Back in November I joined the Stash Down 2008 group on Ravelry. The plan is to knit from boodle first. I do that anyway, but supportive encouragement is always welcome. Not a yarn diet as such, more a reminder of the purpose of stash.
My stated January goal was whip the WIPs into shape because they're all boodle all the time. Sounded like a good idea back in December.
With the end of the month approaching, a couple of weeks ago I hunted out my oldest WIP. A jumper, size 18mos, that I was knitting for Connor. I guess I started knitting it late 1998 or early 1999 intending it for Winter 1999. It's a cute little jumper, a Patons pattern that was a freebie from the magazine That's Life. The yarn is from Reverse Garbage in Marrickville (how I miss RG!)which I picked up along with a lot of other yarn, some of which is still in stash but most of which I gave away on leaving Sydney. It's in small hand wound balls - nothing more than 30g - which took me weeks to untangle and wind.
I'd knitted the front, the back and 3/4 of one sleeve. Why I'd deviated from my usual formula of back, sleeves together then front/s, I can't remember. It may have been because I was still doing most of my knitting during work breaks and two sleeves at once is fiddlier. I can't remember why I stopped knitting it either. A rush of startitis? Changing jobs? Dunno. The dark blue colour makes it hard to knit in anything other than broad daylight, so maybe I got busier and couldn't see to knit it at night.
Last weekend I finished the first sleeve and happily cast on for the second. A sleeve, some sewing up and the neck bands - a piece of piss to finish by the end of the week? Apparently not. That second sleeve was the Second Sleeve of Cursed Doom.
First of all I cast on for the wrong size and knitted the band before I'd realised. Unravel, begin again. Then I forgot to do the second pattern repeat and had done half the sleeve before I'd worked it out. Unravel 20 odd rows. Knit up to second pattern repeat and realised I've buggered up the increases, unravel another 28 rows.
So I finally finished the second sleeve this morning. Happy dance, give Peggy a piece of celebratory chicken, more happy dance, place sleeve two on top of sleeve one to do double check of length.
*(&)^^&#(:!!
There's a )*&%^#$)$(!! error on the first sleeve about half way down.
Have unravelled sleeve one (now known as the First Sleeve Of Cursed Doom) to the problem, picked up all the stitches and knitted a little past where the problem was. 28 more rows to go and I know the little blighter's got a surprise or two waiting for me.
I'm going back to garter stitch mitred squares.
My stated January goal was whip the WIPs into shape because they're all boodle all the time. Sounded like a good idea back in December.
With the end of the month approaching, a couple of weeks ago I hunted out my oldest WIP. A jumper, size 18mos, that I was knitting for Connor. I guess I started knitting it late 1998 or early 1999 intending it for Winter 1999. It's a cute little jumper, a Patons pattern that was a freebie from the magazine That's Life. The yarn is from Reverse Garbage in Marrickville (how I miss RG!)which I picked up along with a lot of other yarn, some of which is still in stash but most of which I gave away on leaving Sydney. It's in small hand wound balls - nothing more than 30g - which took me weeks to untangle and wind.
I'd knitted the front, the back and 3/4 of one sleeve. Why I'd deviated from my usual formula of back, sleeves together then front/s, I can't remember. It may have been because I was still doing most of my knitting during work breaks and two sleeves at once is fiddlier. I can't remember why I stopped knitting it either. A rush of startitis? Changing jobs? Dunno. The dark blue colour makes it hard to knit in anything other than broad daylight, so maybe I got busier and couldn't see to knit it at night.
Last weekend I finished the first sleeve and happily cast on for the second. A sleeve, some sewing up and the neck bands - a piece of piss to finish by the end of the week? Apparently not. That second sleeve was the Second Sleeve of Cursed Doom.
First of all I cast on for the wrong size and knitted the band before I'd realised. Unravel, begin again. Then I forgot to do the second pattern repeat and had done half the sleeve before I'd worked it out. Unravel 20 odd rows. Knit up to second pattern repeat and realised I've buggered up the increases, unravel another 28 rows.
So I finally finished the second sleeve this morning. Happy dance, give Peggy a piece of celebratory chicken, more happy dance, place sleeve two on top of sleeve one to do double check of length.
*(&)^^&#(:!!
There's a )*&%^#$)$(!! error on the first sleeve about half way down.
Have unravelled sleeve one (now known as the First Sleeve Of Cursed Doom) to the problem, picked up all the stitches and knitted a little past where the problem was. 28 more rows to go and I know the little blighter's got a surprise or two waiting for me.
I'm going back to garter stitch mitred squares.
8 comments:
Oh no! I feel your pain, I really do.
But it does look lovely!
As you know, I have been there and I suspect we're not the only ones!
Oh that's very boogelly. It is the easy looking innocuous things that sneak up on us and become Articles of Curs-ed Doom. (I think you really do ahve to say Curs-ed!!) Hope it's going a little better now.
Oh Taph - how awful for you - and how brae for persisting!
Mitred garter stitch squares? Really? And where's the frogging fun in that? LOL
But doesn't it make the wool so lovely and curly and add to the challenge!
Well done for the perserverence. It could be that you noticed the mistake in the first sleeve all those years ago and look what happened then.
I'm on my third attempt at a mohair shawl because I frogged it twice before I realised I had the whole thing upside down!
Cheers Gillian
I too feel your pain...there should be support groups for things like this.
What a pain! I'm not sure I would have persevered at that point. I mean, I think of myself as a process knitter but I have my limits!
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