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!)