Ribbit, Ribbit

Yes, that sound you hear is the sound of frogging.  I have never been afraid to cut my losses, so yesterday the Kerry Cardigan went to that great lily pad in the sky.  This, despite the fact that I had both sleeves done and was halfway up to the armholes!  However, I was hating every minute of working on it.  According to the pattern, the back and two fronts are knit together up to the armholes and then split.  With worsted weight wool, this was making a heavy weight on my needles that was hurting my hands and making me frustrated.  I could have just frogged that and knit them in pieces, but I just could not face doing that honeycomb pattern again and it was curling badly anyway.  In her recent posts, the Yarn Harlot showcased Gwendolyn.   I really liked the pattern, especially the sleeve detail, so it is currently on my needles:

I do feel a bit sorry for this yarn.  I think this is about the 3rd attempt to make it into a sweater!  Usually after frogging I will just start knitting with the frogged yarn, but this has been through the wringer, so I decided to skein, wash and rewind (I did have two unused skeins that I started with).

These are the three skeins I have done and awaiting the washtub.  I am not regretting my decision and am enjoying this knit SO much more.

Speaking of cutting losses, I have decided to close down my Etsy shop.  After a brief flurry of activity at the beginning, I have had very little traffic in the shop, despite advertising on Ravelry.  I had hoped that maybe local bazaars might be the venue for my projects, but that doesn't seem to be either.  Yesterday I spent 8 hours sitting at a table and sold zero, nada, zip!  People weren't even stopping to look!!  I have one more bazaar in November that I've already paid for and I'll do that one, but after that I'll go back to sewing for fun.

It's really hard to break out of the mindset (especially after 24 years of working) that your work is only valued if you are paid for it.  Although I didn't really have any trouble adjusting to retirement itself, I think I still had it in my mind that I needed to do something for which I would be paid.  Hubby has found a nice little cottage industry making airplanes out of recycled aluminum cans and he sells them all over the world!  But he has convinced me that I don't have to do that.  We certainly don't need the money and I should just do what I want to do, not what I think other people might buy.  As is so often true, he is right.

So I am not going to sew anything else for the bazaar coming up, but will concentrate on having fun and maybe making up some Christmas gifts.  

So - that's about it from here.  The family is coming this afternoon and Abby and I are taking the girls to the library.  In one of the eccentricities of Washington infrastructure, we share the same library system, even though they are several counties away.  That means they can check out books here and return them there.  Recently our local library has started stocking books in the Kindle format.  I'm very excited about that because I LOVE my Kindle and am loving that I can enjoy books for free.  Not all titles are available and there are a distressing number of bodice-ripper romances available, but once you sort through the trash, there are a lot of good ones too.  I'm just starting on a new series of mysteries by Anne Perry set in the World War I era.

I leave you with this scene from our peaceful little neighborhood.  This little creature hung around almost all day and wasn't even frightened by our coming and going up the driveway:

Comments

[Marguerite]

Oh I think I recognize that yarn. It's such a pretty color. Hope it figures out what it wants to be before you wear it out:-)

[KathyInIowa]

Sorry about the sweater demise, but you are smart to frog and start something new. Good for you! I love your new project too. I've been looking at that pattern - love cabled sweaters like that.

As for retirement and self-worth, I shared your feelings early on. I think having BG here full time gives me the "value" factor. Funny how we feel and think, isn't it? We are odd creatures.....

[Kristyn]

Life is to short to knit things you don't enjoy. Good for you realizing the project was not working out for you and moving on.

[Miyamojo]

I like Gwendolyn too - great cables. Are you doing the cardigan? Love that color!

That doe sitting there so peacefully makes my day. :)

[marjorie]

I do like your choice (Gwendolyn). However heartbreaking it is, I think that frogging sometimes helps--it is better to have something you're 100% satisfied with than a project you've slogged through unhappily.

I think that when I am done with my experiments in knitting in the round (aside from stranded sweaters), I'm going back to knitting in pieces. The seams aren't daunting, and I too find the smaller pieces easier to knit.

[Lorette]

You are getting your money's worth out of that yarn! I'm sorry your shop is closed down, but very glad that I got my share of your loot before you did so!

John went through quite a long period of feeling like he needed to do something "worthwhile" in his retirement. I think it's a common issue, especially for hard workers like you!

[gayle]

I saw a 'Gwendolyn' made up at VT Sheep and Wool, and loved it! If I wasn't already so far behind in sweater knitting, I'd have bought the pattern already...
Looking forward to seening yours.

[gayle]

Ergh - make that 'seeing', not seening. Need more coffee...

[Kristen]

It must have been tough to frog so much work, but if you're not feeling the love, it takes the joy out of the knitting. And you are already speeding along on a new project!
I think that knitting for the fun of it, whether for yourself, loved ones, and charity, is most satisfying.
RI also has the wonderful inter-library loan system.