Say hello and goodbye
On Friday my wondrously huge cone of Donegal Tweed* arrived. I was so thrilled that I cast on for a small circular swatch right away. Once the damn thing dried (it took all freaking night!) I was able to ascertain my gauge and cast on for my Irish Mock. 3 inches, half the day, and about 3900 stitches later I looked down to admire the work I had so far. Only I didn't so much admire as I cringed and then stared wide eyed at the error strewn terror I'd spent half the bloody day making. No, I did NOT take a picture. The evidence was quickly removed from the needles and unraveled before anyone could see the horror that I had made.
My problem was silly. The coned yarn is sized for weaving/machine knitting, so it's very teeny and thread-like until you wash it. Of course I washed my swatch and witnessed this miracle transformation, so I thought nothing of using the yarn straight from the cone. I was going to wash it when I was done, after all. The thing is, when you're doing random cabling and ribbing with what amounts to thread on sz 6 needles, you can't really tell what the hell you're making. I tricked myself into thinking that I was totally doing fine and kept going. *sigh* Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent skeining and washing hanks of yarn so that I could SEE what I was doing later.
I cast on AGAIN on Sunday morning 3 times, because I don't know how to count. The third was the charm, thank whoever. After the third cast on, and the first half of the stitches knit (and then tinked because I still couldn't count and had screwed up the patterning) I tossed the thing to the side to await this morning. Finally, I have something to show. I should have more, but this is what I have now:
About 2 inches where there should be WAY more. I also have about 2 inches missing from my bottle of merlot. This is just the ribbing. You can kinda see the squiggly zig-zaggy thingies if you squint and slam your head against the wall really hard before looking back at your monitor real quick. I have maybe an inch or two more before I begin the main sweater body. Until I get at least one repeat into the body you won't be seeing this again, so say, "hello" and "goodbye", now.
Before the yarn came I was spending time with the following:
A very sexy Koigu sock and a mitten that may never get to be a mitten because I've already lost interest in it. I'm really digging this koigu color. It reminds of rose/tan marble. The sock will definitely become a sock. I'm still knitting on it on and off just to take a break from thepine needles Donegal Tweed. I'm off for another glass of wine and possibly more knitting. I think I may just give my wrists a break, though.
Cheers!
*Donegal Tweed is NOT soft. It's relatively soft when knit up, but knitting with it has been the most painful experience ever. Imagine knitting with juniper, or cedar, or pine needles, then bind it with rusty razor wire and sprinkle it with gasoline and salt. That's what it feels like to knit with. I promise, the finished fabric is MUCH nicer though.
Non-knitting news
For the first time in years I went to the dentist and received an all clear! This is remarkable because I have the worst enamel in the entire universe. If I so much as look at chocolate cross eyed I get a freaking cavity. On the down side, I DO have a cracked filling. But I have no cavities, yay!!
My problem was silly. The coned yarn is sized for weaving/machine knitting, so it's very teeny and thread-like until you wash it. Of course I washed my swatch and witnessed this miracle transformation, so I thought nothing of using the yarn straight from the cone. I was going to wash it when I was done, after all. The thing is, when you're doing random cabling and ribbing with what amounts to thread on sz 6 needles, you can't really tell what the hell you're making. I tricked myself into thinking that I was totally doing fine and kept going. *sigh* Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent skeining and washing hanks of yarn so that I could SEE what I was doing later.
I cast on AGAIN on Sunday morning 3 times, because I don't know how to count. The third was the charm, thank whoever. After the third cast on, and the first half of the stitches knit (and then tinked because I still couldn't count and had screwed up the patterning) I tossed the thing to the side to await this morning. Finally, I have something to show. I should have more, but this is what I have now:
About 2 inches where there should be WAY more. I also have about 2 inches missing from my bottle of merlot. This is just the ribbing. You can kinda see the squiggly zig-zaggy thingies if you squint and slam your head against the wall really hard before looking back at your monitor real quick. I have maybe an inch or two more before I begin the main sweater body. Until I get at least one repeat into the body you won't be seeing this again, so say, "hello" and "goodbye", now.
Before the yarn came I was spending time with the following:
A very sexy Koigu sock and a mitten that may never get to be a mitten because I've already lost interest in it. I'm really digging this koigu color. It reminds of rose/tan marble. The sock will definitely become a sock. I'm still knitting on it on and off just to take a break from the
Cheers!
*Donegal Tweed is NOT soft. It's relatively soft when knit up, but knitting with it has been the most painful experience ever. Imagine knitting with juniper, or cedar, or pine needles, then bind it with rusty razor wire and sprinkle it with gasoline and salt. That's what it feels like to knit with. I promise, the finished fabric is MUCH nicer though.
Non-knitting news
For the first time in years I went to the dentist and received an all clear! This is remarkable because I have the worst enamel in the entire universe. If I so much as look at chocolate cross eyed I get a freaking cavity. On the down side, I DO have a cracked filling. But I have no cavities, yay!!
posted by Bobby at 6:40 PM
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