Project Fatigue

Oh what enthusiasm my last post held ... to systematically work my way through all the projects which have started to become guilty burdens so that I could be 'organised'. It is probably telling through my lack of posts of late that project fatigue and the reality of this challenge have hit home.

To try and not overwhelm I have concentrated on only two projects;


Summertime tunic - a project as boring to photograph as it is to knit... and it's a shame as this is a lovely top, and I'll surely wear it frequently once it is done (should Glasgow weather allow of course). The yarn is stunning, with a lovely drape too.

But the miles and miles of knitting in the round are testing me, creating a project that is almost as torturous to those around me as it is to me, such is my whining about it. It stuck at 7 and half inches from the ribbing for about a week, no matter how much I knit. The 'never ever ever growing no matter how much I sodding well knit' phase usually precedes the 'oh crap, I've knit 2 inches too far' phase.

Well not in this case - it's started to move slowly again, now standing at just over 9 inches. It has to be 11 and a half inches... Keep rooting for me, as I'm losing the faith here.


The Force scarf is faring a little better. Yes that is the 'M' of 'May the force be with you'. The end is in sight. Not least because Summertime Tunic motivates me to stick with this over round and round and round.

I realise that this was a Christmas Day present and it is Valentine's Day tomorrow, however, in my defence, there were 3 of us at last night's meetup knitting Christmas presents. I am not alone - and those that love us knitters are used to receiving promises and presents on the needles for Christmas/Birthdays.

Since I haven't been knitting much, I haven't been blogging much. I'm pretty close to throwing in the towel and asserting that I knit for enjoyment. If I want to cast on 200 projects and not finish any of them, what harm am I doing, really? But in my heart it doesn't particularly make me happy to have piles of unfinished projects about - I started them because I loved them, and I still do. I want them finished.

So I ordered a long-lusted after book; "The Opinionated Knitter" by Elizabeth Zimmermann. If anyone can put the fun back into knitting it's her. I flicked through earlier and felt the urge to start knitting 'proper' once more. (I also felt the urge to cast on about 8 new projects, but let's not go there)

Another person has helped to keep me motivated in my Beijing challgenge, although she may not be aware of it. Lilith is doing the Race for Life - a women's 5K run to raises money for cancer research. She's doing in memory of her dad, and I'm in awe of her efforts. As she states "running comes as naturally to me as flying does to a penguin", therefore this is no easy feat. If she can do this (and in the icey, foggy, freezing weather we're having), then frankly I can sit on my bum and finish a few projects!

She is trying to raise £1000 and there are loads of fabulous knitty prizes up for grabs - every fiver you enter counts as an entry. So please go over there and donate some cash! I'm rooting for you Lilith!!