One project to rule them all.
I got a LOT of knitting accomplished over the Christmas vacation. Unfortunately, most of it was on the same project, doing the SAME rows over and over. More about that later.
Alex’s sweater turned out wonderfully! It’s knit using the Sock it to Me! Collection Harlequin yarn in Blue Jeans (from elann.com) and Esther Bozak’s custom-fit dog sweater pattern. The not-so-willing model (he hates the modeling, not the sweater):
But. My knitting hubris destroyed me.
Once I ran out of yarn for Clapotis, I put it on a stitch holder and began work on Cozy for my mother. Oh, the pain and torture. I have literally cast on that project four separate times, and unravelled it three times. I’ve done lacy baby afghans, I’ve done complicated patternwork, and I still cannot keep this pattern straight. I finally gave up, stowed it in a bag, and vowed to not work on it again until we reached Alabama on our drive home.
I started it again, and finally, FINALLY — as Trace watched and kept my count — I made some progress.
Knitting notes
I can sum up my last two days in one word: knitting. I’ve been knitting like a madwoman. Part of this is from the sheer joy of not having to do anything else and not being ABLE to do anything else. Gary, Karen, Trace, and I drove from Dallas to Atlanta on Saturday, leaving very early in the morning and arriving not too late at night. It was a good trip. Gary drives like the hounds of hell are after him, but he does it safely (as safely as can be at that speed), so we made good time getting here. Trace was a great baby for almost the entire ride out, and that’s more than you can hope for with a six-month-old. Karen was her usual self, and I’ll leave those of you who know her to figure that out for yourselves.
I literally spent the entire drive knitting. I was determined to finish the wrap that I’m making for myself. I wanted to finish it so I could wear it, and I wanted to finish it so I could get it off of my needles and move on to the wrap that I’m making for my mother. I got to the next-to-last section, where the decreases begin and it tapers to its final point, and I’ve now discovered that I need one more skein of yarn. I’m actually angry about this because the yarn in question is over $20 a skein, I wanted it done, I knit true to gauge, and the pattern said I only needed what I bought. I’m also mad because now I’m going to have extra of this yarn. I’m contemplating making a headband/earwarmer thing, but I didn’t want a wool blend that close to my eyes. Oh well.
Since I couldn’t get anywhere else on that, I turned to my other project: a stripey dog sweater for Alex, made with the extra sock yarn I have from the twins’ sweaters. He’s a small dog and it’s coming along very quickly. It helps when you spend seven hours knitting it, too. It will be quite cute when it’s done.
I’m on a dial-up connection right now, and I’d best be off to get the line free. I had to go online to check on my mother and father’s Christmas presents, both of which were eaten by the internet. Mom’s order was cancelled without me knowing it (Eddie Bauer sent a MAIL letter to tell me) and had to be re-ordered. Dad’s order apparently never made it through. I’m just a bit irritated, as you might imagine.
Happy Christmas, Erin. Remember: happy Christmas. :-)
Monotonous yet pretty
Okay, the thing about knitting any sort of really large object is that it just turns out to be boring halfway through. You still love it, the pattern is still great, and the yarn is wonderful, but it’s just plain boring to keep going on something for that long.
Witness: Clapotis.
I do love the yarn and the color, but my lord am I bored. It’s a good thing I’ve had so much television to watch because this thing goes on and on. I’m only halfway through the third of the five sections!
Awww. The Cliveotis. Isn’t that just cute?
Definitely the right colorway
Oh, am I loving the Clapotis. Just look at this yarn and color:
Isn’t that just gorgeous? I love this Icehouse colorway. (Btw, I think colorway is a very odd word.)
I finally finished the first section of increases and now get to work on the straight section. I’m not to the row-dropping stage yet, but I’m nervously excited about getting there. I’m sure that my inner (and outer) perfectionist is going to be slightly unnerved by intentionally dropping stitches.
Adelle laughed at me because I took this picture with a bottle of nail polish. I was trying to give an idea of scale and I didn’t have anything else handy that was normal. Remote controls are relative, pens are relative, and my cell phone is tiny. So there you have it. I’ve started an album to keep the Clapotis progress documented … exciting, no?
