It's Only Fun After It's Done

They tell you about the road to hell. They tell you about it very early in life and it gets repeated in the knitting life. It is paved with all that good intention stuff. You are looking to do a project and you say to yourself: 'Self, make some squares out of stash yarn and when you get enough of them just sew them together and make an afghan. That would be cool.'
You know how the conversation goes and you get yourself all kinds of excited because this is a culmination of a bunch of knitting stuff.

First, there's knitting/crocheting: just the very act of it makes us giddy with delight and we are enthusiastic about what will becoming off the hooks and needles.

Second, using the stash. There's a love/hate relationship with the stash - you love to have one, you hate to use yarn out of it because then there would be no more stash and you love your stash but using the stash means going to the LYS or yarn section of the craft store to buy more yarn ( GOOD!!) and refresh/renew the stash - and we love that.

Third, the creativity - every square can be different. We can experiment with stitches and colors and mixing fibers together and almost anything goes because if you rim the square and then the entire afghan with an unifying color then the whole thing comes together and if it doesn't you can get away with it by calling it rustic.

It all sounds really good - and it probably really is - but what they don't tell you; what they save and make you discover for yourself is that there are details - details that you will have to deal with. "Oh, yes, all those squares will have ends you have to do something with." "You will have to sew or learn to crochet them together", "You will have to watch carefully so you match things up just so..." They don't tell you that and I think they leave it out on purpose. It's a test to see if you really belong in the crafter's circle. All craft genres have their little quirks that the crafter has to deal with. The very first person who discovered he had to deal with a yarn end decided not to tell the next person because he wanted them to have that unique experience for themselves and the when the second person discovered he too had to sew in an end, went to the first guy and said,"Dude."

To which the first guy replied," Yeah, I know." and the code was made. When women started to get into the guilds, you know they didn't share the code with them. So now, this discovery is something of a rite of passage but we never really learn it. We forgive the process because we like the end result. For all the swear words we say while we are making our projects as soon as the delivery is over we fall in love and forget about the pain that was with us just moments before.

We even look forward to the next one that's how sick we are. So, this one moves from the WIP to the complete pile. Now there are four WIPs in the hopper and I don't see a completion date in the pike for any of those and I'm looking two weeks down the road. I am running into a little snag with the biased crochet afghan and I hope I am working it correctly considering every row has a color change and this is the third time starting it. If it doesn't work, then all those color changes will become a granny square afghan. Hmmm, now I don't know what to hope for.

I Can Explain

I can explain what happened..and when I do it will make all kinds of sense, but before I do I want to share the teaching experience:

First, let say I am not one of those who thinks everyone should knit. In fact, I do not think everyone should knit because then there would be no one to buy what I knit. So I think some of us should knit and the others should buy what those who knit make.

However, if someone thinks they have the knitting bug, I believe it is my duty to encourage and even teach them how to put stick to string and make a series of loops that will eventually look like a scarf or whatever the pattern says those loops should look like.

Chantal is a new member of StitchCraft and she is learning how to knit. And she actually has the technique down and then she does the thing that is the biggest problem for a new knitter:
she thinks too much about it. She will actually place the right hand needle in the loop on the left needle, wrap the yarn around, get the right hand needle half way through the loop and then stop herself because she thinks it's wrong. And she won't believe me when I tell her it's right. If I'm watching her, she does it perfectly, when I turn around, she creates a problem for herself by thinking about it too much.

She's completely adorable.

By the end of today's session, I think we are on the way for her just relaxing into it. I have found that new knitters who have trouble getting into the flow have that problem because they somehow feel the need to control the process. They want so badly for there to be more to it than there is. Really.

1. Place stick in loop.
2. Wrap yarn around right stick.
3. Move right stick from the back to the front, catching yarn wrapped around stick to form new loop.
4. Move new loop from left stick to right stick, dropping old loop off left stick.

That's all there is to the fire.

While we were having our lesson I was thinking back to the days when I was learning how to knit in class at school. I tried to remember if I had a hard time with it. As I recall, I didn't catch on totally but I got it eventually. I don't remember where I was having the problem but I knew I was able to come home and do it - I think one of my sisters knew how to knit and also showed me a little - that part is blurry.

I am determined Chantal will learn how to knit because she wants to learn and I will show her. But more important, I want her to rely on her own approval so she can enjoy herself when she's by herself and she doesn't need someone to watch her and so she doesn't get uptight in her own company. There's certainly things to think about in knitting, but it's a lot easier when you let the knitting process carry you when it can. It's relaxing when you allow it to have its own way. Then you work with it and it carries you off to the good place where knitters go. I want her to get there on her own ticket. The good news is that she's a good sport and determined. She'll get there.

OK, let me explain how come I came home with 20 skeins of yarn:

Someone mentioned they needed a certain size circular needle.
I mentioned Chix With Stix has needles in the back of the store for a smaller price than the ones they sell in the front of the store.
We are about five minutes from Chix with Stix
While we are still knitting the woman who for the past two years has purchased my big la de da afghans at the Holiday store walks in and asks me if I have her afghan already done this year.
I confess to her that I was thinking about her the other day because I do not have a big la de da afghan, I made it and gave it to my nephew and his wife. But since the sale is in December, there is still time to make one. She says the people she has given those afghans to really appreciate them, especially her very crafty mother who said she can tell love and effort has gone into them.

(Sniff, sniff, smile) Thank you, thank you so much. I make the promise to begin work on big la de da afghan.

You're starting to come on board, right?

We travel to Chix With Stix, we go to the back to look at needles when Melissa points out the clearance section in the store.

I go over and see Ella Rae Amity Yarn (75% acrylic 25% wool - 200 yards to the skein.) There are loads of colors - beautiful colors. Colors I like marked at $5 per skein. Then April points to the sign that says it's 40% off. I ask the woman at the store 40% off the $5 price?

Yes, she says.
I ain't no mathematician but that sure sounds like $3 for the solids and $3.30 for the variegated.
La de da, says I. Wait. La de da yarn. La de da afghan.

Now, aren't you asking how come I came home with just the 20? It would have been more but I didn't like the other colors and I bought them out of all the colors I did like.
Doesn't it make sense to you?

I called Mr. Honey from the car - forgiveness is sometimes preferable over permission. I explained it to him and you know what he said:

OK.

Ha.


040204

It is Fini - shed!

There is nothing like a self argument to show yourself just how mature/immature you really are.
The Conflict:
The wedding afghan is finished. The wedding afghan is a present for my nephew and his fiancee who will be united in what I hope is wedded bliss next Saturday.

So far, nothing to argue about.

They should really be the one to 'open' the present. Therefore, I should not post a photo of the afghan here until after the wedding. Which means you guys would just have to wait until Saturday morning to see it.

But my niece to be and current nephew don't read my blog so they won't see it before they get to open it.

But still they should be the one to open it first.

They're registered at Target and some other place and everyone on the planet can pull up their Club Wed list and see what they want so it won't be such a big surprise cuz they know what they're getting, so why not post the photo here cuz they still get to open it in person and it always looks different in person than in the photo - and it always looks better in person.

But they should be the one to open it first.

Oh shut up.
No, You shut up.

Instant war.
What's the reason I want to post it now?
Cuz I want the instant gratification of seeing it on the blog and letting you see it!

Yea, that's mature.

It would be really nice if the photo was of Jeremy and Lily together with the afghan.

But then that depends on Jeremy and Lily taking a photo and getting it on line and getting it to me so I can get it on the blog. That's too many what if's for a couple that's getting married, going on a honeymoon then coming back straight to work. That's a lot to expect.

Gees, I wish I'd stop.

So, I do what I always do when I can't decide. It's one of the reason you marry - to have somebody to give you an opinion you can always ignore. Mr. Honey is sitting in his chair eating ice cream waiting for the Cubs (sigh) game to start and I ask him: should I post a photo of the afghan on the blog before they get it?

He shrugged. "Why not?"

Indeed.




030104

Back on the Block - Simple Stitch #4

So there I was cleaning out some of the emails in my in box. (There's over 700 unread and hardly any of it is spam) when I came across a Knitting Daily issue from February (yes, the oldest unread email is from February, but I am confident I will at least get to March before I'm through.)

Anyway, I was reading the issue that has the question was raised: What do you do to keep your knitting fresh and fun?
I'd be interested in hearing from you all what you do to keep it fresh. For me, freshness is key because I have an attention span as short as a....

what was I saying?

This afghan is helping me to keep it fun and fresh. I have one more square on the needles and it's a bobbin stitch and it's turning out to be great fun. My mind has been engaged and though I am feeling the time (it's almost a month in the making) there are tools that can be used on on other projects. That's always a great benefit with knitting: that stitch I learned for the afghan can be used in a hat.
Stitch 4 is a lattice weave and it's the first time I've completed the whole thing. I've tried it a few times and got myself lost in the pattern. (Tip, use a post it note to mark where you are my placing the edge of it underneath the line of the pattern you're working)

Just one more square to get off the needles and I can put this whole thing together. And if I do say so myself, it's looking pretty cute.

The question in the issue made me think I should come right over here and let you know what I do to keep the knitting mojo from up and leaving. So, come on and share. Let 's here from each other on what we do to keep our knitting funky, fresh and fun!

I've got to get back to cleaning out the mailbox...

Back on the Block - Simple Stitch #14

"I was in the hospital. I was in the ICU." Annie was talking to Mrs. Carson. "Rev. Bleecker came to see me."
"I told you he was fabulous. I don't know why you can't get along with him."
Annie shook her head. "He wasn't there to pray for me. He was there to tell me that I failed to get out the newsletter."
Mrs. Carson shook her head. "You know you're the only one who doesn't like him."
The Church on Peyton Place Corner

The afghan is moving along. One strip is already crocheted together and the next one has three of five blocks on it. There are two more blocks on the blocking board just waiting to be added to the pile. There are nine strips on the pile which would be about two more strips. This looks like it's the most complicated stitch in the bunch but it's the one that move along quite easily. I think I got it done in a matter of hours. That's because it's mostly k and p with some togs and yo's thrown in, but not very many. It's called the Tree Bud Stitch and it is the centerpiece of the afghan. There are only four strips so it can't be directly in the center, so it will be the third block on the strip. It's really quite lovely in person. It's a royal blue and very soft.

It's ten days to the wedding. The countdown is on. How many days (or even hours) will I have to spare?

Back on the Block - Simple Stitch #60

We're moving right along. With the afghan and with other things. I know things will turn out the way they are supposed to and sometimes you have to live with the fact that backstabbers don't always get what's coming to them.

I am about to start square 13! The home stretch is right in front of me. I finished a square last night that is still on the blocking board waiting to be steamed and I tell you, it's the most boring thing I've ever done. Maybe the author doesn't want to hear that. But who am I kidding? The authorwon't know. In any case, it's not the square pictured here today. The cloverleaf eyelet wasn't boring at all and it went rather quickly. This may be the first square I made for the wedding afghan.
Now this is really one of those things were I am going to call a design feature element. I got lost in the pattern and couldn't figure out where I was so I started over on the row count which is why there's that strange pattern in a pattern near the top (which is really the bottom) of the square. I kinda liked it, so I left it - and I would have had to go way back to get it right and with the yo's and stuff, man that would have been a pain. So, in it stays. Cuz that's the way love goes.
022004

Back on the Block - Simple Stitch #57

It is a terrible thing to have to end a relationship - even if you knew it wasn't the relationship you thought you had. But then, it's a wonderful thing to discover support where you never thought you'd find it. Everything has a trade off.

So, here's the next stitch...well, not the next next stitch. It's the next stitch that I photographed and posted. OK, let me just take back the earlier gripe I made about the stitches not being easy. This one was easy too. But seriously, there are some stitches that are more complicated than others. I am sure there are. I haven't run into them yet - I was just blowing off because the one stitch I was working on was giving me trouble...wait....see? I told you! Some were more complicated! But I still take back the gripe because I could have been tired or not paying attention or something. The block I finished yesterday was one I started before for another project and gave up on it. This time, I paid attention and it came out looking just fine. Have I even told you about the zigzag stitch yet? I said it was easy and it was. There are YO's and k2togs and that's about as complicated as it gets. You will have to follow the directions cause you need to get the lace in the right order, but if you do that, you get a nice square. The yarn is a little darker than the photo shows and it's really soft after it was steam blocked.

One thing I noticed about the pile of blocks that I have amassed, they are soft and they are cool to look at. I haven't really paid attention to how they would fit together, but since I'm using the same color palette, the yarns and are the same weight and size and since they are (mostly) coming from the same source, I am letting the synergy take care of that but I admit to being pleased with what I saw. Stitch block 12 is about to go on the needles and I see the end of the tunnel. I think we'll be fine for the wedding!

Back on the Block - Simple Stitch #51

I wonder if God starts out speaking to me gently and then as I go on and don't listen, He speaks a little louder and then a little louder still, until at last I've left Him little choice but to crash and burn and then turn to Him and say, "You talking to me?"
I am planning a book called 'The Church on Peyton Place Corner.'

Anyhow.
I am on square 11 of the 20 square afghan. I have decided it is going to be 20 squares because I will need time to agonize over the square placement and sew it together then agonize some more that they won't like it because I didn't put the right shades of blue - even though I'm not sure there's a shade of blue that's not in it.

I had intentions of going from square 1 to square 2 and so on, but you know what they say about making God laugh. I didn't even start with square 1, I just wrote about that one first, and square 2 ain't on the needles, either. I pulled the first square off the pile and it was this one - square 51. It's called the Reversible Garter Stitch Rib stitch though I've seen it in other books as something else. I really like this stitch pattern because it's only two rows but also because it's a very pretty stitch if you use the right color.

This stitch would make a lovely scarf or shawl, even a hat pattern if you make it smaller because there will be some stretch given it's a combo garter stitch and rib pattern. OK, I know I said none of the squares were that easy, but this one is. It's a beginning stitch and a good intro into patterns and ribbing for a beginner. I enjoyed it very much. The square that is on the needles now requires concentration because almost every row is different. I can listen to the T and V rather than watch it and I am going to earn some bragging rights - but as I am still in the throes of God's lesson, I shall remain humble.


021804

Back on the Block - Simple Stitch #1

I said when the light comes the first block would come and here it is. I bought this book at Joann and I don't regret it. There are some stitches that I've done that I am proud of. A quick review of this book is that it has a variety of stitches some with just knits and purls, some with cables and lace and some with great texture. You will need to have a fair amount of confidence in order to get through all of them - gees, I think I just set myself up.



They say that every knitter's project has a flaw. I don't know who 'they' are, but I think they are the wisest group of theys I've ever not met.
This is the 3rd time I've made this pattern and though it comes out nearly as it should, it never quite gets to as it should. Something always goes a little off.

I ain't a perfectionist.
I think these are great, homemade touches.
I don't go back and change them unless they really, I mean really bothers me. And that hardly ever happens - though it does happen more than it used to.

This particular pattern is a butterfly stitch and it the big features are the yo's and the dropped yo's, the pulling the loose dropped yo's into the butterfly wing and the making of stitches by adding on in the middle of the row.

Believe it or not, this is an incredibly fast knit. I think it took only a few hours to complete. It was done during the duration of a Cubs game. I've made it in ivory the other times and it's stunning in that color. The color in the photo here doesn't do it justice. It's a nice square though I do remember the first time I did it, I found it a little scary.

It's an impressive block and it will lend elegance to whatever afghan it finds itself on. I wouldn't make an entire afghan out of it but it will certainly catch attention - even if it is a little off kilter.