Perseverance

I'd like to put on record that if I thought weaving in ends was the most tedious of all knit-related tasks, I was wrong.  So very wrong.


It took me through the last quarter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the entire length of the movie Coraline (on ABC Family) last night to seam up just one side and arm of the Cream Zippy Cardigan.  I will admit that I am a perfectionist and had to back-track a few times to make it look just right,

(see how thick the seam looks?  I suspect I may have accidentally seamed a full stitch in instead of a half-stitch) 

and it was particularly tricky around the cabled section, 

The cables had to meet in the armpit, didn't they?

and there were times when the pieces didn't seem to fit together just right - but come on.  Three hours for one side?  Tedium to beat all tediums.  


This morning, I've made it up the other side seam and nearly to the end of the other sleeve, during most of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the beginning of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (again, ABC Family.  God bless them for their HP marathons).

Seaming is the most excruciating exercise I've endured in my life.  Akin to scratching "I must not tell lies" in the back of my hand with a quill.


What's worse: I had a moment of extreme temptation.  Last night it took all my willpower not to abandon my task.


I was frustrated with my plastic yarn needle.
  

At some point one of the cats decided to chew off the sharpish tip of it, so the "new" tip is more blunt (blunter?) and squared-offish.
  

See?  There are even kitty chew marks.


It tends to split the yarn and is more difficult to use.  I got annoyed enough with it that I ran upstairs to try to sift through my supplies and find the other one (they come in packs of two).  


I didn't find the other needle, but what I did find was a renewed love of my stash yarn.  "Oh! This! I forgot about this! I love this! This is soooo lovely! And this one - ohhhh I saw a pattern on Ravelry that this would be just perfect for ..."  Etc. etc. etc.


But my sister's voice rang clear in my ears, and I promised myself I would finish the Cream Zippy Cardigan this weekend.  Those other projects will have to wait and serve as a reward for my perseverance.


What's your experience with seaming?  Any tips?  Words of encouragement?  Does it get easier?


Mrs. Pi

2012 FO #3!

It's March and I have officially completed my third project of the year.  I am also behind schedule by six projects.  


See, at the beginning of the year I made this list.  It wasn't New Year's Resolutions.  It was more than that.  It was like, a 12-month agenda.  A long-term to-do list.  A 2012 Vision.  I left it at work today, so I can't go into much detail right now, but sufficed to say I planned on completing 3 FOs (Finished Objects) per month throughout 2012.  Furthermore, at least one of those FOs each month had to be a pair of socks.  


What?  I want more hand-knit socks.  So sue me.  


Today at lunch, as I was weaving in the ends of Missie's Wrist Warmers, it dawned on me just how far behind I already am (33% to plan year-to-date, ugh).


So then I made a list of My SOs (Started Objects):


1.  Munchkin Socks (a.k.a. Skyp to Oz socks) - started 2012
2.  Hedgerow Socks - started 2011
3.  Brown Sweater (a.k.a. SockSweater) - started 2008
4.  Cream Baby Sweater - started 2011
5.  Green Baby Blanket - started 2011
6.  Pink Baby Blanket (this one has a fun story to it - remind me to tell it sometime) - started in 2009? 2010?
7.  Crochet Afghan (mauve) - started in 2004? 2005?
8.  Knit Afghan - started in 2007?
9.  Crochet Baby Blanket - started in 2003? 2004?
10.  Green Vest - started in 2007? 2008?
11.  Thrummed Mittens - started in 2011
12.  Green - or were they blue? - socks - no idea when I started these
13.  "Poodle" scarf - no idea when I started this


S.O.S. is right.  I'm swimming (sinking?) in SOs!


As you can see, I am actually well on my way to finishing 9 objets d'art by the end of March.  I just have to get moving on all my WIPs (works in progress)!  


Which should come first?  What do you think, first in, first out (FIFO)?  Last in, first out (LIFO)?


(That was shout-out to all my accounting peeps out there)


So hopefully before I start ANYTHING NEW I will finish some of the pieces that have been sitting in various baskets and bins (packages, boxes, and bags), yearning for completion for, in some cases, nearly a decade.


Wow.  I am old.


Back to Missie's Wrist Warmers.  Remember how I told you I had a friend offer to barter with me for a pair of wrist warmers?  That was Missie.  She has perfect timing, because just this past Saturday I got an exciting little package in the mail from the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA.  Yes, that Decorah.  It contained the following:

One packet of Green Husk Tomatillo seeds:

One packet of Flame Lettuce seeds:

One packet of Grandpa Admire's Lettuce seeds:

One packet of Beam's Yellow Pear Tomato seeds:

(which I am SO excited to try)


AND


(my favorite)


One packet of Isis Candy Cherry Tomato seeds:

Just looking at this picture takes me back to my childhood.  I cannot tell you the last time I had a legit cherry tomato.  For years and years and years I've had grape tomatoes, which are fine.  They're ok.  But they do not, by any means, compare to home-grown cherry tomatoes.  I CAN'T WAIT for the harvest!!!


So today, after weaving in all the ends, and attaching a cute little label, I mailed off Missie's Wrist Warmers in exchange:

If you look closely you'll see that my nom de plume has replaced my Christian name.  It's magic!

Yes, I'm shamelessly flashing the *bling*.  Diamonds are, in my case, a girl's very close friend - so close, in fact that I am rarely separated from them.  Only when they are sitting in the cleaning solution while I shower.  If I am getting clean, my diamonds should also get clean.


Diamonds ... diamonds ... hmm.  Diamonds.  Sounds like a segue to me:

I used a diamond pattern in Missie's Wrist Warmers, because it's pretty.

Congratulations, Missie, it's twins!


The palms are exactly identical to the backs:

For simplicity's sake.  Both to the knitter and the wearer.  Who wants to fumble around trying to figure out which is left and which is right?  In this case, they're both right.


(See what I did there?)


If I could go back and change one thing, after looking at these photos, I'd alter the thumb somehow.  Not sure what I could do differently ... it just looks very bulky.


If I could change two things, I'd reconfigure the gussets.  As much as I like the seed/British moss stitch, I think if I had done the entire gusset in stockinette it would have looked more ... tailored.


I hope Missie likes them.  I'll give a full report when I hear!  I'll also give a full report on the upcoming veggie crop.  Yay!


Mrs. Pi

I Need Knitting Friends

I have awesome friends.  I like to think that I actually have the best friends in the world (no offense to your friends, reader).  Really, they are amazing.  They are supportive and generous and honest and ... like I said, amazing.

Allow me to elucidate:  

(No, I'm not going to spontaneously break into song - just humor me a paragraph or two)

I have wise friends, and hilarious friends, and nerdy friends, sincere friends, and kind friends, and insightful friends.  I have friends to call when I'm up for an obscure fantasy movie marathon on the couch.  I have book-club friends and theater friends and softball friends.  I have friends that could find you the best deal on the planet or teach you the skills to do it yourself.  I have school friends and work friends and family friends.  

Dang, it sounds like I have a lot of friends.  Not so; I have a small group of people who I really connect with.  Like Anne's kindred spirits.  It's just that every one of my friends fits into many of the above-mentioned categories, and others besides.

But.

I know, there shouldn't be a "but".  I should be perfectly content because, let's face it, I have the best friends in the world.  Whether I have a financial quandary or a personal issue, my girls are there with words of advice and encouragement.

But ... what happens (theoretically speaking) when I finish Debra's Mittens, and I have lots of these annoying ends to weave in, and I'm not sure of the best way to do it without ruining the mittens?  I consulted "Finishing Techniques for Knitters" and it's just not the same.  I don't have a LYS, so that's out.  I need someone to pick up one of Debra's Mittens, and consider, and draw from prior experience, and provide a brilliant solution that will blend all those internal flying tentacles of black, white, and lime green.  


I've done this wrong before.  I left my ends too short for Jacob's Gryffindor scarf, and they decided to poke out all over the place.  I weaved in one long end on a shrug and you could see it, this weird vein poking out down the middle.  I don't do well with ends.


I need knitting friends.

Mrs. Pi