Limbo

I can't decide what to knit next, so I'm working on a sock. While I like idea of designing my own jacket, the whole creative process intimidates me. I work at a job that requires a great deal of mental effort, and I'm enough of a process knitter to want to knit something that will relax me at the end of the day. In such a case, having a good pattern to follow is a treat. On the other hand, I get a great deal of satisfaction from creating something new, but the cost is a whole lot of effort and frustration.

Other thought processes get involved when I'm trying to pick a project. There's the suitability of the project to the season. I know I can only knit light projects in the summer, so I should do my heavy sweaters now. But somehow I'm tempted to knit lace in January. Then there's the color issue. Do I want blue, red, green or that pretty variegated that has all of them in it? I also have a back list of projects I'd like to get to "someday". Perhaps today is someday. But which one? There's so many.

It's tiring having so many ideas swirling around in my head. So last night I decided to work on stress reduction and I knit a sock. It is simply patterned, in a gorgeous yarn, hand dyed in beautiful colors. As I went round and round on my sock, I thought, perhaps this is what I need to learn from my knitting today. I need to appreciate what's before me, rather than jumping ahead to the next thing. I need to go with the flow of my life and not try to shape it into what I think it should be.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm waiting for the irresistible urge to cast on. I'm waiting for the project that captures my imagination and steals my heart. In the mean time, there are always socks...