The other night I decided to cast on the State of Mind cardigan by Veera Vaelimaeki for my lovely friend Laurie. Laurie gets something knitted every winter, but I have yet to make her anything bigger than a small shawlette. (Ok that's a lie, I just remembered I've knit her one top, but it was from the same pattern book as this cardi so I'm allowed to forget...) After a lovely romp at the LYS about a year ago she bought the Inspirations Vol 2 on the grounds that "these two women just get me!"
Since said book purchasing, however, Laurie's baby has turned into a full-fledged running (and climbing!) toddler and she hasn't had a spare moment to get me updated measurements for the cardigan. No kidding, I bought the yarn months ago but only just got the updated bust measurement this week. However, in celebration of the new data I excitedly cast on for the cardi.
Now I know some other knitter has probably made this same collection of mistakes, but could you drop me a comment? Just so I know you are actually out there? I need reassurance, thanks.
1. I decided to try to cast on the sweater while helping supervise a sleepover. (I will interject here in my defence that I assumed it was all going to be fine because it was movie time, so really no one was running around and needing help with anything, right? We will just ignore what every person ever responsible for a 12-year old knows about 12-year olds, shall we?)
2. I remained convinced that the lit candles and the glow from the tv would be enough light for the job. Nevermind this was dark jade yarn.
3. I also decided that, despite casting on 114 stitches in 'mood lighting' I didn't need to do my usual thing of placing a counting stitch marker every so often to make tracking the stitch count easier.
4. After finally confirming that I had indeed cast on the correct number ofshadows stitches, I began the ribbing. Turns out it's a twisted rib...and this yarn likes to split. (I still refuse to go get myself a lamp, or even just go sit in the kitchen where the real lighting is.) I'm feeling so stubborn at this point that I refuse to modify and do a normal ribbing. Hell, I fought for those 114 shadows stitches, I've proved my commitment, the yarn'll come around right soon enough wont it?
5. I finally gave in and cut the ribbing for the collar short by three rows. Cardi: 1 Me:0 I was still optimistic, though, and carried on to the next section; the setup row for the cabling pattern.
6. I worked the setup row and ended 8 stitches too soon.. That's ok, the pattern was written out a little weirdly, maybe I missed a chart repeat somewhere earlier. I tinked back the row.
7. I tried again, this time using stitch markers (yeah, yeah, I remember what I said before. Cardi: 2 Me: 0) to mark what I assumed were the end of chart sections. I am now 10 stitches early. I still couldn't see my stitches very well because of the 'mood lighting' so I tinked back again rather than trying to read my knitting.
8. This time, before I attempted thestupid setup row again, I double checked the chart stitch counts and reread the instructions, looking for some semblance of a repeating structure (there wasn't one). Nope, looks like I'd been doing what i was supposed to be doing from the start. Maybe it was just a fluke those first two times, I told myself optimistically. This time I ended the row 10 stitches too early.
9. I conceded to a glass of wine from the hostess and tinked back for the third time. (Did I mention this yarn likes to split?)
10. I again checked the stitch count for the charts, Chart B: 18 stitches, check. Chart A: 8 stitches... Oh...well damn. I guess I would be throwing off my count if I was knitting Chart A with only 6 stitches...
11. I embarked on the setup row for what I hoped was the last time, marking each chart repeat and each increase with a particular stitch marker so I could count them at the end, making sure to complete each Chart A repeat with the requisite 8 stitches.
12. When the row came out exact that time I decided to just call it good and work on a plain vanilla stockinette sock. I know when I'm beat.
Enjoying the blog?
It takes a lot of caffeine and yarn to make this happen! ;)
Since said book purchasing, however, Laurie's baby has turned into a full-fledged running (and climbing!) toddler and she hasn't had a spare moment to get me updated measurements for the cardigan. No kidding, I bought the yarn months ago but only just got the updated bust measurement this week. However, in celebration of the new data I excitedly cast on for the cardi.
Now I know some other knitter has probably made this same collection of mistakes, but could you drop me a comment? Just so I know you are actually out there? I need reassurance, thanks.
1. I decided to try to cast on the sweater while helping supervise a sleepover. (I will interject here in my defence that I assumed it was all going to be fine because it was movie time, so really no one was running around and needing help with anything, right? We will just ignore what every person ever responsible for a 12-year old knows about 12-year olds, shall we?)
2. I remained convinced that the lit candles and the glow from the tv would be enough light for the job. Nevermind this was dark jade yarn.
3. I also decided that, despite casting on 114 stitches in 'mood lighting' I didn't need to do my usual thing of placing a counting stitch marker every so often to make tracking the stitch count easier.
4. After finally confirming that I had indeed cast on the correct number of
5. I finally gave in and cut the ribbing for the collar short by three rows. Cardi: 1 Me:0 I was still optimistic, though, and carried on to the next section; the setup row for the cabling pattern.
6. I worked the setup row and ended 8 stitches too soon.. That's ok, the pattern was written out a little weirdly, maybe I missed a chart repeat somewhere earlier. I tinked back the row.
7. I tried again, this time using stitch markers (yeah, yeah, I remember what I said before. Cardi: 2 Me: 0) to mark what I assumed were the end of chart sections. I am now 10 stitches early. I still couldn't see my stitches very well because of the 'mood lighting' so I tinked back again rather than trying to read my knitting.
8. This time, before I attempted the
9. I conceded to a glass of wine from the hostess and tinked back for the third time. (Did I mention this yarn likes to split?)
10. I again checked the stitch count for the charts, Chart B: 18 stitches, check. Chart A: 8 stitches... Oh...well damn. I guess I would be throwing off my count if I was knitting Chart A with only 6 stitches...
11. I embarked on the setup row for what I hoped was the last time, marking each chart repeat and each increase with a particular stitch marker so I could count them at the end, making sure to complete each Chart A repeat with the requisite 8 stitches.
12. When the row came out exact that time I decided to just call it good and work on a plain vanilla stockinette sock. I know when I'm beat.
Enjoying the blog?
It takes a lot of caffeine and yarn to make this happen! ;)
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