Sometimes the different parts of your life can combine to bite you in odd ways. For example, if you happen to be an engineer who knits and who also rows competitively, apparently what happens is extreme overthinking of what knitting project to take with you to a regatta. I've got a strong suspicion that this is something most people don't spend a whole lot of thought on.
There are three options: the wrap I'm about a foot and a half into, the plain socks I'm making in a self-striping yarn to go with the sweater I made for Rudder, or something else entirely, possibly this sweater for me. I'll be knitting in the car, twelve hours or so each way (well, until it gets dark) and probably at the regatta itself, when I'm not racing, taking pictures, or being pit crew for someone else. Each project has its pros and cons for the trip. It would be nice to get that much more time put into the wrap, because I'd like to have it for work. While it isn't extremely complicated, I'm worried I might have to pay too much attention to it to be practical for knitting while hanging out with other people, and may have to look at it too much for car-riding. (I can look at things while in the car, but if I stare at something small too intently for too long, I start feeling a little icky. That's one reason I started knitting in the first place, because I don't like reading for long in the car.) The socks are fairly mindless knitting, except for turning the heel (which needs to happen to the first one in about another inch) but they're string-and-toothpicks eyestrain knitting, which could be a problem in the car if I do have to look at it, to turn the heel or fix a mistake. Come to think of it, I did knit socks on the way home from the marathon last fall without problem, though I don't think I turned the heels during the drive. There's no deadline on these; I don't think Rudder will be wanting wool socks anytime soon, with our temperatures getting up to 100 now. The third pattern would be both mindless and larger scale, and I have the yarn for it; the only problem with it is that I hate to start something new while I've got two projects already on the needles that are going slowly.
It's not like picking the wrong project will ruin either my trip or the knitting project. I think most (sensible) people would just grab one (or two) and go. But what fun is that?
Posted by dichroic at May 3, 2006 01:59 PMTake them all! You're in a car, so you should have enough room. Then you can switch back and forth for the various types of knitting.
Sherry made the picovoli and it gapped a little at the neckline. So she made another one and did a ribbed neck on smaller needles and it seemed to help.
The best car knitting for me was a big felted bag. Lots and lots of knitting in the round, practically no looking down. I have the same problem in the car - if I look at a chart too long I get queasy.
A 12 hour car ride sounds like heaven to me. Have fun!
Posted by: Brooke at May 3, 2006 08:03 PM
That wrap looks to be a fascinating bit of complicating beauty. Hope you have good luck with that one.
It was once pointed out to me -- though I had an inkling already -- that it takes some understanding of topology to knit a sweater. Why shouldn't an engineer knit?
Posted by: l'empress at May 4, 2006 07:42 AM