Knitterly Confidence

Ever wonder if you should have any? I'm wondering lately. I've been knitting for almost 40 years, and steadily like a crack addict for the last five, but I've had a few patterns lately that have me absolutely stymied. And I'm starting to wonder if it's me...

I frogged a sock recently that I had knit to the mid-heel level. I don't want to mention the designer or where I got the pattern, but it was a full-scale battle throughout. Each new phase of the pattern was a new area I had to plow through, learning new techniques (which is always good) but having to also learn how in hell I'm supposed to accomplish it. After five such wars, I gave up. But I didn't give up easily. I hung in there longer than most knitters would have. There was a trail of blue curses behind each row it seemed. Finally, somewhat in shame, I gave up. I didn't want to give up...I wanted to win the battles...

Then I started a cotton baby sweater for our little Chase. The pattern is by Debbie Bliss and is called "Sweater with Ribbed Yoke." You can look at it in Ravelry. It calls for straight needles but since the sweater is stocking stitch to the arm holes, I thought I'd do it on a circular. The going was a bit rough as I started with the ribbing, and it continued to get rougher the further along I went. I finally decided, since I was experiencing my first mobius (without actually meaning to, sigh...) the circular needle was probably too long, so I ripped it out too.

I don't like starting new projects while others linger waiting to be completed, but last weekend I just needed a fresh start on something. Needed a band-aid for the confidence blows I was suffering. I've had some Fabel by GarnStudio laying around calling my name, so I heeded its call and started a plain-jane pair of socks for myself. Those are going fine. I put a short row garter stitch heel in the first one and this sock appears to be the best fitted sock I've ever made myself.


Nice fit, eh?



Last night I started my first shawl. I've had some Estelle Watercolour in a sensual deep red that has also been screaming for me.



I'm knitting it into Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Snowdrop shawl. This yarn has a good halo (50% mohair) and a pretty sheen that catches the light beautifully. Unfortunately, the mohair halo makes ripping stitches highly unpleasant so I'll have to just knit on it when I'm at my knitting best, not at night when my brain and fingers have had enough for the day.

I'm also teaching myself to crochet. It's going pretty good. I have a good grasp of single crochet.



So, my to-do list is growing daily: four or five projects on the go, spinning practice, crochet practice, day job, kids, husband, house, dog (NEVER in that order).

I'm feeling much better about my flagging confidence. Nothing like getting it off your chest, AND the joy of new knitting to make you forget...

Catch Up

Whew!! Another week or two blew by! My intention when I started this blog was to blog daily. I guess it's true...the road to hell IS paved with good intentions. Life has a way of getting in the way of things, and there's always the knitting...

Anyway, I've been doing a bit of knitting and a bit of spinning... Below is the finished Kilcar sweater. That's the Donegal Tweed that I bought in Donegal last spring. Just showing the back because it's the only shot so far that I can live with.

Ok, here's one from the front...



You don't need to embiggen...I've embiggened myself enough already! Honestly, I'm thrilled that I gave up the smokes, but this weight gain is AWFUL!!! I hate that I can't get a handle on it. I guess I need to get off my own case about it. It's not forever or the most important thing in life.

Next...



This is a plain stockinette stitch sock. The yarn is Fabel by Garnstudio. A knitting group friend showed it to us about a month ago and I fell in love. This is handpainted 70% superwash wool and 25% nylon. And the colours just line up like that. Looks like I did some fancy schmancy stitch-work, but I didn't. THIS is why I love knitting! After froggin some really frustrating projects, this is just what I needed. Easy-peasy and looks phenomenal. And, the price is really reasonable.

Also...



I've done a bit more work on the Juliaca. This is going to be a slow one. Sweaters take soooo long, and the miles of rib are a little daunting, but this is such gorgeous yarn. Satisfies the senses: sight - the colour is amazing- in the light you see blues and teals and greens; touch: this is baby llama-the softest yarn I've felt yet (Harley's may give this a run in the softness dept.). And the drape!

Harley's getting more used to me every time I see him. He's actually letting me hug him without moving away. I'm beginning to see why he's the favourite around there...

And finally...



This is 100 gm of Shetland wool that I spun. Not sure if it's supposed to twist like that, but I hope it's because it's a highly twisted single...kind of like me...highly twisted. It's hanging on an antique highchair that my mom sat in when she was a baby, and then my brothers and I sat in it as babies, and our kids sat in it as babies. I don't have a lot of heirlooms, so I really treasure the ones I have. You should've seen the battle I had with hubby when I decided it had to come home with me rather than get sold at a garage sale. He didn't realize the sentimental value at the time. It was one of those "Oh, NO it's NOT!" "Oh, YES it IS!" battles that ends nose to nose in a deadlock, and then with me loading the chair in the car...

Anyway, I've also been spinning this:



This is corriedale in a deep green. And it's on my new Forrester spindle. That spindle jumped me from producing lumpy bumpy chunky weight to semi-smooth lace weight. And I've almost got the spinning figured out. I can spin for a short while without parking... I plan to ply the two yarns and make some thick warm socks... pics later. Maybe way later...this corriedale goes on forever!

My daughter was in a play last week. She flexed her acting muscles, and sang some solo parts, and my heart burst wide open...



That's her on the left. She played a 12-yr old boy whose life's broken by abuse, addiction, and pain. In this scene he's hiding in a closet with his little sister so their alcoholic mother's abusive boyfriend won't hurt them. These kids did an amazing job.

And my little dog...



She cracks me up on a daily basis. Yesterday I let her in from outside where it was raining pretty good. She stopped as soon as she got in the door and looked up at me with a "well woman, ...are you gonna wipe my feet, or what?" look on her face...