Getting Ripped

Stupid mistakes always sap my enthusiasm.  One reason I don’t like to knit anything too easy is that I get lulled into complacency, thinking that things are really simpler than they actually are.  I should know by now that even plain garter stitch and stockinette are susceptible to glitches that can be even more subtle to detect than some glaringly incorrect YO smack in the middle of some intricate lace or a cable twisted the wrong way.  So I did not notice a mistake in my “simple” basketweave pattern until I had proceeded for three additional repeats. 

Yes, no one will see that the vertical woven bit is one stitch off, but I will never forget that there is a mistake plastered on my chest.  So the only thing to do was frog, and now I’m just a bit past the former error, and on my way to perfection—until the next time. 

I didn’t quite lose my mojo after all this, but it did irk me so much that I put everything aside when I realize the mistake and watched the first episode of Damages. I had recorded the 13-episode season in its entirety but had not yet seen any of it.  I’ve given up a lot of TV for my goal of 12 sweaters.  And all it took was one Damages episode, and I was hooked.  Please do not tell me how it ends.  I still have two episodes to go, and then I'll get my extra knitting hour back. 

After our ridiculously hot week in late-April, I decided that I needed to plan my summer projects.  A dumb mistake might derail my enthusiasm, but I still did keep knitting, albeit at a pathetically slow pace.  Hot weather makes me do bizarre things like buy fun fur, and we can’t have that if I’m going to manage even 8 quality sweaters.  So on Mother’s Day, I rummaged through my stash for some candidates for summer projects. 

One batch of yarn I’ve had for a while is enough Cherry Tree Hill Rustic Silk (2100 yards) for a cardigan.  This yarn, now discontinued, is 80% silk and 20% wool, and it feels like nubby cotton—but somewhat more interesting, with a linen-like texture.  My challenge was to come up with something that would reduce pooling, and I swatched on Sunday using linen stitch:

The pinks seem a bit more vibrant in the photo than in reality, but I really like the stitch pattern for this yarn because it makes it look woven.  I’d like to make a simple Chanel-style jacket, possibly with some sort of trim (either knitted or crocheted) along the edges.  This yarn would be great to work with when it is too hot out for all wool. 

One reason I’m concerned about pooling is that I have another wonderfully sensual, variegated yarn in my stash.  It is a silk-merino from Ellen’s Half-Pint Farm, purchased many Rhinebecks ago.  I knit the front and back of a sweater in double seed stitch, alternating balls of yarn, and I still got pooling:

Also, I don’t much like the shape of this sweater, and so the whole thing will be frogged, washed, and balled up again for another design.  This yarn deserves something lovelier and more interesting. 

Here’s a closeup of the knitted yarn, where the color is more accurate:

I thought I might try my hand at making it into a modular sweater, along the lines of this one from an old VK:

The sweater itself is not for me.  Despite all my sessions at the gym, I don’t have the ripped abs that would allow me to bear my midriff in public—and I’ve been struggling mightily (and failing) at getting the 3 lbs I gained at Christmas to depart from my middle.  It is time to add an extra weight-training day to rectify this unhappy turn of events.  Eating less would also help.

I wondered, too, if the sweater neck would be floppy, and it is on some of the finished versions posted on Ravelry.  And the garter-stitch sleeves would probably pool.  So after I drag out all my books and magazines on knitting modules and do some swatches, I will create something with modules that is somewhat more modest.  I do like the way those modules zigzag at the bottom.  Could I manage it for a collar too?  It would certainly be worth a try.

There’s still more swatching to do for warm weather projects, but for now it is back to basketweaving.

Comments

[Luni]

Modules are a good way to make the pooling work for you. I've seen an article in Knitty about using modules for socks. I'll try to link it.

Knitty article

[Robin]

Wow, I would have NEVER noticed that mistake in a million years. And I would like a modified version of that last sweater too - even if you've got the abs for it, it's still tacky to wear anything that cropped - very 80s. I can't seen anyone making that one work at that length from a fashion perspective.

[tiennie]

I wouldn't even notice that "mistake." I really love having mindless projects and a more difficult project to work on. There's nothing better for me than to have a harder project for tv viewing and an easy project for in the dark theatre viewing. :)

[Lorette]

I wouldn't have noticed that mistake either, but I'd have ripped right along with you. That's the sort of thing that would bug me to death to leave in.
That last sweater would work if you changed the neckline and added about four more inches to the length!