When's It Time to Start Over? A Question for the Crafter and for Life

Any crafter knows, sometimes that wonderful idea you had in your head doesn’t work out exactly the way you envisioned it.  You can tell early on, too – those first few stitches, cuts of fabric, swashes of paint.  But maybe if you tweak it, maybe if you carry on, it’ll magically become what you imagined.  Or maybe it won’t, and you’ll have a disappointing mess.

Thus, you are faced with the question of whether to keep on going, because you’ve started and invested your time, materials, energy, or do you start all over again and accept the lost investment, but hopeful for the thing you actually wanted.

This may seem a deep philosophical question for the events that come up in your life. That college choice, your job, a relationship.  There’s many choices we make in life that seemed like a great idea when we started, but somewhere along those first few steps, we get clear signals that we were not going to be happy with the end results.

For today, however, this is a pretty basic question. Should I keep on with this poncho/shawl plan I had for this orange yarn, because it’s not looking as cute as I had originally thought it would or do I unravel it and start all over again on a new design, one that I may like better and actually wear more? Do I continue with the one that may be easier, the poncho, because it's my own design so I can be creative and no one can tell me that it's wrong, or with the one that may be a little harder because it's from a pattern, which by the way is written in Russian with a basic pattern chart.  Such is the question of the crocheter.

Poncho in progress - my own design 

The other option - a summer shawl

Since I have two skeins, I’m gong to start option number two (the shawl) and see whether I like that any better than the poncho.

Life isn’t always like that, you can’t always follow two parallel paths until one is the obvious choice.  Sometimes you have to make a definite choice and be ready to start over if you have to.  Or stick with your choice and make the best of it.  But back to my yarn…

I’m carrying it around with me and will work on a few more rows, then decide. Either way, I guess I’m going to have to unravel one or the other.

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It's Cold: The Case for Fingerless Gloves (or Mittens)

Why wear gloves without fingers when it's cold outside?  

This was my thought when I first came across this concept of fingerless gloves a few years ago.  (And as an aside, I'm not sure why they are considered gloves, rather than mittens; since they are fingerless, how do you know which they are?  Something to think about over coffee.)  It didn't make a whole lot of sense, but since I found a pretty easy pattern for a pair and I could use some practice in making things in the round, I gave it a try.  And now, as it's getting cold, I'm making another pair (probably my 3rd or 4th.)

As for the yarn - don't you just love this natural color?  It's the actual color of the sheep that is was shorn from.  I bought these skeins last year in a little needlepoint shop in Middleburg, Virginia when I went out there for dinner at Salamander Inn (oh, you didn't know I can find a yarn shop anywhere, anytime?)  Gum Tree Farm is located nearby.

So, back to the gloves - why fingerless?

Because gloves with fingers are great, but sometimes they get in the way of doing stuff.  You have to stop, pull them off to push buttons on the ATM, sign the little credit card screen, count on your money, dial the phone.

When you go inside somewhere - the store, the school, the library - you look like a bank robber if you keep your gloves on, as if you are being careful not to leave fingerprints.  But with fingerless gloves, nobody cares.

Sometimes it's cold inside, too.  I was at school all last week and my hands were freezing. I don't know how the teachers and kids can stand it.  I wanted to put on another layer of socks and cursed the days I forgot my gloves.  But I was working the book fair, so I did need access to my fingers to write, ring up books, count money.  In my own home office space, sometimes its cold, too, 'til the heat kicks in.

There's a theory that you only need to keep your wrists warm to keep your whole hands warm.  Something about keeping that pulse point in your wrist covered, keeps the blood going to your fingers warm.  I'm not sure I agree with that yet, but I'll throw it on the list for now, in case it works for someone.

And most important for a crocheter or knitter - they are quick and easy to make!  There's gazillion patterns out there and you can make them as simple or as fancy as you want.  Simply - it's a long tube with a hole for your thumb.  If you are an experienced crocheter/knitter, you might be able to figure this out on your own.  If you need help, of course you can check Ravelry and Pinterest for ideas.

(Note, I also have a pair of toeless socks for the primary purpose of getting a pedicure in the winter, not messing up my nail polish, but keeping the rest of my feet warm.)

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