What is it about deadlines? Why is it that in the absence of deadlines I seem to drift off into unproductive distraction? But give me a date, real or imaginary, and I will focus, frantically working without sleep until the clock strikes twelve and the countdown hits 00:00:00.
Last week, “January 31 2009″ stood looming. Since mid-December I’ve been knitting along on La Digitessa socks with a group over on the Yarnissima Ravery board. The KAL divided up the sock, with a weekly goal (toe, foot, gusset, heel, leg, cast-off), and through the first of the year I was on track. Then a couple of “distraction fairies” arrived in the form of a grant deadline (there’s that word again!) and in the form of a gentleman aboard a KLM flight from the Netherlands and… well… let’s just say I got a bit off track.
Officially the KAL ended the third week of the month and I was distraught. I’ve tried KALs before and I usually get distracted. I’ll miss one of the intermediate deadlines and that’s it. Once the spell is broken, my focus will !POOF! disappear and I might as well rip the whole thing out cause that UFO is done for. (The Secret of the Stole KAL last year is a perfect example of this. Frankly I have no idea where that stole is. Did I even bring it back from Sweden??? Oh man, I miss Sweden.) So yes, with deadlines missed I was distraught. I have a deep seeded love for Yarnissima patterns. The intricate details. The challenge. The lovely presentation of the pattern in beautiful booklets. The Wollmeise. The whole “Dutch” thing. But even so, I felt off track and at risk for never finishing these socks. Ever.
But there, at the end of the week stood January 31. And that was it. I my gaze was fixed and I was gonna make it. And so Wednesday, Thursday, Friday… straight through: project monogamy. And suddenly I was caught up, knitting the cross and the ribbing (OMG, that cross on the back and how it works into the ktb1p1 ribbing? Sooooo pretty!), and casting off. Tada! My first successful KAL! And having that deadline of the end of the month inspired me to find some groups on Ravelry that aim for a sock a month: the 2009 Sock KAL, the Great Sock Off of 2009 and Sock Knitters Anonymous.
Will I make it through to December 2009 with twelve pairs of socks? I dunno. But having deadlines sure does help!
FO: Digitessalong
Pattern: La Digitessa by Yarnissima
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle 100% superwash (La Digitessa)
Needles: US 0 / 2.0 mm (40" circs)
Two at a time, woot!
Started: December 11 2008
Finished: January 31 2009
me too! i need a deadline. that is the only way i get things completed!
and that deadline produced an AMAZING pair of socks.
well done!
[...] mention when I would actually be finished knitting them. Remember what I was saying about the importance of deadlines? Well, fast forward 14 months– enough time to make me feel that the second sock syndrome was [...]
I totally agree. With deadlines I seem to have more motivation to finish, without, well…I dilly dally.