1 post tagged “scarves”

Knitting is meditation for me but I've made the common error of thinking that meditation is easy.  I've been so tired lately due to health issues that just holding the needles up quickly exhausts me.  But I miss it and notice that I'm not as grounded when I don't knit.  As well, the little I achieve on my far-too-many in process projects makes me tense rather than calm.  Especially the scarves -- they seem to be the same (short) length they were a month ago. 

Which brings me to my scarf rant.  Why are these seen as great beginner projects?  I understand the theory that knitting a large repetitive project writes the movements into your body but I also think undertaking something that takes a slow knitter a long time to finish leads to abandoning knitting altogether.  Oddly, I have thought that one approach that might help me deal with my scarf block is to add more knitting to each scarf by knitting them in the round.  Sounds crazy to knit twice as much, right?  But I find I can go for much longer if I don't have to flip the project over after each row.  It has nothing to do with not wanting to purl -- I've never minded purling and, unless you are only knitting stockinette, you purl in the round also.  Maybe I am still just too awkward and it shows most clearly when I am turning-- trying to keep the yarn, needles, tension, and what's the next stitch in mind and under control.

So why did I decide to knit three scarves for Christmas presents?  Because they are great presents and, in one case, a scarf was requested by the recipient.  And I made the decision way back in early October when I thought that was plenty of time, before my physical ennui.

Gee, now that I've whined about them, I think I'll just start knitting on them.