OK, What do you do when your knitting groove is gone? How do you get it back? I'm so inspired by so many knitters that are on the net and in books but sometimes that isn't even enough to get me going. To get my knitting needles clicking. I love surfing the net for ideas and inspiration almost too much sometimes. I'm wondering if my job as a textile designer isn't really messing with me and my production. I feel sort of like the plumber that comes home from a hard day with his wife standing there saying " the sink is clogged". And he says " I'll get to it" but after a day of doing just that he doesn't want to go any where near that stinking clogged drain. Well, I can relate. I design all day on the computer. Meeting deadlines, rush this, rush that, tweak this design make sure you hit the colors for the jobber books and don't forget what the furniture manufactures want. Working for the textile industry can be very rewarding and it can also be so damn exhausting. You have this wonderful idea for a fabric but then you have to meet a certain price point or many other demands that are placed on you and the product like various test that have to be performed and passed. I won't get into the technical jargon. But you get the idea. It can be very stifling as an artist. That is why I love the work I do on my clock. It makes me feel alive again. There is no one telling me I can't use that yarn because it is too expensive and I won't hit the price point. It's liberating to be able to do whatever you want with no restrictions put on you.
So what is my problem? Maybe a break is all I need. Maybe I should just cast on for one of my favorite simple scarves. What one of my friends in Montana called "peanut knitting, it's like eating peanuts you just can't stop." My all time favorite scarf that I wear all the time in the winter is just that; a simple mistake rib knit with Jo sharp DK wool in the color ebony. I have been wearing this scarf for three winters now and it still looks great. My teenage son has even borrowed it when the weather got really cold. He loves it too. I've made one for my husband in grey and my son wants one in brown for himself. So maybe I'll cast on today and I have to remember that I need to keep something simple always going for those times that I want to knit but my brain is just too fried from work to do lace, or fair isle or cables. I should just pick up my scarf and realize that simple knitting can really be a wonderful type of therapy.
Mistake Rib Scarves, simple and fun and they are super warm and wear for years and years.
