(no subject)
When I started to knit as an adult, I took a class where my wonderful teacher told me I knit way too tight. That I was tense and needed to relax.
A few months later, somewhere in the spring or summer or 2003, I started to knit a pretty ambitious pair of socks. I like jumping right into a challenge. My first knitting project the fall before, in that class, was a scarf. The second, a plain, boring sweater that almost made me want to stop knitting completely, and that I gave to charity immediately. The third? This bird sweater! For me, if I start a new skill with a really challenging project, and I can manage that, then I know all the following projects will be cake.
I can't remember exactly what led to me stopping after I finished the heel turn of the second sock. I ran out of yarn, and at the time I could only get it by sending a check and an order form to the seriously awesome Nordic Fiber Arts store, but I was lazy and didn't do that. I also needed a little break from knitting. These socks went into a plastic bag, then into another canvas tote bag, along with the pattern, which I had photocopied from the book at the library.
Fast-forward to this past winter, 2009, when I decided to tackle some unfinished knitting projects. That tote bag had been bouncing around my life for years, a burden of something so close to finished! So I brought it out, and the first thing I found was the photocopied pattern, half-eaten by my old cat Murphy (who had passed away two years previously, so he was still exacting his kitty mayhem from the beyond). Of course it was the end of the pattern, the part that I needed.
Finally, a month or so ago I finally bought the book (a great decision) and the yarn (now available to purchase easily online). And here we are today! This past weekend, I finished the final foot. It went so quickly, that I'm baffled as to why I waited six years to finish it.
The only problem I had was with my new tension. Six years ago, I was knitting too tight, according to all reports. Currently I am knitting so much tighter that I had to do an extra pattern repeat on the foot so that it would be long enough to make a matching pair! This pair of socks is a testament to blocking--and a lesson to myself that I really, really need to ease up...
...since, apparently, wine while knitting is not enough to loosen up my stitches. I thought I was so clever.
A few months later, somewhere in the spring or summer or 2003, I started to knit a pretty ambitious pair of socks. I like jumping right into a challenge. My first knitting project the fall before, in that class, was a scarf. The second, a plain, boring sweater that almost made me want to stop knitting completely, and that I gave to charity immediately. The third? This bird sweater! For me, if I start a new skill with a really challenging project, and I can manage that, then I know all the following projects will be cake.
I can't remember exactly what led to me stopping after I finished the heel turn of the second sock. I ran out of yarn, and at the time I could only get it by sending a check and an order form to the seriously awesome Nordic Fiber Arts store, but I was lazy and didn't do that. I also needed a little break from knitting. These socks went into a plastic bag, then into another canvas tote bag, along with the pattern, which I had photocopied from the book at the library.
Fast-forward to this past winter, 2009, when I decided to tackle some unfinished knitting projects. That tote bag had been bouncing around my life for years, a burden of something so close to finished! So I brought it out, and the first thing I found was the photocopied pattern, half-eaten by my old cat Murphy (who had passed away two years previously, so he was still exacting his kitty mayhem from the beyond). Of course it was the end of the pattern, the part that I needed.
Finally, a month or so ago I finally bought the book (a great decision) and the yarn (now available to purchase easily online). And here we are today! This past weekend, I finished the final foot. It went so quickly, that I'm baffled as to why I waited six years to finish it.
The only problem I had was with my new tension. Six years ago, I was knitting too tight, according to all reports. Currently I am knitting so much tighter that I had to do an extra pattern repeat on the foot so that it would be long enough to make a matching pair! This pair of socks is a testament to blocking--and a lesson to myself that I really, really need to ease up...
...since, apparently, wine while knitting is not enough to loosen up my stitches. I thought I was so clever.