The Day After

The pile of scrap I created yesterday when doing the finish work on my new sweater.

There's always a particular beauty to a pile of ends like this.

 

It is generally understood that there are two distinct types of knitters.

 

1. Product Knitters

&

2.  Process Knitters

 

Product Knitters are the sort who love to knit because they love to have a drawer full of gorgeous sweaters, scarves, mittens, hats, etc. to wear.  They delight not in the actual making of the garment, but in the enjoyment that comes with wearing each custom made piece...with having a unique wardrobe that is tailored to their every whim.  For these knitters, the actual knitting process can sometimes be an annoyance that must be gone through to get the finished product.

 

Process Knitters, on the other hand, are those who love to knit simply because they love the act of knitting in and of itself.  Sure, they make gorgeous things too, but they aren't usually that attached to the final project.  Once a project is finished, they let go and move on, ready to savor each stitch in the next project.  The beauty is in the physical actions involved in creating.

 

I've always been firmly in the later camp - a process knitter who's chronically - and comically - unattached to my finished pieces.  I delight in my nimble, clever fingers, and I rejoice in the details of each and every project that flows through my needles.

 

Which is to say that when I finish a particularly satisfying project, as I did yesterday with my Mesmeric Cardigan, I tend to feel...well...rather lost. 

 

Berefit even.

 

Sometimes this leads to a ridiculous delay in actually finishing a project.  Knitting completed, I might throw it into a basket or bag to wait an indeterminate length of time for the finish work.  Or, I might just stop working with a tiny bit of edging left to do.  If I don't finish it, I'm still working on it, right?

 

Wrong.

 

Inevitably every project must come to an end.

 

Equally as inevitable...I'm going to be sad when it does, especially if it's been a project as deeply satisfying as my cardigan has been.  In fact, the depth of my emotion is directly related to the importance of the project - through level of complexity, reasons for making that item, or satisfaction over the way it's all turning out.

 

Given how big of a deal it is that I just made myself my first ever fitting sweater at a time when I'm finally starting to feel good about myself and am thus building a nice wardrobe for the first time in years....yep, this was a darn big one.  Throw in on top of that the fact that it was a modern fair isle that incorporated some of my favorite traditional techniques with modern fitting, providing an actual challenge to my knitting brain.

 

Sniffle.

 

As happy as I'll be to wear this sweater soon, I'm also feeling pretty sad that it's done.

 

(And yes, you may all laugh at me now...I know I'm a tad ridiculous!)

 

Ask my husband and girls - I'll be wandering around the house for the next few days like a lost child.  It's not yet the time for a new project, nor even to start planning or dreaming for the next big one.  I might work on a pair of socks, or maybe the scrap yarn blankets.  Most likely I'll lose myself in books for a few days, or finally get around to tackling one of a few big household projects.  Might even do a stash reorganization, which always helps.

 

Soon enough though...soon enough it'll be time to pick up the needles and move on.

 

There are always knitting projects just waiting to happen.