I’ve never been a parrot-head, but this morning for no reason I can think of, I woke up with Jimmy Buffet’s Son of a son of a sailor running through my head. I own no Buffet CDs and have not heard him on the radio recently so I have no idea where the song came from.
I almost always wake up with music in my head. Often it’s something I heard the day before - a song, a jingle sometimes even the music from a game that Myria’s been playing. It isn’t unusual for the same song to show up several mornings in a row. Once in a while it’s even a song I don’t like much - those are interesting mornings.
This has been a life-long thing for me. Myria goes through this too so I don’t think it’s too unusual - not time yet for the guys in the white coats with the industrial strength butterfly nets :) And, at any given time of the day, one of us might ask the other what their accompaniment is - in other words, what music is playing in your head at the moment? Sometimes it’s the song you woke up with. Sometimes it’s something else entirely - but there’s always something playing.
I have wondered many time over many years if there’s any significance to the soundtrack. It doesn’t seem to be tailored to the circumstances and situations of my life or, if it does, it fits the way a clown suit would fit - never where you think it should and always outrageously.
I seem to have reached a plateau - at least that’s what they call it when you’re dieting and you get to a certain place where everything just stops. I have done no knitting or crocheting for days - with the exception of many attempts to get myself going on something all of which wound up in the frog pond. I don’t have an idea in my head and while I’ve pored over every book and magazine I own (and haunted all the pertinent web sites), nothing seems appealing.
Part of it is that I feel compelled to produce for the blog. Those of you who also have blogs may recognize the feeling :) What happens is that I start something so that I’ll have something to write about and, very often, I’ll abandon the project as soon as something new (to write about) comes along. I don’t want to craft this way. I want to start a project and stick with it until its done - unless there’s some very good reason for letting it go.
I guess I feel as though my whole approach to knitting (and so many other things) has been pretty scattershot. With most of my crafting, I reached a point where I was comfortable with what I knew and felt reasonably competent to create almost anything I wanted. And then I’ve gone on to the next thing.
I don’t want to do that with the knitting. Knitting has become a lot of things to me - not the least of which is the possibility of providing for myself things that reflect me. Garments that are the shape I want them to be in the colors I like. Blankets that will be doubly warm because I made them and far more interesting than the finest bought cashmere throw because the stitch patterns and colors tell a story I want to tell.
But I have a lot to learn. The only sweater I have ever made was a pint-sized baby aran that involved very little shaping. And it’s the shaping I need to learn about. What happens if I decrease in this ratio or increase in that ratio. How about using ribbing at the side waist for shaping there instead of decreasing? Would that work and what would it look like? Is it possible to craft a sweater such that it will have its own prosthetic, occasionally relieving me of the necessity of wearing a bra? I need to work to acquire that knowledge. I haven’t been actively avoiding it but I haven’t been exactly seeking it out either - and casting on another scarf or shawl isn’t going to help me here :)
I suppose, in a way, I’ve been formulating new years resolutions for my knitting - and perhaps that’s why I haven’t gotten anywhere for a week or so. In the back of my mind, I’ve been trying to figure out what’s next and whether or not I wanted to do what was required. I have decided that I do. So, over the next year, I’ll be working on some things I’ve never done before and maybe some projects that will take quite a while to complete. I will try very hard not to be boring, but I can’t guarantee there won’t be a real ho-hum of a post from time to time.
And I promise to share whatever I learn. As frustrating as the learning process can be, I can think of only one thing more satisfying - sharing the knowledge :)
No trackbacks yet.
Whew! About the middle of your post I feared you were hanging up the blog. I’m not sure why I thought that but it just popped into my head.
I have startitis with procrastinating tendencies--no blog but I can empathize.
Sweater with a self bra? hmmm sounds interesting. maybe a bullet proof guage and short rows??
I think for most of us we simply like your ‘company’ so to speak. You don’t have to dazzle us ALL of the time, just every now and then :-)
the concept of ‘internal music’ is really interesting- i don’t think i’ve ever really experienced it except to get the occasional tune caught in my mind after hearing it - i do, however, find myself running number sequences over and over and over etc and ‘playing’ with those- hmm, no doubt those guys with the white suits will have ‘nerd’ written on the net intended for me!
your knitting musings are far from boring- i don’t think you are in the knitting doldrums but you are reaching into the creative corners to get the real feel of the art/craft/skill (we won’t even tiptoe into that area)- those of us who do practice ‘seat of the pants’ knitting will benefit from your thoughts-
stay happy-
ok...internal music the last few days: Love My Way, by the Psychedelic Furs. Don’t know what that means, but my husband and I have a date tonight…
Aarlene - You don’t know how close I came :) Finally, though, I realized that I didn’t want to stop knitting or blogging. But I did want to do things differently than I had been.
Thanks for the reassurance - it means a great deal - especially since I enjoy your company too :)
Barb - I bet your “number sequences” aren’t a lot different than my music. I have often wondered if it may mean that my mind doesn’t have enough to occupy it and this is its way of twiddling its cranial thumbs?
Kim - LOL! Well, a date with one’s spouse isn’t a bad thing :)
We, as your knitting blog-ren (like brethren) won’t let you ho-hum the knitting. We will enable and feed the addiction. We are one. Resistance is futile.
Don’t feel the need to “produce” for the blog. Hell, I ramble on about plenty of non-knitting stuff.
Don’t make it work - it’s FUN. Resolutions for Knitting? Out the door with that stuff!
However, I do the same thing. Counted cross stitch - all revved up and stashed, went to their version of Stitches, even took classes...and then took up knitting!
But knitting has hung on for 8 years. I am one with the yarn. OOOHHHMMMMM!
Lovely color (Iris) on the Merino Style.
I’ve missed your posts!
*points up* No need to “produce” for the blog. (Of course, thus say I, a gal with a blog but no readers - very low stress)
On the other front ... well, is project monogamy what you want, or what you think you should have? If it’s what you want, then go for it. But if it’s only what you think you should have ... maybe something else is your true goal?
Laurie - Well, thanks for the vote of confidence :) Actually, now that I’ve figured out what was bothering me I’m rarin’ to go. I may not be one with the yarn, but it sounds like something to aim for, sure enough!
And, really, the only resolution was to turn my knitting into something more satisfying for me. And I’m good with that!
Colleen - Project monogamy? LOL! No, that’s not exactly what I’m aiming for. What I want is to finish my projects - note, that isn’t saying that I won’t start them at the same rate I always have!
lol. Well, I tend to give up projects for a number of reasons, but I only let them sit for a bit before I rip them out if they displease me. If I go back to a project a few months/years later and think “meh,” then I know I put it aside for good reason. I just want to learn how to start projects that will keep my enthusiasm.
Oh I’m sure it won’t be boring! We love hearing what you have to say.
I’ve knit for as long as I can remember and for the last 4 years I’ve knit for my two kids mostly creating and using my, what I thought was, adequate knitting knowledge. Since I’ve started blogging and seeing all that there is to know about knitting, I’ve decided I’m very far from knowing much at all about knitting. So, I ‘ve decided what I knit next should have something new to learn in it. Up until now, this has been a fun learning experience. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Hi Robbyn, I find myself disatisfied (sp?) as well with my knitting but I think it is because I am doing the easy stuff—taking on already written patterns or sitting down and without more than 2 minutes of though starting another hat. I like the physical act of knitting this stuff but it has not been very satisfying from a creative standpoint. To use a recently overused term, I decided I want to knit more mindfully—taking on specific challenges (lace, for me this year, though it has been things like shaping in past years) and being more creative in my work. I would miss you and your blog a lot, but the blog is—IMHO—supposed to feed the creativity. My planning for my knitting has been invigorated by learning to spin (even though I am in spinning knidergarten). Find whatever path suits you into interesting challenges.
Well, I’ve been reading your wonderful blog for a while and not contributing but I know exactly where you’re coming from - I’ve been going through the same path (for want of a better word) lately. I have multiple projects in limbo at the moment and they now all want my attention. But even the thought of finishing is not really fulfilling me right now. As if I need to clear out cobwebs or find a new horizon and see what that does, then come back to everything - if that makes sense.
Just my 2p.
Maggie.
Colleen - I think that comes with having tried a lot of things and understanding what aspects of things really engage you. I know what you mean about the “set-asides” - I will frog those eventually. It just takes me a while to make the decision - sometimes years!
Kimberly - That’s exactly it. I want to learn and the only way to do that (for me, anyways) is to do it. I quite agree - the blogging world has a great deal to offer; it’s an amazing space we’ve created for ourselves here!
Rob - Well, maybe the term’s overused because it’s pertinent. I think that’s right - mindful knitting. But that means understanding the process to the degree that you have a clue about what to be mindful of.
And that’s what I’m aiming for :)
Maggie - Thanks so much for commenting :) If it helps, I took off about two weeks and didn’t do any knitting at all. It can be a bit trying, trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on but it is very much worth doing. There is nothing like the feeling of clarity (all the cobwebs gone, yes?) that follows!
Yep - I understand the pressure to produce. No matter how many people tell you it doesn’t matter & write what you want...it matters. At least to a Type A blogger like myself. ;) I just talked about that very issue last week on my blog. I suppose having a blog is rather like an amusement park ride. I’ll keep riding until it’s no longer fun, then I’ll get off. As you said, no-one ever realizes how close you sometimes get to calling it quits, eh?
Don’t worry about being in the “doldrums” - it’s a good time of year to stop & think awhile. We’ll all be here when your ideas start cranking again. :)
Bron - Thanks a bunch, kid :) I know you have also felt this kind of pressure, but you actually seem to finish things, many and beautiful. I will never have your speed (and will never miss it either :) but I would love to have a bit of your persistence!
