A Bout of Knitter's Block

A little over 15 years ago, I posted about my frustrations with knitting on Facebook.

I posted a lot back then, as did loads of my friends, so I don’t actually remember posting this particular status; in 2009, Facebook was considered somewhat “cool,” and many people treated status updates like a stream of consciousness. There wasn’t much thought to it. Apparently, I was attempting to teach myself how to knit; it wasn’t going well, and I wanted people to know about it. But then, I wouldn’t mention it again until a few months later when, wouldn’t you know, I brought the needles out again.

This series of events would play out again and again for the next…roughly seven-and-a-half years: I’d become inspired, pick up tools from AC Moore or Michaels or dig old ones out of my closet, go for it, and drop it when I wasn’t picking it up from written tutorials I found on the web. This was mostly in service of knitting a Hogwarts scarf I would never knit. In the early 2010s, it was because I couldn’t pick up the skills—a guy I briefly dated in college also bought me an official (and very itchy) Ravenclaw scarf, which put an end to that dream. But now, I would never make a scarf like that unless someone paid me for it because I would get bored with the pattern’s repetitiveness (see: Tom Baker’s Doctor Who scarf).

It finally clicked in 2017, and I’ve been knitting ever since. But even as I started building up my stash and getting more tools (interchangeable needles are a blessing), I wondered if I would ever lose interest and abandon all the yarn and needles I had sitting in my room. I’ve been there before, but this time, I had started going to my local yarn store (RIP Princeton’s Pins and Needles) to get my supplies; I invested more money into time into what was, back then, only a hobby.

Fortunately, it’s worked out so far. But it’s not until the past couple of months that I’ve been in a funk. And it’s two-fold.

1. I’m still frustrated by my current WIP (the Constellate Mitts I wrote about last time), and working on them requires further concentration than my usual knitting M.O. allows.

2. Apart from the screeners I’ve watched (where I’m not knitting at all), I haven’t wanted to watch anything lately—a shame because there’s been some great TV¹ out there—and I’ve only wanted to read. And I haven’t quite figured out how to read and knit together for more than a few pages or the length of an article, so if I’m not watching, I’m not knitting.

As a writer, I’m more than familiar with writer’s block and what I might do to get those juices flowing. But what do you do when you’re stumped over a knitted creation? I don’t know if it’s a long-term solution, but I have a couple of hats meant to impress on my docket for now. Once they’re done, though…will I soon return to the mitts that have vexed me?

The Knit: Little Creek Cowl

Pattern: Ravelry / Direct

Yarn: The Wandering Flock Merino DK in Ombre Skies

Given my frustration with the Constellate Mitts, I turned to my stash to find a mindless enough pattern that would burn up some stash yarn. Hence, my return to this Wandering Flock yarn for a cowl that looks even more psychedelic with the yarn choice.

It was incredibly rewarding to make garments for charity last year—I have more than enough yarn and even more time right now—so I’m continuing those efforts with projects like this one. Otherwise, skeins like this would sit in bags and bins until those coverings gathered dust, which seems like a waste of good yarn.

The Flick: Everybody Wants Some!!

Streaming: Amazon Prime Video

Set at a Texas college the weekend before the start of the fall 1980 semester, Everybody Wants Some!! follows incoming freshman pitcher Jake (Blake Jenner) as he moves into the college’s designated baseball house and spends his first weekend at college chasing girls, drinking, getting high, and competing with his new teammates. Naturally, hilarity and hijinks ensue.

There’s very little plot, not much baseball played, and the entire endeavor can be summed up as a “hangout movie.” Yet I loved watching these himbos get lucky, strike out, and rag on each other at every given opportunity. (A mustachioed Glen Powell is the film’s standout.) It’s absurd and carefree, and writer-director Richard Linklater lets these characters and this setting breathe. Would this team actually be good at baseball? It doesn’t matter as long as they can vibe. And oh, do they vibe.

Baseball had already been on my mind lately—and not just because my beloved Phillies have one of the best records in baseball² . My friends over at Trial By Content recently recorded a series of episodes determining the best baseball movie of all time. And last month, I caught author/writer Noah Gittell on tour discussing his new book Baseball: The Movie (haven’t read it yet, but I’m looking forward to digging in), which covered similar ground. Despite my love for the sport, I haven’t seen many baseball movies yet (I know). But of all the movies that piqued my interest, Everybody Wants Some!! seemed like it’d be the most fun to watch.

Plus, it’s the main film—apart from the Netflix rom-com Set It Up, which is still on my watchlist—people cite when pointing out the inevitability of Powell’s ascent into movie stardom. Having come to that conclusion after watching Hit Man at NYFF last year, I definitely would’ve been one of those people had I first seen this Linklater cult classic.

What I’m Reading

• The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn: There are a handful of authors whose books I will read no matter what they put out, and Kate Clayborn is near the top of that list. Even when the central premise involves a true-crime podcast, a podcasting subgenre I never really got into.

• Degrees of Engagement by Jennifer Hennessey: I might not have a PhD under my belt or have thought about creating a fake engagement with my longtime crush out of anger and spite. But I’ve certainly felt the frustration that the heroine experiences when her loved ones seem to care more about her love life than any of her career or academic achievements. I’m not sure why the paperback isn’t out yet—maybe it’s an indie that went digital first?—but you can read this on Kindle (or wherever else you buy your e-books) right now.

• James by Percival Everett: If you’ve been a long-time newsletter subscriber or follow me on one of the places where I chronicle my read books (Goodreads, Storygraph, take your pick), you might’ve picked up that I mostly read romance, sci-fi/fantasy, or some combination of those genres; occasionally some nonfiction is mixed in there. But James got on my radar after my friend Morgan raved about it a few months ago³ . While my memory of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is vague at best, I’m already drawn into Percival Everett’s retelling of one of Mark Twain’s most famous novels from a different POV. (If you want to read more of Morgan’s book thoughts and recommendations, subscribe to her newsletter or follow her on Instagram!)

• If you love Everbody Wants Some!!, GQ’s 2016 oral history of the film is well worth reading (or re-reading).

Knitwear of the Week

Knit: A gray ombré Isabel Marant Danah Open-Front Mohair Cardigan.

Worn By: Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the world-famous pop star—essentially Harry Styles in all but name—romancing a single mom 16 years his senior in The Idea of You.

Costume Designer: Jacqueline Demeterio

The exact minute I saw Hayes’ cardigan in The Idea of You—a movie that’s much better than it has any right to be—when I watched it with a couple of friends last month, I immediately clocked that it was made with mohair, a thin but shaggy-looking type of yarn that’s even more delicate than what you might use to make light socks or gloves. I’ve used it a couple of times in my projects, and while it can be as fluffy as it looks, I admire it more in its twisted skein form than in practice.

When I pointed this out to my non-knitter friends, they were a bit confused by what I meant by that. One of them knows I like movie sweaters, so my getting excited about one on-screen wasn’t a shock. But neither of them knew what mohair was, so I was met with confused looks.

But a few days later, W Magazine’s interview with costume designer Jacqueline Demeterio, which broke down some of the film’s key looks, confirmed what I previously suspected. W not only provided the cardigan brand name—not something I’m always accustomed to in this line of work—but described it as a “nubby Isabel Marant ombré cardigan.”

Me essentially after reading that:

“I liked the texture of the sweater,” she told Variety in a different interview. “Besides looking cool and great, it looked also warm and inviting but also still looked like his pop star self. The colors and the gradation was really beautiful.”

The Variety interview also offered another nugget: Galitzine loved the cardigan so much that he bought everything he wore in that scene; the hat in the movie was his.

“After we tried it on, he texted me and he’s like, ‘Can you give the details?’ And he purchased it right after because he loved it,” she added.

I love that for me personally.

Want to nominate your own Knitwear of the Week?

I’m now offering you a chance to nominate your favorite piece of cinematic knitwear. I’ve got more information about what I’m looking for here. So, if you’ve got one, send an email over to [email protected] with your pick!

1  The shows on my radar right now: The FX/Hulu drama Shōgun, Bridgerton season 3, The Acolyte, Doctor Who season 14 (or season 1 if you accept Disney+’s new numbering; I don’t), Interview With the Vampire season 2, House of the Dragon season 2—and I’m planning to start Hacks season 3 soon. Good thing I don’t watch The Boys or The Bear, or else I’d be caught in another Geekmageddon.

2  For now, anyway. But if it’s all downhill from here, it wasn’t my fault.

3  I am extremely susceptible to a gushing book recommendation—for fun, not for work since I don’t exactly do book reviews—especially if it’s outside my usual purview. So, if you have a rec you think I might like, shoot your shot!