I'm a quitter

I found that headline very hard to type, despite the fact that I am trying to celebrate a maturity level  which allows me to be a quitter. I was raised to believe that quitting was failing and that you could do almost anything you set your mind to if you tried hard enough and really wanted to achieve it.  Consequently I have spent a lot of my earlier craft life finishing things simply because I had started them, even if subsequently discovering that I didn't like them, or didn't enjoy doing them,  I heard a podcaster explaining the 'sunk cost fallacy' once, which states that people demonstrate "a greater tendency to continue an endeavour once an investment in money, effort, or time has been made." Once I have committed to a project, for example by spending money on the fabric/book and toting it home from foreign parts, it claims a permanent slot in my queue and a permanent claim on my future time.

As a supposedly mature adult, and in particular one faced with creeping decrepitude/diminishing energy levels, I am trying to combat this thinking.  Fresh on the heels of throwing out the horrible cross-stitch kit last week, I have now unravelled the 5/8th finished Misty Meadows Shawl, and the reskeined yarn is currently soaking in a hot water bath to remove the kinks ready for re-use.    It was this one if you've forgotten:

I had knit the cable section past the halfway point and decreased down ready to knit the next stripe.  I haven't enjoyed knitting with this yarn which is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply, it feels thin and a bit scratchy and it is splitty to knit with.  The pattern is not well written either.  And when I tried the shawl on after reaching the next stripe, I realised that it looked very unattractive when worn.  The horizontal cable section across the back gave the impression of some sort of carapace or knitted armour, and the stripes were just not attractive at all.  So out it has all come, and I think the yarn may face a future as a pair of socks instead.  So hurrah for being a quitter!!

I have also been a finisher this week, completing the top for my 30s Sampler Quilt at long last!

I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out.  The different widths of the top and side coping strips are not obvious at all, the scrappy quality of the border balances out the scrappy middle in a different way than a solid border would have done, and the whole feeling is cheery and retro.  Also it easily fits on my queen-size bed as a topper so I'll be able to use the quilt.  I just need to choose a backing and cut the binding strips and then it can join the queue for future quilting.  Ironically however, although this project was chosen to reduce my stash of ancient 30 repro fabrics, I've actually probably increased said stash by at least a third as I had to buy more solid colours and then there were the three abortive attempts at buying a border print fabric. Sigh.

I also tried something new this week. When we were up in Nottingham for the lace weekend, we visited a bonsai nursery out of curiosity.  We had both enjoyed visiting the bonsai village when we were in Tokyo and seeing all the amazing living creations.  I found out they did day courses to get people started so I signed up for one of those and went on it this week.  It was a fascinating insight into the hobby although rather long winded on listening and short on actual practice.  But we did practice repotting a Chinese Elm bonsai from China, and then in the afternoon did a full conversion of a garden nursery Cypress shrub into a bonsai, including wiring the branches to shape it.  So mine went from this:

To this:

With the teacher's help, we thinned out the tree and wired it to shape it so that it looks like a miniature mature tree.  The wire will come off when it grows a little but hopefully it will have been trained to stay in that shape by then.  Looking after it will give me a taste of what it's like to have bonsai, it's a bit like getting a new pet as they have to watered almost daily and trimmed and maintained several times a year. But at least it is not going to sneak into my sewing room and make a bed in my fabric like some cats we might know.

The work reorganisation I mentioned some time ago has gone ahead and my team was officially disbanded on Friday.  We have been dispersed to other teams around the building and I start with my new team tomorrow.  They seem like they will be alright but my first reaction is always going to be "I hate all of you and I hate everything you do differently from what I'm used to."  It took me months to get used to my old team and will probably take me months to get used to this one before everyone stops annoying me.  At least I have three other people from my old team who are moving with me so I'm not completely isolated. Hopefully the things the new team are doing which seem stupid and inefficient will become familiar routines. Bleah.