Saturday, July 21, 2007

A sudden, brief moment of clarity.

So I was laying in bed last night, stressing over all the deadlines I have and everything I need to knit by when, and all the stuff I DON'T have time to knit - there are several new babies on the way among my friends. And I realized that, as usual, I had managed to turn a fun hobby into a seething pit of stress, and in that respect at least, I was a total moron. I started thinking about what I WANTED to knit, and you know, I want to do a couple quick gifts and get back to Tut Tut and the Pinwheel, and then on to Christmas with some side trips into a new design, and I realized it was all perfectly normal, all I had to do was ditch the whole State Fair idea.

So I am.

Terribly sorry to all those who were looking forward to me driving myself insane again this year, but with a two-year-old in the house and the ongoing health problems, I just don't need it. Particularly when you consider I'm still rather pissed off about last year. I'll try to get in some rants for your entertainment... I'm sure I can find some topic that drives me insane to talk about.

Politics would work.

9 comments:

Jeanne said...

There's a lot to be said for moments of clarity like the one you just had - Wonderful! Refreshing! and Good for you!

When a craft / art dear to one's heart and soul becomes an act of 'having to' rather than the joy of 'wanting to', it's time to step back, take a deep breath, and relax.

Bells said...

Wow. Tough call. But an infinitely sensible one. It was pure selfishness on my part that I even wanted you to go in the fair.

So will you finish the doily when you feel like it, or ditch it entirely as a protest?

Sheepish Annie said...

Bravo!!!! Who needs the self-imposed stress when life has so much other crap to hand us? I think you made a good call on this one.

Amy Lane said...

Brava, Samurai!

Honestly, I'm glad to hear about it...I know what it feels like to have your joys turn into your stressers (writing and knitting being my two favorites...) and that horrible weight pressing down on your chest and the anxiety...I'm so terribly glad you spared yourself that. And as for babies? I used to be KNOWN for knitting baby blankets--it was my trademark, I did 11 in one year for the people I work with alone.

Then I had Cave Troll, and then I had Ladybug and then I was doing hats and socks in dk weight--and that was just fine. The people I worked with didn't mind and they loved the hats and booties and it was ALL GOOD. I'm glad you took the stress off...you would have been entertaining, of a certain, but you would not have been happy.

Chile Kate said...

Brava! (Sound of two hands clapping)

I am soooo familiar with the Multi-Tasking-'Til-You-Drop Syndrome, which inevitably leads to exhaustion. (I actually got told by my 4-year-old grandson Alex to "Focus, Grandma!" a couple of weeks ago...HE gets it!)

Donna Lee said...

Good for you. Your health and your (very quickly growning up) baby come first. I agree that once a hobby becomes stressful, it is no longer a hobby but becomes work. No one wants that. You are so creative and clever that to let your knitting (and dyeing and spinning) become burdensome would be a crime. I love to see what you have come up with. My husband (who considers knitting a cult activity and mutters "intervention" regularly) was intrigued by the easter egg dyeing you did. He wants to try some dyeing (purely for scientific reasons, of course!)

Anonymous said...

good thinking. the judges proved their ineptitude last year, so why cast your purls before such swine again?

ellen in indy

KnittyLynn said...

Yay!
I think we knitters get a bit wrapped up in various stuff/gift giving crap like that..but damn it this is our HOBBY. Yes you do make money off of it as well, but you knit because you love it. I think most of us loose sight of that every now and again.

Welcome back to fun knitting!

Denise said...

Well done - it's often easy to get caught up in all the shoulds and musts and feel trapped and stressed - when in fact we have more freedom than we think, especially with the hobby / fun stuff!