A tale of Lace and Woe
I went to the Knitter's Frolic in Toronto with a few things in mind. One of them was to find yarn for the Cleopatra Wrap. And I did.
Tanis Fiber Arts Laceweight in 'Garnet'
Beautiful wonderful, soft, squishy, laceweight wool. *sighs* I couldn't wait to get it started, I even bought Addi turbo needles to knit it on cause I thought it would be fun (albeit a little expensive). But still, I had to wait, I had a couple other things on the go.
So, I was ready to start. Little did I know that the skein was SO tangled, it took me two evenings to wind up. I don't think they intended it on being so tangly, maybe I did something wrong when I tried to straighten out the skein but, it took me a long time. But I did it with good humour and Ray was astounded at how calm I was untangling 1000 yards of lace weight. :S
Anyway, it got done, and it looks even prettier as a little yarn cake :) So, I cast on and started the chart. Hrmmm... can't get it right, oh wait, that's cause I was supposed to do 3 rounds of knit 1, purl 1. Okay fine.
Pulled it back... twice (yes I did it twice cause I'm bad like that) and finally, last night, got a nice little seed stitch border and I was very relieved and proud of myself. I even did the first row of chart one. Only, I realized after when the instructions said 'odd rows are right side, even rows are wrong side and all the wrong side rows are purled except for last three stitches on either side'... that Row 1 of Chart 1 was not to be mistaken as Row 4 of the whole project. *headdesk* So I ripped out that row, carefully picked up the stitches again and was ready to start.
Got to the last 4 stitches of the row - I had one extra stitch. Rip back, try again. I ended up with 5 stitches this time. WTF???? Ripped out the whole thing and stared at it. 'You will not beat me, I will get this going!' So, in bed, at 10 to midnight, I cast on again and knit until I had the 3 rows of seed stitch again and called it a night.
I really don't know why I'm having so much trouble with this lace thing. I know now that I need complete concentration and not my husband yelling at the hockey game every few stitches while he sits beside me - I can do that with socks, but not with lace! All of my knitting friends have these pretty, intricate shawls and I watch them as they easily knit along on them and I'm here like a 5 year old with chopsticks and dental floss. :/
But I will perservere, against my better judgment, because there were points in my knitting past where I said 'Oh, I can't knit socks' and I have many pairs now; 'I can't knit a sweater' and I finished one in 2 weeks and I love it. This may take longer, but I think it will be worth it. :) Some words of encouragement from the hubby were helpful as well, but I need to keep on myself to see it through.
Tanis Fiber Arts Laceweight in 'Garnet'
Beautiful wonderful, soft, squishy, laceweight wool. *sighs* I couldn't wait to get it started, I even bought Addi turbo needles to knit it on cause I thought it would be fun (albeit a little expensive). But still, I had to wait, I had a couple other things on the go.
So, I was ready to start. Little did I know that the skein was SO tangled, it took me two evenings to wind up. I don't think they intended it on being so tangly, maybe I did something wrong when I tried to straighten out the skein but, it took me a long time. But I did it with good humour and Ray was astounded at how calm I was untangling 1000 yards of lace weight. :S
Anyway, it got done, and it looks even prettier as a little yarn cake :) So, I cast on and started the chart. Hrmmm... can't get it right, oh wait, that's cause I was supposed to do 3 rounds of knit 1, purl 1. Okay fine.
Pulled it back... twice (yes I did it twice cause I'm bad like that) and finally, last night, got a nice little seed stitch border and I was very relieved and proud of myself. I even did the first row of chart one. Only, I realized after when the instructions said 'odd rows are right side, even rows are wrong side and all the wrong side rows are purled except for last three stitches on either side'... that Row 1 of Chart 1 was not to be mistaken as Row 4 of the whole project. *headdesk* So I ripped out that row, carefully picked up the stitches again and was ready to start.
Got to the last 4 stitches of the row - I had one extra stitch. Rip back, try again. I ended up with 5 stitches this time. WTF???? Ripped out the whole thing and stared at it. 'You will not beat me, I will get this going!' So, in bed, at 10 to midnight, I cast on again and knit until I had the 3 rows of seed stitch again and called it a night.
I really don't know why I'm having so much trouble with this lace thing. I know now that I need complete concentration and not my husband yelling at the hockey game every few stitches while he sits beside me - I can do that with socks, but not with lace! All of my knitting friends have these pretty, intricate shawls and I watch them as they easily knit along on them and I'm here like a 5 year old with chopsticks and dental floss. :/
But I will perservere, against my better judgment, because there were points in my knitting past where I said 'Oh, I can't knit socks' and I have many pairs now; 'I can't knit a sweater' and I finished one in 2 weeks and I love it. This may take longer, but I think it will be worth it. :) Some words of encouragement from the hubby were helpful as well, but I need to keep on myself to see it through.