In my last post I talked about the infamous Oakland shawl I have been working on since spring of last year.  I FINALLY finished it this past week!

It is beautiful and I love it but there was a whole bunch of whining that took place between the start and finish.  As I whined I thought about all the times I’ve whined while knitting various items.  I find it ironic that a hobby one loves so much can be so tortured by said hobby.  And, it’s all self-inflicted.  I knew what I was getting into when I cast this shawl onto the needles.  I knew that the rows would be so long at the end they would take forever.  Further compounding my torture I knew when I chose the picot edge bind off that I would be doubling the number of stitches that would have to be cast off but I did it anyway.

There are so many other projects I’ve whined through.  A certain scarf comes to mind – I chose to knit the scarf on teeny tiny needles and I knew there were about 60 stitches across that would have to be joined via kitchner stitch.  Kitchner stitch is a type of stitch that binds two pieces of knitting.  It’s complicated and takes forever but produces an almost seamless looking join.  I whined through the whole joining process of that scarf but at the end it was beautiful and I loved it, much like my Oakland.  Seven hours after I started the picot edge cast off I was finally done and wore it for two days straight!

I suppose if I did not occasionally get frustrated and obsessed with my knitting I would have given it up years ago.  And, it’s just these sort of projects that keep me going.  In the meantime, I cast on a very simple pair of ankle socks that knit up quickly so I can get some instant satisfaction before starting anything else that will require much whining (my knitting group needs a break before I start again!)