I have been knitting on the neck-down sweater for about a month now. I know that sounds like a lot for something in plain old stockinette, but it is a project that only sees action when I have an opportunity to do something else at the same time, like gossip ruthlessly with my Tuesday Night Knitters, sing lullabies to The Boy in the dark, or make running commentary on the driving maneuvers of my husband from the shotgun. Needless to say, because of my evaluation of his driving, he doesn't let me in the car with him very often. I am, in some ways, grateful for this. In other ways, I want to know if he drives off the cliff and lands upsidedown in a tree fifty feet off the ground. I might be wearing the windshield, but at least I'd know.
So I knit on the sweater when I don't have to look. Which is a good thing, I have been thinking, because of the general mysteriousness of a neck-down sweater, knit in one piece. It has, as I have mentioned here before, a quality of emerging as a sweater that is not unlike a very slow motion film of a butterfly opening its wings for the first time. The pattern even admits that while the instructions seem cryptic at first, that the knitter should trust that it will all work out and really, really truly honestly become something recognizable as a sweater in the end. So having trusted, having knit, having unfurled the completed body section on the neck down sweater, I tried it on and found that it indeed is a sweater and one that fits beautifully. However, I also discovered something about the yarn that I probably would have seen long before this had I ever bothered to look down at my own knitting: every skein of Manos del Uruguay is different. SO different, in fact, that the label has a very clear instruction about how to use the yarn to its best advantage. It says: No two skeins are exactly alike and there are no dye lots. We therefore recommend. . . [that you]alternate knitting two rows from one skein with knitting two rows from another skein to give an overall blended effect.
Ah-hem. Did I read this label any of the many times I had to carefully detangle and clip it with the skill of a surgeon from each of the skeins I knit into this baby?
Soy una knucklehead.
Why is it I can handle intarsia and lace, yet a simple stockinette project manages to find a surreptitious way to foil me? Hubris! Hubris I tell you! Excessive Pride: that thing your English teacher made you write paper about when you read the Cliff Notes' Oedipus Rex Sophomore year.
I am currently breathing deeply in preparation for a total do-over. I may shelve this one for awhile and knit washcloths because those, I know, I can knit without incident or humbling comeuppance. I can use a little less Greek tragedy in my knitting for awhile.
alas, that pesky ole manos. i've had the same problem with it and guess anyone who ever works with it will have the problem. thats what we get for paying big bucks for designer yarn, eh? nonetheless, i'm sure the sweater will be loved and cherished and anything handmade should be.
Posted by: amanda | October 24, 2004 at 02:45 PM
Colinette is much the same.I tend to ignore those destructions because life's too short ! I just go with the flow and revel in the unique qualities of the yarn.This only works if you can live with the effect !
Don't be so hard on yourself ! Reconsider the sweater in a few days and daylight.Have a nice cup of tea. ~:0)
Posted by: Emma | October 24, 2004 at 03:59 PM
Welcome to the club of imperfect knitters. We've been awaiting your arrival. I know the manos will work out better the second time around. Until then, cheers to the mighty healing powers of the dishcloth!
Posted by: Julia | October 25, 2004 at 12:52 PM
My commiserations- Thanks for blogging about this- it's a good reminder to all coveters of luscious, handpainted yarns! Even if you do decide (after several cups of tea and dishcloths) to frog it, you will still be able to cherish the memories of the comfort that it brought you, distracting you from all those automotive near misses, and the wonder and excitement of the top down creation process...
Posted by: clementine | October 26, 2004 at 01:41 AM
When I make silly goofs (like not reading tags, something that happens more often than not), I do my best to avoid frogging by telling myself that it's "Not a mistake, but a design element"! It's saved me countless hours of rewinding yarn. ;)
Posted by: Kim | October 26, 2004 at 08:13 AM
UGH! Sorry to hear about the Manos. I too am a distracted knitter, and often look at my work about 3/4 of the way thru, needless to say I have a lot of projects that get ditched about 3/4's of the way thru, LOL! Welcome to the Fiber RAOK!
Posted by: Crissy H | October 26, 2004 at 07:02 PM