Mindlessness

First of all, both Alice and I seem to be much better. She's been having episodes of unwellness for the last year or so. She's 12 1/2 and so I suspect its just her body winding down. I'm still working my way back to full strength after having that awful virus.

My fun for the day came via England. Emma sent me some solid Opal (no photo, its one of those colors that defies cameras) after my whining about lack of solid sock yarn, and she also sent me a gorgeous skein of 100% mohair lace/fingering weight yarn. The mohair yarn is begging to be wound into a ball and knit into a lace scarf; at almost 500 yds it should be enough for just about anything.

I'm stuck, and I'm not sure what else to write about. I'm about halfway done with the second alpaca shawlette/scarf (see yesterday's post) and its exactly the same as the first one. Same pattern, same yarn, same color. I didn't even add yarn-overs to the central pattern, which I had considered while making the first one.

I'm in a general slump. Knitting wise, and in other ways as well. I'm not willing to admit that the weather is the cause. It could be my health, it could be life in general - there are a lot of things I don't blog about. I've been a little depressed, and I might be projecting that onto my knitting. I'm frustrated with most of my projects in progress and also unwilling to start new ones just for the thrill of touching virginal yarn.

Having bitched about mindless knitting, I'm embarassed to admit that I'm enjoying my fling with garter stitch immensely. I will say though, it rarely seems to look very polished in a finished piece unless its knit at a fine gauge. I've been impressed by some Hanne Falkenberg pieces I've seen (in 2 ply Shetland), but worsted weight garter stitch for a whole garment seems to fall flat. Having just said that, I may have to take it back and knit an Elizabeth Zimmerman garter stitch pattern and prove myself wrong.

I have to admit, I'm in a space right now where mindlessness is preferable to mindfulness. It's not a pretty sight. I bash stockinette stitch, and resort to garter stitch. I praise thinking knitters, and then knit the same mindless project twice in a row. I thought for sure I could come up with something deep and interesting to talk about and skip the whole knitting thing all together, but I couldn't.

Next thing you know, I'm going to be praising stockinette stitch. But please don't send self-striping yarn.

Comments

[Lisa in Oregon]

I'm sorry Cassie....those times are difficult. Chin up, it can't last forever. I wonder about the "end of winter" blahs...not to diminish anything else in your life. Perhaps the combination of stress/depression and the time of year?

Hang in there. L

[Kim]

Sometimes when we are walking thru rough waters, those mindless projects allow us priceless time to let our minds wander thru all of the muck that we need to toss around in our heads.

I'm sorry to hear that it has been difficult for you....Spring is coming .... hopefully with the renewal of the season, things will get a little better for you.

[Jan]

Sorry to hear these are *gray days* for you, Cassie. If it's any consolation, I think your state of mind is shared among a lot of us this month, to one degree or another.
A few warm, sunny days can't fix everything, but they are a good start. Hope you experience some soon.

[suzanne]

I have felt sorta yuck all winter too.......not really excited to knit, not excited to read, really excited about anything. Not crashingly depressed, just blah. Grey. I haven't enjoyed a project since I finished the Clap in early January. And I haven't looked forward to anything, just let it all flow. Maybe with brighter days....yesterday was better. I hope it is just winter and I have not really lost all of my zest for life! Its good (well not really good, but you know what I mean) to know that someone else is not overjoyed 24/7 too. Hope you feel better!

[Norma]

Stockinette stitch rocks, for the very reasons you've said. I need my knitting to be relaxing after a long hard working day, and stockinette not only does that, but it looks pretty, too....like a sea of simple comfort. I'm going to start the Stockinette Avengers Club. So there! And as for self-striping yarns, I'm not usually in love with them too much, but then something comes along like the Noro Iro scarf, hat & wristers I made, and it was a barrel of fun watching it unfold. I also saw the cutest little baby hat made from self-striping sock yarn over at Elann, I think it was. I was in love with it! So it all depends what one needs at a particular time and what fills the bill. Hope you feel better.

[margene]

Knitting is our solace and also a reflextion of our lives in general. When things are complicated and the mind is dealing with those issues turning to comfort knitting can be a salvation. Your shawl may be simple and easy knitting but you certainly ended up with something beautiful and useful. It's a reward you can give yourself when other things are out of your control.

[claudia]

Into every knitting life, there is a place for mindlessness. Go stockinette! Kick garter's ass!

[passeriform]

I do chronic, diagnosed depression, so I hope you will understand that I do not mean to be glib, Lord knows sometimes things don't get better and people and politics are very annoying (why can't I fix just a few things? would it be asking too much for people to have common sense or even intelligent self-interest?). On the glib side, however: the last week I went and bought some Vitamin D and I think it may make me feel a LOT LOT better. I am taking two of the little capsules and I know it's an oil vitamin so when I get outside more and it's after the equinox I will cut back, but right now, I like having energy. Ellie (daughter) says "Whatever you think makes you feel better, dear,"and pats my cheek.

As to praising and not immediately becoming a Thinking Knitter, honestly, just because you admire something doesn't mean you have have to become one of them in a nice solid color all the time. No one with the fortitude to work that hard setting up the nattroger (sp) is without considerable Thinking Knitter veins. But sometimes you also need to be different people, and maybe garter stitch is the RIGHT stitch, not a 16-row repeat lace.

Pale Male and Lola seem to be With Egg. Spring will come. It will probably help.

[Julie]

I don't care for garter stitch unless it's part of a lace pattern. The lovely symmetry of a well-knit stockinette stitch will do it for me nearly every time. Probably because I like purling better than knitting. I make hats in the round inside out so I don't have to knit.

Glad to hear Alice is feeling better. Now, you need to knit a sock or 2 with what Emma sent and take perfect pictures to share.

[Vicki]

To me, mindless knitting is like recharging. There's definitely a place for it!

I'll blame the weather; at least, in part. We had stupid snow again overnight.

[Beth S.]

It's okay to knit "mindless" things. Every now and then the urge to "simplify, simplify" (Thoreau, is that?) comes over me and I just want the satisfaction of something plain. Seriously, one of the most fulfilling projects I ever made was the Everyday Cardigan. Nothing to it but acres of plain stockinette; not even a fitted sleeve cap in sight. But I enjoyed it immensely.

But maybe what you really need is to bake more bread and read a really gripping novel. You know, recharge the creative batteries by doing something different for a bit? And buy some daffodils if you can. Or tulips. Either will do. :-)

[Annie]

You know what? I find that the projects I'm drawn to reflect where I am at in my life. If my life is chaotic and out-of-control, I definitely want something mindless and soothing. If not, a charted project or something a bit more challenging is appealing to me. Don't stress about doing garter or stockinette. You're replenishing your creativity. :)

[Jo in Ottawa]

If things are hectic in the rest of your life and you've been recovering from that virus, you might need some relaxing. That garter stitch scarf is beautiful. I often knit plain stockingnette socks (though only once in self-striping yarn which I'm not that keen on), especially on the bus and I find it quite soothing to be doing something but not having to think too much about it. I used to find that with swimming as well -- nice for emptying the brain by just thinking about counting strokes or something.

But I'm going to second the nutrition suggestion, though with a different vitamin suggestion. A close friend of mine who suffered badly from depression once told me that cutting out caffiene and making sure you are getting enough B6 (leafy greens -- eat more spinach and broccoli) can really help, particularly if you are just feeling mildly blah. I've tried this and it does help. Drink lots of water too. I also sometimes find that just one glass of a nice red wine (like chianti or something) helps.

Look after yourself. Knit lovely scarves (just think, if you have a pile of those garter stitch scarves, you'll be all set for last minute gifts!). And just relax.

[Lauren]

I'm glad you and Alice are feeling better. I hope you find an exciting pattern for Emma's yarn that rescues you from ennui.

[Laurie]

I think it's like bad yarn. The more you struggle, the more twisted and tangled it gets. Viruses take a toll, winter does too. Remember that March is the hardest month. Make a cup of tea and shelve the cat o'nine tails.