Growing up in my house, you could often hear my mother
declaring with a defiant pride that any recipe requiring her to “cream the
butter and sugar” would be thrown out.
If you couldn’t melt ‘n’ mix it, it was deemed “too much pfaffing about”! We’d often laugh about it, and it became a
bit of a running premise of our home. Looking
after a family as well as working, Mum wasn’t much one for anything that
required her to pfaff.
In some ways, I’ve recently realised that I’ve taken a part
of this on board in perhaps not such a good way for me via my knitting of late. I’ve noticed I’ve been slowly rejecting more
and more patterns if they call for something such as an unfamiliar cast-on, or
a technique I’m not proficient at. Becoming set in my ways it seems, as the effort required to attempt something
new becomes seen no longer as a challenge but an uncomfortable inconvenience. And all of a sudden, this struck me as rather silly. I had always supposed myself as an
adventurous person, willing to tackle new things in the aim of keeping the mind
active and the creative brain stimulated but in fact I now recognise that I
actually don’t seek being in situations where I’m short of accomplished!
In an effort to rectify this, I decided to actively seek new
skills and embrace the discomfort as part of the process. As luck happened, whilst collecting another
book I had on hold from our local library I glanced quickly at the knitting
section, not expecting much I hadn’t seen before but to my delight I found Socktopus – a collection of beautiful
sock patterns by Alice Yu all using different and interesting stitch patterns
and construction methods.
Socks are a great way to try out a new technique, I
reckon. They’re also great projects to
work on while doing the daily work-commute.
Being small, there is the obvious advantage that they are very portable (especially
when I’m magic-looping - I switched from my beloved dpns to magic after
dropping one tiny dpn in a crowded peak hour carriage one day and having to
scramble awkwardly to retrieve it, amidst legs and bags and looks of annoyance
from those around me) but they also are great sources of different techniques.
My first choice of project from this book was OmShanti. Having been a devout yoga fan for over 15 years, the name immediately drew my
attention. I’ve just
recently returned to a daily practise (which has made me feel so good I
question my thinking of why I ever gave it up?) and these little ankle booties will be perfect for Savasana, when the body
can chill very quickly as it succumbs to mindful peace.
The added bonus was the stitch pattern looked just perfect to
show off some speckled handpaint yarn I’d been squirrelling, and the
construction was one I’d never attempted before. Tick, tick, TICK! all the boxes.
The pattern provided the opportunity to try quite a few
new-to-me techniques so it was perfect. I learnt: toe-up sock using a provisional cast on (love
it!); short row toes and heels in garter stitch (love them!), and Latvian braid
and stranded rib (liked the end result,
but perhaps not enough to warrant the fiddly process!)
The yarn itself is so beautiful. It’s the something sock base from Republic of Wool in the colourway “Thrasher” and the way it knits up in both garter stitch
and the slip stitch pattern nearly makes me weep I love it so much. I’ve had it on hold in the wings for some
time now, just waiting for a good showcase project. This, my friends, is the project! I really do think this is my favourite
pairing of yarn/pattern ever.
This project has also been an excellent summation of a
number of aspects of my life at present; a period of growth on numerous levels;
a beautiful, mindful link to my yoga practise, which has given me so much
solace during a recent stressful and emotional times; and a rediscovery of how
good accomplishment feels even with the accompanying discomfort! We are often reminded in yoga practise that
the very asanas your find yourself resisting are most likely the exact ones you
need. If that isn’t the perfect analogy
on this subject, I don’t know what is.
Discomfort (as distinguished from pain) is not a bad thing every now and then.
Using a special skein of yarn that seemed almost too perfect
to see any pattern and the pure bliss of sitting with a special yarn, and
reflecting on a knitting project as a piece but also a mindful practise, has
been a truly lovely experience.
Every time I look at my feet in these socks, I smile and
feel content. They snug my tootsies in such
a delicious way, and the specks of colour against the mint and dove-grey base
provide many moments of glee as I discover different little harmonies of
colourplay.
How much happiness can be wrapped up in two little booties I
don’t know, but there it is. Pure
delight.
Om Shanti, friends. May your knitting be delightful and your world
contains some peace and contentment this week.
