That maybe be overstating it a bit. But I have gone where I have never gone before, in a knitting sense. There is just something about being in the Coastal Condo. Anything seems possible. My mind goes places that even I find amazing. I can't wait to share with you what I have been up to. I’ve already shared Comet with you, And the gorgeous yarn I bought to make it. I decided I needed to get into it immediately. Truth be told, I have been struggling with the pattern since last Monday, January 6. It was a real challenge. The pattern called for fingering/sock yarn and a size 5 needle. I couldn’t imagine a yarn calling for a 1-3 needle working using a 5 so I started with a 4. The pattern had me flummoxed. I started, frogged it, started, frogged it. I must admit I was getting pretty good with the first 10 rows. I decided it was too tight (all of the m1r and m1l and k3T.) Aha, that’s why it called for a 5. Well, I started over once more and got this. It just wasn’t working! I emailed Jane saying, “I’m not sure the juice is worth the squeeze.” But I loved the way it looked and I must admit I’m pretty stubborn. I emailed the designer and found out some of the rows were missed labeled RS or WS. I thought, “Aha! That will fix it!” But it didn’t. It was too hard to see the pattern. The increases and decreases for the points were done on the wrong side. The decrease was K3T and on the right side it was K. There was no way to determine if you were really increasing or decreasing in the right stitch. I was struggling. It wasn’t fun. My perfectionist side and my stubborn side were in a real battle. Just think back to 2017 My Year Of Selfish Knitting. My mantra was, “Does it bring me joy?” This definitely wasn’t bringing me joy but I didn’t want to give up and I wanted it to be perfect. In came my solution. I was going to rewrite the pattern so the increase and decreases were on the RS AND I was going to make a line of stockinet down the center of each increase and decrease. I decided to make this more knitter friendly. This is what I came up with. It was so much easier and knitter friendly. But I did have to totally rewrite the pattern. The WS became the RS and vice versa. I had to add a couple of rows so that you always changed colors on the RS. I think it worked! I must say I love it. On my 7th restart, I finally got it. I also went up to a size 6 needle. What exactly is my learning from all of this? This pattern is amazing and the designer is incredible. How did she think of this complex scheme? I also learned something about myself that has been hidden. I may have some designing abilities. I learned that if it’s not enjoyable, find a way to simplify and make it enjoyable. I don’t think there was a better way to start off Fearless 2.0!
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jan parsonThis blog is dedicated to Mary Helen Growt my first knitting teacher and the woman who changed my life. The mission of Knitting: A Love Story is to preserve, share and promote the love of knitting. Archives
April 2021
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