Joyful Monotony

Something that tends to pop up in conversation when I speak to close non-knitter friends of mine is that they feel that knitting would be tremendously monotonous. And if I am truthful, I must concede that sometimes it really is. I consider myself a product knitter because the desire to have the finished object powers me through vaguely endless instructions like "continue knitting stockinette for _ more inches." Even after many years of knitting, I still don't have the kind of muscle memory to comfortably look up from my knitting for long stretches. It's always a mindful activity for me, never a mindless one.  I enjoy stranded knitting so much precisely because every row is a new adventure. Sure, you gain some familiarity with the palm pattern on Selbuvotter, but for the most part, fair isle makes mindful knitting a joy because of the row changes.

However, lately I have been enjoying the monotony of my Gradient cowl. Inch upon inch seems to be flying off my needles with me barely noticing. There are a number of reasons this could be so: the novelty of working with mohair yarn; the fun and intrigue of mixing the colors; the relaxing change of pace from the constant focus that the selbuvotter required. I think it's a mashup of those reasons and also a more Elizabeth Zimmerman-type reason.

I'm not a competative person. I don't enjoy team sports or competition. The only exercise I enjoy purely for itself is running, which I use as a competition against myself. I enjoy pushing myself for longer runs and faster miles. While rereading some parts of The Knitter's Almanac last month, I came across a similar technique EZ said she used in which she tracked her daily knitting progress with a stitch marker. She said she kept herself from boredom by seeing the amount of length she could add to her knitting each day. I'm not keeping close track, but I have been keeping a stitch marker on the side of my scarf to liven up the endless k1, p1 of seed stitch. It's been working like a charm.