shawl, yarn, and ideas
Super quick snapshot of my desk today.
In the center is the shawl I’ve been working on, being watched by the masquerade mask that sits on top of a pile of shawls at the corner of my desk.
Under that are two skeins of malabrigo lace (which I love using) for a new shawl.
At the bottom of the photo, notes for the third bit of the Shawl Geometry series.
And the post-it note peaking out of the corner, is just the beginning of a whole wall of post-it notes all filled with ideas and reminders.
Love swatching because it’s awesome, not because you should.
Every knitter knows they should swatch.
We know we should swatch to get gauge.
We know we should wash and block our swatches.
We know we should use swatching to try out new techniques.
We know we should embrace swatching for these, and a million and a half other reason.
Seriously, we get that we should like it (or at least embrace it.)
But most of us don’t.
And I suspect most of us don’t love swatching precisely because we should.
Tell me to love something because I should, and watch how quickly I don’t.
And I suspect I’m not the only one.
The thing is,
I adore swatching.
love it, love it, love it, love it, love it.
But not because I should.
And not because it tells me my gauge.
I love swatching because it’s awesome, and because you can’t screw it up.
With a project you’re knitting towards a finished object, and there are plenty of ways to mess that up.
But with swatches you’re knitting towards an idea, and the only way to mess that up is to not get it perfect this time. But there’s always next time.
Swatches are about playing, and experimenting, and exploring.
Swatches are a space to play in. They give you the freedom to explore, and the permission to experiment.
If your shawl (or garment) is a canvass. Then swatches are pages in your sketch book, the sketches that aren’t the final piece, and may not resemble the final piece at all, but are just as important precisely because they’re not the final piece.
There is no wrong in swatching. There is no “not good enough.” There are no catastrophes. There are now blow ups.
There is no such thing as a “failed swatch,” because there is nothing to fail. It’s just a swatch.
There are no shoulds in swatching.*
Which is precisely why I love it.
There are no shoulds in swatching.
Swatching is about playing, experimenting, and exploring.
*including, whether or not you should swatch for any given project.
“This post is part of the Exploration Party – a celebration of our inner explorers, led by Tara Swiger of Explore You. You can find other tales of adventure from artists, crafters, writers and biz smarties – and share your own story – right here.”
Hello Friday: sunshine, writing, changing the shawls
This week there was:
- crap. crappy-crap, crap, crap.
- sucky workey things.
- but also a new shawl! That is not Eastery.
- and a post about colors.
- and sunshine.
- and writing.
- and I changed the pile of shawls on my desk.
Next week:
- will not be this week.
- a thing with Tara.
- more knitting.
- more writing.
- more shawls.
I’m playing with a (non sucky) Friday ritual.
I’d love to hear any thoughts or ideas, your Friday ‘rituals’ if you have them. You’re totally welcome to look at your week, past or future, here (or on your own.)
But either way, be nice, and I’d rather not have shoulds. ie. “you should…”
