Frogging and other things.

 I have hit upon a theory, could be proven right or wrong but would have to take a poll of thousands of knitters and talk to doctors and all that. It is a common unwritten truth that crafters usually have more than one project going on because of varying degrees of ADD/ADHD and wanting to start a new project for the thrill of it. Here's my idea:

It is accepted that knitting and other hand arts are therapeutic for hand flexibility. Now, the converse of that is that prolonged use can actually be bad if you're doing the same size tool and pattern. It is better to have more than one project of different types going to exercise your hand and brain. So for knitters, let's say  you have a really simple sock pattern you can pick up when you have to pay attention to something but not really engage your brain. For multi-tasker brains it's easy. When your eyes and hands get fatigued from that, switch to a larger needle project. So it is beneficial to have more than one project going at a time mentally and physically for the crafter.

This project is done, moderate success but not ideal. Gave them to my honey and he wears them when his feet get cold but again, not the best project.

Now what do I pick up for my 'mid size' easy project? The Lego block blanket is stalled out due to yarn procuring issues. It's not a desperately needed project and will get done when the time is right. I toyed around with the pooling yarn that finally aired out but really am not satisfied working with it on knitting. Most of the pictures were of crochet so I got it in my head to try and recreate the blanket I made when I was like 10, I'm sure I've chained a lot more than I had on the original, might even pull it out and start over.

I am sure that the actual width of the original is half that but you can see the blocks of colors forming already. Yeah, I think I'll pull that out and go for half or two thirds of that size.

But crocheting is difficult now with the lack of dexterity in my fingers. I don't work on that one for very long and frankly, Super Saver is the absolute bottom yarn that is the most durable so will see what happens. There is still three more skeins of yarn in a bag that is still waiting for sunny weather to air out. Silly rainy days makes it difficult to put them in a box outside.

I rifled through another bag that I thought was just the shawl on the left but it also held a hat I was making at the same time (most likely). The shawl is the same one I made years ago out of blue homespun and for whatever reason I was enamored with the pastel homespun and bought four skeins to make this shawl. It is lovely but I have never been a pastel kind of person but it's somehow appealing because it's a muted rainbow. I luckily still have the pattern for that in multiple places just had to figure out what row I had stopped on. Oddly I kept thinking it was row 15 of 20 I had to do next and after checking the pattern and the shawl multiple times, I was right. I haven't touched that project in over a decade. So that shawl is on size 11 needles which are very awkward to use and the pattern needs my full attention to keep track of where I am. Not something to do when there's constant interruptions and can't work on it for long periods due to the cumbersome size of the needles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other is a slouchy hat project in James C Brett DK  yarn that is also discontinued and as well as I was going on that project, and the fact that I actually have the pattern book handy, I am not a hat person. So frogging was done and am now trying to find a cowl/neck warmer pattern to use for that yarn. I love those colors too, muted pinks and greens, almost a garden effect. Could do a scarf but I don't really like scarves unless they're really long and you can wrap it around your neck so it doesn't come off. I was just going to frog it back to the ribbing but then saw that very sloppy join at the cast on edge and decided to take it all out. I counted the stitches and may just restart with the same number as a turtleneck part and then do spaced increases and maybe a decorative stitch insert like I had. Just too pretty to sit around.

So I have these five balls of TOFUtsies yarn, all of which is discontinued so no chance of getting another ball of a solid. I decided to go out of my color range and use the orange and matching variegated for another pair of socks. I really wish I could get a ball of blue to coordinate with the other two. So, since I pulled the purple sock out I have the longer size 1 circular available and off I went.

For whatever reason, somehow I ended up with yarn over holes doing the rounded toe pattern. Also those little pooky points at either end. I was not pleased with that outcome and decided at that point to just frog it all out and restart.

Second start without distractions worked much better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I was going to try and do some stranded pattern really simple but that turned out to be too much fiddly hassle and went with a stripe to begin with. 2 main (variegated) 2 orange, then 3 main and then 3 orange and then just the variegated for the rest. Will do the heel and ribbing at the end in orange as well. Maybe do stripes like that on the leg side of the heel and before the ribbing, who knows. 

One of the reasons why socks are such a great project is for those of us females that want cool looking socks without paying ridiculous prices.

These are socks I got from the community table along with another pair, in our complex and obviously not a women's large sock. Those stripes are all individual colors not a self striping yarn and machine made. I am not crazy about doing stripes like that but being able to have socks that actually fit my feet and look cool is what keeps me going.

And that's all for the projects in the last few weeks. More updates when they happen!

Happy crafting!