Restart

I knew things were bad when I finished the back of Granite and was not eager to cast on for the front.  I did anyway and reluctantly started knitting.

I was not at all happy with how the back had progressed.  It seemed that my scattered brain waves had affected my knitting and the stockinette looked like the growth rings of a tree alternating years of drought with extremely flush years of excess rains.  The fact that the total gauge was ok judging by the size of the sweater was merely a remarkable coincidence judging by the variations of the size of stitches evident with even the most cursory glance.  I truly feared that blocking would make not one whit of difference so I avoided the blocking board.

In fact I lost the blocking board.  Now it is not a small thing.  So I truly believe that the only way it could disappear is if I willfully lost it.   It was eventually found, but by then it was too late.  I had already made the decision to rip; a decision only confirmed yesterday when I discovered that I had made a major error in the font, an error that could be only explained by the general malaise and lack of enthusiasm with which I was approaching this project.

So I ripped.  I washed.  I rewound.  And I began again.

Now I am very happy although there is nothing really to show.  I trust this time there will be visible progress, progress that I will be proud to share.

In the meantime, during this ripping and washing, this gnashing of teeth and period of decision making, I have been lusting after other projects.  The heart is so fickle.  In times of distress I yearn for every pretty pattern, every soft and cuddly yarn, any thing to distract me from the rough patch with my current project.

My current distraction has been with the new Debbie Bliss magazine.   Of course I started lusting after the magazine when I saw the ad for it in the Vogue Knitting, the add which featured this wonderful cabled vest.

I love this vest. It is so very much the kind of thing I love to wear.  Doesn't it just make you yearn for cool weather?

And on the opposite page there was this fabulous bulky cabled cardigan with short sleeves:

This one is even more enticing than the vest.  I must make it.  I want to wear it tomorrow. 

Well, I know that is not possible.  I don't even have the yarn.  But I do have an idea of what yarn I want and maybe I will be able to buy it tomorrow.

So here I was thinking that I had my knitting plans worked out for the next few months.  I have pulled out projects.  I have set up a queue which I will eventually update on Ravelry, and I thought I had my plans worked out. 

Then some pretty little sweater which is a bit rustic and a bit flirty (love that collar) all at once comes along and steals my heart and throws all my plans up in the air.

The good news is that  the Debbie Bliss magazine also has the perfect sweater for some yarn that was sitting in my stash abandoned after I decided that the pattern for which it had been purchased was a no go, one of those things that looks so lovely, but once knit just sits on the shelf mocking the knitter.  Thank goodness I figured it out before I knit the sweater.

This pattern is completely different in attitude from the two above, so much more classically elegant, words I really don't apply to myself.  And yet it is just so perfect.  I know exactly how I will wear it and what I will wear it with; it is just as much completely me as the cardigan above. 

But first there is Granite.  Suddenly, freed of the weight of that unsatisfactory first start, I am whipping along again. I am sure there will be delays and interruptions again, but I think this time the knitting will be more constant and the results worth the effort of the redo.

Comments

[Rowan]

thank you for these photos
im add to my collection

[Liana]

I always love seeing your pattern choices. Such pretty things, and I think it's only self-preservation to fill our minds with beauty one way or the other when life isn't so beautiful.