Knitting can be soothing, relaxing, calming. But what if you have the Blues? What if you don't need to be soothed, relaxed or calmed? That was the predicament I found myself in yesterday. I think the past few weeks caught up with me. The excitement of the Coastal Condo, the scare of Mom being sick again, and the pressure to do it all perfectly. Yesterday found me exhausted, down and blue. For the past several weeks, I have been knitting samples for classes and kits for Ann's By Design. They fit perfectly into My Year Of Selfish Knitting but I found myself in need of exhilaration not zen. When I need a boost, what do I do?
I climb my stairway to heaven better known as the Stash Studio and start the quest for something new, exciting and well, exhilarating. Remember my stash is pretty extensive so I figured I could find something to light my fire.
I'd like to say the Stash Studio looks this good right now, but it doesn't.
I was hoping I could find something to cure The Blue Funk. Just opening tubs and touching yarn excites me but I couldn't spend 24/7 opening tubs and touching yarn. I needed a new project. I decided to go to my Ravelry library and find something that made my heart pound and my eyes widen. I discovered this a new pattern I found very intriguing.
I love this. The only thing it doesn't have to facilitate exhilaration is a new knitting skill. But right now I think exhaustion may trump the excitement in learning a new skill. I first picked out this yarn because I have been wanted to use it since I bought it at Knit "N Purl in January.
It's the beautiful, blingy Transitions Lux by Trendsetter. I was dying to knit this so it seemed perfect. Next I had to find the main color to complement this spectacular contract color.
I picked out this Madeline Tosh in a beautiful grey that changes from light to dark. Perfect. Right? When I got the mail yesterday, I found this.
"Wow!" I thought. "Stripe Study Shawl in Dragonfly Firecracker and Madeline Tosh." When I wound the skein, it just didn't seen right. So, I went back and fourth. Dragonfly, Trendsetter, Dragonfly, Trendsetter, Dragonfly, Trendsetter. I realized that the beautiful cake of Transitions Lux was 620 yards and I only needed 440 yarns. I just couldn't waste this yummy yarn. So I thought, "Eureka!" Something I have wanted to use for two years would be perfect.
I went through my three tubs (I call myself Twisted Fiber Art South) of Twisted Fiber Art and found this. Perfect! This is Evolution in the club color Waterfall made out of Muse which is 50% silk and 50% merino and it has 470 yards. Perfect color with no wasted yummy yarn so I started my Stripe Study Shawl. I got into using the contrasting color and somethings was wrong. A little silk makes wool lustrous and soft to the touch but 50% silk makes it kind of slippery. Just not right to combine with Madeline Tosh. Now I was in another quandary. Should I continue, tare out, continue, tare out, continue, tare out. After all this was an exercise in knabbling. Knitting and dabbling. Sometimes knabbling is just what I need to lift my spirits. Last night at 9:00 I made yet another trip to the Stash Studio. I was looking for Twisted Fiber Art Evolution in a cake of 500 yards or less, no Muse, great colors to go with the Madeline Tosh. Here it is.
It is Twisted Fiber Art Evolution Tasty in colorway Juicy. PERFECT! I started right away.
The knitting process has many faces. Sometimes you need the soothing, calming zen of knitting and sometimes you need the exhilaration of planning a project. My trip to the Stash Studio brought me out of my Blue Funk. Now I can enjoy the zen of actual knitting. Never under estimate the power of all stages of the knitting process. Appreciate the energizing of knabbling. Some times the best thing you can do is stop what you're doing and get into the planning and discovery mode. It can take you to the next level. It did me.
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