Fiber Babble: I Insist that it's NOT Bad Karma

I Insist that it's NOT Bad Karma

February 25, 2006

How sad is this - my first knitting related post is not to report success?

My current HK project - the Meredith sweater (so named because I usually only get to work on it during Grey's Anatomy) is becoming quite a learning experience. Not because it's a hard pattern, not because the yarn is difficult to work with. Mainly because there is NO pattern and I'm much more impressed with my skill-level than possibly I should be.

First, the details: Yarn is Royal Blue Schoeller Stahl "Boogie", from Elann.com. The pattern that came with the yarn (shown on the Elann page) was my first Plan, but I'm coming to realize that my personal body image is not necessarily reflective of The Sad Truth. Having realized such, I'm thinking that maybe I oughta avoid knitting a form-fitting midriff'ed pattern.

Enter Knitting From the Top, by Barbara G. Walker. She IS my hero. NO seaming. Knit from the top down so I can try it on as I go. Easy-to-adjust length. The list goes on. I decide that I'm going to knit a For-Me sweater; one that is snug enough in the chest and big enough in the boobs and comfy in the flab zone.

I learn the Invisible Cast On (no shoulder seams!), cast on at the back neck and work my way down, incorporating the suggested short rows. From there I pick up at the shoulders and knit each side of the front (for a V-Neck), increasing until the two fronts meet up at the "V". Knit a few more rows, cast on at the pits and connect the whole thing into a big 'ol tube. Yay!

But wait! There's a big ol' hole in the back. I take it to my neighbor (the one who's been knitting for over 60 years and can figure out what went wrong faster than I can notice anything DID) and she finds that I didn't drop a stitch (phew!). Apparently I picked up the base of a stitch. Okay. I could rip it out (that's part of the joy of this method for me, easy to fix mistakes) or I could just weave it artfully later on. After all, it is a fuzzy yarn and we all know that hides a multitude of sins, right?

I put in the boobular short rows ala Joan McGowan-Michael's Shapely Tank and continue knitting the tube (the body) until I run out of a skein of the yarn. Good time to try it on, yes? Well, whaddaya know, the pits fall BELOW my bra! Of course, this will have sleeves, but, really - ick. If I wanted a drop-sleeve sweater I would've made one, yanno?

After about 4 minutes of discussion with my Self, I decide I have to do it. Make the pain stop. Rip.

(Yes, there are two circular needles hanging from the fronts. Yes, the back stitches are on a string. Yes, I need to learn to take better pictures. Yes, I need to vacuum the floor)

I ripped. All the way back to 10 rows before the V-Neck meets on the front. Up to just above the hole on the back. NOW I get to do the fun part - count fuzzy rows to make sure that the fronts and the back get to the same place before I cast on the newly-placed pit stitches.

I'm still quite upbeat, though. After all, this sweater will FIT me. It's MY color. And if it makes me look like a Furby, so be it.

Labels: knitting