Stole Progress and Other Things

It’s funny. My two year knitting anniversary is in March. I started with a garter stitch “scarf” in grey wool. I had to throw it away later because it was so bad. The edges looked like my friendly local mice had been chewing on them and the stitching was uneven. Plus there were probably a few dropped stitches in it too. I remember sitting there desperately trying to get the needle under the stitch without dropping it and thinking it was bloody impossible and who in their right mind would ever want to sit here and do this because it was stupid and annoying and absobloodylutely no fun at all, aka dontcomenearmebecauseiamarmedwithsharpsticksandamsupremelymiffed syndrome. Alas, I am stubborn and persisted; not because I wanted to produce pretty pieces, but because I refused to be beaten by two sticks and a piece string. Looking at it like that, I feel like I’ve come a long way, even if it often doesn’t seem like it. Other times I fell like a beginning knitter because there are a lot of things I’ve never done and I’ve never done anything really difficult, like steeking *faints at thought*. Weird how perspective can change things. I would really love to have 30 years of knitting experience under my belt without actually being 30 years older. Can anyone arrange that for me?

Work on the Stole continues, with one major improvement. I’ve taken Mari’s advice and put in a life line. Should have learned to do this long ago. I’m planning on putting in multiple lines now that I’ve actually taken the trouble to figure out how it works – yeah, it was real hard, I know. Note the words “taken the trouble” Looking up how to do it is a prerequisite for doing it, i.e. unless you’re sooper intelligent and it’s glaringly obvious how it works without instruction, which I’m not. I looked it up. - So, multiple. I want to be secure in the knowledge that I will not have to rip out a week’s worth of work if I suddenly notice something one pattern repeat down.

Next improvement: I plan on putting something together to hold my charts up, or at least where I can mark them better. I’m thinking along the lines of a metal clipboard with anti-slip stuff on the back (so it doesn’t slide off the pillow I keep it on) and a strip magnet to hold my place. There are commercial ones you can buy, but I’d have to get it from the States, pay for shipping and wait for it to come. I want it NOW (patience is not one of my better qualities) and they all aren’t what I really want. The only thing I might have trouble finding here are the magnifying strips, which would be cool, but nothing’s perfect.

I do have to admit that it’s nice to see the pattern appearing as you knit. You can really see (and measure) the project. This means I also am now sure that I don’t have enough yarn to do the length I want. I’m going back and getting more yarn tomorrow. If I have leftovers, I’ll do her the matching Tam. It will look nice on her and she’ll be thrilled.

I think I’ll give myself a break from that tonight and just work on my sock. It seems silly to have the first half of a second sock on the needles when it could be finished and wearable with just a couple of hours work – Oh I do so love the thick sock yarn. The knit up so much faster! They’re also warmer. Not that we need it since we seem to have skipped winter all together this year and just gone over to a harsh spring of sorts, but still, I’d rather be wearing them.