MISTAKE.
I quickly discovered that a complicated cable stitch pattern with an 18-row repeat was NOT the way to go for someone who has trouble remembering a 5-item grocery list.
This gets even iffier if you are crafting during something to which you are supposed to be paying attention, such as:
1) A lecture2) A sermon
3) A 12-Step meeting
4) A sporting event
5) A movie (a major problem, seeing as this is in the dark)
I could continue on, ad infinitum, seeing as we yarn and thread people have discovered any number of venues at which to practice our craft on the fly.
The point here is to bring along something that is relatively easy to do, so that you can pay attention to the activity at hand. I find projects that involve endless rows of stockinette stitch, garter stitch, or single crochet are ideal candidates for this. These are the sort of projects where one is in serious danger of death by boredom, unless they are executed while listening to a lecture, a sermon, a movie, etc. Also, projects like these make it easier to get into "the zone"—that perfect synergy of creating while taking in the world around you that we crafters know only too well.
In addition to long, drawn-out cable patterns, other public no-nos include:1) Projects that require that you follow a pattern, whether it be on paper or on a pdf file off your laptop, eReader, or PDA.
2) Projects that require multiple color changes.
3) Projects where you are unfamiliar with the stitches and/or the technique—for instance, don't pick the next baseball game to decide you'd like to experiment with DPNs.
4) Fair Isle Knitting, unless you are REALLY good at it. There is a woman I know who can not only do this and listen—she can do this and TALK at the same time. Usually, for us mere mortals, this goes back to #1 above (following a pattern).
Happy KIP-ing and CIP-ing!*2) Projects that require multiple color changes.
3) Projects where you are unfamiliar with the stitches and/or the technique—for instance, don't pick the next baseball game to decide you'd like to experiment with DPNs.
4) Fair Isle Knitting, unless you are REALLY good at it. There is a woman I know who can not only do this and listen—she can do this and TALK at the same time. Usually, for us mere mortals, this goes back to #1 above (following a pattern).
*KIP = Knit in Public and CIP = Crochet in Public
I'm going on a vacation this weekend and I'm taking dishcloth fixings with me. Last year I finished an afghan on vacation because it was a gift for someone I was visiting. Boy, what a headache!
ReplyDelete