Is it possible for a knitting project to be cursed? I'm starting to believe so. I made the mistake of asking my mom what she wanted for her fifty-ninth birthday. An afhgan. My first thought was "Do you know how long it'll take me to make an afghan?!" Okay, I've only been knitting for a year or so but I guess it's time to move away from scarves and hats.
I picked several different fibers for variety in colour and texture. I finally settled on a stitch pattern. All I needed to do was cast on and knit it up. Riiiiiiight...
Being a novice, used to using only garter and stockinette stitches, how am I supposed to know that there is an error in the feather and fan pattern I am using? It only became apparent after finishing four rows. Four rows of two hundred some-odd stitches. Yes, I know about swatches but I figured with gauge not being imortant, well, you know. After cruising online for inspiration (a big thank you to all the knitter's out there who post free patterns!) I found a shawl that fits exactly what I had in mind for momma's afghan. Just figure out how to make it wider and I'm good to go! Riiiiiiight...
I made a swatch (go me!) to see which fibers and colours worked best next to each other and checked that the pattern would work this time. I figured out which needle size would give me the openness that I was looking for and cast on. Two rows in and I had a shortage of stitches. I tried to unknit the row and ended up ripping out the whole thing. Cast on again.
What else? My sweetie caught his foot on my yarn and dragged stitches off the needle; the screw came undone for my interchangables and the cables slipped out the stitches; more dropped stitches and extra stitches. I finally made it to the fourteenth row. I had an extra stitch so I did a decrease (which probably skews the pattern). At the end of the row I'm now short a stitch. Huh?
I'm not worried about finishing on time as I've got a few months. What I'm wondering is do I really want to give this aggravating project to my mother? I recently knit a lap afghan(see photo) for a friend who is going through a difficult time. It may sound strange but I tried to knit into it positive thoughts and good vibes hoping that would transfer to my friend. Using this line of thought this afghan is full of bad feelings, frustration and probably a few four letter words, to boot! Momma doesn't deserve that.
Maybe I should just bite the bullet and start all over again. After all, its only two thousand one hundred four stitches. Give or take a dropped stitch or two.
I picked several different fibers for variety in colour and texture. I finally settled on a stitch pattern. All I needed to do was cast on and knit it up. Riiiiiiight...
Being a novice, used to using only garter and stockinette stitches, how am I supposed to know that there is an error in the feather and fan pattern I am using? It only became apparent after finishing four rows. Four rows of two hundred some-odd stitches. Yes, I know about swatches but I figured with gauge not being imortant, well, you know. After cruising online for inspiration (a big thank you to all the knitter's out there who post free patterns!) I found a shawl that fits exactly what I had in mind for momma's afghan. Just figure out how to make it wider and I'm good to go! Riiiiiiight...
I made a swatch (go me!) to see which fibers and colours worked best next to each other and checked that the pattern would work this time. I figured out which needle size would give me the openness that I was looking for and cast on. Two rows in and I had a shortage of stitches. I tried to unknit the row and ended up ripping out the whole thing. Cast on again.
What else? My sweetie caught his foot on my yarn and dragged stitches off the needle; the screw came undone for my interchangables and the cables slipped out the stitches; more dropped stitches and extra stitches. I finally made it to the fourteenth row. I had an extra stitch so I did a decrease (which probably skews the pattern). At the end of the row I'm now short a stitch. Huh?
I'm not worried about finishing on time as I've got a few months. What I'm wondering is do I really want to give this aggravating project to my mother? I recently knit a lap afghan(see photo) for a friend who is going through a difficult time. It may sound strange but I tried to knit into it positive thoughts and good vibes hoping that would transfer to my friend. Using this line of thought this afghan is full of bad feelings, frustration and probably a few four letter words, to boot! Momma doesn't deserve that.
Maybe I should just bite the bullet and start all over again. After all, its only two thousand one hundred four stitches. Give or take a dropped stitch or two.
Post originally created 5/20/07
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