Which are you? Which am I? Funny, the only place I'm monogamous is in my spousal relationship! Otherwise, not so much... let me explain.
One husband. Fifty years this September 25. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes not so much but I've never seriously contemplated anything else.
But in my crafting life? Totally poly!
One project at a time is deadly boring. I have posted in the past about Process vs Project people in sewing and quilting. I'm talking about where a person is either dedicated to finishing one project before they start another or is just in love with a portion of the process and wants to do it over and over again. Plan, sew, repeat. I am a Process person, and getting a project done is a bonus but not vital to my being. My sister, on the other hand, appears to be a project person, finishing one before she begins the next. Her philosophy: Buy what you need and get it done. Mine: Stash!! You might want to start something when the stores are closed!! What will you do then?? LOL!
There's a YouTube channel by two sisters called Frugal & Frivolous and on a recent video they were discussing the fact that one of them is monogamous and the other is not. The mono sister was kind of lamenting her decision to do a year of monogamous knitting, because she likes to knit big projects and they can take a while. This results in weeks if not months of endless stockinette stitch on the body of a sweater or a shawl in garter that goes on for miles.
Not. Me.
Other knitters talk about the 'bus sock' or the 'car shawl' or which project bag holds what current WIP (work in progress). Yes! I am that person! We don't do much traveling these days, and since I never really spent time on a bus commuting to work, I didn't have that project. But I did knit in the lunchroom at my job (eons ago!) and I sometimes carry small projects along to the dentist's office or the doctor's, in case there's a wait. Those projects are generally small items that have patterns that don't require huge amounts of concentration, so you may carry on a conversation while you're knitting.
When I was making the Harry Styles sweater for my oldest grand, I carried it around with the pattern folded up in a project bag. It was relatively easy to do on the go. Bulky yarn, size 8 needles, cast on the same number of stitches for every row, knit until you have a square, change color and stitch, on you go. All the greens are the same stitch, all the orange are another, etc. Kind of a no-brainer. This one you can knit and visit simultaneously. But it's large, so therefore you must have a companion project to break up the boredom!
Enter the baby sweater. I had a specific baby in mind for this one, but that's not always necessary. You find out a friend is expecting or has just acquired a new grandbaby and you want to respond right away with a small token of congratulations, not wait until said grand is walking. I learned this from my aunt Clara. She knit fabulous layettes in various colors and stacked them in boxes in her closet. Someone having a baby? I have just the thing! And out popped a box of blue or pink or green or yellow. Her gifts were the hit of any baby shower.
Besides, the knitting of a small item with no deadline becomes an exercise in pure pleasure for me. And a 'palate cleanser' when you're getting bored with endless garter stitch or looking at that same yarn for days!
So yes, I am a polygamous. I will not apologize for having six sets of size 2.25mm dpn sock needles so I can have several going at the same time. I may need to knit a man's sock in some boring dark color but I can occasionally sneak a short date with a ball or even two of self-striping sock yarn to keep the magic alive.
