Monday, September 11, 2006

Pssst!

You wanna see what I've been knitting for Matt's winter solstice gift? Here's a sneakpeek of what I have gotten done so far. It's Durrow from Magknits in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (#119 Licorice). (Photographing cables in black tweed on a stormy day may not have been the best idea). I think he's going to love it.

Recently Heather of the Yarn Liberation Front and the Mothlady asked me a couple questions:

Roughly how much time per day do you spend knitting??
and
Are you knitting anything else at the same time, or are you a one project at a time kinda girl?

Ok, I get asked the first one a lot. The answer is some days not at all (really!) and on other days up to 8 hours. Most work days I average somewhere around 3 hours. This is when I get home from work, knit for an episode of The Simpsons, cook dinner, play with the cats, then settle in for knitting for the night. I have a lot of time to knit since a) we have no kids and b) my husband is in graduate school working in the labs a lot. On weekends I knit as much as possible, usually around 5 or 6 hours a day, but it really depends on if we have other plans. I do not knit in public except for when I'm at my knitting group. I am told I am a speedy knitter so I think that contributes to the amount of finished projects I produce.

As for how many projects I knit at any given time, this may be the one area of my life that I have shown any level of discipline. I really try to control how much is on the needles and for the most part I succeed. My knitting project philosophy is to always have the following on the needles, no more, no less:

1) A complicated project such as a cabled sweater or lace shawl;
2) Socks - Always one pair at a time. I attempt to never cast on for a new pair until the old pair is finished; and
3) A simple project to knit at group night or when my brain is tired and I don't want to think (often this doubles as my sock knitting, but this may also be a simple sweater or scarf).

At any given time I try not to have more than 5 things going. This number comes from projects being in various stages, i.e., swatching, knitting, and finishing. (The picture above is going to be my next pair of socks. The yarn is Koigu KPPPM #P704. Sorry for the bad photo. Dreary weather here.)

So, was that more information than you ever needed about my knitting habits? :)

How about all of you? How much do you knit a day?

3 comments:

kathy b said...

Well Alyssa....since you asked!

Some days not at all, 12 hour workshifts disallow stitchwork. Some days a few hours total. I think I knit more than I actually do......
BUt I post often and try to give feedback to otherbloggers too, this to me is part of knitting also.

I try to keep only two projects at a time going. I am currently out of control. 5 on needles right now.......many near completion. One just started......

Liz said...

That was fascinating! Really, truly, I feel much better now, since on a good day I probably knit for about an hour and lately not at all, due to "studying for the test." (I know you're all sick to death of hearing about it) I've promised myself I can knit indiscriminate amounts once I pass the test. Maybe I can even knit as much as you! Not!

Mothlady said...

I knit when I watch tv, so it's usually two hours max per day. Some days I don't have the time to knit at home, but I do a lot of knitting on buses and trains.

The silk shrug looks great. I wouldn't mind doing 29 inches of stockinette right now ;)