DesigKnit

I’ve been thinking lately about how little process has been showing up on the blog. That’s probably because the things that I’m knitting are really very simple items, without a lot of things to think about. Knitting (and reknitting) miles of simple stockinette or allover lace is fine by me, since I’m a process knitter and enjoy the knitting part regardless of the final outcome. Not having to think too much about new projects is also good for times where spare brain cycles are hard to come by, but it makes for really terrible progress blogging. Oh look! I knit another inch! Ta DA!

So, I’ve been trying to come up with ways to get around that. Unfortunately, there just isn’t a lot of time to knit right now, and when I get to the time I do have, I often find myself wanting to just zone out instead of knitting. Isn’t that sad? You know you’re working at full creative tilt when even stockinette knitting is too much…

I keep telling myself it’s all just part of the re-equilibration process, as I adjust to this crazy new life I’ve signed myself up for. (And it’s getting even better! In four weeks, I’ll have 120 students to teach, too!)

Really, though, it is getting better. Things are getting done, and I’m figuring out most of the simple things that should take 5 minutes and now take 3 days or 3 weeks, and can plan accordingly. (Also, once I know how things work and do them the right way, they often do actually take 5 minutes. It’s just the figuring out that’s hard.)

Still, with classes starting up soon I’m not really sure that there will be a lot of new, ambitious designs coming out to talk about. The projects will change, but it will probably still be a lot of slow progress on fairly mindless knitting, and that will be no fun to read (or write) about.

I’m thinking that I might try to do some knitting on paper. Theoretical knitting, if you like. Jotting down collections of ideas for the blog in the same way that I’d fill up a design notebook with things that would be fun to knit someday. Of course, that also requires brain space, but it takes a lot less time to draw a garment than to knit one. Or maybe playing some color-matching games to dream up mixed-color garments from things in the shop. I’m not sure yet what form this will take, but it’s rattling about in my brain. Any ideas?

In other news, I believe we will be having dye day #2 on Sunday, if all goes according to plan. I had a request for some grays, so look out for some not-very-colorful colorways coming soon. I’m really looking forward to this batch, actually. There’s something so comforting about a basic gray, and there are just so many shades to play with. I guess we’ll see what happens soon!