I can’t believe it’s been almost eight weeks since I last did a Weekly Stitches blog post. One of the reasons I started these posts, other than to share with all you lovely peeps, was so I could start and finish projects and new designs in a timely manner…but I got over excited again.
It can come and go in waves. Sometimes I just don’t know what to knit and it feels like the mojo has gone. When that happens I just cast on some garter stitch and let the soothing stitches find the way forward.
I use knitting for my mind. To calm it. And I think I’ve always done this. I love knitting and when I finish a project I feel sad, so this might explain why I have castonitis and before I’ve finished a project I’m casting on another one.
Maybe that is why I stopped writing the blogs because I didn’t want to finish any of the things on the needles.
But I have.
And I’ve been knitting lots and it’s been so lovely. I’ve been knitting loads through this heatwave too, which I haven’t done in previous years. There was one day when it was so hot that I only did one row…really slowly. A few stitches, then stop, sip a cool drink, then a few more stitches.
So instead of trying to fight it and become a one-project knitter, which I’ve never been, I’ve embraced who I am. A multi-project knitter who doesn’t always finish one thing before casting on another. I get excited by another yarn so easily and often. And while I embrace this and cast on whatever I feel like, when I feel like it, I hope that actually helps me finish more projects too.
If you’ve been following the Purl &Jane Instagram Stories, you’ll already know I cast on an Anastasia Shawl. This was a pattern I designed back in 2013 and I’ve not knitted it since. As I’ve been updating the Purl &Jane patterns I keep thinking, “Oh, I’d love to knit that.” So I finally did.
And I found out something interesting…my brain in 2013 was a lot sharper than it is now!
It’s an eight-row repeat, but you need to concentrate on four of those rows. It seems my mind needs a little more help to concentrate these days. I do believe social media has something to do with it. Everything is quick, quick, quick. Grab your attention in 90 seconds or less or you scroll on. To sit and let something slowly develop seems a rare thing these days.
Of course, it still happens whether we notice it or not. Trees still grow slowly every season. They don’t rush because the rest of the world does.
So I’m gently going back to knitting that asks a little more of me. I couldn’t watch the World Cup Final with that sort of knitting though, so I cast on a simple garter stitch scarf instead. I am loving garter stitch at the end of the day. I knit those stitches to relax my mind. It’s familiar, comforting and lets my thoughts settle after a busy day.
Then, when I’m ready, I can pick up the Anastasia Shawl again. Once I get used to the repeat I know I won’t need to look at the written instructions as much, and I’m excited that this sort of knitting might even help improve my memory.
I’ve actually been knitting far more than this over the last eight weeks – this is already my second scarf! – but I’ll share those projects with you next week.
Until then, I’m quite happy to keep following the stitches, one row at a time.