Instant gratification with knitting

I love projects that finish quickly. Case in point: the beret I made with Noro Kochoran was done in two days. Compare that to all my WIPs of three scarves, one baby cardigan, one vest, two ponchos and three shawls. Oh yes, and the Bonsai Tunic that has been on my needles since last spring. Actually with the last one, I've made considerable progress. OK, it may not look like it, but I think it's been pretty good, considering I had only done two rows when I last worked on it and had frogged it FIVE times (grrr)!

The beret was done because I wanted a cold weather hat that had a bit of style to it. Plus I had this beautiful skein that I had no idea what to do with. After looking through my zillions of pattern books and magazines, I finally settled on the basic tam pattern from Ann Budd's book (a terrific book, BTW). I made is a little larger than needed, but I wanted to have it be big enough so that I would cover my ears. Mission accomplished (sorry fellow liberals, for the Dubya reference).

Super bulky yarn and/or large needle knitting is great, but I'm not so sure if I could wear knitted items in that style all the time. I first saw this in The Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits, then in Twinkle's Big City Knits. Fun knitting, to be sure, and there is a real satisfaction in getting a considerable project done in no time.

But sometimes, huge gauge knitted garments just look - well, weird. It's almost as if you took a jumprope and knitted with it. Even I, as a person with a small medium build who could get away with wearing chunky knits, don't think of it as a permanent fashion statement.

I guess if I knit something up like this, and don't like it, it can always be frogged and made into a rug.