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To Knit Again

My knitting mojo is off to a good start in 2018. It is too bad I don't have anything to show for all my time as I just unravelled my current project and am about to start over.

I am knitting Iris Schreier's Lazy Days Tunic and I am really enjoying the process of knitting again. The yarns are ArtYarns' Merino Cloud and Beaded Silk and Sequins and I should have enough to knit both the tunic and the matching shawl. Rather than the lilac shown, I'm knitting mine in Beet Red,

Unfortunately I messed up, and not for the first time. I originally started this in December but my mind wasn't focused enough and I couldn't maintain consistent gauge so I put it aside and started over this January. I still couldn't get gauge, even after trying several sizes of needle and several types of needles — wood, metal, etc. I did manage to get row gauge, which the pattern states is especially important, but my stitch gauge is off but 1/2 stitch per inch, which meant that I had redo the math for the pattern before I started.

I was knitting, pretty consistently and successfully I thought, until yesterday. I took my knitting with me when I went to get a pedicure but I forgot to take the pattern. I thought I could wing it, and I almost did, I knew I was in the part where I was squaring off the shape of the piece, and I thought I had the pattern down (I did), but I didn't realize that I was supposed to decrease stitches on one side (the sequined side), and increase on the other to maintain a consistent edge. In retrospect this makes sense because of the way the pattern is knit on the bias, but I was tired and relaxed and obviously all my mental neurons were not firing adequately, at least in terms of sweater math.

I ended up with a funny little jog, and I knew I'd have to rip back a few rows. I also knew there was an error further down, where I had somehow stopped purling in the middle of the row, and there is a gap in the ridged pattern, kind of in the middle lower left of the top photo above. I was just going to live with it, keep it as a little intentional imperfection.

But then, when I laid the sweater out on the floor I saw that I got my sides reversed on a whole section of the bottom of the sweater, and it looked terrible, purls where there should be knits, no consistent pattern to the spacing between ridges. Obviously the whole thing needed to be ripped out. And so I ripped. It proved to be a little tricky, those sequins catch and snag, so I had to be mindful.

I am excited about starting this project again, and excited about knitting it. I am also happy that I stopped and checked everything before knitting further. Having actually knit part of the sweater, I have a much better understanding of way the pattern works, and I discovered that I had made an error in my initial math. That too has been corrected and the project should be smooth knitting from here. It is not really mindless knitting, but it is fun knitting. And I think this is the first time in a long long while that I am so excited about the whole process, the making, the math, and the anticipation of the finished sweater.

January 20, 2018
Hello Again

Sometimes things work out for a reason. I never wanted to delete this blog, and yet I never really planned on coming back either. I am still blogging at restingmotion, and will continue to do so, and yet, as I find myself knitting again I also find my mind purling away, and here I am again.

Let's just go with the flow for the moment and see where we end up.

I've been knitting. I stopped for a while. Well, I didn't exactly stop, but my progress was slow and intermittent at best, and often retrograde. And then, suddenly the yarn and the fingers and the brain waves have connected and creation once again takes place.

First there is this scarf:

It is complete and has a role and a life as itself, a lovely lacey scarf, and yet it is also incomplete, with potential yet unexplored.

The yarn is Lontue by Auracania. The pattern is for the Janus Shawl, but as you can see it is not yet a shawl. The basic idea is that you knit this lovely lacy scarf and then you add the the crocheted edging that turns the scarf into a shawl.

For now I am stopping at a scarf, but I have not yet abandoned the idea of finishing the shawl, I am just making the most of this transitional phase. I am finally unpacking and organizing my studio (sewing/knitting/needlework) and in the process of putting up shelves and workspace have piled all my materials in a room in a most unorganized fashion. Somehwere in that pile of boxes and bags are the remaining two skeins of Lontue and the pattern, and they will eventually be unearthed and this scarf may yet be transformed into a shawl.

Once I finished the scarf, which seemed endless as it was a project with which I struggled through a long period of intermittent difficulties, I was ready, finally ready, to start something new. Plans and ideas popped into my head like bubbles and I didn't exactly know where to start, until I saw some bright green cotton yarn.

I had actually planned on starting a different project when a lovely green silk, rayon, and cotton yarn by Debbie Bliss, Stella, came into my life. I didn't have much, 5 skeins, or roughly 450 yards and the yarn is fairly thick and heavy, so I knew I wanted something rather open and airy. There was a model on the floor of an open drop-stitch top, and I knew it would work, so I picked up the pattern, "Summer Poncho Knitted" from Loopville, my new LYS.

I was thinking this would be a quick project that I could wear now, while the weather was still warm to hot, and that a little instant gratification might be just what I needed, something to whet the creative juices and make me eager to jump into a more time-consuming project. A week later I had a sweater and I like it.

The sweater is really very simple, two large rectangles knit in a k5, p5 rib with every fifth stitch being dropped on bind off. I knit it on size 10 needles, and although my gauge was actually smaller than the pattern, the silk and rayon content of the yarn, along with its weight, actually made the final cloth much more drapey than the original, so final dimensions, post-blocking, actually ended up slightly longer than the original although with the same width.

For now I love it. Whether or not it will be a longterm staple in my closet or it will be ripped and transformed at some future date is yet to be determined. I keep making similar sweaters, but I also keep forgetting how easy they are to snag. Perhaps this will be the exception. Perhaps I am becoming more mindful. Perhaps not. For now, this is perfect.

Green Janus Shawl (Scarf) on Ravelry

Green Summer Poncho on Ravelry

August 28, 2013
Catch Up

It has been a busy, busy week and I intentions and even ideas have fallen by the wayside.

We had house guests for a couple of days mixed in with a bunch of other excitement (we lead a pretty quiet life and it doesn't take much to count for excitement around here.

And we have certainly done our part to support the recovery this week as well, starting locally with a crew of tree cutters, a bucket truck, a huge chipper truck and a trailer for the logs as we finally took down the big cotton wood tree by the house, as well as a hemlock tree that was almost as tall as the cottonwood, but bare of leaves for all but the 8 or 10 feet which rose above the shade of the cottonwood and other trees. There were 6 trees total, two of which were dead and posed a threat to our power lines in the next ice storm and it took the crew about a day and a half to get everything cut down and cleaned out. Unfortunately none of the trees were particularly desirable as firewood so everything was hauled off.

The washing machine also sprang a leak about a week ago and the repair person was here on Friday AM and told me I needed a new pump and a new motor, to the tune of something like $500. Now that amount of money would buy a new top loader, but I don't intend to replace my top loader with another of its ilk as I see no point in investing in the old technology. Even so, it was too much to spend on an 18 year old washing machine as well, so off we went to the appliance store.

A new washer and dryer are set to be delivered this afternoon, probably in about an hour (which may be when I finish this post) and I am very happy not to be contemplating a trip to the laundromat. The original plan was not to get the dryer, although the dryer I have is 16 years old, and the enamel is chipping off on the drum so I have to be very careful about rust spots on the clothing if things are left to sit in the dryer. But I quickly realized that the front loaders were just enough larger than the old machines that it would be a pain to work around the washer to get at the dryer, so we got the set and I am happy and even eager to run some laundry.

Best of all, I purchased what is my new favorite concealer, even though it is almost as expensive as sin. You need the teeniest, tiniest little bit, it blends beautifully and covers even dark circles well without slipping, sliding into the wrinkles and creases around the eye or looking like you have applied a layer of spackle. And it lasts all day.

I say "almost" as expensive as sin because it is actually $5 cheaper than my previous favorite concealer, the one I thought I would never abandon until someone sent me a sample of this one, Cle de Peau's concealer. The only think I don't know is if a container lasts as long. The Cle de Peau stick looks bigger, and it would usually last me a year or a little longer. The La Mer looks like it holds less, quantity wise, although I also use far less, just barely enough to be visible on the brush. Only time will tell.

Oh, and I did some clothing shopping and found out I could go down a size in a favorite pair of pants. I also rediscovered a few old favorites that I had been saving and which now fit again. I was so excited after a few weeks of no progress that I thought I would go public and add the little "weight loss ticker" that I have seen a few places around the web.

November 7, 2009