Donnerstag, 1. Mai 2008
The pyschology of knitting
« How to make a patchwork ball | Hauptseite | Musings on a braided rug »I finished my latest pair of socks. Here they are.
They were fun to knit. And they even seemed like they knit up faster than my normal stocking-stitch socks – which can‘t be really true because the little pattern slowed me down. After all, instead of working k2, p2 for the ribbing or just straight k for the foot area, I was slowing down to work yo‘s, working k3, p2 or working a slip stitch and then passing the slip stitch over – and that all 15 times per round around the ankle and 7 times per round across the arch. So they must have taken longer. But the fun of working the little pattern made them seem to go faster. And somehow, the knitting of units make things go faster. Knitting rounds and rounds of stocking stitch are sort of like walking long distances in flat, empty countryside. You know that you‘re getting somewhere, but there isn‘t much to measure your progress by. But working small, countable units is like walking to the top of the hill, then to the top of the next hill, etc. You can physically see that you‘re actually moving forward. It might alse be that it‘s like giving yourself a small reward every time a small unit is completed. I have noticed the same effect when using the self-striping sock yarn that we have available today (like they yarn these new socks were made from).
I have a pattern for socks with a considerably more complicated lace pattern. They look lovely, but the pattern requires much more thought and concentration than these last socks did. I should probably give them a try and see if my theory of sock knitting also applies for them. If I do....I‘ll let you know.