the perils of lace and the misery of frogging. again.
Knitters:
Casting on for the 4th time. GRRRR. The wedding shawl is knit from both ends, and then grafted together. I’ve finished the bulk of it – probably 90% – and now I just have to cast on and knit the smallish border on the other end (it’s a 95 st cast-on, and the pattern repeat is only 33 rows). So I sat down last night at the beginning of a movie, cast on (which is a little bit of a pain because you have to double the yarn for the cast on and then drop one strand when you start knitting). So I was casting on, long tail, and hadn’t left enough yarn. I made it to 86 sts. No biggie.
at least this section I'm knitting (frogging) doesn't have nupps!
Start over, get the whole thing cast on, great. Knit knit knit, made it 8 rows in when I realized I was knitting the wrong part of the pattern. Frog frog frog. Cast on. Knit knit knit, something had gone so terribly wrong somewhere and there was nothing to do but cast on again. By the time the movie was over, I’d cast on again and I was 9 rows into the pattern. Go to sleep and start fresh in the morning.
This morning I was knitting the 10th row…hallelujah, finally getting somewhere!…when I realized the row was only 91 sts. I’d gotten to the end of the row, every pattern repeat absolutely perfect, but I didn’t have those 4 sts I should’ve had before the garter border in the last 5 sts. Somehow, I had missed that when I’d knit the previous rows.
So I just frogged it again. I think I’m going to put it aside and make some blueberry bars, and then pick it up again. I’m using KnitPicks harmony circulars from the interchangeable set, and the metal end of the tips, where it joins the cable, is starting to change and make things difficult. It’s not shiny like it was, it’s kind of dull and the stitches don’t slide, which makes the knitting hard.
Knitting is fun! I love knitting! Knitting is my passion! I love knitting! Knitting is fun! (does that sound like I’m trying to convince myself? 
)
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sounds like a tough night. take a deep breath, you’ll get there. we’ve all had those moments!
On her own blog, gibknitty just wrote a post titled..Shadow Shot Sunday – Table For Two
yeah….i finally just had to put it down and go to bed, i was about to cry. it just goes like that, now and then. i wish i could say it was better today!
Oh man I feel your pain!!! Is my bad luck rubbing off on you? I finished row 10 on Alexandria last night (finally I made it past row 7!) when I decided I really didn’t like the look of the sts. Too loosey-goosey. I did more gauge checking/calculating and decided going down a needle size will work (I hope) so I CO again this morning.
What a beautiful shawl!! I cant wait to see pics of it and fingers crossed this time all is ok for the both of us!
On her own blog, Laura just wrote a post titled..Lost and Found- Motivation
I thought of you when I was casting on again and again and again. I thought of how you just kept starting over and didn’t give up, and it helped me not give up. I’m not kidding. I sure hope your new needle size works! By now, you must have the beginning rows down pat! Here’s to success for us both, Laura.
Oh wow that is SO nice! I’m glad I was able to help
It also occurred to me you’re knitting under a deadline which never
helps matters any especially when things start going wrong…
So sorry to hear you got a migraine – I hope you feel better today!
On her own blog, Laura just wrote a post titled..Lost and Found- Motivation
Are you making the shawl that is on the front of that book? I love that book – and want to make them all!!!
On her own blog, Sara just wrote a post titled..Yard Sale Finds…
I love the book too – nope, I’m not making the cover shawl (thought I might, one of these days). I’m making one from inside the book. I have a long way to go, becoming comfortable making nupps, though. I only had to make 56 of them for this shawl and I was a tense and nervous wreck by the time I finished. I can’t say I got much better at them as I went along, either. But they really are so beautiful, and worth it (much later
).
Oh, gosh, yes I know that feeling! Somehow it seems that if you have problems once you’re more likely to have problems again. So it often adds up to those wildly frustrating times. The only thing to do is to put it down for a while. I hope it worked OK when you picked it up again!
On her own blog, Anne Campbell just wrote a post titled..Knitting Monogamy – What’s That
that is ABSOLUTELY right, i was thinking that today. after a couple of times starting over, i think i started getting stressed out about it and just making dumb mistakes from the stress of worrying about it. i actually had to start over 4 more times today, but now i’m ~2/3 of the way through and it’s going beautifully. i’ll finish the section tonight, but i think i’ll wait until tomorrow to graft the pieces together and block it. in the midst of my many efforts this morning i got a terrible migraine and had to take the medication and wait for it to work. it hasn’t been a happy knitting day, but success is just right there, and being DONE with it is just right there too. that’s the best part…..until the part where i give her the shawl, that is.