Wednesday 23 April 2008

Come by Chance

Sure it is the name of of wonderful town in Newfoundland, but to me, it is how the best kind of knowledge arrives.

Little things get filed away and pulled out at the oddest times. In the fall as I was getting stocked for a trip to the coast, I was talking with one of the ladies, we'll call her H, at my LYS about my inability to purl when working in the round and about how I hated cuff down socks because starting with ribbing was about as pleasant as dental work. She recommended a provisional cast on, and working the ribbing to the top. It was a great idea and I used it once. And since then, have just gone and done toe up socks like usual.

What stayed with me was one small comment, 'you can't really tell the difference if you knit the ribbing bottom up or down'. I have often wondered if she meant with simple things, like stockinette or garter stitch or that for certain things, like ribbing, the differences are so small, it won't matter.

Man I hope so. Because once I finished the first skein of the gorgeous Drops Alpaca I am using for part of my secret projects (no pictures, sorry), I realized something was very wrong with the first row.

The cast on recommended was the knitted cast on, so I used the opportunity to teach myself the knitted cast on**. I knit the first row of live stitches producing a really really nice row of stockinette. Would have been fine but for the fact that it was supposed to be garter stitch.

In this particular piece there is a couple rows of garter stitch eyelets, followed by a small pattern, and then a repeat of the two rows of garter stitch eyelets. Which was lovely except that one of the rows of eyelets was worked in stockinette and the other in garter.

And last but not least, the second set of eyelet rows had an extra plain garter ridge. sigh

After correcting all the other errors I made in the main pattern, after sticking to it, not giving in to my fears that I would not have enough yarn (you knew that was coming, didn't you) I was crushed. Utterly crushed. Till I remembered what H had said.

Would it matter here? Was this the kind of knitting that it wouldn't matter which direction I went? Could the rows of garter stitch be a way to escape the error without having to rip apart all my hard won feet of lace in this lovely delicate yarn? I pondered, I worried, I thought. I would have discussed it with my knitting group except the weather was awful so I didn't go.

I had sip of 'courage' in my coffee and reasoned that I could try taking all the offending parts off, to re-knit them. If it didn't work, I wouldn't be in any worse position than I already was. I could always just skip those rows and do a garter stitch border, and then add the reclaimed yarn on to the main pattern if I could not manage anything else.

I was smart enough to make the decision yesterday but to leave the actual surgery till this morning. So that is where I have been since 5 a.m. Cutting the yarn (be still my fearful heart), picking up stitches on the edge, and taking apart the lace from the entire bottom section of project.

I faced success at 5 a. m. There is only way it can go from here. If I was not a fearless sort of knitter, I'd probably stop, and just work on socks. But no, I am going to tempt fate by working on my sundered lace.

Today lace, tomorrow the world......



**I now know two cast ons. Is this where I can start calling myself an early intermediate knitter?

2 comments:

Knitting Alchemist said...

That's an awful lot of courage for 5 a.m. I'm impressed with your bravery. And, I already think of you as an intermediate knitter.

Amy said...

Wow, I'm really impressed that you got so much accomplished so early. I am having problems as well. I am working on agatha, chart A completed going on to B .You are an intermediate knitter.