Lately it seems I've been struck with a particularly nasty bout of knitter's ADD. I keep starting projects and frogging them. Would you believe I started the Dream Swatch and then frogged it after only 8 rows? Granted, I did have a valid reason for doing so: it became clear as things progressed that the yarn I was using wasn't well suited for the pattern. But it still frustrates me that now I don't have a project to work on. And after looking through all my knitting books and patterns several times I still can't find anything to knit. Whenever I find a pattern that interests me, it's either A) I have the yarn but the wrong size knitting needles; B) I have the right size needles but the wrong yarn; or C) I have the right size needles and the right yarn but not enough of it to complete the project. The gods must have cursed me. Grrr!!
Marilyn is dead. Nearly two weeks worth of work has been unravelled and rolled into three baseball-sized balls of yarn. Really, it was the best thing to do. It's all my fault for not reading through the entire pattern before starting. If I had, I'd have noticed the schematics on the third page which clearly show the final measurements of the front and back panels of the sweater and realized a few days ago that my measurements were WAY off. But you know what, it's a learning experience and now I know what NOT to do next time I knit a sweater. I don't know if Marilyn will ever come into existence because at this point, I don't think I can bear starting the pattern a third time. I'm ready to try something new.
Perhaps this? Yes, it's yet another scarf and I need more practice knitting clothing and blah, blah, blah. But it's so pretty! And frankly, after all the wasted effort put into Simply Marilyn I want something that will take me less than a week to finish. I have a small ball of Diakeito yarn that's a bluish-green with flecks of gold which would be absolutely perfect for this. I saw it at Seaport Yarns and fell in love with it, but couldn't justify buying more than one ball because it costs $13. Although I don't think it'd be suitable for anything that required more than one or two balls of it because it's so shimmery. Which is beautiful in small doses but tacky otherwise.
I'm such a fickle knitter. Less than a week with Marilyn and I'm already hankering for a new project. How I am ever going to finish an entire garment when I've got such a wandering eye is beyond me. It's not helping that the Spring issue of Knitty is finally up and Anatolia is beckoning. The pattern isn't really my style but I love the shape of the sweater.
To be honest, I'm not too happy with this issue of Knitty. The patterns are nice enough but there wasn't anything that really grabbed me. The only patterns that interest me are Anatolia and Hedera which is odd when you consider that usually in each issue of Knitty, there are 10 items that I simply HAVE to make. Oh well, I guess that's a good thing because I have enough knitting to deal with at the moment and shouldn't be starting any new projects for a while.
What a weekend. I spent the entire weekend indoors working on Simply Marilyn. The good news is that for the first time in a while, I got in a good 4 hours of knitting time and made quite a bit of progress on Simply Marilyn. The bad news? I had to frog it. And start ALL OVER AGAIN!!!! Ack!
At first I blamed the somewhat ambiguous pattern instructions for leading me astray. But now I'm beginning to suspect that I didn't get the proper gauge before starting the project. The pattern calls for US 10 1/2 and 10 needles, but I decided to use size 9s instead because (a) I broke my 14" size 10s and didn't think it would be wise to knit a sweater on my short 10s; and (b) I've seen a few versions of the sweater that were knit on smaller needles and preferred the look. I vaguely remember knitting a swatch on size 9s and getting an accurate gauge but I probably imagined it. Serves me right for being so impatient!
In case there's anyone reading who is yet to witness the beauty that is Simply Marilyn, feast your eyes on this.
After a brief knitting hiatus I'm back to knitting again and it feels fantastic. I resumed work on my Simply Marilyn sweater last night and after knitting a few rows I remembered why I became addicted to knitting in the first place. Not only does it have the power to completely relax me but it's extremely gratifying to create something with just two needles and a few balls of yarn. I don't really know why I haven't picked up my needles in the past couple of weeks...I guess I've been in a weird funk lately and haven't felt like doing anything creative. Thank god that's over!
I'm only a few rows into Simply Marilyn but it's turning out to be an easy knit. Of course, I may eat my words as things progress but I'm hoping things will stay as easy as they've been so far.
So here it is.
My very own knitting blog.
I started this blog because I got tired of reading about everyone else's knitting adventures and wanted a place where I could chronicle and share my own with the world. Or at least, anyone who's interested. I also realized that I needed to spend my free time at work doing something more constructive than perusing celebrity trash blogs (riveting though they may be) and figured this would be a much better use of my time. I don't really mind if no one reads this, although it would be nice. I'm not doing this for the fame, but for the glory.
I'll try to keep this as knitting related as I can, although it's quite possible that occasionally I'll slip in a few posts about my other interests in here. But don't worry, I'll keep those short.
