Earlier this week I mentioned two unfinished pairs of socks that have been floating around in my mind since 2008. Apparently they are affecting me so strongly that I have been unable to knit any socks since then. I’ve knit hats and mittens and scarves and tea cozies and shawls. But no socks. I think there is a roadblock in my mind that is saying I need to wrap those projects up before I can embark on something similar. Or perhaps the fact that I failed on two counts makes me feel like I just can’t knit socks successfully, which is dumb since I’ve made four complete pairs in the past. So, I’ve decided to frog my mom’s sock (I didn’t get that far anyway). Someday I will use that yarn and start again with a different pattern. As for the cabled sock that was to be mine? It is very unlikely that I could make its mate to match at this point, so it will just remain as it is: one lone sock.
I don’t want these two pairs of socks to continually prevent me from making new socks. They will no longer hold me down. Onward!
Question: How do “UFOs” – unfinished objects – affect you? Do you feel obligated to finish one project before starting another? Do you have many projects going at once? What’s the oldest unfinished project you have still lingering?
I typically finish my projects… But I do find that if I have an unfinished blanket or something I can’t make another blanket until that one is finished. I can take a break and make something else though… I have to say, that weird mitten thing i was telling you about that i was making for Anthony? Well I finished it last night and he is insistent that he doesn’t need another one and it’s bothering the heck out of me since he will be wearing a Northface (or whatever) glove on one hand, and the special mitten thing I made him on the other. It seems to wrong and incomplete. But it’s what he wants…
Isn’t it funny how our brains work like that? Even though he just wants one mitten, you know they come in pairs! Maybe you should just make the other one whether he wants it or not. And I am very curious to see it! I think Rich is asking for something similar to wear when he’s shooting. I’ve seen them where the pointer finger is separate from the remaining fingers, so you end up with three sections. Hey, why don’t you go buy some gloves? (cuz I ain’t makin them!)
I’ve had a similar hold-up on socks the past six months or so, too. I tried a few new … more challenging … patterns, and several in a row failed me, for various reasons. I’ve not been drawn to making socks since then, even though I love knitting socks. The one pair I did knit in that timeframe had me pretty scared, and it wasn’t fun, either.
That makes me sad! But that’s pretty much how I feel about the lattice work I tried to do on my mom’s sock. It looked good, but it caused me so much anguish.