the Akamai Knitter

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had gotten about 14″ done on the Ariann and I thought I was progressing at a pretty good clip. Then I realized that I forgot to put in a button hole about an inch down.

“No problem”, I thought. “I can rip down an inch.”

So I took the sweater off the needles and then I took the sweater off the needles. Then I took the sweater off the needles.

Yeah. This thing kept coming and coming. It was too big. About 51″ across truth be told. Now I’m big, but I ain’t that big.

I’m not sure what went wrong, but there really was only one thing I could really do.

I would just like to say I couldn’t have done it without the love and support of my friend Shelly. She held my hand and she convinced me that there’s no way I’d be happy with a sweater that fit like a tent.

So after much gnashing of the teeth, I have restarted the Ariann. Let me tell you, the second time around just isn’t as fun. Yes, I know all the ins and outs of the design at this point.

Only, I feel like I’m knitting at a snail’s pace and I’m seething with resentment at having to reknit such a huge chunk of sweater. Plus, I just can’t seem to get my Zen on with this yarn. I miss soft squishy wool that doesn’t fight the needles.

And after having 14″ of lovely sweater goodness falling from my needles, a measly 2″ or so after a day’s work just doesn’t satisfy me the way that 14″ of lovely sweater goodness did.

To keep my head above water, I keep picturing the lovely sweater that Kim made with the same yarn. It’s soft. It’s cozy. It’s just the thing I want to wrap around me when I get chilled.

I know I can make nice with this yarn and eventually we’ll get to be friends. I just need to try and try again.

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The rainy season arrived with a series of thunderstorms over the weekend. Add to that, a Sunday filled with a couple of awesome football games, I was provided with some quality knitting and recuperating time.

I put that time to good use and managed to work my way past the side shaping of the Ariann. Maybe I’ll be able to finish this in time for NaKniSweMo!

While I don’t totally love knitting with Cotton Ease (it’s squeaky and doesn’t have much give), I do love the stitch definition as well as the drape of the fabric.

Despite my need for avoidance of yarn quantity issues, I didn’t completely neglect the Pomatomus socks for my mother either. There’s some pooling going on in the foot area because I decreased down to 64 sts to fit my mother’s tiny narrow feet.

I’m nearly done with it and I think I’ll have just enough yarn to finish it. Thank goodness my mother has small feet! Hopefully I’ll be done with these sometime today and all the anxiety will be over.

Since I’m still feeling a little under the weather and my writing is a bit lackluster I think I’ll enliven this post with a shot of Quincy and his blanket. Just be glad I decided not to regale you all with the highlights of the football games. ;-)

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I’ve been sick with a nasty chest cold this week, which is why I haven’t posted much. But before I got sick I got together with my new friend Bethany, sewing and crocheting extraordinaire, for a knitting lesson.

We met on Monday at one of the neighborhood Starbucks. I was surprised at how quickly she picked up the knit stitch. She’s a really quick learner! We probably would have gotten past the garter stitch of the dishcloth she was working on if we hadn’t been talking so much. I had such a good time!

Here’s a shot of her awesome knitted cast-on. She did every bit on her own!

While I’ve been recuperating from this round of the flu, I’ve still been knitting. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I have enough yarn to finish the second sock of the Pomatomus socks for my mother. This is what I’ve gotten done so far and how much yarn is left.

If I were feeling better I’d get out my digital scale to get a more exact idea of where I am with regards to how much yarn I need to finish the second sock. Instead, I think I’ll simply use fervent prayer to the knitting goddesses.

Or I could start swatching for another project.

Yeah. Avoidance is the key.

That’s Cotton-Ease for the Ariann. The pattern calls for size 7US/4.5mm needles and I need to get 19 sts for 4 inches, but I’m a loose knitter. I got 16 sts for 4 inches and I’m now down to a size 5US/ 3.75mm needle. I really loved the drape of the fabric with the size 7’s, but I remain hopeful that the lace pattern on the size 5’s will be loose and beautiful.

That is if I get the 19 sts the pattern calls for on the size 5’s. Who knows, I might have to go down a needle size further. Only the smaller the needle the less give the yarn has and the less enjoyable it is to knit with. Which makes me think this would be the wrong yarn for the project.

So wish me luck in getting gauge! I’d hate to have to scrap this project before I even begin.

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