Well, the computer has had an autopsy and has been pronounced dead-dead. Apparently my hard drive is physically broken. My data is most likely lost, though some people I know might give it a shot to rescue it later on… I did do a backup of all the important stuff fairly recently, so guess what is the main thing I lost? Photos! Not all of them, but a good part. (Boy am I regretting now not uploading any photos of my Amsterdam trip on Facebook…) But in any case, I choose not to dwell on this too much and get on with life. :) And until I figure out when and how to buy a new computer (or how to upload photos onto my work computer ;), I’ll just have to find ways of non-photographic expression.
Which is all to say… that I’ve started a diary! A knitting diary!
So, last Sunday, I finally started my Fiddlehead Mittens. (And when I say “finally”, I mean after a year and a half of having them in my queue and at the top of my wish list, and about 10 months after having bought the yarn). Because I want to actually wear these this winter, and because I find colourwork challenging, I decided to set myself an aim and monitor progress regularly. The aim is to knit 5 rounds each day and to write down my progress each day. In addition, I think it will be quite fun to have the story of the progress from the very beginning to the final product, which I will be able to look at even years later. I don’t get paid for my knitting, but if I write about the process in such detail, if I write down every round I make, it seems to somehow acknowledge the value of the time and effort I put into it. So here goes, my diary of knitting my very own pair of Fiddlehead mittens, first five days!
Sunday, October 9
I didn’t have a project to bring to knit group today. I searched frantically for a new project to start half an hour before leaving home, but rushing it like that didn’t work. So I just did some (long overdue) seaming at the group. But after I came home I was still in the crafting mood and suddenly inspiration hit – I would finally start my Fiddleheads! I did the I-cord cast-on (the I-cord looks decent, but the cast-on stitches are huuuuuge and unelastic, any ways to get around that? Since I’m working with a 3mm needle on DK yarn, going down a few needle sizes is not really an option) and 5 rounds of colourwork. I tried using the thimble I bought recently, but gave up very quickly (I couldn’t find a way to tension the yarn, things were just flying all over the place) and took up my method of two-handed colourwork.
Monday, October 10
15 rounds!
Tuesday, October 11
0 rounds
French class after work, then meeting former colleagues visiting from Croatia, came home at midnight and collapsed into the bed immediately.
Wednesday, October 12
Knit group, did 10 rounds with only messing up a few times and noticing it straight away, I’m quite proud of myself for that (though to be honest it was a very quiet group, only about 5-6 people showed up).
Thursday, October 13
0 rounds
I was really looking forward to some nice stitching after French class, but had forgotten that I had a dinner planned with the flatmates. After a few beers colourwork was no longer an option… But since I did a few more intensive days, I’m still averaging around 5 rounds a day, so I’m on schedule!
So, that’s the beginning. And maybe making it even more public like this will give me an additional incentive… ;) Feel free to join in with diaries of your own projects, I’d love to read about everyone’s everyday knitting habits. :)
fridica 
Having taken forever to decide on a project, I started Orchid by Kim Hargreaves. I am knitting it in a fawn colour so thought I would add a border of another colour. 3 colours later I frogged for the 3rd time. I have spent this morning having made all my decisions and got it underway at last. If this is how it is going to be it will be a pretty long and very boring diary :-) now I hear my grandson will be coming for a few days – you can say goodbye to knitting for a while!!
Good luck with your project – Life does get in the way of knitting sometimes, doesn’t it!
I picked up my fiddlehead mittens last weekend after a good year of dwelling on them. I’m on the last repeat before decreasing, but I’m a bit afraid they’ll be a touch short for my long fingers. So far I’ve found them really nice to knit and I can’t wait to wear them! (Well, except for the fact that by the time I can wear them it’s going to be very cold and wintery, which I don’t want at all)
I’m scared mine will be short too, but I’m hoping aggressive blocking will do the trick! I didn’t have a 3.5mm needle handy when I started them so I just went with a 3mm (since everyone is always saying that they come out huge anyway), but now I’m wondering whether there will be room in my mittens for the lining… Blocking to the rescue again? Do you think it’ll work?
Everything I’m working on at the moment is “secret knitting” But I do think I will start to record what I’ve knitted. I think that I get a bit down on myself for not knitting enough, even if it isn’t true.
I do like seeing what you’ve knitted and the reasons you didn’t knit. It does add more worth to the mittens.
i love the idea of a knitting diary. do you “knit in french”? is your knit group french speaking? tricot! :)
Nooo, it’s an expats’ knitting group :) I don’t think I’m ready for knitting in french yet… :)
If I had a daily knitting diary it would like like this: “Monday… didn’t knit. Tuesday… didn’t knit. Etc. Friday… watched loads of TV and haphazardly worked on mom’s shawl.” :) Not a very exciting diary. But, winter is coming and that means I’m picking up the needles more than usual at least.
True, we don’t often have as much time to knit as we’d like to. But… a) having a knitting diary gives me an incentive to create more time to knit every day, which in turn makes me happy b) as one of the other commenters noted, it’s nice to remember the reasons why I don’t knit on certain days. I can look back on my Ravelry project and go “oh, it took me two months to knit Fiddleheads, that’s so slow!” or I can look at my knitting diary and see “ha, I didn’t knit on that day because I spent time with friends” and that turns it from “why am I being so slow” to “I’m doing other happiness-inducing things too”… :))
I love your comment about the happy activities! We need them, don’t we? Whether it is a bit of knitting that makes us happy or something else like the wonderful occasions when we meet friends, go for a meal, see a film in the cinema: it really ought to be about things that make us happy. Happy people pass on the vibe to other people around them, making them happier in turn, and that can make for a whole happier world!
I reckon we should stop feeling guilty about anything (whether it is too little/too much knitting, or whatever our goals are) and just enjoy things in the moment: in the here and now.
Just saying HIIIIIII! Miss you! Hope you fix your lack-of-a-proper-computer-and-photos-ness soon.
Hiiiiiiiii! :)))))))
Good idea with a diary. An idea for another way of doing i-cord cast-on avoiding those large, unelastic stitches (which I also get) is to just knit an ordinary i-cord 1 stitch wider that called for and then using that extra stitch for picking up the stitches to be cast on (picking up through both loops in that extra stitch at the same time).
What a great solution! Definitely doing that next time :)