Begin Again

So... it turns out that a catastrophic knitting error wasn't even the worst of my problems last week.  If it could go wrong last week, it did.  Spectacularly.  I won't bore you on the details- but OMG, last week you sucked.  Knitting was the least of my concerns and priorities and up until yesterday did I really finish tinking back the errors and bringing myself to square one again.  I really hope I never have to do that again.

I've been quietly, calmly thinking to myself, as I pick up where I had to rip back to, "begin again".

Sometimes knitting can be a real jerk.  (Kind of like life.)  Sometimes it can make you mad, make you cry, frustrate the hell out of you and make you want to throw things.  (Also, kind of like life.)  Even if you set aside your knitting, in order to calm down, the problem is still waiting for you, haunting your other projects, remaining unfinished.  (Kind of like life.)  It's not until you sit down, work out the problem (and yes, it's painful and sucks) and "begin again" can you really move on.  (Kind of like... I think you probably get the analogy at this point.)

It sucks to gain some perspective from a really crappy error that was really un-enjoyable to fix.  But here we are.  Sometimes you just have to begin again and know going forward that you're going to be okay and that no matter how crappy it was, it can only get better from starting again.  You're bound to make other mistakes, but going slowly, gaining your confidence is a good way to get back into the game and pretty soon you have something beautiful and finished that you can be really proud of.  It will be worth going through the crap along the way.

I know it's weird to parelell knitting with life- but for, me, sometimes the greatest reminders of how to tackle a problem (stitch by stitch), or a reminder that it's worth going through pain for something amazing in the end is a good reminder for me personally.  This week I needed the reminder.

And wine.  I also needed A LOT of that too.  :-)

I begin again today.  This blanket can only improve and get better.  I've tackled the hard stuff and now I just need to look ahead to the finished project.  Hopefully that means still meeting my June 20 goal.  Stay tuned dear reader.... stay tuned.





..... To my "moms" in my knitting group that faithfully read this blog: I'm okay.  Really.  It was a tough week but everyone and everything is OK.  Don't worry!!!!!

Catastrophe

HEARTBREAK!  AGONY!  DEFEAT!  PAIN!  TEARS!  ANGER!  R A G E !!!!!!!!

Let's start at the beginning.

In the last week or so, I've kind of hit a wall on this project.  I'm tired of dealing with endless bobbins. I look at the number of ends to weave in and I just feel so UN-INSPIRED about the whole thing.  I just needed to finish.  I need to move on to the next steps and move on to a new project in general.

I didn't even want to knit last night.  I'm tired, I'm at the tail end of a cold and I'm mildly addicted to a new iphone game (Bookworm Heroes!) I'm playing with my sister and I thought "no, I'm going to just sit on the couch and not knit this thing tonight."  The only thing that motivated me to pull the needles out was that I was so close to the end of the final "extreme bobbin" color stage that I thought, "just finish that" and I can relax.  Plus the knitting getting significantly easier when it's just blue/green etc.  And so I  knit the final 5 rows of the color repeat.

Something had been bothering me all afternoon about the side orange item count.  I thought I recalled going to 21 stitches last time, not the 15 I was getting.  I have NO IDEA why I just ignored this concern and kept going.  I have no idea why it didn't click in with me that THIS WAS A MAJOR MAJOR PROBLEM.  But it didn't.  Not until I finished the final white color row that I realized that I should also be finishing the side orange rows... but I wasn't.  I was missing 4 rows there.

Then it hit me- in one foul, ugly, sickening, gut wrenching swoop.  I started the orange side things too late.  I need to rip out 18 rows of stitches.

(You can sort of see here that the top "orange blob" is slightly off kilter to the other orange blobs.)

I'll say it again.  I NEED to RIP OUT 18 ROWS OF COMPLICATED FAIRE ISLE COLORWORK.

Hang on- I just need to go sob in a corner again...

Normally, I am not one adverse to yanking the needle out and just pulling out the rows quickly to fix the issue.  I can't do that here.  Let me illustrate why:

BOBBINS.  F***ing BOBBINS.  I have to tink back each stitch, and twist and turn and rewind bobbins.  To pull out the needles would create such an epic rat's nest of yarns that I would further spiral into a depressive tunnel of shame and self loathing.

And so I begin to tink.  Quite franky I don't know where this leaves me.  I've told myself to go back, rip out to the start of the mistake and walk away for a day or two.  Knit a May hat, or pull out the stripey blanket, or something that doesn't make me want to sob uncontrollably.  But I'm un-motivated.  I'm full of loathing and anger now.  I worry walking away from this project means I won't ever walk back.  I'm not sure the million ends to weave in and bobbins to deal with are going to bring me back.

We are starting a home renno in June.  I had told myself that this blanket needed to be done before that started- as my brain will be too unorganized to do anything else.  It's going to take me at least a day if not more to tink these rows back.  (By the time I wind/untwist etc, it takes me as long to remove the row as it would have to knit it.)  I don't know if I can finish now.

I'm lost on this one.  I can feel myself giving up.  I'm going to fight the feeling but I'll be honest... I'm not sure what's going to happen.

Send me some knitting mojo?

Easter Bowling Pins!

So far the most popular guess of the Mystery blanket has been "Easter Bowling Pins" (2 people have suggested this).  So I guess- it's only fair to report that there is another "bowling pin" completed and the final "bowling pin" section is under way.



I will admit I'm starting to feel a little tired of this project.  The dealing with the copious bobbins and looking at all the ends that need to be woven in have gotten me a little less excited about this project than when I started.  I'm feeling un-motivated and lethargic.  There have been nights where I can't even bring myself to deal with bobbins, so I don't knit anything at all!

Entry date for Stampede this year is June 20.  I would like to have this project completely done by the end of May.  Can I do it?  I need to remind myself the reason I chose this project is a) I think it will look amazing when it's done and b) it needed to be something that challenged me.  I think to have a "true competitor" you really need to challenge yourself, and I've done that here.  I just need to RISE to the challenge... which I'm struggling with.

To distract me, I will allow 1 May hat to be finished and if by May 15 I'm still floundering, I will need to stop and take a break to knit 5 baby hats for my Playgroup baby shower for 5 expecting moms.

So busy fingers over here- I might need a cheering section on this one to get me over the finish line.

Mystery Unfolding

As progress continues on the Stampede Mystery blanket, it's becoming less and less of a mystery.  I'm also delighted to finish the first section and move on to a section that will require less bobbins!

I was feeling all warm and fuzzy about the progress on this blanket and giving myself all kind of kudos when I flipped it over.

EI-Yiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyyiyiyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii there are ends to weave in on this baby.  SO MANY ENDS!!!!  Instead of stopping everything to weave them in, I've decided to keep plowing ahead on the progress and when it's cast off- spend (what will feel like a lifetime) "some time" weaving in the ends before I move on to additional steps.

Oh yes!  The blanket itself is only the beginning!  Are you intrigued?

I'm taking a quick detour to fulfill an obligation on an WCOBB blanket, but am hoping to have that out of the way by Thursday, and back to knitting up this little masterpiece.  If I pull this off, I'm going to be quite proud of myself!

Just a short blog this week- since I wanted to show some progress, but I'm trying to also capitalize on the time I have to knit.  So- I'm going to get back to knitting!  (Keep sleeping kiddo!)

We'll catch up soon!

Flurry of Activity

I must be feeling motivated these days because there's been a lot happening on the knit front over here.

Firstly, I am thrilled to tell you that I blocked the blanket!  In what is probably a FIRST for me, I blocked the blanket the day after my MiL dropped off the board.  (She has a blocking board, I have a swift and winder- we have a mutually beneficial relationship.)  Say hello to Ties that Bind!

Pattern: Ties that Bind by Diane Conroy
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Cotton Bamboo in colorway 3604 (light blue)
Needles: US 4
Notes: This was a great pattern.  I'm not sure how it distinguished itself from other patterns that find me bored halfway through, but this one never made me bored.  I was always engaged enough that I find the knitting interesting.  Also?  This is the first time I've done i-cord edge.  I love it.  You're going to see it a lot more- it is 100% worth the pain it is to cast on in this manner.

(Look at all that beautiful i-cord!)

I also really have to give kudo's to the yarn- not only is something that's been in my stash forever, but it was REALLY great to knit with.  It's very very soft and leaves this beautiful sheen on the after project. I would totally think about buying more- when there's room in the stash to do so!

With Ties that Bind off the needles I've begun on the new Stampede mystery project.  (Which, I added an i-cord cast on to as my first modification.)  I knew when I begun this project that it was going to be heavy bobbin and ends to sew in.  But I knew that the final results were going to be worth it.  This blanket has pretty heavy intarsia work in it.

I'm moving on at a fairly decent clip but here's the issue- there are so many balls of yarn and bobbins to keep track of (SO MANY!) that the act of pulling this blanket out and giving it time is a whole "thing" unto itself.  It's not the kind of project I can just sit down and start knitting on, it requires organizing oneself and the 80 zillion yarns that go with it.  (In fact, I've counted, there are 17 bobbins and different balls of yarn going SO FAR... there are more coming.  THAT IS SOME KIND OF RECORD I'm CERTAIN.)

Anyways on nights where I'm feeling a little worn out- or just lazy, the sheer idea of pulling out this blanket is just too daunting to manage, so the plain old Maui socks have been seeing a bit of action too.

(Last picture of these was in Maui... quite the contrast hey?  *sigh*  Calgary spring is DEPRESSING.)

I also managed to resolve the issue of running out of the blue yarn in the stripey blanket that I was talking about last post.  Turns out MiL has a decent quantity of sock leftovers in a color that is very close and so I've raided her stash for it.  Can I just say how NICE it is to be related to a knitter?  It has it's benefits!

I must get back to my projects- I can't wait to show you more of the mystery blanket project.  It's going to be so cute.

No Foolin' Around

I'm not a big "April Fools" kind of person so there will be none of those "shenanigans" here today.  Just straight up progress to report!

Firstly, April's hat is finished-I thought it best to get ahead on it, since I want to devote this month to the new blanket!

Secondly, I spent the week happily knitting a little on the stripey stocking knit stitch blanket and was quite content!

I added 6 color bands to the project and it now sits at 21 inches.  Here's the dilema- I'm almost entirely out of the dark blue color, and am periously close to running out of the light purple.  I have another light purple that I could sub in, without much change, but the only darker blue I have is significantly different.  How badly are the different colors going to bother me?  I like being able to continue to stash down what's in the blanket- but I don't want to make it look awful either.  GAH- there's so much to worry about.  (And no, I will not buy a new skein to make up the issue- the point is to STASH DOWN.  The only exception to the rule will be more yellow- b/c once I run out of yellow- I'll need to keep that cohesive.)  I guess I won't worry about it for now, because this blanket goes back into the waiting spot while I begin anew.

I wound the balls for the Stampede mystery project today.  Such perfectly springy colors to knit with for spring!

Know what it is yet?  Hopefully it will start taking shape soon- I'm going to cast on as soon as this post is up!  I'm really excited!

March Break

I always plan to leave for my vacations with the best intentions.  We left for Maui on March 14 and I had intended to blog on the 13th.  The thing with best intentions is that they often don't come to fruition.  And, despite packing early and being reasonably organized this time, I still couldn't squeeze in a blog post.  So hi- sorry for the long space between there!

I really wish I hadn't run out of time, because I wanted to tell you that the "Ties That Bind" blanket was finished... BEFORE MAUI.  (yay!)



It needs a light blocking still which is why I haven't done a proper photo shoot.  But if someone were to hold a gun to my head tomorrow and say "GIFT THIS BLANKET"- I could.  Which is good, because after being pretty late, Mr. Marcus finally showed up on March 18.

I had a whole post to explain the insanity that nearly took hold of me when I nearly committed to knitting a lace shawl on my vacation.  Thankfully though, after a disasterous attempt at starting the shawl, I decided I better stick to a vacation sock.  As usual I packed way more yarn than I needed and barely knit anything.

It's hard to pay attention to a sock, (even a boring one), when you could be looking at this.

Did I also mention there were whales?  And if you looked away for even a second you missed the whales jumping out of the water?  So yes... very little knitting on vacation.  (It seems I don't really knit on my vacations even though I leave believing I will knit everything 10 times faster than I normally do and RUN OUT OF YARN.)

Also.... this munchkin is BUSY and all eyes need to be on him when he's moving around or else trouble will prevail.  (He's a cute beach bum isn't he?)

Fear not- we are home now and I'm trying to hammer home our regular schedule.  (Maui is 4 hours behind Calgary... child is miserable today- pray for all of us!)  Regular schedule means KNITTING somewhere in there!  I've got the rest of March to do whatever I'd like- which probably means I'll pull out the sock yarn blankey for a bit.  BUT- April 1, I begin a new project.  It's probably going to land me in the "more than I can chew" category- but it's my attempt at a Stampede project to enter for this year.  Here's the hint....

Know what it is yet?

I Can Make That...

The problem with being crafty, is that you often get cocky about your ability.  And pretty soon, what was supposed to be a simple project can take over your life by uttering these 4 words, "I can make that".

I should have further progress on the blanket for you today, (maybe even DONE) but instead I got a little distracted.  What I wanted to find was a small travel size magnet board for my son to play with on our insanely long flight to Maui.  (7 hours flight + 16 month old = SEND BOOZE!)  That ballooned from there and one minute later, MiL had the perfect suggestion- a felt board.  It was a great idea.  Except it threw my focus off.

I have this to show for it.  (MiL has also been distracted making felt items for my son too- so this was a fairly slippery slope.)

The entire alphabet and some cute farm animals.  I used a free template for the alphabet, but ended up finding some cartoon animals on google and improvising the animal ones.  I'm so utterly charmed by the way they've turned out I want to make more animals!  Zoo animals!  Circus animals!  Dogs!  Sheep! (Parker loves "woofs" and "baa baa's".)  But I'm trying to stop myself.  I need to not get carried away here.

As if that wasn't distracting enough- I also veered off last week and knit an adorable lion finger puppet for a friend who was needing a little extra courage for an unpleasant appointment she had.

Meet "Courage" the lion!

Pattern: Jelly Bums Lion by Raynor Gellatly (I made the finger puppet version)
Yarn: Scraps in the leftover bin... it's all worsted weight acrylic.
Needle: US 3
Thoughts: This is a great pattern!  The mane itself is INGENIOUS!  I literally had to stop myself from saying "I"m going to make Parker a whole collection of finger puppets."  I'm still threatening to that!  Then farm animals!  Then Circus animals!  Then Zoo animals!  (NOW... would be the time to stage an intervention people- this post is CLEARLY a cry for help!)

 

I need to stop getting these great ideas and veering off from the plan!  I need to finish this blanket!



Yes, it has seen progress.  It's just going to be a little blanket I'm afraid- but the pattern still has me completely charmed and when I AM working on it, I'm not at all bored.  In fact the fact that I haven't made more felt items and knit more finger puppets is due to the fact that I actually really enjoy working on this blanket.  Pictured above is the blanket beginning ball 8/9.  My goal is to have this done soon- no later than the end of March.

I need to have that blanket done because I did something "wild" and ordered yarn for my Stampede Project.  I'm worried it's more than I can chew already, but I need to do something "great" and I feel like this is going to get me there.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back on "task" here and forge ahead- there's just too many great things to make out there to get behind!

(Oh people... I came so close to giving up on knitting and just making felted quiet books- they are SO cute and there are so many great ideas... but I really don't need to add another hobby to the list right now!)

The Highest Compliment Ever

I was knitting on my latest baby blanket this afternoon and after a row, I took a pause to check my email.  I noticed that a friend of mine, who I don't get to talk to all that often, left me a note.

Cat Steeleposted toJennifer Johnson

50 minutes ago

Today was 'Show and Tell' day at Scarlette's pre-school and she INSISTED on bringing the red heart blanket you knitted for her when she was born. She is still in love with it :)

I don't think it can get any better than that.  Can it?  Because honestly I am downright flattered and feeling all the FEELS because something that I enjoyed knitting is still loved by someone I hoped would love it.  This simple little comment MADE. MY. DAY.  Maybe even MY WEEK.  Possibly even my YEAR.  It meant so much that her little one still loves it.

The blanket in question?  This one.

Whenever I gift a blanket I regularly get extremely flattering comments and kind thank you's in return.  But in most cases the recipient tends to live far away from me and I don't know if they really liked the blanket or if they're being polite.  Do they use it?  Did I pick out something that was "just right" for them?  (I don't think people realize how much effort I put into to finding a blanket that I think might suit the parent's taste.)  Also, down the road does the blanket get used?

I do know the fate of some of my blankets, the "Little Beef" blanket is in shreds, loved to pieces by the little one I made it for.  (Torn to shreds = loved = still feel really good that the kid liked it... even if they wrecked it.)  The Pink Insanity Blanket, Moving Mountains and The Leaf blanket have all been in the professional "newborn photoshoot" pics I get, which is also insanely flattering to me.  And even the Diamond Cable Blanket, which damn near BROKE me, received high compliments from the couple it was sent to, who sent a note to say they had been looking for something in stores for exactly what I knit them for the baby's room.

Needless to say, I'll be flying high on that compliment for awhile and I HAD to share.  And because I thought you might be interested... here we are at 17", beginning ball 6/9 on my current project!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Blankets Aren't So Bad...

Remember when I was knitting the Diamond Cable Blanket and I was just B.O.R.E.D out of my mind and I couldn't find anything to say because I was SO. BORED?

That isn't the case here at all.  I'm actually quite enjoying this knit- enough that I don't want to take time out of my day to come here and tell you about it.  Progress is going quite well...

This is after 3 out of 9 balls and 8" in.  Maybe it's because this is going to be a short blanket; or maybe it's because the rows without a cable go insanely fast; or maybe it's just because the yarn is quite delightful and soft, but I am really enjoying this blanket and the knitting.  Enjoying it enough that I would totally knit this pattern again- I keep thinking how lovely it will look in a varigated yarn!

I know I said that I'd get around to casting on MiL's mittens, but the charm of this blanket has held me pretty solidly and I haven't wanted to cheat on it- I just want to knit and finish it!  (Weird for me... I know!)  Usually by 10" in I am regretting the fact that I'm knitting a blanket and already dreaming of the next project to cast on and start.  I've decided to allow myself to get to the halfway point of this project (4.5 balls of yarn) and then I must, at least, cast on the mitten and get going on it- and finish one.  That seems fair right?

I've started thinking about my Stampede entry for this year- and I think I know what I'm going to do- although it's going to be a "more than I can chew"' kind of thing, I can just tell.  I think I'll keep it a mystery for now, but my goal is to start knitting for that in April.  So- yes, more blankets on the horizon- but this one will be insanely cute.  Does that help?  (I can't believe I've let this blanket lull me into a false sense of security!)