Redemption

You know you have a sweater in the bottom of your stash that you have banished from your sight, your thoughts. You pretend you have never seen the pattern or the yarn before and lie about it to that little voice inside your head. "Remember that red sweater? Yeah, that wrap sweater that didn't fit right and you tossed away? Don't you think you should get it out, see if you can fix it?" That's what the voice said to me. And guess what. I listened. I dragged out the sweater and I tried it on. (I had the everything done, and the fronts seamed to the back) I still hated how it fit. Too tight, the sleeves didn't sit right in the armholes. So I ruthlessly torn the whole thing apart. The yarn is now drying, I had to wash the yarn so that it got rid of its kink. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy, and has gotten noticeably softer after its bath. Now I'm waiting impatiently (do you know me to wait any other way?) for it to dry, so that I can re-cast on. I feel this. I'm going to do this. I've always loved the pattern, Arisaig, ever since I saw it when I was still unable to do ribbing. It's my dream sweater. It's time for redemption.

1st Sweater of 2011

I bought this yarn back in November, at the Ravelry event in Austin. When I got it home, I decided that I didn't have enough for any full sweater (long sleeves, non-cropped length) I liked, so I began exploring the possibility of stripes. I have a bit of a stripe obsession. I love them. I really, really love them. Thus, Skinny Stripe was decided upon. I have wanted to knit this sweater ever since I saw it, years ago when I was a novice knitter. I even attempted it, with worsted weight yarn on size US 5's and withOUT carrying the nonworking yarn up the side...sigh. It was a disaster. You can imagine, I'm sure, how many tails I tried to weave in. It didn't work.

Since I only had the Como blue from Austin, I needed to order the contrast color. I ordered Primaverra from Webs, and nervously awaited to see if it would look the way I thought it would with my existing yarn. I waited with baited breath; what if they clashed, or what if I looked awful in the two colors together??? I started to pay way too much attention to when the mail was delivered to my apartment.

Yesterday, the anticipation was resolved. I love the colors together! As soon as I get to the stripes, I'll post a pic for your viewing pleasure!

Wandering

Hello,

So I think I need a new rechargeable battery for my camera, because it died over the weekend, and I was going to spend this evening photographing all of the knitting that I have done recently. For some reason, I have not kept onto of my ravelry page and that's no good, when y'all are far away. Anyway, the camera is charging right now, so if it's quick, I'll post again tonight, otherwise, let's aim for tomorrow!

What I am knitting currently, obsessively, is my Audrey. It's violet, like, crayola crayon purple. I love purple. I cannot believe how comforting it is to just knit, purl, repeat. I love all of the stockinette stitch. It might be a new trend for me, super easy, perfectly knit sweaters. Another good thing about the st st is that when my puppy starts to bite, I can basically toss the sweater out of harm's way and not worry about a cable uncrossing or lace un-yarn-overing.

I am also addicted to yarn coming to me in the mail. I just ordered 2 more skeins of the Elsebeth Lavold Cool Wool yarn from WEBS, and I must say, I was very impressed with the customer service there. I wrote to ask if they had my dye lot and they were very speedy in reply and miracle of all miracles, they had the dye lot and were super helpful and the yarn was in my mailbox only a couple of days later!! It's like Christmas to get yarn in the mail, so I am going to make finding precious yarn in my mail a habit, because I like Christmas and I like yarn. Here's a list of things that I have in mind to find in my mailbox:

1. Madelinetosh Prairie to make a Simplicity sweater. It only takes one skein!! I can't decide what color I like though...
2. Quince and Co. Lark to make Grove, the Jared Flood mittens. I'll make them so I can decide if I love the yarn enough to make a whole sweater in their "sorbet" colorway. I have to decide what sweater I will make, but it kinda makes sense to test the yarn before I decide, doesn't it?
4. Hedgehog Fibres Merino/Cashmere
5. Sanguine Gryphon Gaia Lace
6. Madelinetosh
7. Madelinetosh
8. Sweet Georgia Lace yarn, any, I can't decide. Possibly all... yes, all. Color? OMG
9. Miss Babs Yet

So, I have to go and eat mini chocolate chip muffins. Catcha later.

EZ is 100!!!

To celebrate Elizabeth Zimmerman's centennial, which I consider a major deal, I have finally achieved sweater nirvana.

EZ tells us that knitting is fun and we should not worry about it. I thought she was crazy. How can one not worry about how the selvage stitches look or how evenly placed the buttonholes are? I have come around. I am knitting a sweater (my wasabi green Que Sera) and I am not freaking out about any of those details. This is the most fun I have ever had knitting a sweater. Nothing is stressing me out. I am letting mistakes happen, and then I am calmly deciding how to fix them and and then moving forward. I am not agonizing over my decisions, I am not throwing myself face down onto the floor and wailing, I am not weeping or sulking or banishing the sweater or cursing or anything like that at all. I have grown up. I will not let my knitting control me anymore. I will still demand perfection, but I will not cause myself pain over it anymore. Sure, I have knit sweaters before, but this is the first time that I am not having to go on a spiritual pilgrimage to decide how I am going to handle working the new stitches into the pattern on the sleeves.

Here's the best thing about my new approach (or rather, here's the best thing about EZ's approach that I am finally giving a try): it's quicker. I'm knitting faster. I'm done quicker because I am not spending half (or more likely, more than half) of my time worrying. I'm knitting. I'm knitting the whole time. It's the best thing in the world. I can't believe I never tried this sooner. Better late than never, I suppose, and my timing's great. Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Zimmerman!!!