Motivation Matters

I think perhaps it was just the specter of having to watch this movie , but regardless, the Heather Hoodie front has been ripped, re-knit and the pieces are blocking.

Why would the possibility of a documentary on Winged Migration be so motivating? After my last post a creative reader decided to give me just what I asked for: a boring documentary. While I do generally enjoy a certain amount of Nature cinematography, I was warned that this particular documentary was not only boring but depressing. Hmm...what to do?

I sat down with the offending piece of knitting and put on a favorite podcast. It really didn't take me long once I was over the mental block of even looking at it. I told myself that if I couldn't knit and listen to Dori and Val, then Winged Migration it would be. Much to my surprise and enjoyment, I was able to do something I enjoy AND fix the problem!

BUT if you find yourself in a similar situation, and find that pure boredom is the only kind of auditory stimulation you can stand while knitting through a troubling piece, please let me know. You too can join the Sisterhood of the Traveling Documentary. Just say the word and I'll pass it on to you.

You can then be perfectly content. Just like these two.

Heather Hoodie Progress Report

(Or "Why You Shouldn't Knit Cables with Decreases While Watching Flash Forward")

As you may or may not know, I am knitting the Heather Hoodie from the Fall Knit Scene. This is a bulky cable knit hooded cardigan vest in Lamb's Pride Bulky. It should be going along pretty quickly. The back is done and resting quietly at home waiting, impatiently, for the front halves.

With a somewhat uncharacteristic bit of determination I pledged to myself to knit nothing else until it was finished. I got one half done pretty quickly. They really are very narrow pieces and #10 needles are plenty big. This just shouldn't be taking so long. One side done! Good.


Then my youngest daughter came home from school explaining to us in minute detail about a new series on tv that her English teacher was telling them about (a wonderful teachable moment to illustrate the meaning of the vocabulary word "eerie"). She was eager to watch it. So we hooked my laptop up to the tv and watched the episodes to date on Hulu. She show was GOOD. The knitting; not so good.

Clearly I need to watch more boring television!

How did I do this? I looked only at my notes and never got out a tape measure or the other half of the sweater. My notes said I began decreasing on row 14 of the cable pattern. But with the excitement of the tv program I was in a rush to get to the good part and failed to notice that I needed one more full pattern repeat before decreasing on row 14. *sigh*

A little trip to the frog pond will be in order soon...

But for now, I'm soothing my knitting nerves with the Fake Isle Hat Pattern. Maybe with a minor success under my belt I can face the re-knitting of the right front of the Heather Hoodie!