In the past month, I’ve started knitting an hour a day on Kevin’s fisherman sweater. Combine that with adding those walks in my to do list, it sounds like I’m committing myself to a lot these days. I mean just those two things take up more than two hours of my day.
But I’m learning that’s how you get things done.
I would not call myself a finisher. I have way more fun starting projects or preparing to start them than I do while I’m in the thick of them. And it hasn’t been until recently that I realized that’s why I feel like I never get anything done.
A few weeks ago, the ladies of my knitting circle asked about my progress on the sweater Kevin asked me to knit for him last year. I started it in October, and when they asked, I had maybe seven inches of the back panel done. (For reference, I need 27.25 inches for it to be the right size.)
I immediately started making excuses to keep the shame at bay. It’s not mindless knitting. Holding the cable is awkward and frustrating. I have to read this chart. Have you seen this chart?
Anne, the organizer of our circle and my wise friend, quietly listened to all of my excuses and told me she understood. Then she asked me to spend one hour a day on just that sweater for a week.
Now, if you’ve never been to a knitting circle before, they don’t usually give out homework. But I left that day thinking about my assignment with just the slightest chip on my shoulder that I turned into determination.
For a week, I timed myself each day and worked on his sweater. I was averaging about six rows per hour. I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere.
The next week at knit night, I pulled out the panel for show and tell. With an errant tape measure, Anne measured it out. I had finished in one week what took me eight months to knit. And I was hooked.
Since then, I’ve been knitting one hour every day (even on our mini vacation to the mountains) just on that sweater. And, you know what, I think I’ll have it done in time for winter.
Sure, I’m making great progress on the sweater, but it’s also teaching my a valuable lesson that I find myself having to learn over and over again. If I’m always darting from project to project, fun beginning to fun beginning, I’m only going to have half-finished sweaters and mediocre success. And while yes, the next sweater I have planned is going to be BEAUTIFUL in the yarn that I picked out. I will have so much more confidence making it knowing that I have a finished, Kevin-sized cable knit sweater under my belt.