Words about contentment inspired this series that celebrates ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. Join me in the comments and share what you've done with what you have.
So, you remember that time, back in the heat of summer, when I talked about that three week trip coming up, and which yarn I'd be taking to knit along the way, and remember how I'd decided to take my small stash seriously and see what I could use that I already had? Of course you remember.
The yarn I took was some I'd opened at Christmas, the softest baby alpaca from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas. And the pattern I'd chosen to knit with it was the lovely Autumn Vines Beret. This would be a bit of something new for me, with cable (which I'd done) and lace (which I hadn't) mixed together in that beautiful leaf pattern, and, I reasoned, what better time to have a go at something new, to mount a bit of a challenge, than during open-ended vacation time?
I cast on and began.
Consulting with YouTube whenever I came upon a stitch I didn't know, I went slowly along, studying the pattern, then carefully following. I put hours into it. The hat grew under my efforts and I could see the pattern emerge. But then, I realized something.
I wasn't enjoying it.
Every stitch seemed to greedily take from me and give only slightly in return. Counting, checking the pattern, looking at my work to see if I was still on track. Counting again. The relaxed, methodical rhythm I was used to experiencing with my knitting needles was replaced by a choppy, misaligned gait that put my nerves on edge and made the back of my neck ache. Then, I somehow messed up the pattern, my stitch count was off, and the whole affair sat shut up in the zippered pouch for a good while upon returning home.
Because it's hard for me to think about ripping stitches out that I've spent so much time knitting together, I considered forging ahead, taking the mess to the ladies at the local yarn shop to see if they could help me find my way out of the woods.
But then I paused, and realized something else. I'd been doing what I could with what I didn't have. I didn't have cables and lace in me right now. I didn't have the brainspace for a knitterly challenge. I simply didn't have the rhythm of this one.
I ripped out the stitches and wound the yarn back into a ball.
Recently, I cast on with the same yarn for a far more simple beret (from this book). This time, I'm knitting with what's familiar and as sweet as a long exhale - 1 x 1 rib, stockinette stitch, simple increases and decreases.
Sometimes we need to learn something new, to meet the challenge, to add to our reservoir of knowledge and skill. At other times, we simply need to do what we can with what we have.
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