Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday – A Week Later

I am underway with the fourth and final pair of socks in my sock marathon challenge. This post was meant to happen last Monday. But in the days approaching that day, I experienced an unexpected and somewhat distressing set-back.

The pattern I have selected is Yamadori, designed by Ema Marinescu for Knitty.com

https://knitty.com/ISSUEdf18/PATTyamadori/PATTyamadori.php

The troubles began when I (belatedly) read the pattern through for the first time. I had assumed that the texture was created by a few slipped stitches and maybe a purl or two. I was wrong. Here is what the designer said: “The simple travelling stitches worked on the instep and leg create a fun texture that will keep you entertained from start to finish.”

Not this knitter. I was inexperienced in performing the maneuver to make a traveling stitch. I spent a few hours viewing U-tube videos on the myriad ways to make a left-leaning traveling stitch. I then spent more hours fumbling with my yarn and needles.

The tension started in my shoulders and moved both up and down my spine. Eventually I had completed several rows of the texture and acheived a massive headache.

I put down my needles and tried to get on with my life. Stress plagued me all day. The wind howling out of the southwest for the next 24 hours exacerbated my tension, leading to feelings of impending doom. How it is possible for a knitting project to give me an anxiety attack?

The next day, I picked up my knitting, stared at it, and knew that there was only one cure:

FROGGING:

Realizing that the pattern would work just fine in plain knitting and would let the crazy stripes shine on their own, I began again from the toe and kept going. Here is my progress for this week.

Let me give some credit to this wonderful yarn by Ewetopia – Wisco Sock. The colorway is Caterpillar.

https://www.ewetopiafibershop.com/shop-yarn/p/wisco-sock

Now I’m back on schedule, the stress is gone, and I WILL complete the challenge by the deadline.

Posted in painting

Watercolor Wednesday

Taking a break from knitting to paint a postcard

I was experimenting with an ombre effect. This took a lot of patience because I had to wait for each layer to dry fully before continuing on to the next.

This postcard featured a lot of blues including prussian, Thalo, and Payne’s grey, with burnt sienna added in the final layer.

Posted in knitting

Cast-on Monday – for me

While awaiting the arrival of a set of sock needles, I decided to cast on something for myself. This decision was made to find a use for some green worsted weight wool that I received from my daughter in September.

The yard is by Ewetopia and it’s called Potluck. The maker gave no description of fiber content. I’m assuming it is made of spinning leftovers. The company promises that Potluck yarn is “all good.” I have four skeins of 180 yards, giving me 720 yards.

Considering the type of yarn, the quantity and the color, I chose to knit a hooded vest. Perusing Ravelry, I came across this delightful design by Kate Oates.

Of course, I had to make my own adjustments – you know how I work. In this case I wanted to substitute a favored rib pattern for the twisted rib used in the pattern: eyelet mock cable ribbing. The pattern is found in my stitch bible published by Interweave, Knit and Purl: 250 Stitches to Knit.

My substitution derailed the swatching process, making the gauge I got unreliable. After working about ten rows, I concluded that the piece would be too small. I frogged it and started over with ten more stitches on smaller needles.

The knitting is going okay now. Potluck seems to be embedded with straw, so I need to stop every ten stitches or so to pull out tiny pieces. And I have yet to decide on colors for the stranded section.