mamacate

Turns out, I just needed STUPID knitting

I think I know what my problem is.  I'm trying to knit things that actually involve MY BRAIN for more than 30 seconds at a time.  Sorry, not currently available, try back when my kids are in school.  For example, I started the lace socks while waiting on the street for DP to pick me up from work after getting the kids at daycare.  I was there long enough to knit half a round.  I think I did the rest of the round in the car, then after dinner, then maybe ripped it out after the kids went to bed.  I guarantee you, I am not a good enough knitter to do *decreases* under those circumstances.  What made me think I could do lace?  Duh.

As blog is my witness, I will lock myself in a brightly-lit room to do the first round of any future lace project.  I expect the bathroom will serve nicely.  The kids will be shocked to find that, for once, they can't follow me in there.

This approach has paid off.  The lace section of Soleil is done.

Okay, so it's not done in the picture, which I took yesterday afternoon, before I spent all night ripping and reknitting the *increase* round after the lace because, apparently, I am unable to read a pattern.  Never mind.  It's fixed.  I have the right number of stitches.  All is well.

I've decided the name of this sweater should be Soleil sorbet, since it's such an icy, shiny pastely color.  I can't decide if I like it.  It's pretty, but it splits dreadfully and it's doing this odd pooling thing that I think will come out looking kind of camouflage-like in the end.  The colors are so subtle, though, that I'm not sure if it's going to have much of a final effect.  Anyway.  I'm enjoying knitting it because a) 22 sts/4in, and b) no sleeves.  It doesn't seem like this should be hard for my brain to take in, but in just the same way that I look at the Fair Isle and say to myself "YOU MEAN I'M GOING TO HAVE TO KNIT SLEEVES TOO?", when I look at Soleil sorbet, I keep having to pinch myself that when I'm done with the body, I'm done.   So, you know, about Maryland, I'm not saying anything out loud, but, you know, looks good, is all I'm saying (having typed that, I do realize that my sweater will burst into flames).

Meanwhile, I have commenced a project that is totally appropriate  for moments in which I am capable of only totally stupid knitting.  Four rectangles.  Klaralund, the sequel.  I'm enjoying knitting this sweater so much that I fear that by next fall I will have a Klaralund for every day of the week.  I suppose it could be quite a bit worse.  I also forgot how much I enjoy knitting with Kureyon.  It's not the highest-quality yarn (ahem), but watching the stripes emerge just rocks, baby.  I can forgive a lot for a really good dye job.  That's the back (or the front, depends on how the other one looks) and the edge of a sleeve.  Ahhh.  Knitting *is* relaxing!

Despite my increasing resentment of this project, I have finally finished knitting Eloise and have begun the loathsome seaming process.  I just love seaming bulky sweaters.  Not.  (I am not using a different yarn for seaming, since I can't figure out even what color to look for, but it's really the 3/4" seams it generates.) The more I look at this thing, the less I like it, so seaming it up just reminds me of how garish the yarn is, how much money I spent on it, and what a boondoggle the whole thing was.  I did have the idea that I might overdye the whole thing with a blue dye.  There's nothing there that would turn too terrible a color with a blue cast on it, and I think it might tone the whole thing down into something I could, um, stand to be in the same room with.  Ironically (after running out of yarn twice), I have a fair amount of bits and pieces left over due to obsessive and pointless stripe matching, so I will try it on the yarn first.  When I get around to it.  I know you're not holding your breath.

We had a taste of spring this weekend and the kids and I took a trip to Tregellys, a local fiber farm.  The farm is set on a ridge with a simply spectacular view, as you can see.   There were new lambs all over, not to mention llamas, yaks, potbeillied pigs, camels (HUGE camels), turkeys...the list goes on.  Best of all, the lovely owner let Henry & Eleanor feed a pair of bottle babies.  There was one ewe who even I could tell was a) having twins, and b) about to drop any second.  I was hoping she might have them while we were there, but no such luck.  And of course, a birth might be a bit much for the kids to watch.  But it would have been cool.  There was this incredible alpaca with the most amazing red/brown fleece--I can't even describe it--and I asked about the fleece but the owner put me off a bit.  I bet she wants it all for herself!  Don't think I won't be stalking her at Cummington.

Unfortunately, I left the camera in the car for all the animal encounters, but I did get a photo of Henry walking around the Buddhist Stupa they have built on the farm.  He was the only one who knew we were supposed to walk around it three times--El and I only did it twice.  Who says there's no such thing as reincarnation? 

If you go, and I recommend that you do, be sure to bring someone who's not afraid of dogs to deal with the welcoming committee.  The dogs are perfectly fine, but it's a bit overwhelming at first as they greet you in the standard dog way: by barking their little heads off.

Rhys is off on a business trip this week, so I'd better get some sleep if I have any hope of not being a grumpy, yelly mom tomorrow.  Nighty night.

Four Reasons Why I Don't Want to Talk About Knitting

Have you noticed that I am all over the place, but discussion of my knitting projects is suspiciously absent?  Okay, pretend you noticed.  Here's why:

1. I'm too lazy and busy and crazed to take photographs despite the fact that it's light out later thanks to daylight saving time (thank you Norma for explaining that there is no "s" at the end of saving--I'll remember that one).

2. Despite continuing to knit obsessively (is there any other way?), for many hours a week, there is a truly discouraging lack of progress to show.  This may have something to do with the whole 348-stitch fair isle on size 2 needles thing.  I dunno.  I also knit up all these swatches for my color class, one of which I rather liked, and then forgot to photograph them before I handed them in for evaluation (a requirement for master knitters program participants).  Whoops.  So sometime next month I'll show you my fun entrelac swatch that I may felt and make into a change purse or glasses case or something.

3. Startitis, and not just regular startitis, but startitis that I feel shamefaced and chagrined about.  Partly it's because I'm an idiot (see 3a. below) and partly it's because things just feel a little crazed and scattered right now and having 50 active knitting projects doesn't help and can someone please tell my tiny brain that starting another one isn't going to make it better?  Too late, the new Knitty is up.

   3a. So why am I an idiot?  Because there I was, realizing that I needed a mindless project, one that would fulfill my need to actually have a chance for completion in sight, and one that I could work on when my brain was not capable of following a chart on tiny needles with tiny yarn.  So, idiotically, I decided that lace socks on #1 needles in koigu was just the ticket.  Oh yeah, and a competitive knitalong.  Uh, yeah, Cate, that's it.  So, in a reprise of my Socks of Doom experience (apparently I'm okay with basic lace once I get going with it, but getting started is pure hell), I cast on for the Spearfish Socks*, knitted the pattern wrong, ripped out, knitted the pattern wrong in a different way, ripped out, knitted the pattern wrong IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS THE LAST TIME, ripped all the way out, cast on for a different pair of socks, decided that no stupid competitive sock knitting project was going to kick my ass (the obvious fact that my ass had already been kicked notwithstanding), and ripped that out and cast on for the first damn socks AGAIN, and then paused to have a nervous breakdown.  I must say that my darling partner is a freakin' saint, and actually listened to me talk about all this in the middle of it, and not only didn't she say "uh, yeah, that sounds like a real problem" with a tone of deep sarcasm (really, a very sound reaction from any normal person), she actually told me to put down the knitting and GAVE ME A BACKRUB.  No, you can't have her.  And yes, I will be adjusting my thyroid medication.

*Please note that these are gorgeous socks, which is why I wanted to knit them, and anyone who has half a brain can absolutely do them.  Even I, lacking that basic requirement, could probably have conquered them if I had stuck with it.

     3b. So, having come (somewhat) to my senses thanks to my dearest partner, I PUT DOWN THE SOCKS and cast on for Klaralund, The Sequel (this time with Kureyon!), since Klaralund is about the most mindless, rapid-gratification project I can think of, PLUS I already had the yarn in my stash so, you know, it doesn't make me feel as much like a hopeless dilettante if I'm not spending any (more) money for it.

     3c. There I am, happily knitting on Klaralund, pretending needles of less than 3 mm in diameter do not exist, and whamo! I decided to go to Maryland, and realized that perhaps I should have an extra-groovy new sweater to wear to it.  And hey, we're talking tank top and I've got a whole month so if Stephanie can knit a cabled long-sleeved cardigan in two weeks for Rhinebeck I can probably pull off a shapely tank in a month.  I say "probably," because in fact I probably can't, especially if I keep being this scattered, not to mention the fact that I need to keep working on the fair isle AND knit swatches for the color class.  But does that stop the dream?  It does not.  So I cast on for that with (hooray) stash yarn last night.  Little scalloped edging going on too.  Not exactly as lovely as I envisioned, but okay.  And it's STASH YARN (the Berroco Echo "lite" they had last spring at Webs for a buck a ball).

     3d. Then Knitty came out today. (Have you heard?  Haha!)  And it had this, which is actually what I *meant* when we talked about that edging thing that wound up being a slip-stitch scallop.  And it's terribly well-suited to another bag of yarn I have sitting in the stash that has been there for at least five years and is starting to look mournful and neglected.  Bye-bye shapely.  Warm up the needles for when I get home tonight!

4. I tried so hard to finish Eloise, but I ran out of yarn AGAIN.  I have one sleeve cap left and then it's buttons and sewing up and a new, bulkyweight, garish-as-all-hell, fuzzy-ass sweater to wear....for spring.  Go me.  Luckily someone still has the discontinued colorway I was using, and I'm thinking it will be in my mailbox tonight.  Yet I will eschew it for Maryland Sunshine (ooh, I like that nickname for Soleil, despite my lack of confidence that it will ever see the sunshine in Maryland--maybe on the needles it will).  Maybe garish-as-all-hell will be the new black next fall?  Manolo?  Jessica?  Anyone?

Now, let's not talk about the fact that Soleil has lace at the bottom and that my recent experience with knitting lace has been, um, shall we say, less than fabulous.  I'm going to square my shoulders, remember that I am the boss of my knitting, and hopefully manage to knit the edging without having another nervous breakdown.

Just don't talk to me about the socks.

PS: Everyone's favorite commenter Jo has finally given up paid employment and is instead going to entertain us with her new blog.  Unfortunately, she is also starting a very promising consulting business, but hopefully it won't distract her too much from knitting and telling us all about it.  She's even been gracious enough to let me play hostess here on my lovely Typepad account.  Welcome, Jo!