We knitters know all about cast-on-itis, whose main symptom is casting on something new and then putting it aside to cast on something new, and then putting it aside it cast on something new…you get the drift. The change of seasons often brings this on, causing us to yearn for warm wooly things in the fall and winter and for all things silk, linen, and cotton in the spring and summer. Designers are busy releasing lovely new designs and we all lose our heads a bit and multiple cast-ons ensue.
Surprisingly, despite spending plenty of time perusing new designs, I seem to have the opposite of cast-on-itis. I desperately want to start a new project but can’t decide which. I have decision paralysis. I thought that I had finally picked out a pattern, and then I spent hours agonising over what colour to knit it in, and finally gave up.
So, in the meantime, until I can make a decision, I am working on finishing up some WIPs and trying not to resent all of the new projects being cast-on all over the knitting world. I recently picked back up my Hør no 19 linen tee. I started it last June, and then put it away in September when I was trying to finish a shawl for Emma before she flew back to Canada. It turns out I didn’t have too much left to knit, and I finished it yesterday. Below is a sneak preview. I can’t show you the finished project because it has just had its beauty bath and is currently quite wet.
I have been very slowly knitting my Osaka Scarf, which I also started last summer (in fact, I was working on both of these projects when I was in Tucson last July to see my mom and Stuart). I am now on the fourth of the five colour blocks.
We had a week of glorious weather, right up until the long weekend started, at which point it became cold and cloudy. We still managed a nice weekend, with lots of gardening (Doug) and knitting (me). We spent some time wandering around the various venues of the Henley Arts Trail, which is always fun, and purchased a lovely ceramic vase. When I was at university, my dad bought matching tee shirts for me and some of my friends that said “a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” I thought about that when I saw this whimsical sculpture on the Arts Trail:
If I don’t cast on something new soon, I might find myself out of WIPs to work on. I would then be a knitter without a project, which would be far more sad than a fish without a bicycle.
Yeah, setting aside projects for the season doesn’t work well for me as evidenced by my recent picking up a sock project after a 4 month gap and restarting it on the wrong row. I can barely figure out the written instructions I wrote just two weeks ago when I set aside my Sailor Swift tee-hahaha.
1. Great sculpture and saying.
2. The tee and the scarf look really nice. Looking forward to seeing you modeling the tee. When you were here last summer, you had just barely cast on both projects.
3. Cast-on-itis. Oy! I’ve (kind of) organized my stash and placed all (that I can find) of my WIPs together. Really trying to work on only 3 at a time. One for the car, one easy to knit while watching TV, and 1 that needs some concentration. The goal is that as I finish 1 of the 3, I add in another. We’ll see how this goes.
One of my much-missed friends used to advise just starting something – anything – when in a similar situation. If it turns out well that’s great, but if not it often helps point you towards something that would be better. Finishing up a few WiPs can’t be bad though, especially when they look as good as yours. I’m especially taken with the tee, both the colour and design are fabulous.
That tee looks beautiful – can’t wait to see you modeling it! Sometimes it is tough to pick something and get started for sure. You will pick something though, and it will be wonderful as always!