Hate feeling guilty because

#1

I hate feeling guilty because I am sitting and knitting, knowing there is laundry to do, or cleaning, or dishes to wash. Today I wanted so badly to finish this first sock. However, I happened to notice that the hamper is getting full, and the dishwasher needed running, and then the bed sheets needed changing. So I did all my chores, except making the bed back up again. They are all finished now. I did not get the sock finished, but the day is not over yet. I have 1/2" more of the foot to knit and then the decrease for the toes, the grafting and I am done.

Does anyone else get the guilts when they sit knitting with housework to be done or am I alone in this guilt trip?

:teehee:

#2

I am so there with you. I have been knitting and frogging… and knitting and frogging… and knitting and frogging some more all day. I just looked up at the clock and realized that I am a mess. My house is a mess. Dinner is not cooking itself and DH will be hom ein 2 hours. I feel so guilty for spending the whole day on me. But apparrently not TOO guilty cuz I am here on the KH forum. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

#3

Wow, you are flying along on that sock!

Nope, you’re not the only one who gets the guilties! I can’t knit unless I’m away from home or the kids are in bed, since mine are still little. So, needless to say, quite a lot of my ‘kids are in bed’ time is spent knitting! Laundry? Dirty dishes? Nah…

#4

I have the exact same problem. I just finished a project last night and I am going to start felted clogs now but I am making myself get all of the house cleaning done before I even look at the pattern. If only we could all have a maid!!!

#5

Dontcha just hate when something as pesky as responsibility gets in the way of our knitting? :poke:

#6

Yes, that is IT!!! Knitter’s Molly Maid. Oh if only I could win the lottery. I would sit on my butt and watch someone else clean my house, do my laundry, wash the windows, scrub the floors, vacuum, perhaps even give the walls a nice paint job; all while I sit on my butt knitting sox of course. Oh yeah, that’s the ticket … can YOU say addiction?

#7

Addiction? What do you mean <twitching, with needles clenched in hands> ? :zombie:

#8

Ummmm Hello, my name is Christine, and I am a KNITTER! It all started when… I wonder if they have a local Knitter’s Anonymous here in town? If they do, then I could talk them into meeting at my house and turn it into a Stitch and Bitch session or five, or perhaps twenty. Twice a week should cure us (we’ll find something that needs curing gets out the medical reference books)! Don’t you think???

#9

Oh gosh- my apartment is a mess and the laundry is piling up. It’s horrible, but with school and knitting and such I’m just busy. Okay, it’s a bad excuse, but it’s the only one I have. I need to get started on cleaning up tomorrow. I hate a messy house, but I like knitting more than cleaning, so it’s hard to convince myself to clean.

#10

Perhaps we should all do one cleaning type job a day before we pick up those needles. I keep saying this is what I am going to do, but then I wake up and rush to the computer and turn it on, and my knitting bags are sitting right beside the computer, and one happens to fall over and the yarn spills out and I pick it up to put it back in the bag and it calls to me and says “knit with me, c’mon, knit with me” and I start knitting. Hours and hours later I realize the light with the timer has come on and it’s 5 in the evening and I’ve gotten nothing done but knitting. I also realize I am hungry and thirsty and stiff and sore, I need to pee and I’m grumpy because the laundry or cleaning or cooking needs to still be done. So, I pick up my knitting again and keep on going…

Actually, to set the record straight, my house is always pretty tidy. How dirty can it get with just me here all day, and all I do is sit in my chair and knit???

#11

My apartment wouldn’t get too messy except that the DBF takes off his clothes and puts them wherever he wants and while sometimes this is okay…most of the time it’s NOT. I debate between picking up after him or leaving it so he notices- but he never does. We have more stuff than we have places to put it. We have two dinning room tables in a 1 bedroom apartment. It’s quite aggrivating not having anywhere to put anything, but we’re moving soon and I’m determined to get rid of things I don’t need.

#12

Train him before you marry him, you’ll never manage it after!

#13

Hee hee…I was going to suggest what I do with my Girl Guides…Work before play…I even do that here at work. I do stuff I need to do, then I pick up the needles…it leaves to to knit without worry that you [I]should[/I] be doing!

#14

Sometimes that is easier said than done. I am soooooooo excited about learning to knit in the round and make socks, that is all I seem to want to do. But, the good news is… the laundry is done and put away, the dishes are clean and put away, the house is tidy and I only have 1/4" of foot left to knit before I can decrease those toes! I did ok today. I even dusted the furniture. I’m on a roll!

#15

Yes! I feel guilty lots. But, there are days when things get so hard, that all I can do is to sit and knit and finish a project that will actually [I][U]last[/U][/I]…know what I mean? Laundry will always be there; dishes will always be there, no matter how many times you do them. But when you finish a project, you can hold something tangible in your hands and can say proudly, “I did it! I finished something! I bound off and wove in the ends so it can’t come undone and need to be done over again like that pile of laundry!” :teehee: Seriously, my knitting to me is my sanity on days when I feel like it’s a neverending cycle of tedium. A sense of accomplishment in something is a really important necessity for me (and I think for everybody) once in a while. Plus, I know I can appreciate a finished knitted item (or the recipient will appreciate it); I’m not so sure how much my family appreciates the housework aspect (it’s more taken advantage of than anything else…they only notice when it doesn’t get done :teehee: ).

#16

Oh you are so right! The housework will always be there, but the knitting I have created lately has made people that are important to me happy, therefore [B]I[/B] have made people happy! If the dishes sat in the dishwasher for a day or two clean, who cares! If the laundry piled up but we did not go naked, who cares! If there was a bit of dust on the furniture, who cares! [B]I AM CREATING HAPPINESS TODAY![/B] Thanks cookworm, I no longer feel guilty!!!

#17

Know what ya mean, and I mean howdy!! :wink:

#18

See, this is why I had children. They do my dishes and pick up the messes they (and sometimes I) make around the living room. I do the laundry when I notice I’m almost out of underwear, and I can knit in between loads. I need a vaccuum and for some reason, I don’t seem to have a broom…so that chore gets overlooked for the moment.

Hey Christine, wanna borrow my kids?

#19

:roflhard: :roflhard: :roflhard: Uh oh…am I enabling here? :shifty: Don’t get me wrong–housework [I][U]is[/U][/I] important [I][U]of course[/U][/I]!–but so is sanity. Some days, if I have to pick up one more pair of dirty underwear and toss it into the wash, or stand at the sink scraping the food off of one more plate, or mediate between one more bicker in between kids…well, you all get the idea.:wink: Anyway, on days when I’m not feeling well and I need to spend some time in bed, knitting has been a real blessing for me. Maybe I’m physically not up to standing for long periods of time washing dishes or cooking or bending and lifting heavy loads of laundry, but I can still be productive and do something while resting in bed, even if that’s knitting a small project. That sense of accomplishment is really important.

:roflhard: :roflhard: :roflhard:
Too funny!!!

#20

Well, I can speak from experience that while you may train him…mine has his own obession and completely neglects everything. So it can be “un” trained too. But yes, set standards.

This is the way I try to get the guilt out of me: If I were told I was dying would I regret that the house wasn’t clean or that I never knitted that lace shawl? Somehow a spotless house doesn’t rank high on the priority list when you think of what really matters. Life is short. Enjoy it.

So, I don’t get too upset that the SO doesn’t help. He has his happiness and I have mine.