Taking a break from the sweater. Thought my nerves deserved it. Told my father-in-law about it all and he said "Well, don't let it stress you out." Oh yes. If it were only that easy. Hubby had also given me a look and said "I thought knitting was supposed to help your stress." Oh but it does. When everything is the way it is supposed to be and the patterns are at least checked for mistakes. This one obviously wasn't. And, hee hee, it isn't even on-line anymore; I went looking for the web-site to see if they had posted any corrections and there was a big message that the web-site was changed to this (picture link to a similar place of an almost the same name, only they are only selling ready-made things and there are no free patterns in sight).
So I'm back to my sock. I had been carrying "sock" around in my big magical bag of wonders (bmbow for short, if anyone wants to say that and giggle) and working on it every now and then. The colors are in a purple-orange-black stripe so Phil (who my father-in-law is now deemed because "father-in-law" can be "f-i-l" which when said is the name Phil... is that too much? I need more things to think about) said, "Huh, LSU socks?" I pointed out the dark pink and said no but that would be a great idea to find a self-striping yarn in purple and gold to knit socks. Especially since they are the tigers... Anyway, I was working on it this morning at the office while waiting on one of the girls I work with to show up and a lady who works in another one of the suites poked her head around the door and asked if it was hard. I said no, once you get in your groove, plus start small and simple and work your projects up to the more complex. And then I was told one of the happiest things anyone could tell me. The office manager (who has been following my projects all these months as I lugged them up there) said that I had inspired her to start back counted cross-stitching. She apparently had started a picture/map of the USA that had a little symbol of each state placed on the state it went with. She only had gotten about halfway through before it ended up put away somewhere. She had told me about it before and how it was stuck somewhere and she hadn't worked on it in years and now she's working on it again!!! Her husband said he was so glad she was working on it because it was his favorite thing she had done.
My wish is that everyone could finish their projects they start, or at least change them up as the times change and go in a new direction. I know it make me happy when I finally complete something and can look at it fully finished. Makes me SO happy I start another!
2 comments:
Greetings from your sister-in-law!
I'm glad to hear that the sweater hasn't broken your spirit, and that the socks are going well. That yoke sounds like a monster. When I told Snakeman about it, he solemnly said, "You definitely don't want to be unequally yoked."
I've started a sweater pattern from Interweave Knits magazine. You can see images of it here:
http://www.interweaveknits.com/galleries/bonus/fall-2008/Whisper-Stripe-Pullover.asp
I'm not using the recommended yarns, because they'd cost about $150. A local yarn shop provided me with less expensive substitutes that are nearly all natural fibers: mohair/silk, merino wool, and bamboo/3% nylon. They're all pink, but in different shades. This is the sweater that Snakeman said was sexy, which gave me motivation.
I'm discovering the wonders of making a lace book! The bottom 14 rows are a lace pattern, so I took Maggie Righetti's advice and wrote each line on a separate index card, punched holes in the cards, and tied them together with a scrap of yarn. The lace book was so helpful, and the sweater has so many different lacy patterns of stripes, that I made a second little book for the rest of the sweater. It's much easier to follow than the alarmingly intricate original pattern.
So far I've finished about half of the back, with the front and sleeves still to go. The only thing that really terrifies me is the prospect of shaping the armholes.
Your blog's very encouraging! I wanted you to know I've been reading it, even when I'm too worn out to respond. Happy knitting!
The sweater is gorgeous!!! I can't wait to see it and hear how it goes. The lace book sounds really interesting and a really good idea; if you don't mind, could you bring it or tell me more next time we see you?
Armholes aren't too bad, taken a row at a time. Like everything else. And sometimes I had to stop and visualize it first before I started knitting the row, due to some instructions not being as clear as others.
Thanks for reading! I appreciate anytime you are able to stop and comment and look forward to more! :)
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