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auld land syne mitts and an experiment - a Friend to knit with

auld land syne mitts and an experiment

Friday, January 24, 2014

So, let's chat.

I'm curious to know how your brain functions when you are knitting.  Are you focused on your knitting and find it easy to sit and knit and do nothing else?  Or do you stop at every thought and act upon it?  

Last week, after finishing my first mitt, I was leafing through the book and noticed the "knitted gifts planning guide" which gives an estimate of how long a project should take.  These mitts are in the category of "4 hours or less". 

4 hours or less!  No.  Way.  It took me all week to make one mitt.  There is no way possible that it would have taken one mitt 2 hours.  No.  Way.  
So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and challenge that estimated time calculation.  
I gathered everything I needed, including tea and excluding my phone, purposely leaving it in the other room.  I sat down at the kitchen table and cast on for the second mitt.  

To say this was painful is an understatement.  It was torture.   The voices in my head started.  "Oh, I need to text Shelly."  "Hmm.  Who's teaching tomorrow's yoga class?"  "What year was Beetoven born?" "Who just text me?"  "I want to look at instagram."  "How many minutes per day should I be practicing piano?" "What is the balance in my checking account?" "I should really be calling mom."  "Oh shoot, I should have put those clothes in the dryer."  "When is Andrew's basketball game?"  "I want to check my email."  "I wonder if those boots are on sale."  "I should order those long johns for Charlie."  "Do I have an extra yogurt in the refrigerator for Libby's smoothie?" 

OH!!!!  It went on and on.  I wanted to pick up my phone a hundred times.  I wanted to pop up and do things a hundred times.  It was exactly like when I meditate and have to constantly bring myself back.  Over and over I had to bring myself back to my needles.  Listen to the sound. Watch the pattern unfold.  
But, I did it.  And from start to finish that mitt took two hours.  Including the time spent sewing in the label into the inside of a mitt.  
A gift for a friend.
Knit in 4 hours or less.

Pattern:  Auld Lang Syne Mitts, 50 knitted gifts for year-round giving
Yarn:  Stash
Needle:  5 and 6 dpn

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