Relax No More

Hello there and happy too hot and humid Monday. Why no, I'm not enjoying it, but thank you for asking anyway.

I have finally thrown in the towel (yarn?) and have decided I shall Relax No More. Not actual relaxing - I mean, that's a major part of my lifestyle, I'm not going insane. 

But I am finished with trying to knit myself a Relax Tee.

A little bit of background. Years ago (pre-pandemic), I knit nearly an entire version of the Edie pattern in Quince & Co. Sparrow yarn. I had put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn while I finished the body. When I picked it up to do the sleeves, "someone" had apparently gotten into it and not only pulled out the waste yarn, but a lot of the stitches. I asked three different "expert knitter" friends if they could help, and all of them tried, but couldn't figure out where in the pattern things were, or how to repair things. So I frogged the entire thing, and put it away to use again sometime.

I decided this summer was the time. So I pulled it out, and figured I probably had enough to make some other summer top. I was no longer interested in using the yarn for the Edie top, and looked for something else. Everyone and their brother was raving about Aimee Sher's Relax Tee - some people were making multiples. I liked the look of it, so I decided to give that pattern a try. 

I worked my way through most of the body. And I gotta tell you, I wasn't feeling it. I like the yarn and was not having any problem knitting with it, but a) I was wondering why I chose the color I did (Port - pretty, but kind of dark for summertime), and b) why everyone enjoyed knitting this pattern. I can't even tell you what it was about it, but I was just not feeling the love, you know? 

Before starting on the sleeves, I decided to try it on. It would fit fine in the end, but ... meh. I decided to put it aside for a few days, and then see if I wanted to finish. 

I do not. I have decided that at least right now, that pattern is not for me. Maybe later it will be my most favorite pattern I ever made, but right now, this summer, I am not enjoying it, I am not relaxing at all while knitting it, and I am done. 

I've also decided that the yarn and I are also parting ways. I've tried two separate things with it, and though yes, I could go back and knit another Edie, I'm just finished with this yarn in this color. As Marie Kondo would say, it's not longer bringing me joy.

Actually, I'm OK with all of this. Yes, I spent a good portion of the summer knitting on this project and have nothing to show for it but a bag of re-wound yarn and some untouched skeins. It's pretty yarn, the color is nice, but I'm done with the whole shebang. There are at least 3 or 4 full unwound skeins, and a decent amount of other skeins re-wound into balls (I have no idea exactly how much, sorry). 

My original plan was to donate it, but then I thought I'd at least ask if any of you are interested in it at all. If you are, I'm more than happy to send it to your very own house, so let me know. If you are a small-ish person, or knitting for a small-ish person, I'm sure you could get a tank top or short-sleeved top out of all of it. Otherwise, you might need to mix and match or knit a thousand washcloths or something with it.

(You can ignore this paragraph  - the yarn has found a home! So that's everything about that. Do let me know if you are interested in the yarn - you can send me an e-mail at baclancyATverizon.net, or let me know in the comments. If I don't hear from anyone by the end of this week, I'll go ahead and donate it. I want someone to enjoy it and use it instead of simply throwing it away.)

And I'll find another project. I have lots of socks I owe to people, and I actually find knitting those relaxing, so if nothing else, I can work on socks for a while.

I'm actually relieved to be officially decided I'm finished with the Relax Tee project. It was hanging over my head more than I realized.

Please don't let this post discourage you, if you were considering the pattern. Like I said, I think at this moment in time, my head and heart are just not in it - by I do hope to try it again someday.

*****

This week is one of those busy running around kind of weeks. And Friday is the first of August, which makes me happy. This has seemed like an eternal July, and though I hate to wish my life away, I'll be glad to move into another month, especially one that brings us closer to fall. Hopefully August and I will be better friends - we'll see! 😊