Wednesday 30 May 2012

Knit Tag

The lovely Hilde, has tagged me with some questions. Well, thats one way to get me to post Hilde, thanks lovely, I had not at first realised how long its been since my last post.

So without further ado.....here are the questions....

1. Are you always happy with your FO's (finished objects)?

Rarely as a matter of fact. I am extremely self critical when in comes to my knitting and/or crochet projects. Or in fact anything creative I take up. I am not sure why but I will see something in my mind and if it is not exact, well, it just does not look right to me! Regardless of how many people around me tell me how wonderful it looks. 

I am working on this bad habit and trying not be this way but its a bit of an old habit so is dying hard. My attitude has tended to lean towards thinking "well that will have to do" rather than " this looks great", and I settle with that, lest I never get things finished.  My biggest problem is imperfect seams. You know when you can see the stitching? Which is most of the time. LOL Someone just slap me already. 


2. Are you sometimes so disappointed that you frog everything and start a new project?
Why? Colour? Yarn? Making? Too small? Too large?

Of course, however most frogging happens here quite by accident. Usually because I underestimated the yarn requirements or the pattern was too boring to keep me interested, or I did not like the pattern once I started knitting it. (Like one of the jumpers I am supposedly knitting right now. It should have been finished ages ago but  I am really not loving the second part of the pattern and finding it hard to want to pick it up - sigh). Generally its my habit of starting yet another project and forgetting to get on with the ones I already started. And of course it the project is for me, there is no rush is there?  Sad but true. I have no less than 6 frogged items right now that I really should finish but am lacking the time and inclination to do so right now. Hmmm

3. Do you wear your knits or do they end up at the bottom of a cupboard? If so, why?
How do they age after being washed and worn?

Yes I do! On the rare occasions when I actually finish something for myself that someone else does not see and love so much I just have to let them have it, that is! Last year I actually kept one of the beanies I made for myself, only the one, the others were claimed. LOL And I have this jumper that I love, made from Patons Zhivago, been in the washing machine over and over and still kept its shape although its starting to wear just a little after about 5 years. I wear it to death in winter as it is so warm. So really its not doing too bad. 

4. Do you always make a swatch?

Ummm NO, As much as I see the use of this, I find that my mind thinks "theres a whole twenty minutes where I could have worked on the project!". The only time I have ever tried this was with my Amiga Cowl as I wanted to test needle and hook sizing. I only ended up testing the hook and a few different yarns. BUT this was so I could see if the thicker yarns etc would work so others could use them not really for my own benefit. 

5. Finally, would you rather work with some yarns you know well rather than others to avoid bad surprises?

A bit of both I think. I am a bit of a pure wool lover and love nothing more than to work with soft pure wool or cotton. However, I am not against trying new yarns or using things like ribbon for different effects etc. I do have my favourite all rounder yarns and of course my favourite company because their yarn is soft and lovely and extremely affordable. Their service so far has been impeccable too. Very helpful and prompt service from the staff. So if I can get what I need from them, I call them first. However, they don't sell variegated yarn of which I am a bit of a fan so I get that elsewhere and am often found sifting through op-shops to see what is up for grabs at bargain prices. 


I guess avoiding bad surprises is par for the course. You learn as you go. I am currently knitting a project with acrylic yarn that is very soft and that I was prompted to buy by sales staff. I am feeling however a little uneasy with the results which are far from perfect compared to pure yarn. Hmmm here I go being self critical again. I will at least finish it before I start going down that path. 


Now, I am not going to tag anyone today but if you feel like answering these questions. Feel free! 


Have a wonderful day everyone. Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox


 

2 comments: