Good Morning Everyone!
Any guesses how my Avena is coming along??? It's fine NOW, but a few nights ago it was a completely different story. Everytime I think I know where I am and what I'm doing in my colorwork, I screw it up. I've caught myself doing two different repeats within the same row, that's fun. My favorite, I missed a stitch, I should have K5 CC not K4, ugh. Of course this always happens at the beginning of the round and I'm forced to tink back over 250 stitches. Have I mentioned how stiff this wool is? My hands are depleted of any moisture whatsoever and the workout they get is worse than stomach crunches, wah, wah, wah...
So I'm knitting along, watching the Olympics and I notice this section of colorwork that does not look like the others, blobs of Peacock blue are taking over the design. Shit! How long has this been going on? I look at where it is on the yoke, oooh the back, maybe it's not that noticeable. Then I'm thinking, of course it's noticeable you idiot, you noticed it, just not very quickly. It's like the game on Sesame Street where objects look the same but they definitely are not. I can still hear the little song in my head, "Which one of these just doesn't belong?" So I pull the needles out of the stitches and start frogging, round 1, round 2, round 3, round 4, round 5, round 6...I'm sure you're wondering how I made it that far without noticing the pattern wasn't lining up correctly. I'm super talented, I only screwed up one section of the repeat and somehow ended the rows on the correct color 5 times, the epitome of DUMB luck. Let me add, I decided to perform this miracle at 10:30 at night, you can't fix stupid, but you can fix a sweater. I got the needles put back through, all the stitches were accounted for and I'm ready to tackle the colorwork again. So far, so good, I'm almost finished with the yoke and it is beautiful. I wish it were finished now, it would be the perfect sweater for a day like today, not like I don't have any other options.
So I guess you like the idea of Mystery Bags! All of the credit goes to Carrie, she got me on board and excited to do them. I think they are totally fun and a great way for you to maybe get outside of your comfort zone both in color and yarn type, plus, who doesn't like a little mystery? I was so surprised at the response and how quickly they went. I saw posts on Facebook from Joanne and Peggy showing what they were doing with their yarn, I can't wait to see the finished project!! PLEASE post your pictures and tag me or the shop, I love to see what you're doing. I hope my Mystery Bags continue to be as popular as Louise Penny's books, if so, you can plan on more!
A big shout out to my friend Natalie who was given some very bad news, and I was the bearer of that bad news. She was completely frustrated with her Marsali cardigan and couldn't figure out where she'd taken a wrong turn. The left front side was finished but the back and right front side were not cooperating at all. I'm looking at it and reading the directions, that's not helping much, so I take mine off the mannequin and compare the back, viola, got it. She'd bound off her underarm stitches at the wrong marker, BOTH sides. I'd noticed a bit of a mess on the completed left front but didn't pay much attention since the problem seemed to be on the other side. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I started laughing hysterically because that "bit of a mess" turned out to be the bindoff stitches ending up in the middle of the front of her sweater. It formed a buttonhole in a rather unflattering location let's just say. I had to tell her there was no fixing it, she had to pull the entire thing out, well at least back down to the seed stitch ribbing. Either her markers were in the wrong place or she picked the wrong ones to shape her underarms, no idea. She came in frustrated, and left laughing at least, mission accomplished. We have a date later this week to place her markers and label which one of them gets the bindoff. Good job Natalie for wearing your big girl panties and not having a fit, the sweater is going to be beautiful and worth the effort.
A couple reminders, please wear your mask at all times at the shop until further notice. BELIEVE ME, I'LL TELL YOU ASAP WHEN WE NO LONGER NEED TO. Please remember to bring a shopping bag, it's better for the environment! The next KAL is Saturday February 26th from 9-11:00 AND we will be meeting tomorrow, Wednesday evening from 6-7:30 for Stitch and Bitch, I hope you can join in the fun. MAKE IT A GREAT DAY AND I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!!
Katy