It starts out the same way: there's a glimpse in the distance. Beautiful. You approach. There's a feeling in the pit of your stomach, the ache of desire. You want to touch, to hold, to caress, to believe that against all odds something that beautiful belongs to you. You get closer. You meet. You take the first tentative steps of your relationship together. And then ... something changes. Sometimes right away, but maybe after a few weeks, or months. You thought everything was perfect, but you realise it's not. You'd been fooling yourself, and you have to break up.
Because no matter how beautiful someone is on the outside, if they drink too much, or they don't respect you, or they're lazy, or they don't think reading is time well spent, or (in the case of a fiber arts project) if they just aren't fun to knit or crochet, then it's time to let go.
I spent (cough) a considerable sum of money on my latest crochet project. Emboldened by my only crochet project thus far, the enormously fun and complicated Sophie's Universe, I decided crochet project #2 would be Bohemian Blooms. I'd even see it in person (twice now!) and it's lovely. I ordered all the yarn, got the right sized hook, and I was off-and-running.
Except, I wasn't quite. I couldn't grasp back-and-forth crochet (I'd only ever done crochet in the round before), and the cotton was tight and unyielding, and the weight was light and the hook was small. And I had to carry yarn up the sides. And the stitches were boring. And the instructions were in UK terminology (crochet terms are completely different in the UK and US BUT THEY USE THE SAME WORDS! Imagine trying to cook if "sauté" meant "boil in water" and a tablespoon was the size of a one cup ...) And then I'd have to crochet several of the same panels, which seemed vastly more tedious than changing it up every round like I had with Sophie's Universe. I went to Europe without my crochet project, and when I returned, I was downhearted to think I had barely begun to create this horrible, unfun throw, and yet had to continue, for months to come. Or did I? Could I break up with Bohemian Blooms?
Yes. Yes I could. Sadly, I'd bought all this yarn (7% of my yarn pictured below, resting on the reasonably-priced pattern book I'd also purchased):
How could I walk away from a bazillion skeins of KnitPicks' cotlin in various colours?
Easily. In economic circles this is known as a sunk cost. If you buy, say, a skirt, and you hate it (and we'll pretend it's unreturnable), well, whether you wear the skirt or not, you've spent the money. Why on earth would you wear something you hate, when it cost the same amount of money to not wear it. Sunk costs are the spilled milk of the economics world, there's no point crying over them. You move on.
And in this case, I could use the Cotlin for a different crochet project! So I unravelled the BB throw (well, the paltry 5 inches x 2 inches I had done so far over 3 months) and began a new blanket, the Atlanticus.
Hated it.
Unravelled it.
You know what? Some yarns just aren't meant to be crocheted with. I'm setting them aside, and one day I'll knit something light and refreshing with my cotton/linen-blend yarns. And I'm going to feel fabulous about it! And it's always possible I'm just a one-crochet-pattern guy, and that's okay.
In the mean time, I've begun my Vairisle Hat using yarn from Fidalgo and from Twisted Fiber Arts. And I'm loving it. So much. And as God is My Witness, I'll Never Knit or Crochet Anything That Makes Me Miserable Again!
The colours are so luscious together, and the yarn so soft (I know, there's more to life than soft yarn, and too soft is dangerous, but I think this will hold together nicely). I'm trying out shadow wraps for the short row method, so there's a little bit of a challenge, but I like a little challenge each project.
Off the Needles
Yes, the Stephen West Cowlyoke is at last complete, and I love it to piece (but won't wear it 'til winter). Your head goes into the large end (the yoke) and pokes out the small end (the cowl), and then the yoke spreads over your shoulders, and the cowl collapses around your neck:
(It also makes an amazing skirt for an 8-year old).
On the Needles (and actively being worked on):
Itineris Shawl (I'll pretend it's a scarf. I'm midway through the fourth repeat)
A swatch of stockinette in white worsted (third of three needle sizes) for my Master Knitting Course
Caldwell Vest (halfway through armhole shaping on the back)
Persian Dreams Blanket (round 6 of Hexagon 9)
Gone Forever:
Bohemian blooms