Letters 20

Hi there,

I finished knitting attempt #2 of a top that I previously had to completely pull apart and start all over again. Because I'm still very much a newbie it took me some time to be able to see the mistake I was making, but once I knew it was impossible to un-see it (if you are a knitter then the term "rowing out" might mean something to you). It had taken me weeks to get to that point in the pattern, and it was so tempting to just keep going and hope it wouldn't look that bad. Part of me just really wanted to get to the end result.

If the point of this exercise was completely just to have a knit top to wear, I could have bought something with a click of a button without all this effort (and probably much cheaper too). But I wanted a cosy hobby, to learn to knit a garment I would actually wear, and the process is the entire point.

From this perspective, discovering my problem and figuring out a solution (combination knitting, for any knitters out there struggling with rowing) was not a setback but a breakthrough. I had to go backwards and pull it all apart and start again, and I'm so glad I did. It still isn't perfect, but it's the most ambitious thing I've ever knitted and definitely earned its place in my wardrobe.

I feel like there is a constant push to go faster, optimise, get to the finish line. Choosing to do something that is painfully slow and relishing the process is a necessary balance. Taking the time to go backwards and redo something because I've learned how to make it better, rather than racing to a mediocre finished product that would have inevitably sat in the back of a drawer unworn. There is time.

I think I'll put down my knitting needles and get back to painting more now that the weather is warming up again, although I keep seeing very tempting summer projects!

Have you been making fun anything lately?

Other things

• I have been reading Isaac Asimov's The Complete Robot, which feels very relevant despite most of the short stories being written over 50 years ago.

• I finally finished Sketchbook 16, my Singapore travel journal, and filmed a flip through video!
  

• Earlier this year I really wanted a simple, printable calendar to stick on my fridge. I couldn't find what I wanted so I made a little web app with some customisable bits that I've had fund experimenting with. I did use generative AI for the code side of things, as a bit of an experiment. You can play around with it here: T's Calendar
  

See you next time!

Teresa

P.S. You might also be interested in what I’m up to Now.