I’m busy finishing things. It seems I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself, and this week I realized I had five sweaters in various stages of completion…or non. Five!!! Not a scarf, and a sock, and a fingerless mitt, and a little itty bitty baby thingie, and a sweater. Five fully grown adult sweaters.
Overload! There was only one thing to do. Finish something. So I did. The Origami Cardigan is a fully-finished ready-to-wear sweater as soon as it’s cold enough for alpaca. Yay! And she’s a beauty; a perfectly fitting beauty. Length: perfect. Drape: perfect. Sleeve length: perfect.
Big dolman sleeves. Lovely hunter green color. Snazzy cabled lapel band. Here's a close up of the cables:
Pertinent details: The pattern is the Wrap Me Up sweater from Great Yarns (Or the Origami Cardigan from Frog Tree Yarns designed by Linda Daniels....identical patterns as far as I can tell). The yarn is Aslan Trends Royal Alpaca. The pattern calls for an allover K1P1 rib, but in the interests of saving my sanity as well as my thumb joint, I opted for garter stitch. Plain, humble, perfectly drapey and quickly completed garter stitch. Color me happy.
Next: I’m within very close range of finishing the Seville Jacket. One sleeve done; the other sleeve near done. Trim for both sleeves: done. One afternoon of knitting with friends will see it entirely done. Then just attaching the trim, and it’s another ready-to-wear sweater.
It’s a sad truth among many of my knitter friends that we are often more excited by the next project than the one we are currently on. I pick out yarn. I find a just right pattern. Or the other way around….I find a great pattern and then search for just the right yarn. It doesn’t matter which order; the important thing is that I have a great project to start. I can’t wait to start. I start. An inch goes by. Another inch goes by. Ho hum. Can’t wait to finish. Because even though I solemnly swear that I am a process knitter, and that the act of knitting is more important than the end product, even though my fingers believe this and my heart rate believes this and my serotonin levels believe this, my mind is busy planning the next project. And the next. And the next.
Is this true for other creative pursuits? Do writers of novels yearn to start a new novel while they are still immersed in the lives of their current characters? Do actors in Broadway musicals, actors who get to sing and dance to great music, actors who are receiving high praise from the critics, are they counting the days when their production will finish its run and they can go sing new songs? Do fisherpersons out all day on their boats waiting for the biggest marlin ever to nibble at their bait, are they already casting out new worms for new fishies while they wait for the current fishies to strike? Is anyone ever satisfied with the here and now?
Last week I attended the Creativ Festival in Toronto. It’s an annual extravaganza of crafting classes in many strands….fiber arts, fabric arts, paper arts, jewelry arts….with vendors to match. I met up with a dear friend from New York, and we had a fabulous time. The high point of our stay had nothing to do with the festival. We managed to snag tickets to the stage production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and I still can’t get the music out of my head. We girls….we just wanted to have fun!
And we did. That's my here and now.
