Rift has been in my hands often in the past couple of weeks. I think I expected to have made a little more progress at this point, somehow forgetting that I have a full-time job, two kids, a husband, and an active social life as well. In my brain I sometimes live in a knitting paradise where I’m able to gather with a group of friends and knit to my heart’s content for hours of the day. Sounds like I need a knitting retreat.
In the meantime…I’ll knit when I can and treasure the balance it brings to my sanity when it happens. Maybe some of you feel this way. I get positively frazzled if I don’t get to knit at all during a day. It feels like someone poured boiling hot water over my brain and agitated it until it felted. My expectations for being able to knit for hours of the day have long ago waned, but I must put yarn to needles at some point during the day to really feel like I’m engaging in good self-care. I carry a project (or sometimes two) everywhere. I knit at work during meetings and that actually gets me more total knitting time during the week than I usually get on the weekends.
Oh, right. The sweater. Rift is lovely so far. It’s not a brain teaser as it’s mostly stockinette, but it’s like pulling out a book you’ve read time and time again and still love. I am loving the Shelter (color=Faded Quilt) so far. I decided I would have to add some length to the body and I fretted over having enough yarn, so I called Knit Purl where I purchased it and they luckily still had a few of the dye lot. By the way, if you are a new subscriber and join their mailing list you get 15% off your next purchase. That’s a great thing when buying a sweater’s worth of yarn! The single extra ball is on it’s way and I can continue with a more relaxed outlook. 
I think the ribbing took me about two weeks all by itself because I was finishing Z’s Bitty Breezy and only working on this at home at night between kid bedtime and my not-long-after crash. The tiny teal flecks in the tweed are my favorite.
Now I have to get to work and go knit in a meeting. Hurrah for a gentle start to the day.
I am so jealous you get to knit in meetings! They would freak if I pulled out the socks I am working on and started to knit during a meeting. But break time is needle time for me 🙂 Loving your sweater.
Maybe you should test it sometime… I’m a therapist and a lot of my meetings include wellness as a topic so that helps. No one has ever seemed to mind!
Isn’t it a great trick to knit at meetings? I love it, and people did make comments at first, but now they are used to it, in fact I think they enjoy watching it sometimes. Certainly they all are interested in what I am working on at any time. 🙂 Yes, a knitting retreat does sound fabulous… I read about them and dream…
I agree with you about that creeping ick that comes with not knitting during the day. Need it! Love the sweater and the more rustic yarn–it’s beautiful! Well done!
Enjoy!
Wow. I am amazed at how much you Moms get done in a day! My hat is off to you!
I feel the same way with my knitting, I don’t get many uninterrupted hours but I do have to do a bit every day. Knitting during work meetings is essential!
I get what you are saying. My son said I sounded depressed when he talked to me the other day. No, not depressed I told him. More like frustrated that I haven’t been able to knit for two days. One day missed, ok I can deal with that (maybe). Two days missed and I’m a miserable little camper. Hehe, I do like the “felted brain” analogy.
You and I have very similar thoughts about our knitting! I love knitting in meetings and really think it made me a much more productive contributor at meetings in my old school district. Unfortunately the current admin is not down with knitting in meetings, so I tend to wind up doodling or fidgeting distractedly instead. Teachers are just not good at sitting quietly for extended periods!
I feel ‘ya. It seems like there’s never enough time to knit as much as I want to.
I feel the same way!! When I spend a day without knitting (like Wednesday), I feel all at sixes and sevens and can’t settle down. When I got home from work yesterday and was able to spend about an hour working on a project, it was like my whole body exhaled and relaxed 🙂 Glad to know I’m not the only one!!
While I would never get away with knitting in an actual meeting, I admit knitting is the only thing that gets me through a nice, long teleconference!
Beautiful Stitching! I have just learnt how to knit and am loving it! I hope to one day make my own sweater as pretty as yours looks!
Aw, thanks!