I returned to knitting as a way of getting out of the house and meeting with other women so I knit for a couple hours on Tuesday nights if I go to knitting that week. In January, I started the teal sweater that took nine months to knit and two seconds to melt and in September, I started the little girl's sweater in bubblegum pink. I picked a smaller project that would knit up faster to test an idea for casting on the sleeves. Fast has been painfully slow.
The back had been done for a while so on Monday I decided to knit hard and get the fronts finished, join the shoulder seams, and cast on the collar for last night so I'd be knitting "something different." When the fronts were finished and placed over the back, it was immediately obvious something was wrong. They were each 1 1/2" narrower than the back. That simple, easy, deceptive, just a combination of knits and purls pattern...
... that I'd worked out for the fronts condensed the gauge a LOT more than I'd anticipated which left me with three choices. Re-knit the back to match the fronts. Re-knit the fronts to match the back. OR... be done with this. I chose option C, wrote notes on the needles and gauge used, pulled out the fronts, pulled out the back to the underarm seam because - in hindsight and while I was at it - the decreases on the back could have been done better, and packaged everything together with the pattern into the drawer of re-knitting projects.
It's November. The year is almost over and so far, it's been the year of bad knitting. Those two projects along with the baby squares that took forever are the only items I've knit this year. A better ending was needed so...
... using this Bernat Mosaic yarn that looks like a hand dyed, natural even though it's entirely acrylic, I cast on and started knitting rows of garter stitch at first intending to make the cowl from the free pattern on the front only the instructions contained four 1st rows and no obvious connection although in the image you can see the knitting goes in several directions. It was confusing. Not wanting to risk an end of year failure, I opted to look at the measurements - 12" x 28" - and make my own version. That's 53 stitches and knitting.
Here's what one repeat of the colors looks like. Why do they always stick something dull and yucky in with all those beautiful brights? I'd have happily left out the dusty pink but I'm not cutting around it. Too. Much. Work.
Today, I'm home all day in the studio. I was looking forward to the uninterrupted, productive time working on JoAnna's purse. Not. Going. To. Happen. I slept about an hour and a half last night and would still be in bed if I hadn't needed to drive my son to work. We'll see if the coffee works wonders or if I'm curled up in the chair shortly.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - nights of complete sleep
Sometimes things just go like that. I seem to have a string of fabulous successes, then a string of failures. I have knit more this year, but not particularly successfully. Of the 9 things I have knit this year, 4 are either full or partial failures, and have already been tossed or donated. Of the 5 remaining, one dress, knit in bulky alpaca, is lovely but probably far too warm for me to ever where in our new home which has much milder winters. Three of the remaining 4 are scarves or wraps. Although I enjoyed the knitting, it seems like a lot of time with not much to show for the effort.
ReplyDeleteOh well.
As a very new knitter, I find some comfort to know that others experience the kinds of problems that I have. I'm sorry about your failure but will feel a little better as I rip out rows of knitting. I keep telling myself that it is good practice and learning.
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