Apparently I knit socks now. Which is another way of saying, persevering. I have learned how to knit in the round, on double-pointed needles, from a chart, in a fancy pattern.
And this pair in particular has called for some pig-headedness. The first one had several mistakes, and came out too big (I *did* knit a swatch, but clearly not a big enough one); with the second one I lost the game of yarn chicken so had to finish off in a different colour; then I unravelled the first one and started all over again.
Of course, with knitting it’s a choice to keep on going. One could easily put it back in the box and sulk; and quite often I do. With bigger, harder things it isn’t a choice: what else are you going to do? And yet I think we can be proud of ourselves for doing it.
(The pattern is ‘Christmas Eve’ from Niina Laitinen’s ‘Knitted Socks from Finland’, which I borrowed from the library purely on the strength of knowing the translator. I doubt I’ll get it done by Christmas Eve, but I’ve just renewed the book so I have it until 18 January…)
Kathleen Jowitt 