a knitting holiday

When Clare Devine (a fellow South African, by happy coincidence, and designer of the Jozi socks I mentioned) interviewed me for the Gift-Along, she asked about what I’d take on a two-week knitting holiday. 

No fair, asking me such a thing. Two weeks alone and undisturbed with a pile of yarn… that’s really not a nice idea to put into the head of a mother of two under-5s. 

However. I’ve given myself a knitting holiday anyway – of a sort. No, I haven’t abandoned my post; there’s no cozy B&B and definitely no break from the needs of two (wonderful! delightful! exhausting!) small people, but I am on hiatus from Work Knitting.

You know. The knitting that you’re supposed to be doing. Be that design work, or projects promised to others, or anything where the knitting feels like an obligation rather than a treat. (Note, feels like. Work knitting can start off as treat knitting, it can even turn into treat knitting, but when it feels like a chore… it’s a chore.)

This kind of cavalier WIP abandonment is very unlike me. For years I was a strictly monogamous knitter; I only turned to project promiscuity because I realised how very practical it is to have different kinds of knitting on the go for different occasions (handbag knitting, TV knitting etc). But after a few months when inspiration and energy were riding high, after a couple of stiff deadlines I was starting to feel the juices drying up, and I know from experience that when I try too hard to do my duty by the Work Knitting, I get blocked. Badly blocked. Never mind lack of design inspiration (oh please, like ideas are ever the problem) – nothing goes right, nothing at all makes it off the needles and onto the happy FO pile. TOADs abound.* And then the Gift-Along happened and wouldn’t you just know it what a perfect opportunity/excuse to drop everything.

The Artist’s Loop was a great, almost-instant-gratification start to my almost a holiday. The Syxx hat followed about as fast, but I failed to blog it (still coming!) because by then I’d been drawn into the delights of my Hap Cardigan. Or as I can’t help but call it, my Happy Cardigan. 

I know. I know. Grey garter stitch isn’t exactly exciting. But it’s certainly comforting – which I seem to need particularly right now. Especially as I’ve finally caught the cold that’s been passed around between the rest of my family of late. And it’s not boring, thanks to a cunning construction and the promise of lots of delicious colourful feather and fan stripes to come. 

The universe craves balance. In my case, that seems to mean that I need to balance Work Knitting, and knitting for loved ones, with completely selfish and frivolous knitting. There’s a whole heap of things I should be getting on with, and indeed I want to get on with them! But right now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with garter stitch and a cup of tea and the last season of Breaking Bad.

There may also be chocolate. I mean, I moved to Switzerland for a reason, you know.   

* This is a lesser-known acronym, but one of my favourites: Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust!