I just can’t take a hint. While returning the yarn that doesn’t want to be a cozy cardigan to my stash yesterday I came across another yarn that looked ready to become a different sweater. A quick search through my patterns brought up this and I cast on happily. All seems to be going well although the dark colour is a little hard to knit with during these grey days. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll see if it goes.
So what would you do if even simple socks and hats were not knitting up properly for you time after time? Some friends have suggested I try a scarf, a nice plain scarf in a pretty yarn to see if that gets me back on my game. Someone even suggested a nice plain dishcloth – but with my wonderful Enjo to clean everything from my sinks to my dishes to my fruits and veggies to my self – I don’t think so. I did exactly what got me to love knitting so much in the first place. I started knitting something fussy and a little challenging in a very fine yarn. Maybe the fact that I have not successfully knit anything simple in over a month is a sign from the knitting goddess that I need to jump in at the deep end with an intricate pattern, very fine yarn and some slippery needles. No more plain vanilla socks for me for a while, no ordinary hats, no garter stitch scarf. I have started a Swallowtail Shawl. I’ve had the pattern around for ages and I bought the yarn I am using at the Woodstock Fleece Festival a year ago. The yarn is 70% baby alpaca and 30% mulberry silk so it will be lovely and soft and beautiful when it is done.
Here it is now – and in case you are wondering, lace always looks like a really ugly mess until it has been washed and blocked. Maybe the secret is for me to work on something that is guaranteed to look awful until it is well and truly done and I can be surprised with the very end result instead of trying to make something that looks like, well, like what it is supposed to look like as I knit.
Wish me luck.
cookiesandmittensandmore 