Just so you know

The second time through, this pattern is a lot less inspiring.

That probably explains the wheel behind the shawl – which may or may not have seen a little action as a relief pitcher.  I was just wondering sort of absently how it is that the shawl is going so much more slowly this time… and realized that I was spinning while thinking that. 

Pro Tip: Knitting goes faster if you knit. 

52 thoughts on “Just so you know

  1. Substitute any number of verbs for “knit”, and there is a very profound life lesson here. Sometimes the obvious needs to be stated.

  2. So along with about a million other of your blog readers I am now wanting to know what you did with it. Get more yarn in the right dye lot?

  3. So what are you spinning these days?
    (I can’t believe I am commenting so early – I just have just caught your post!)

  4. My motto is: I only work well under pressure. Without procrastination, there is no pressure!

  5. So does housework , I rather being doing almost anything else than house work, hence I am sitting here looking at a pile of books I want to read and reading blogs, Oops. oh well house work will always be there, but the books have to go back to the library.Right ?

  6. Wouldn’t it be nice to be Mrs. Weasley, especially around Christmas? 🙂
    I have tons of suggestions on my blog today for good British movies and TV shows to watch while knitting if you need some suggestions for ways to stay away from the wheel and focused on the shawl.

  7. Always a risk that the enthusiasm for a project leaves before the project is finished… It’s like a race to the finish for some pieces…. Your pieces, on the other hand are so gorgeous and you complete them more quickly than ever happens in my house that I have faith that we will see this one in it’s finished glory. I am recenty back from SOAR where I had the time of my life under 3 days of Maggie Casey’s charm and my wheel is calling my name. Can’t wait to sit in front of my wheel with my new-found skills.

  8. Funny how that works. I have ocassionally wondered why my laundry doesn’t get done while I’m at the office…

  9. I have had that same realization more than once! Mine went something along the lines of: “Huh, a lot of stuff is permanently leaving the WIP basket, and quickly too. Oh right, that’d be ‘cuz I’m actually WORKING ON THEM.” If only I could somehow keep that knowledge in my head…

  10. True story! I was having that same moment last night while sitting at the computer answering emails and looking at my sock…. half done…. still half done….

  11. In my case, knitting goes a lot faster if I actually knit the project I was so gung-ho on starting, instead of starting three other things. I have to say, my hubby is really good at keeping me focused. He knows what I’m supposed to be knitting, and he’s a friggin bald eagle when I’m trying to cheat on my project. “I thought you were knitting gray socks for your dad,” he’ll say. “That yarn looks pink.” Yeah.

  12. I have a sweater that is not knitting itself while I ignore it.
    I’m pretty sure it would get done faster if I worked on it, but I’m on a boring bit.

  13. And along that vein, I have twice in my adult life conducted a time analysis, & concluded both times that not everything can be done if you have no power to change the number of hours in a day, & consistently plan a 36-hour day.

  14. I once knit most of the back of a sweater, then joined a new ball of yarn that did not match at all. The lying yarn label said “no dye lot”. The color looked pretty good, but the second yarn was about twice the thickness of the first. Okay, it was a child’s sweater and not all that big, but it is still heartbreaking to start over.

  15. You know, it’s funny…I noticed that whole “knitting goes faster when you actually knit” thing, too. Apparently just thinking about knitting doesn’t really help. *sigh*
    Nor does knitting in the dark. Mark that down as another tip.
    If it makes you feel any better (I am sure it doesn’t), I am starting my Dad’s christmas hat for the third time…apparently I still can’t swatch correctly. Third time’s the charm, right? Right? Please?

  16. LOL! You know… I know and live that “knitting goes faster when you actually knit” thing. It’s called watching football with your knitting in your lap… and not knitting.

  17. Yes. The pro tip is exactly what I needed. Shuffling around the wip bags does not increase the amount of knitted fabric. Nor does taking the wip out of the bag and examining it. :/ I’ve tried those.

  18. That tip totally got shared on Facebook.
    Btw, thank you for all you do for the fiber world. Thank you for the blog, for the humor, the books, the tours, the classes and for all the things you have to do to play catch-up when you get back home.
    Thank you.

  19. What kind of Wheel is that?
    I am new to Spinning and have fallen so far in love that someone soon ( DH probably, he has had to make his own dinner for a month now)is going to place a “no Contact” order soon.

  20. That’s so true…
    Apparently I’ve swapped dyeing for knitting and spinning for knitting and it should come as no surprise that my last FO was in July. But I’ve spun some beautiful yarns. I keep shopping for yarn like I can knit it that quickly.

  21. I keep surfing Ravelry, dreaming of all the things I will knit as soon as the Christmas gifts are done and grumping about how they couldn’t go any slower.
    Yeah, I know.

  22. Whatever you are knitting looks scrumptious. Could we have the pattern name please? And the yarn name, too? Unless of course it is handspun.

  23. I know this so well and yet I continue to ignore it. I have orders pending for several customers and still I start a pair of slippers for yet another customer. I wonder if it is that I feel I am making progress if everything is on the needles and at least a couple of rows worked of each project? No, it can’t be that because I worked on the socks like a maniac when I was on vacation and got most of them finished, then I stalled out. My biggest problem is not procrastination but a regrettable tendency to fall asleep when I should be knitting. I could get it all done if I was actually knitting, instead of sleeping with my knitting in my lap.

  24. Looks like an Ashford Traditional wheel to me – same as mine, lovely wheel. Hard to resist!

  25. Ahhhhhh, you, Stephanie, are suffering from IKTB. IKTB stands for “I Knit This Before” and occurs when the knitter finds him/herself back at square one after a full run at the pattern. The yarn doesn’t feel the same, progress slows, and a endless message plays in one’s head, “Why didn’t I check the dyelot?” This message ends once one returns to new territory in the pattern and normal knitting speeds resumes.
    At that point, the knitter proclaims she is so over the project and throws it against the wall because she can.
    IKTB sucks.

  26. knitting goes faster when you knit. That applies to weaving as well. My next baby blanket somehow refuses to warp itself. I may need to schedule a meeting with the warping board.

  27. Think of it as a second “sock”. You don’t seem to have problems with SSS (second sock syndrome). 🙂

  28. Knitting goes faster if you knit! Brilliant!! That explains all those half-done projects. Hmmmmm.

  29. Amen, sister! (Says the woman who’s halfway through a batch of Christmas slippers, still has eleven pairs to go and is wishing harder all the time for a knitter’s version of the cobbler’s elves.)

  30. I’ve noticed this phenomena of the slowness of knitting. It does help if you actually knit. It definitely explains why my sister’s Christmas present isn’t finished yet…and my Dad and Step-Mother’s…and that shawl I started back in September…

  31. Knitting goes faster if you knit. Why hasn’t someone told me that before now? No wonder my sweater doesn’t seem to be getting finished LOL!

  32. I’ve noticed that–the scarf I’ve been carrying everywhere with me “just in case” doesn’t seem to be getting any longer no matter how many days I carry it.

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