I am not the world’s fastest knitter – far from it, in fact. Knitting is about process for me: the feel of yarn between my fingers, the repetitive motion of the needles, the time spent with friends talking over projects in progress, the meditative state of knitting alone. Even though I feel like I finish so few projects, I really do love to knit.
On Ravelry, a website that is a mix of social networking and knitting/crocheting resources, there is a community for people who are participating in IntSweMoDo – the International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathon. In other words, it’s a group of people who are planning on knitting at least 12 sweaters in a year. One of the girls from my knitting group participated in this last year, and somehow, over the course of discussing it at knitting and looking through many, many photos of 2010′s completed sweaters, I decided that it would be a good idea for me to join as well.
As you may or may not know, I’ve spent the past two months completing my yoga teacher training (aka one of the best ways I’ve ever spent my time and money), which has left me with minimal free time. So far, I’ve completed one sweater, and as you can see here, I have two more in progress. That puts me at 3.5 months in with about 2.5 completed sweaters. The sweater at the top, Through the Keyhole, is about 90% there since mine will have short sleeves; the one to the right, Lace Leaf Pullover, is somewhere around 50-60% done.
I certainly still have a chance of hitting 12, though if I’m being realistic, I won’t make enough time to knit to get there. So why participate at all, then?
Because every stitch gets me closer to a completed sweater. Even if the goal is lofty, I’ll still end up with at least a few lovely, handmade garments by December 31, 2011. Because I love playing with colors and textures. Because it’s fun to learn how to adapt patterns so that they fit the way I like. I’m thin and have absurdly long arms, so every sweater I knit means another sweater that will fit my torso and have sleeves that reach my wrists.
And, most importantly, because in the end, it’s about the process, and I love that.
2 Comments
Process IS the key. I am “not a fast knitter” either, so I even set a goal this year – of four items.
Congratulations and much luck on the yoga teacher training!
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Kat Reply:
April 18th, 2011 at 9:01 am
Hooray for goals! I think a four item goal is excellent. It’s nice to know that eventually you’ll have a few finished knitted items, then.
Thank you! Maybe I’ll get some baking and cooking done again now that teacher training is over!
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