So this week hasn’t quite been the hive of creativity that I had hoped it would be. On the positive front, I have finished Shawl Number 6 and I am really pleased with how it has come out, and Shawl Number 5 has come back from the pattern testers with a thumbs up and only minor tweaks and so all I have to do now is one final check of that one and it will be ready for uploading.
On the less productive front, I finished and then frogged the Christmas Shawl I was working up. The pattern was getting very complex and the finished product was a bit too flouncy and old fashioned. I like traditional shawls, but this was just a bit meh. So I sat and re-balled the whole skein I had just used, slept on it, and came up with something much better. I am now whizzing through this new one and it is much better. Phew.
Frogging and generally screwing up a good idea is an essential part of my design processes. I often start something full of enthusiasm and high expectation only to find myself staring at it after each row, worried that it isn’t working, or that parts of it seem ok but others are not, and the decision to either frog or even bin the thing has to be taken. I don’t bin very often, but there are various abandoned projects around my room, like this wrap (see below) that I started and had to give up on. I kept what was left because I liked to colour mix, and I liked some parts of the stitch pattern, and I wanted to remember that. What I need is a big yarn scrapbook to stick these remnants into.
But messing up a good idea, or accepting that the idea wasn’t good enough in the first place, is always a good thing in the end. It makes me focus on what doesn’t work, and the brief of what I am supposed to be doing, rather than going all self-indulgent. And goodness knows that I am self-indulgent enough in other ways. You just have to look at my stash to know that.
I was planning to get some garment designs nailed this week but I just haven’t had the time. Lots of family stuff and a small person who just seems to be in overdrive at the moment means that I haven’t managed to achieve the list of 1000 jobs I had set myself. Anyway, I have some more time before I have to go back to work for playing with yarn. I will see what I can achieve in this short time. Maybe I will get the Moo-Ra pattern out finally (still need to type up the updated version) and a few other bits. But I have to remind myself that this isn’t a race. I will get it all done eventually. I just need to be patient with myself.
The Knackered Psycho 