Kids, Don't Try This at Home

If stitches could talk:  "HANG ON EVERYBODY!!"

What you see here is probably going to get the knitting police called on me, and rightly so.  This is what happens when your itsy-bitsy circular needle is too small for the sleeve, your DPNs piss you off by snagging every single float and laddering every single color change, and you just decide to go for it and switch to the 16" circular.  These poor little stitches are stretched so tight that I am doubting the structural integrity of the sleeve.  Anybody know the tensile strength of superwash wool fibers?

Trained professional on a closed course; do not attempt these maneuvers.

In my defense (feeble though it is), this sleeve is getting bigger around by 2 stitches every 5 rounds.  So while my cruelty is real, it is also going to be short-lived.  Good thing, too:  this booger does NOT want to move around the needle! 

All of which has me asking "Is this really the best I can do?"  Surely there is an easier way.  Yeah, right.  If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.  I'm thinking this one falls under the categories of omelet-making and egg-breaking.  Stay tuned to find out if I'm right...

Are We There Yet?

The long and winding road of sweater body

How things are measured has been much on my mind of late.  On a long road trip I count the exits, rather than the miles.  In knitting, I go by how many repeats instead of rows or inches.  Along with this I like to know whenever possible where the midpoint is.  It's the impatient child within me, constantly demanding to know when we will BE there, already, and how long will THAT take?

Being result-oriented has its advantages, to be sure.  I can usually be counted on to know when the end is, whether or not it's in sight.  I know when the deadlines are, even if it's only in time to hear them go screeching by.  But the challenge for me has always been to enjoy processes and journeys; the getting of getting there. 

I'm pondering these imponderables as I work up the body of this pullover, feeling adrift in a sea of stockinette.  I've done my best to keep it interesting:  There is more than one color.  The motif repeats are far enough apart that I can't completely disconnect myself from the chart.  The yarn is delightful and feels springy in my hands.  

In spite of all that, I still have this awareness of when the end of the song should be, and that I'm still in the middle of the second verse.   I even let myself quit working on the body and cast on a sleeve last night, just to break up the doldrums.  I tried to tell myself that I was making the sleeve for a completely different design and that it was brand new to me.  I did not believe me.

Maybe this project is too similar to my last one.  The two pieces are companions, and making them back to back seemed like the best way to ensure continuity.  So if I consider that this sweater is a continuation of the previous one, then it actually began with the cast-on of the other project, some four weeks ago.  That's a long time for me to be working on anything, so it would explain my ennui. 

DH is fond of reminding me that when something you love becomes your job, you sometimes can't help thinking of it as work.  Here are the affirmations that will pull me through this project:  (This will work; really)

I know that I can finish this based on the fact that I just finished one a lot like it.
                    
I am the luckiest knitter in the world:  I get to create whatever I want for the show-and-tell that is my book.  I am making the things that only existed in my head before!  No sniveling is allowed over something I wanted the chance to do so much.

When I'm done with this, the next project will be completely different, and the honeymoon will take much longer to be over next time.

After this is  finished, and I put it away for a while, seeing it again will be like meeting a new friend.  I will be able to appreciate all the things that made me want to create it in the first place.
 

The view from my lap.  Same view as yesterday.  Tommorrow looks similar, too.

Re-Entry

So there I was, having the time of my life with my two sisters, who only improved the situation by also having the times of their lives, when the weekend came to a screeching halt and Monday reared its ugly head.  Strange how sometimes a little time away can feel like a month off on vacation, and other times many days off in a row do nothing to give one a break. 

Re-entry is of course, what happens to objects which have been in orbit and then must come back into contact with the atmosphere.  It is also what happens to people who go on weekend motorcycle adventures with their sisters and then have to go back to the office on Monday.  The process is invasive, inflammatory, and generally a sucky transition from one plane of existence and frame of reference to an entirely different one.  Common symptoms include jet lag, hangover, disorientation, disillusionment, financial strain and criminal record.  In this case, my only complaints are disorientation and disillusionment, but it's enough to really stink up my attitude. 

The other problem might be self-fulfilling prophesy:  I took a day off from knitting and now I don't feel like working on it anymore.  I was so afraid to give myself a break, and now I know why.  I was afraid I wouldn't feel like starting again.  So in the interest of self-motivation, I will list all the great reasons I can think of to get back to work:

1.        Knitting is an excellent excuse not to do laundry.
2.        The weather is not miserably hot today, so sitting under the project will not hurt a bit.
3.        My lovely DH will be preparing our evening meal (as he has done all summer) so that I can work.
4.        Knitting does not require any more physical strain than say, beer-drinking, and is far more productive.
5.        Failure to meet my publishers deadline will result in extreme embarrassment and lack of cash.
6.        I am making a sweater, not mapping the human genome.  It's not that challenging, for pity's sake.

Okay, I think that was helpful.  Except for the part where I reminded myself about beer-drinking...