dry creek
August 3, 2020
after the…we’ll call it…dissatisfaction with my last shawl,
my plans to join romi’s summer shawl knit along stalled.
still. something in my decided to download the pattern
yesterday, and watch the introductory video.
naturally,
since today is
my first day off in
what is it? a week, maybe?
a day when i “get” to catch up on
all the house work that needs to be done
and, of course, plan the next semester that
will be taught face to face during a pandemic,
i decided that knitting was a much more pressing
endeavor to undertake.
but rather than a tendency toward’s procrastination,
which would be the easier, one could even say cliché scapegoat,
let’s instead lay today’s failure to be productive at the feet of romi,
whose intro video was…to say thorough would be an understatement.
it included a demonstration for the unusual cast on; a deep dive into the fiber of the sample and how wool would behave differently, giving a very different look (negative connotations); the importance of, not only knitting but blocking, a gauge swatch (see also thefiber content deep dive); there was an explanation of the charts, which was needed since, even as an experienced lace knitter, her charts are unlike ones i’ve encountered before; and of course the live chat allowed people to ask questions.
i was thoroughly impressed.
and considering there are weekly
weekly livestreams accompanying this knitalong,
i felt the $15 price tag was considerably too low
and immediately offered to venmo romi.
and so today,
after painstakingly winding
the perfect center-pull ball on my nostepinne, (kill me)
i took all of romi’s video inspiration and information
and promptly threw it all out the window,
casting on immediately
with the wrong fiber.*
fuck you! i thought
to some imagined,
unknit swatch.
i want to knit this shawl
i want to knit it now,
and i want to knit with
this yarn in this color, got it?
thus
a tiny triangle was born.
(do excuse the shit lighting;
i was too hot to go outside today).
i also completely forgot the instructions for the charts
which has resulted in many mistakes and much tinking.
but i love my purple triangle
and i even have an idea
for who i might
give it to.
maybe.
what are you knitting?
*i have strong feelings about so-called “bamboo” yarn.
mostly that it…is shit. and a gimmick. it’s just rayon!
it’s toxic to manufacture and while it may seem
pretty in some applications,i’m just
not here for synthetic fibers.
but you can knit with it.
people love it!
everything is terrible
August 2, 2020
and yet,
here we are.
i finished the through the loops mastery shawl 2020 ages ago
and, immediately, i hated it.
it was hideous in my eyes, though
blocking it helped quite a bit.
i don’t know what it is, exactly:
the colors
the asymmetry
the fact that it was difficult to block
and nearly impossible to photograph (damn shawl photography!)
after a couple of weeks, stewing,
this is my takeaway:
i absolutely loved knitting it, and for a process knitter, maybe that’s all that matters. but looking at it in its current iteration, it lacks cohesion. the very thing that made it fun to knit—the varying techniques, the interplay of color, not knowing what it would look like—are what make me not like it now. i think it’s the repetition and symmetry i enjoy in lace shawl knitting that’s missing for me. even a subtler contrast would be more appealing for me.
let me be clear.
it’s not the shawls fault.
it’s exactly as advertized:
a high contrast asymmetrical shawl.
it’s simply a question of taste, and i, apparently,
like symmetry, regularity, a subtle contrast.
who knew‽
and yet!
giving away my last shawl
made me sadder than expected.
so i’ve lovingly tucked away my ugly duckling
because, after all, i did knit it.
in other knitting news,
i’ve been working on a boneyard 2.0.
i fell in love with the yarn
and this patten’s simple regularity has always been deeply soothing.
i was also excited by the 2.0 part, boasting
longer wings for a more wearable,
isosceles shape.
cependent, i remember remembering that
yarn over increases at the edges
on both right and wrong sides
created a very tight edge,
one that curves, rather
than lying straight.
i ignored what i knew,
and more than 400 yards in,
after beginning the single row striping—
at the mathematically perfect part of the shawl, i’ll add—
the problem has only gotten worse. and, as much as i’d like to,
i cannot delude myself into thinking that shit will block right out.
ripping it will happen.
just not yet.
but the heat and general shawl failure
makes the idea of hand-winding 900 yards of wool
untenable.
my only other option, my
last spark of knitting joy,
is this
because obviously the rational response
to being unable to knit a basic shawl
is some bohus stickning,
how’re you?????
Bitches Get Stitches 