What makes some knitting boring? (And this is not a question to non-knitters who find all knitting boring.)(Fools.) But why is it that some knitting keeps us going and seems to fly by, while other bits just induces yawns and we have to be tied to the chair to make any progress.
I was thinking about this yesterday and today as I'm approaching the end of the Hanami Stole. The first half of this project flew by. I couldn't stop knitting. I loved the pattern - a 16 stitch 32 row repeat. It made sense and looked great. WooHoo!!
And then I began the second half of this asymmetrical stole. The stole moves from the structure of the basket weave pattern (yeah!) to the random falling blossom pattern (yawn!). The overall effect of the second half of the pattern isn't a yawn - it's quite striking. The blossoms begin to appear one or two at a time, and then gradually more and more appear per row until the final chart which is blossom-mania.
I guess part of what makes this part of the stole boring (for me) is that there aren't any visible milestones, each row alone adds very little, even 20 rows adds little....it takes the whole thing to get the 'ah!' moment. I just need constant proof of my cleverness I guess -- waiting until the end to see the whole effect is not enough for my instant gratification self.
I don't think the boring bits take longer to knit -- it just feels like it. During the first half of the pattern I had to force myself to take breaks. I would knit for an hour and think it had been 5 minutes. For the blossom pattern I have to convince myself to do every row. And they seem to take forever. Although I'm sure they take no longer than the basket weave rows. (Probably quicker.)
But I will not give up. 32 rows left of the most tedious bit (row 1 *knit 2 tog, yo* repeat forever, row 2 purl, row 3 *yo, slip 1, k1 psso* repeat forever, row 4 purl) (just typing that out sapped my will to knit). Anyway - I will soldier on and should have Hanami ready for blocking tomorrow or Wednesday.
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