On bad writing days…
…there’s always the comfort of mindless knitting.
Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk…if word gets out about this stuff, you may soon need a prescription to buy it. It’s so damn soft and knits up beautifully.
Yep, I cast on for Lara the other day. She’s keeping me company while I write tonight. I knit a row, bang my head against the desk a few times to shake out a few words, knit another row… When the writing is going well, there’s no time at all for knitting. The fingers just go and my brain gets left way behind. I know I’m writing well when my fingers are moving faster than my brain. If I have time to think, I’m doomed. Well, not doomed, but not writing at my best. The Alpaca Silk doesn’t mind. It’s already told me it loves me no matter how awful my sentences are tonight.
Thanks for all the intarsia advice. I’m leaning toward Claudia’s method of just letting long strands dangle. That’s about my speed. If that doesn’t work out, I think I’ll try the butterflies.
What color is the Alpaca Silk? I have the light blue (Sky).
Posted by: susie
This is gonna sound sooooo dumb, but I never considered knitting while writing. It’s a great idea — something to do while the wheels are spinning (or not spinning, as the case may be).
Posted by: Rachael
Apparently I need to get that morning coffee because when I read “if that doesn’t work, I think I’ll try the butterflies”, I immediately pictured butterflies fluttering about while holding tiny balls of yarn with their legs, a la Cinderella’s mice and birdies. Then I thought, “butterflies fly so erratically, they would bump into each other when they were untwisting the yarn”. Sigh… Thanks for the imagery, I’m going to get that coffee now. It was a pretty image, though, and I’m sure the butterflies would be attracted to brightly coloured yarn .
Posted by: Stephanie VW
What color is the Alpaca Silk? I have the light blue (Sky).
Posted by: susie
This is gonna sound sooooo dumb, but I never considered knitting while writing. It’s a great idea — something to do while the wheels are spinning (or not spinning, as the case may be).
Posted by: Rachael
Apparently I need to get that morning coffee because when I read “if that doesn’t work, I think I’ll try the butterflies”, I immediately pictured butterflies fluttering about while holding tiny balls of yarn with their legs, a la Cinderella’s mice and birdies. Then I thought, “butterflies fly so erratically, they would bump into each other when they were untwisting the yarn”. Sigh… Thanks for the imagery, I’m going to get that coffee now. It was a pretty image, though, and I’m sure the butterflies would be attracted to brightly coloured yarn .
Posted by: Stephanie VW
I should try knitting while writing. I keep thinking, no! No distractions! Which only distracts me more. And somehow I go from in front of the computer writing to measuring the bathroom for the really cool shelves I just designed in my head.
Knitting would at least keep me in my seat.
Posted by: Iris
you’ve got to teach me how to do this. i just play on the internet/google/solitaire between writing sentences.
Posted by: Rebecca
How great would it be to actually *have* Cinderella’s butterflies (no mice please, we’re in NYC) help us with the yarn? That would make the intarsia so much faster!
Mmmmm, alpaca silk….it looks beautiful. Great color!
Posted by: Em
That’s how I write too, almost stream of conciousness, but not quite 🙂
Just letters flowing off of my fingers, how happy was I to get my first laptop and start typing my poetry right off the bat. Mmmmm.
And since my work involves a lot of typing, I often do the same, finish a notice, knit a row, solve a problem, knit two rows =)
Posted by: Amber
Hi Cari – I’ve been reading your blog for awhile, but have never commented before! Anyway I think your blog is cool and interesting – plus you have wicked hair.
I’m going to be starting the Tartan Jacket as well (as soon as my backordered colours come in) and claudia’s suggestion seems like a great idea. Here’s a tip: if you run out of a colour on the long strand, why not just wet-splice the new strand on? It’ll save a lot of time over weaving in a million ends. Good luck!
Posted by: laura
Cari, does that yellow highlighting mean ‘deeply sucky paragraph of semi-outline where I need to get my shit together’? Because if it does, I /so/ recognize it from staring at it on my own screen…
Posted by: marrije
That yarn looks yummy indeed, but is it grey? That doesn’t seem Vari Cari to me. Orange, yes. But grey? Hmm.
I’m eagerly anticipating lots of Tartan Jacket progress photos!
Posted by: alison
I should try knitting while writing. I keep thinking, no! No distractions! Which only distracts me more. And somehow I go from in front of the computer writing to measuring the bathroom for the really cool shelves I just designed in my head.
Knitting would at least keep me in my seat.
Posted by: Iris
you’ve got to teach me how to do this. i just play on the internet/google/solitaire between writing sentences.
Posted by: Rebecca
How great would it be to actually *have* Cinderella’s butterflies (no mice please, we’re in NYC) help us with the yarn? That would make the intarsia so much faster!
Mmmmm, alpaca silk….it looks beautiful. Great color!
Posted by: Em
That’s how I write too, almost stream of conciousness, but not quite 🙂
Just letters flowing off of my fingers, how happy was I to get my first laptop and start typing my poetry right off the bat. Mmmmm.
And since my work involves a lot of typing, I often do the same, finish a notice, knit a row, solve a problem, knit two rows =)
Posted by: Amber
Hi Cari – I’ve been reading your blog for awhile, but have never commented before! Anyway I think your blog is cool and interesting – plus you have wicked hair.
I’m going to be starting the Tartan Jacket as well (as soon as my backordered colours come in) and claudia’s suggestion seems like a great idea. Here’s a tip: if you run out of a colour on the long strand, why not just wet-splice the new strand on? It’ll save a lot of time over weaving in a million ends. Good luck!
Posted by: laura
Cari, does that yellow highlighting mean ‘deeply sucky paragraph of semi-outline where I need to get my shit together’? Because if it does, I /so/ recognize it from staring at it on my own screen…
Posted by: marrije
That yarn looks yummy indeed, but is it grey? That doesn’t seem Vari Cari to me. Orange, yes. But grey? Hmm.
I’m eagerly anticipating lots of Tartan Jacket progress photos!
Posted by: alison