Bitches Get Stitches

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.

initially,
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.

i wanted to cast on romi’s knit along,
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

the grå dimman hat, poorly photographed.
because obviously the rational response
to being unable to knit a basic shawl
is some bohus stickning,

how’re you?????