Trials and Tribulations

While I like to say that no one has ever died of knitting, I am the first to admit that one can experience setbacks along the way. Take the sweater I've been working on in Cascade 128. I cast on 94 stitches. At the armholes I decreased three stitches on each side, and when I got to the very end, I had one stitch too many. Now some people would just knit 2 together and call it a day. Not me. I'm proud to be a process knitter, and I will rip out the damn thing til I get the correct number of stitches.

The baby blanket I've been working on in Madeline Tosh DK has been put aside. I've restarted it in Malabrigo Rios, which means it's slightly larger. I've got about 23 rows left to go. No, I refuse to multiply the number of rows remaining by the number of stitches in each row. (It's 116 per row, so that's only 2668 stitches to go, not counting the bind off.) The baby for whom the blanket is intended is almost here, so I've got to get my fingers busy.

I am making my first beaded garment. I've never beaded with my knitting before, and while it looks terrific, I've only got about three rows done. This is a Christmas present, and I only hope it will be done before then. My plan had been to knit it during November (because of course the bay blanket would be done by now), but here we are, more than a third of the way through the month (almost half way!) and I haven't touched it. I console myself with the idea that I've only got 23 rows left of the blanket left, and will probably finish it this week. Then I have to block it.

The well laid plans of mice and knitter oft gang awry.

On the other hand, the gorgeous (if I do say so myself) sweater that I started about three years ago with the Rowan British Sheep breeds' yarn (Blueface Leicestershire) was giving me some grief (I'd finished the back, the front and the sleeves, and had joined the right shoulder, badly) has been rescued by my friend Claudia. She took out my stitches and rejoined the shoulder pieces, so now I can pick up stitches to make the collar. Picking up stitches, if you must know, is my idea of doing penance for my sins. If I believed in Purgatory, I figure I'd knock off 10,000 years for each stitch picked up. The downside (of course there's a downside) is that I cast this sweater on three (or possibly four) years ago,w hen I was more than 40 pounds heavier than I am now. The thing is going to hang off me like a toga. But I shall persevere. When it is finished, I'm still going to wear it, even if I have to wear three shirts to fill it out.