Recently, instead of my knitting challenging me, expanding my horizons and teaching me new techniques, it has primarily served to frustrate me. I am knitting a pair of socks for a gift (I'll post them when they are all done and in the hands of the recipient...) which I designed myself, from yarn I adore. Somehow, I've managed to botch up the leg pattern, which I designed myself so there is no one to blame, and I need to pull out several rows and re-knit. Instead of having the discipline to sit down and do that and move forward, I opted to start a new project.
Next, I cast on the Rockin' Sock Club kit for January, which is gorgeous all around....gorgeous yarn, gorgeous pattern, gorgeous beads and fun, fun, fun to knit.
***Spoiler Starts here***
Well, the first sock was fun, and finished in record time. The second sock is a different story. I can not for the life of me reproduce the "Tubular Cast On". I thought I had it figured out after the first one, and fantasized that the second sock is always faster than the first. Oh no! After about 10 tries at the recommended cast-on, I have finally resorted to my old standby Long-Tail Cast On and it doesn't matter to me if the very top of the cuffs don't match. Hopefully, the person who I'm going to give these to won't mind either.
I have recently registered to begin a Master's Degree program in Nursing (MSN), in hopes of achieving a job where I can make a difference to my patients through expertise and quality care for less than 12-13 hours at a time, and in "regular clothes" rather than scrubs. I also hope to gain understanding of many of the issues which frustrate me because I don't really understand the way hospitals are managed, and increased knowledge usually decreases frustration for me. My first class will start in April. I am very excited and hopeful about this new venture in my career.
To celebrate my leap of faith, I swung by the closest yarn shop to my University campus, which happens to be one of the most inspiring shops for me, The Knitty Cat, and bought yarn for a new project.
I want to make Talia, out of good yarn that is enjoyable to knit, and I want to have it finished by the first night of class so I can wear it for luck. I bought a nice bag-full of Berocco Pure Merino in a gorgeous teal color and cast on.
This is a great knit...easy enough, yet also interesting. I did learn a hard lesson, though, since I am pretty new to knitting lace patterns, especially in garments...."one stitch off" is a much bigger deal than it sounds like. In the picture on the right, you can see the wonky, messed up lace pattern which I continually told myself was "not a big deal". Elizabeth Zimmermann said in a video that the most important part of the sweater was up by your face, so make that part perfect. This is the bottom of a long vest and will be nowhere near my face, so it doesn't matter, does it? Well, insert your favorite expletive here, I think I'm going to have to rip back almost the whole part I've knit to find the "just one stitch" that was "no big deal". Denial...it ain't just a river in Egypt.
On a happy note, that up there is the yarn which The Knit's Meow sent me as part of a Knitty Valentine's Day Surprise Package. Not only did she send me six (!) skeins of Manos del Uruguay, but also a gingerbread house kit, and chocolates (really good chocolates)! That yarn is telling me it wants to be knit into something beautiful. Like a Cloud Bolero. But I absolutely must must must finish something successfully before I subject this fabulous yarn to my recent bad-knitting-karma.
When I put it all together after photographing it, I noticed a color theme...
Today's Blog post was brought to you by the color "Teal."
1 comment:
Well, teal is a great color and all those yarns are just beautiful! Did you ever finish your Feb. Lady sweater? I was thinking of starting one and it would look great in these colors!
Post a Comment