Well Begun

Well  begun is half done is an old saying that always comes to mind when I start a big project. Sometimes starting is the biggest battle I have with myself.

I started the Rams Head Cardigan.  It's not a huge swath of knitting yet, but it will be.

It doesn't look like much yet, but a huge amount of work is done.

The first thing is the long cast on.  For my hips, it's a lot of knitting.  The lining or underside of the hem is done.  8 rows and it will be easy enough to pick up and knit farther if I must.  I think the inch and a bit should be OK though.

Next, the stitches must be divided for fronts and backs.  Check. 

And finally, the biggie that always takes the longest, getting the patterning to fit my number of stitches.  I am going to use a trick Meg Swansen talks about for under arms.  I am making a side panel for the decreases so that I don't have to  worry about the panel being goofed up by off count stitches.

 And then I knit 4 rows of the pattern.  I have done just enough to start feeling a wee bit confident about the whole thing.  I still have markers at every pattern repeat, but I am getting a feel for the rhythm of the whole thing.

For me, this last is the key.  Once I understand that, I know the music I need to play and the knitting becomes a part of the greater whole .  It is when the full force of knitting power and the way it changed me is most evident.

I become one with the yarn. 

It might sound silly, if you weren't a knitter, but it is what it is.