Remember the Fyberspates laceweight mohair? Remember the rash decision to make another Ella from it? And how stupid that was...... And do you remember how I decided to knit a jumper with it, on 3.25mm needles with millions of stitches and without a pattern (and probably nowhere near enough yarn, either)? Well, it's frogged. I had completed lots of rows but hadn't touched it for weeks/months. And then I required the needles to knit something else, so came about the frenzied frogging episode. Then I realised I have three pairs of the same 3.25mm needles. And the fabric I'd knitted - and then frogged - did look rather nice. Oh no! Another rash decision. I think I'm going to have to knit the whole thing again. Look, you can see the Fyberspates entrails hanging morbidly from the branch of the climbing rose........
I was thinking about impulsive decisions recently and realised that I have made more than my fair share, but that they are not always bad. For instance, the pussy cat below is Buddy. I made the decision to get a cat and brought him home the same evening! He was beautiful, inside and out. But he was of a daredevil persuasion and used to dash across the then-main road out the front (I lived nowhere near a road when I acquired him) to fight all the other cats. And one night, on returning from a blissful day by the sea, we found he'd been knocked down by a car and killed. Amazing how kind all our (then unknown) nieghbours were. They took care of him until he died a few minutes later and then covered him in a blanket so we wouldn't just find him. Oh dear - it was three years ago now and still brings tears. I was 14 weeks pregnant when Bud died and it was the same week my Dad had a stroke and my Grandma was diagnosed with a terminal illness. My Dad made a rather fast and miraculous full recovery. I still find it incredible how we think we might not cope with situations such as these but when it comes down to it there's an incredible inner calm and strength when it's needed. Or that's what I found in myself, anyway. But this post isn't meant to be my life-story!
And this little chappy......
We decided we might have a baby and he came about that exact day. Amazing! I must say it was a shock a couple of weeks later, to find our wishes granted so quickly, but he (of course) is just the best.
I won't mention decisions involving correspondence courses and a total of about £800. I'm sure I could think of lots of bad decisions made on impulse but I don't want you to harm yourselves rolling about on the floor laughing at me. So I'll wrap it up.
Knitting:
I have been getting on with Ella, no progress on my pink socks. Still haven't finished my Noro Daria belt. Or OH's socks. No money to make any purchases. Still waiting for our record company to make us millions.
Coffee time.
taking risks means you can get hurt at times, but also, achieve great stuff. one has to roll with it. after a while, you can calculate your risks better, but only because you already done a few...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that your Dad recovered quickly from his stroke, my Dad had a stroke when he was in his early forties and I was still at school. He took a long time to recover but it completely changed his outlook on life and he focused much more on the important things like family and friends - there is sometimes something good that comes out of the worst situations.
ReplyDeleteI'm always a bit envious of how great your life sounds on your blog with your lovely son and beautiful home - so your rash decisions must have paid off!
I make lots of rash knitting decisions, too. Other decisions - yeah, probably.
ReplyDeletebut not gin decisions. My GF pointed out to me that I didn't like Gordon's, cos whenever I had a G+T made from it, i didn't finish it. I think I find it a bit - soapy?? Not sure, but not so nice as the ones I talked about. GF likes Millers, too, but I think it tastes of sherbert oranges - nice in a sweetie, perhaps, but not a gin! Not sure that helps....
Your climbing rose is exquisite!
ReplyDeleteand your wee boy ain't too bad either ...
Very cute Charlie and very cute cat, poor thing. My parents have our family cat that has been hanging on for dear life, much to their dismay... they never intended when they bought their teenage girls (us) our first pet that 17yrs later he'd still be there!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the decision making, especially when it comes to knitting. I'm very impulsive with my knitting which has led to a very very full stash and too many sad unfinished baby sweaters!
Sounds like your rash decisions have served you rather well - Charlie's gorgeous and so is the cat. Are carefully weighed decisions any more likely to lead to good things? I don't know, but I really feel with knitting (and I suppose it applies to everything) that every time I make a mistake or knit something I don't like I've increased my skills and knowledge. I suppose it's another reason for only knitting things you actually enjoy knitting - then it doesn't matter if you frog them later.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible to agonise over a decision for ages -- and still get it as wrong as it would have been had you Just Done It the instant the need arose. If it feels 'right' at the time you may never get a better indication of which way to jump. As Frankie said, each wrong choice teaches us something. With blogging we can share the knowledge, too... the entrails look positively gruesome!
ReplyDeleteMore seriously, that must have been a bad week. I've not had to face anything quite like it: you have my sympathy and I hope nothing quite so disastrous befalls you again.
ps. THREE pairs of 3.25mm needles? I've got a thing about 5mm, myself :-)