What’s on my needles…?

I had been working on a baby hat (gift for a friend) before the wedding. I’d put it aside and yesterday I finally picked it up again to finish it. Something didn’t seem quite right though. I looked at it, then put it on my head. Sure enough: it fit me. Now, I realize babies have big heads, but this is way TOO big. I have a gigantic, fat head (store-bought hats never fit me), yet this “baby” hat fit me. ::sigh:: So I guess I’m going to frog it and try again on smaller needles. I guess that’s what I get for not swatching.

After that bit of discouragement, I decided to cast on a new pair of socks (also a gift). Socks just make me so damn happy. Just simple socks. There’s just something wonderful and peaceful about knitting round and round on tiny DPNs (I’ve decided I much prefer DPNs to Magic Loop). It’s soothing to me.

I’m using Knit Picks Felici for the first time. I’d heard both good and bad about it, but I’m loving it so far. It’s so much softer than the Lang Jawoll that I was fighting with on my previous pair of socks. I also like the wide stripes it creates as you knit it.

I’m knitting it up with my US size 2 ebony Lantern Moon Sox Stix (have I mentioned how much I love those things?) and it just feels great in my hands. I’m following the basic 7 Stitches Per Inch pattern from Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd (my sock knitting go-to book) but I’m throwing in garter rib for the ankle and instep to fancy it up a bit.

I was thinking today, and realized: I’m a process-knitter (rather than a product-knitter). I knit because I enjoy the process. I think that’s why ripping something out and starting over doesn’t bother me as much as it does other people. Sure, I enjoy the finished product (whether it’s a gift or for me) but what I really love is the time I spend making the item. I enjoy the rhythmic repetition of the knits and purls. It’s soothing to me. Sometimes when I knit for other people, I actually feel selfish because of the enjoyment I got out of making the gift. Are you a process-knitter? Or are you more of a product-knitter, who knits because they desire the finished object (a new sweater, socks, a hat, etc.)?

I’m a product-seamstress. I sew because I want a new dress that’s unlike anything I can buy at the store — not because I actually enjoy the act of sewing. (Actually, sewing infuriates me quite often.) That’s probably why I have so many sewing-UFOs (translation for the muggles: “un-finished objects”). But knitting… that’s my meditation, my happy-time.