Deep Thought

I do a lot of my creative thinking and planning in the bath.  A nice, deep, hot bath with scented bubbles, colour changing candles, a cup of tea (or a small pot if I'm planning a long session, or fresh coffee if it's first thing in the morning), warm towels and my design notebook and pencil(s), diary, pen, timer if I'm on a schedule, etc. As I relax, I let my mind freewheel.  Watching the rainbow spectra on the bubbles mesmerises me as they shift and twinkle under the bathroom light.  I make notes of anything I remember that I need (or want) to do, and then just do some of my physio exercises, sit or lie there, letting the ideas swirl and thoughts collide.

I recently found myself thinking about what I was thinking about, and before it got too recursive I reflected that the process is effectively that of the Word Association game, except that there is only me, and the words stay as unspoken thoughts. I'm mining my own subconscious for creative ideas and connections, and predictably my favourite things are regular features. (Strangely, I forgot about hot, scented baths as one of my favourite things, but they are.)

Out of interest in my own thought process, and wondering how many of those thoughts got lost before they made it onto paper, I thought I would take notes of the thoughts and mind's eye pictures which came up during a session, and here's the result:

Seeing someone ploughing on my way into Carmarthen the other day.
Ridges and furrows of ploughed earth.
Stripes of light and dark brown and drab yellow-green winter grass.
Hedgebanks full of snowdrops, daffodils and primroses starting too.
Must try to make some progress with the garden.
Need my knees to stop hurting.
Buddleia.
Purples?
Remembering accidental and unexpectedly good colour combinations when sorting through the multicolour DK stash.
I don't like purples and pinks, so why do I find myself drawn to them at the moment?
The fuzzy memory of a picture of a friend's fingerless mittens with bands of garter? stitch.
Another memory of a short sleeved cardigan in garter stitch, in a clothing catalogue.
Wondering: why am I so averse to garter stitch?
Or is it really reverse stocking stitch which I don't like, because it looks like the thing is inside out?
But I do like the 'springy rings' look.
The potential for mittens or a moebius cowl to have each garter/reverse stocking stitch band in a different colour on a single colour background.
What about having dark to light toned garter bands on a light to dark toned background?
When I'm blending one colour into the next in the Longshore blanket, is it random, predictable ...?
How come I don't have any Royal Blue in my stash?
For a longer blend, for example on a cowl, what if you blend two colours using an inverse number of rows? 6+1, 5+2, 4+3 ...
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Where would I start the blend with a third colour?
Would a repeat of that pattern look too predictable?
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
What about a different sequence?
Fibonacci.
111111111111111111111111111111111
What if you combine the two?
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Or reverse the second?
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
And/or reverse the first?
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Game on, you could play with this forever!
Bands of stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch plus different colours plus inverse number or Fibonacci series plus mittens, cowls, hats, socks ...?
Rainbow coloured springy rings!
Someone else has probably already done this.
Must have a little look online and in Ravelry.
The there comes that dreadful moment when the water's running cold, In the Bath! In the Bath!
... It's started running hot, let's have another hour or more, In the Bath! In the Bath!*
Perhaps not.
Cast off! Knit two together!**

So, duly washed, dried, dressed and looking approximately human again, I had a quick look and found a couple of blogs re Fibonacci and knitting:  Lismi Knits and Knitting Dragonflies. I love the idea of Fibonacci ribbing and textures. Thanks, both!

*Flanders and Swann, of course. Here's the link for it on YouTube.  It starts at about 3:40. **The pun at the start of Sea Fever always amuses me.

All this was a couple of days ago.  I'm trying to remember why I wanted black DK. Time for another bath.