still a lot of knitting to go, but man, it is gorgeous! Just look at the texture and the play of colour:

This is one beautiful project.

This weekend I didn’t knit at all: yesterday we drove into London and saw both the Africa Fashion exhibit and the Donatello exhibit at the V&A Museum. It was glorious. Today, I can’t knit because my hands are too cold. Our heating has been broken since Friday. But huddling under the covers and reading all day has its appeal. A mix of good and bad this weekend; I guess it is all about perspective.

5 thoughts on “Perspective: it all depends on where you are standing

  1. When my daughter was in high school, she played soccer early Saturday mornings. This was in Canberra, where winter nights are routinely below zero. Some parents brought deck chairs and the doona/duvet off their beds (Canberra is delightfully informal, and it rarely rains).

    Because watching soccer is up there with watching grass growing in winter, I made myself some cashmere fingerless mittens (the ones without finger separation).

    Now I could knit – problem solved!

  2. Your Koko shawl is beautiful! I have made a couple of her projects – they are always a LOT of knitting. Excellent point about perspective 🙂 Also I hope your heating gets fixed sooner rather than later!

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