Let This Slacker Redeem Herself!

What a shocker! I looked at my last post on KALS and discovered it has been exactly a month. That made me think, what exactly have I been doing to be so neglectful? Let me share a couple things with you.

I started Verdigreen when I was at the Coastal Condo. The more I thought about it, the more I realized this could be a class at Ann’s By Design. It is knit in Whirligig which is a Cascade yarn. It looks difficult but it isn’t. So I started knitting the sample for the shop once we got home. I don’t think a class should be offered without a sample that people can touch, scrutinize and criticize. It’s what sells them on a class or convinces them it’s not for them.

This is what Verdigreen looks like.

And this is what Whirligig looks like. Is it coming back to you? Well, this is how much I’ve gotten done.

I think it is a great demonstration of how different colors enhance each other. I also want to do an introduction to the class on substituting yarns. I have always been a rather adventurous knitter. I’ve made substitutions that were magic and I have made substitutions that were disaterous. I must admit that I learned much from each. Do you remember JimmyBuffet’s “Son of a Son of a Sailor?” “I’ve read dozens of books about heroes and crooks and I learned much from both of their styles.” That’s exactly how my forays into yarn substitution have been. Maybe I will use this wrap when Linda Schwam and I teach our color theory class. So, that is a part of what I’ve been doing. But I still seem like pretty much a Knitting: A Love Story Slacker. Let’s go on to the next big thing.

In the fall, Carol Lane (one of my favorite regulars at Ann’s By Design) brought this pattern in. She discovered it in Ireland, hence the Celtic knot. She asked if I would teach her to do it. Of course, I said, “Of, course.” But it had to wait until March. Between fall and March we were to knit the easy part and be ready to start the diabolical Celtic cables. I did get my homework done.

These are my yummy yarns; Reserve Sport ad Merino Dreams. I already had the perfect yarn AND it came from Ann’s. Since this was going to be a quasi-class at Ann’s, I really thought the yarn needed to be from Ann’s. It is just my rule but when I social knit in a LYS, I always use yarn from the shop. So Sunday March 8 (last Sunday), we started our class.

From left to right there is Carol Lane, Sue Nelson and Linda Schwam. Oh, by the way, that knitted jacket hanging over the chair is my Crayon Box jacket I knit years ago. I love it. I talked about it early in Knitting: A Love Story. It has a wonderful story behind it or as they say in literature and the theater, it has a back story. We all came together thinking we could conquer this demon together. I had worked row 1 of the pattern 7 times by the time I got to class and I definitely was mastering that. It calls for a 1 t 5 increase and I thought, “Piece of cake!” After all I mastered the 1 to 5 increase in Jacaranda.

See the little hole in the pattern? That is a 1 to 5 increase so I was on my way.

Except do you see any hole in the Celtic cables? No! So I Googled 1 to 5 increase and watched videos for several hours. The one recommended had no audio, just two hands doing something with subtitles underneath. I never have been good with subtitles. I finally found one that gave me what I needed to proceed. I did Row 1 and went on to Row 2. Row 2 is a wrong side row but you do cable on the right side AND my 1 to 5 increases were so tight that I had a difficult time finding the stitches I needed to make the cable. We came to class ready to help each other.

The two hours we were together were a blast. But nobody left having mastered row 2. Susie got through 10 rows and didn’t like the way the elongated cable stitches worked. She frogged her’s and decided to write her own pattern. Brave lady. I pledged to Carol that I was in this for the long haul. We are going to finish this if we only get one row a week done! I had an eye doctor appointment on Wednesday and my reading prescription changed immensely. I really think that had something to do with my struggle with row 2. If you check out the picture above, my yarn is the same color as my needles. One more reason I have been struggling. I changed my needles and when I get my glasses, I think I will be flying high.

In addition to these two projects, I have been trying t get the Stash Studio into something akin to order. Have I redeemed myself? I hope so. I am really going to try to be better.