Conceptual startitis, or Am I Crazy?
It’s usually when I have obligatory projects with looming deadlines that I suddenly have the urge to begin new projects. My current case of startitis revolves around two projects for me: a pair of socks and a conceptual knitting project, my 2013 Crocheted Temperature Scarf.
The backstory: While procrastinating on Sunday night, I came across the this thread on Ravelry discussing Kristen Cooper‘s My Year in Temperature – Scarf. (You can find the pattern recipe on Kristen’s blog, Honey Nutbrown’s handcrafted and old fashioned, Northern living). I first became interested in conceptual knitting when I read about Lea Redmond‘s Sky Scarf last year. Since we are so close to the beginning of the year, I thought why not jump in?
I scanned the web to find out the temperature range in New York City last year. It seemed like there was a 90 degree range, from about 10 degrees to about 100 degrees.
Then I looked through my stash for colors that *may* work together. And here’s where you come in 
. I found 7 possible yarns. These are all medium weight superwash wools that I like. The colors are different, but, I think, harmonious.
The potential yarns, arranged in temperature order. The colors are pretty accurate on my screen, except for the final yarn. It is more blue.
You see, as much as I want to be more confident about color, I’m still a bit of a color wimp. I think that since most of these colors are somewhat muted, they will come together. But I might just be crazy. What do you think?
Whether or not I end up using these actual yarns, I’ve done the rest of the legwork.
I've divided up the temperature ranges for each of 7 colors.
I also recorded the temperatures for the first few days of the month. I’m now searching out a crochet stitch pattern (you didn’t think I was actually going to knit a 365 row scarf, did you?). In a perfect world, I’ll use a stitch pattern that allows me to start with the same number of stitches as my age this year. I think that would make an even cooler conceptual project.
Once I knew I was going to crochet, I identified a hook that I was willing to take out of commission for an entire year – my trusty Boye size J hook. I picked the yellow one because it is an outlier – it has a matte finish while all my other Boye hooks are shiny.
My final decision will be whether or not to include the rows of white that Kristen recommends. I don’t have an appropriate skein in my stash and I don’t feel compelled to buy yarn for this scarf. More importantly, I think that white will be pretty harsh against these mostly subdued colors. Do you think the white is necessary?
The other project I’ve been thinking about instead of the deadline projects I’m supposed to be working on is a pair of crocheted socks for me. These socks came into being through a combination of trying to get over my failed attempt to knit a pair of socks last year, and looking for a good stashbusting project for me. Also, I wanted to join in the first sockalong in the Surmount the Stash group on Ravelry.
The yarn I plan to use: a skein of Regia Design Line Hand-dye Effect by Kaffe Fassett I received in a swap. It's more purple in real life.
I have a few potential patterns in mind, but I plan to swatch for each and then pick the one that seems like it will fit me the best.
As for reading, I’m almost through The Sentinel
I suppose it is my first book in the Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge.
I set a goal of reading 65 books this year. According to Goodreads, I read 61 books last year. The problem (to me) is that only 16 were “real books” and the rest were needlecrafts books. This year, I’d like to read 20 regular books and 45 crafty books. Let’s see how I do!
For more Works in Progress, visit Tami’s Amis. For more Yarn Along posts, visit Small Things.
All I’ve been doing is starting things & not finishing them! I think mainly because I’m bored with each individual project – the cardigan (need the sleeves), the vest (working on the very long pieces of narrow garter stitch), the afghan that I HATE because after I made about 80 motifs, I realized they don’t sit flat but I have to finish it anyway because I made EIGHTY motifs! and they are medium sized motifs – about 8″ across – the ugly socks, the lace advent scarf, etc etc. Sigh. So what did I do but start slippers this week, and a few more squares, and another WUA block…
Sigh, I know just how you feel, Anastacia! My only tip for the 80 motifs is to donate them to a charity that can use them to make comfort blankets
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wow I wish I had such beautiful yarns in my stash!
good luck with your projects 
I absolutely love the yellow-ish one – first on the left and the dark green right next to it, but I think all of them work together really well.
Thanks so much, Jarka! I love the dark green one, too, and I appreciate your vote of confidence on the colors!
I can’t wait to see how your temperature scarf turns out. I’ve been starting projects with reckless abandon lately!
Maybe it’s the New Year, Susan. Everyone seems to have startitis these days!
That scarf sounds cool – I like the colors you picked! I’m kind of shy when it comes to colors too; probably more than half of my stash is neutral colors or very muted colors. Looking forward to seeing how your scarf shapes up!
Thanks, Stefanie! I’m hoping it will be a beautiful sight to see at the end.
Oh dear. My queue is growing at an alarming rate. Just when i thought it was getting nicely under control you go and throw the Temprature scarf at me… UGH! (Which should be translated to THANKS! Just in case you were wondering)
Hahaha, sorry about that Suzy. I guess startitis, like misery, loves company
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Beautiful yarns and best of luck with the projects.
Thanks so much, Ruth!
Interesting concept. I love visual representations of data and yarn. So, why not put them together?
That was my thought, too, Michelle.
Many of my bouts of startitis start with the phrase “I came across this thread on Ravelry…” I really like the yarn you’re using. I look forward to following your project.
Hahaha, Karen. I guess we have all fallen victim to enticing threads on Ravelry.
I do like this concept! and I think the colours you’ve chosen look great. My “concepts” have pretty much stuck at Möbius scarves, although one had stripes based on a Fibonacci series for the number of rows – a bit geeky but warm
I’ve seen some fun Fibonacci inspired projects, Lorna, so I’m sure your scarf is awesome.
The temperature scarf sounds like a cool fun project. I like the colors that you are using and agree that they will look good together. I think that a soft neutral color might balance things out a bit. Any grey in your stash…or tan?
Sigh, if only I was wise enough to have a neutral in a superwash wool in my stash, autumngeisha! Perhaps I’ll have to arrange for a trade on Ravelry…
I do love your colors and it will be interested to see how your scarf comes along.
Your colors are lovely – go for it!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Beth!
Thanks so much, Beth! I have since jumped into the project!
[...] Conceptual Crochet Project. Underground Crafter is planning a cool conceptual crochet project for herself showing data visualization of weather. It sounds super neat. Check it out. [...]
It’ll be interesting to see what you come up with for the scarf. I like all the colours you picked out. Hmm this might just tie in with another KAL for February in the Surmount the Stash group vbg.
Ooooh, good idea, Karen. I was definitely looking at this as a stashbuster project!
The yarns you picked for this project are gorgeous. I hope it all works out and you will share the finished product with us!!!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Stephanie B.!
I love the scarf idea and having seen the progress photo on Rav, I think it is coming along beautifully. I’ll have to make note of this for a 2014 project, perhaps…
Thanks, Keri! I love that there is no pressure to rush through this project since, at minimum, it will take 365 days to complete
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