INSIDE: making peace with my speed (or lack thereof), keeping the āboringā bits interesting, finishing energy + let the hurry go.
My brain is fast forwarding my knitting project faster than my fingers can physically knit! All I can think about is my Flow Tee finished and Iām wishing for the skill of speed knitting. š
Every row I knit includes 282 stitches, so that takes me a while!
Knitting many rows, itās the perfect time to strengthen my skill of not looking. Iām yet to gain complete confidence and often pause to glance down.
Thereās that little voice saying, āHurry, would you? Youāre wasting time, this would be much quicker if you just looked!ā
I quiet my impatient mind by remembering to breathe. Reminding myself thereās time, thereās no deadline, Iāll finish it when I finish it.
I still need to do the sleeves, so Iām not even close to completion! Itās just I can see myself wearing it, and Iām so excited.
I love how the yoke has turned out.
This was where I was up to with the body a few days ago.
The photo below shows where Iām up to currently.
I was thrilled to find after trying the tee on, Iād reach the stage where I could begin the hem of the ribbing (k1 tbl, p1 tbl.)
Knitting through the back loop is easy enough, purling through the back loop is a little difficult. Iām looking now as I knit the ribbing, thereād be too many mistakes if I kept practicing not looking during this stage :)
Knitting the body thereās been no sense of boredom. I put that down to practicing knitting without looking, but the impatience is palpable!
I find it extraordinary that my daily mindful moments that come through the Headspace app are speaking directly to me!
Todayās was about impatience. I did a little research into what Andy from Headspace says about patience and impatience.
āā¦. patience is not something we need to develop. Instead, we need to learn how to let go of impatience. This may sound like the same thing, but itās actually quite different. Patience is an inherent part of a calm and clear mind. If we know this, if we understand it, then we do not try to "create" patience; instead we simply let go of the noise and our involvement in that activity and thereby experience patience.ā
ā Andy Puddicombe
Knitting row upon row in the body section reminds me of this lovely quote.
āOh, the weather outside is frightful, but this yarn is so delightful. And since we have no place to goā¦ Another row, another row, another row!ā
I imagine my members in the snowy parts of the world would resonate with this.
Here itās super hot, so itās the other weather extreme. Some 45Ā° Celsius days! Thank goodness for air conditioning.
And another question for you: If youāre close to finishing a project, what practices do you have to get to the end?
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Mystery Quote Of The Week
āNow, let us take a deep breath and forge on into the future; knitting at the ready.ā
Who said this? Comment or press reply! No cheating! š
(Youāll find out if you were correct next week.)
Last weekās answer wasā¦ The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.
Comment below if you got it right.
Crafting Trivia Question Of The Week
What stitch do you use to graft knitting?
Whatās the answer? Leave a comment or press reply! No cheating! š
(Youāll find out if you were correct next week.)
Last weekās answer to: if a knitting pattern had this instruction: *K1, yo, K4, s2kpo, K4, yo; rep from * to last st, K1ā¦ What kind of pattern would it be?
Wasā¦ a lace pattern!
And the answer to the bonus question: what does S2KPO mean in knittingā¦
S2KPO is slip 2 together, knit 1, pass slipped stitches over. Itās referred to as a Centered Double Decrease.
Congratulations to
and for being correct!Did you get it right? Leave a comment if you did!
The peace I find when slowing down and focusing on the moment is profound!
How do you quiet the "hurry up" voice in your head during crafting or in life?
Leave a comment or press reply.
P.S. Be here at the same time on Sunday to discover what goodies Coco & Pepper have found for youā¦
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Before you goā¦
I like the idea of letting go of impatience. Itās a very helpful reframe. I am looking at the long stretch of stocking stitch before I get to the colour work yolk of my Painted Cave sweater. It does seem like thereās a long way to go, especially with fine yarn and 3.25 mm needles. Luckily the yarn is a glorious buttery yellow alpaca so it cheers me up every time I pick it up!
What we call the grafting stitch is an interesting question. Mostly now itās called Kitchener Stitch. Once before the First World War it was called German Grafting. There are good reasons for just calling it grafting. I have South African friends who find the name Kitchener highly offensive. Also the whole myth about him wanting the troops to have seamless socks is just that. A myth.
Such a lovely post! Thank you for sharing that gem about impatience vs. patience from Andy. My suggestion would be to find a thriller to listen to, so as not to get too anxious about finishing it. Knitting simply takes whatever it takes, and most of the time I don't seem to be able to do much about it than go with the flow. :)) Btw, your WIP is growing beautiful by the day. It is going to look great on you.