Knitting is a fickle bitch

The Spiral Circle charity blanket has been  growing by leaps and bounds. 28 inches in diameter, and several more skeins to go. 

So it boggles my mind that the two scarves that I have been working on for an eternity are microscopic in comparison. 

This is the problem with the 2 for 1 vow: it doesn't take into account the fickle nature of knitting. Sure, knitting seems so mathematical. A certain amount of knitting using a certain amount of yarn produces a certain amount of finished knitting. Sounds logical, but the growing blanket on bed begs to differ. 

today, it is all about illogic. 

I should really know better

This new blanket is not as complicated as it looks. Every other row I just insert a Yarn Over, and a swirling circle blanket is magically created. As my boys would say: Easy, Peasy, Lemon Squeezie. And yet . . .   When I looked at my last several rows, I realized that I had forgotten the simple Yarn Over.  Several times over several row, in fact.

The smarter course of action would have been to just frog back a few rows. But I can't just do the simple way. Instead, I dropped a stitch or two around the affected area! Adding the yarn overs as needed.

The problem with this pan became increasingly apparent. I would add two or three stitches for each repair. Trying to knit five stitches with the yarn that had originally the two stitches just doesn't work well.

Yarn just doesn't stretch like that!  I did everything I could to stretch yarn use. I would slip various stitches each row. I pulled tight. It isn't pretty, but the fix was in. I really should have just frogged back. 

And now for the real question: how can I spend two years working on a scarf, and barely have two feet? When I have been working on this new blanket for less than two weeks, and have a baby blanket two feet in diameter? 

Today, it is all about the comparison. 

Mittens, mittens, and more mittens

My knitting has outgrown two sets of needles this week. I started on DPNs, and was not surprised at all that I outgrew them quickly. A speedy search of my needle drawer revealed that I did not own Size 9 circular needles. (Or if I do, then they are in one of the nineteen other works in progress, but I am not going there.) 

Apparently there is some sort of run on size 9 circulars. I tried Hobby Lobby on Saturday, but they were out completely. Michaels didn't have bamboo, but at least it had metal, so the blanket could continue. 

Since the blanket it knit from the center outward, I had toyed with the idea of  buying my first interchangeable circular needles, so I could have a really long cable. 

Now I am nearing the end of the cable capacity, with lots of blanket to go, so I think the decesion has been made for me about the interchangeable needle thing. 

I can try Jo Ann Fabrics tomorrow, and if that doesn't work, my LYS will be open on Tuesday. 

My mother was Skyping with my brother in Poland today.  I was over briefly to pick up my children, so I chatted with him a little. After he made a crack about too many projects in progress, establishing that he reads my blog (Hi Pres!), he asked about his mittens. The mittens he asked to make for him and his girlfriend, with and additional giant mitten that two people wear while holding hands. (I would insert rolling eyes here if I weren't so happy for him with the new girlfriend.)

I haven't even picked out a pattern or bought yarn for these mittens yet now I have a possible deadline: my mother is flying out in August. Wouldn't it be nice if she could take the mittens with her, well before the cold of winter?

Then my husband pointed out that he is still waiting for his mittens. Bite me! (Though I guess I should be grateful he didn't mention the sweater. )  

I am bring guilted into keeping and breaking the 2 for 1 vow at the same time. Not fair!

Today, it is all about the guilt. 

It's my vow, and I'll break it if I want to

As frequent visitors of my blog will know (both of them), I have been very focused on the 2 for 1 vow:  Realizing that I had long past an excessive amount of projects in progress, I was trying to finish more than I start.  Complete 2 before I could start 1.  That sounded fair, and worked for exactly one 2 for 1 swap. 

But I found myself focusing on projects that were closest to completion, whether I wanted to work on them or not.  I felt almost guilty if I was working on something that was NOT nearing completion, because that was what I wanted to work on.  And finding knitting to be something crossed off the list, like a chore, instead of something that I was enjoying

So I cracked, and started this:

 

 

Nothing bad.  Nothing major.  Nothing similar to something already in progress.  Just a simple baby blanket for charity.  I am using up stash, and giving away some knitting love.  I did it without finishing two other things, and I don't care. 

 

I am not giving up on the vow, just taking a break.  I am not the kind of girl that practices knitting monogamy.    Things will get done, eventually, just not today.    Progress will be made, and that is still progress, even if it is spread out among 19 projects. 

 

Today, it is all about the self-defiance.  

Madness

Anyone who knew me and saw me at Walmart last night was certain to think that I has completely descended into madness. That could be the only explanation for one of my purchases. 

A child plastic knitting machine. but,fear not, there is a method to my madness. I have been wanting to dye some gradient yarn. So speedknitting the yarn into a tube will make it far more manageable. 

The person who composed this sticker, on the other hand, has clearly lost all sense of reality, as the word "quality" should never be used next to "Red Heart yarn".

Today, it is all about the madness in all forms.

Choices

Sometimes, life is about choices. And attitude is REALLY about choices. So as we are on the last three hours of a week-long road trip, I am choosing not to focus on the negative, and emphasize the positive. 

For instance, I had a wonderful second day at Disneyworld Magic Kingdom, and am ignoring the tantrums that my stepfather-in-law threw the first day that were ten times worse than anything from the five and six year old children. (I have to confess that Disney turns me into big kid anyway.)

I am also focusing on the fact that I am at the halfway mark on the Laughingbird, and conveniently forgetting how many times I lost the instruction or a needle somewhere in the minivan. Even the horribly obvious knot in the yarn worked to my favor, since it was near the end, and I could just call that skein done. I am not running short of yarn, so those missing few yards of yarn are not required. 

And I am choosing not to focus on the fact that I spent hours researching how Disney works, and the best route to take, and possible fun stops for everyone else's interest: hunting/fishing for men of all ages, classic cars for my mother-in-law, Lego for little kids. So on the last few hundred miles, when I found a little yarn store a half mile from the interstate and 3/4 mike from a Harley store so others wouldn't be bored while I spent a half hour  breathing wool fumes, and the 78 year old baby in the car said that we didn't have time . . . Sorry, there really isn't a silver lining in that one.  Other than my sweetie and I have bonded nicely over our mutual irritation over his stepfather. 

Today, it is all about the power of positive thinking. 

Cursed technology

Once upon a time, knitters didn't use advanced technology. 

Once upon a time, a knitter could imperfectly remember how long something had been in progress. Sure, there would some milestones that could give hints when projects were started: the ages of children, etc. But, really, unless you took notes, your mind could minimize how many years it has been in progress. 

Now, there are apps and ravelry. Sure, they are wonderful resources: pattern/yarn browsing, organization, and such. Until you reach the hidden snarkiness. When you create a new project, you give the start date. A firm, unmoving, unerring date, that comes back to haunt you. 

As I used the row counter app on my phone, I realized that I started the Laughing odd Scarf in November of 2012. Twenty inches of scarf, in two and a half years. That really is embarrassing. 

There were a few others from that era. Just when I was staring to waver on the 2 for 1 vow, I am reminded why I made it. Too many things in progress for two many months, we, years. 

Though, I think that the fact that I am blogging on my phone from the inside of a moving van challenges my point. 

Today, it is all about the tech.