High Maintenance...

I've been trying to put my finger on the source of the all-encompassing malaise that settled into my life this past spring. It is like a hundred pound albatross. I'm not depressed or even a tad dysphoric. I'm just tired.

In an email exchange with fellow knit blogger, Kristin, a phrase came to mind that encapsulates what I'm feeling: high maintenance. Every single activity I engage in, whether it's as banal as tooth brushing, or as fun as reading, anything other than malingering, just seems to be experienced as high maintenance.

Once I could define what I feel, my spirits lifted a bit. Sounds strange, but it's true. Once I understand what I'm up against my natural drive to adapt kicked in and one of the first things I found the energy to tackle was my Sunshine and Shadows Shawl...errrr triangle.

A week and a half ago I spent a solid half an hour struggling with the beginning of the final lace pattern, redoing the first 20 stitches or so who knows how many times. All I settled that day was the notion of incorporating my first ever lifeline.


This Sunday I took an analytical approach to the situation and sketched out the pattern in an effort to decipher the problem. Once I compared my notes to my actual knitting I could see I had a missing stitch near the beginning of the row.

Let me tell you, I felt like King Sh*t once I figured this out. Not mad at myself for making the mistake that caused the repeated vexatious flubbing, nope, just a willful pride that I mastered the abstract thinking I needed to move ahead with this project without the bane of last resort: frogging.

With one picked up stitch I devoured the new pattern with nary a look back. As of last night I had finished it up and began the first row of the edging. At this rate, I should have it washed and blocked by Sunday.

One opinion this project has cemented is a sincere dislike of the knitted triangle. I'll take the dull consistency of a rectangle over the constant expansion of the triangle any day of the week.

The only easy project I've got going, the embossed leaf sock, has been just as susceptible to the aforementioned malaise. I don't even have recent pic of my progress.


I'm within a few rows of the toe and just the mere thought of having to check the pattern to see how far away I am from starting the toe scared this project back into my bin. Bleh for me.

One thing this particular knit has done is rekindled my love of the leaf motif. Unlike other variations I've knit, the leaf is knit at an angle. I've spent more time thinking about incorporating this angled leaf into a scarf than I have spent actually knitting the sock.

Just last week I came upon my idea's doppleganger on ravelry, Anne Modesitt's Backyard Leaves Scarf. I was particularly taken by raveller TanteJ's version and instantly asked her permission to post a picture here, which she graciously gave. It is nothing short of fabuloso, imo.


In my version, I hope to link the vines and ditch the garter stitch backdrop. As this scarf is simply divine, as is, I'm not quite sure my wishful thinkings will be an improvement but you never know until you try...