Reality Check.

On October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Frogged, WIP11 Comments

I was merrily knitting along. Just minding my own business. Not complaining about how ridiculous even the most basic intarsia can become. I was noticing the similarity of my work to this thing from the new Star Wars trailer.

That’s when it all started. About 2 inches too late, I thought, Hey…it’s about time to add my sleeve shaping.

Whooooops! There’s really no decision to be made here. My hand was forced. Ripping back is not optional but required. It was then I decided, the eyes weren’t right, so might as well rip back and re-do those too. As 2″ quickly became 4″, a frogging craze hit me.

It’s my birthday next week. One of those big numbers ending in ‘0’. Seemed like a good justification for a clean slate. I decided to go on a mass frogging. I started the process when I frogged the weird lace bit on this WIP.

This is the former Jolly Roger shawl. It’s hundreds of stitches with a motif repeat that has cables and lace. UGH. It was not fun. I haven’t made a decision about what the new shawl will be, but this yarn is too bright to sit in a bag anymore. It’s still a WIP but it’s a better WIP now. I may actually pick it up and work on it!

And then, the cuts got deeper. Full projects frogged. Well meaning, lovely, mistake free projects ripped out. Rather than say hours of work gone, I’m thinking about how much better they’ll be as projects I want to work on! The yarns are all awesome and now they’ve been liberated! Be Free My Pretties!

Socks on Size 00 needles were the first to go. My Mom and I dyed the yarn last year on my birthday. I love the yarn. I want the yarn to be something awesome. Clearly, that’s not going to work if I expect myself to knit socks. I’m giving up on every becoming a sock knitter. Size 00 needles are not for me. NEXT!

I really wanted to like knitting this next one…Knitter’s DNA by Martina Behm. Turns out, I never found the groove. No fault of the pattern, it just wasn’t doing it for me. And again, yarn my Mom dyed for me. I can’t wait to find the perfect pattern for it. I really love this yarn.

Indeed, Bossy Stitch Marker, I am getting my shit together.

Last in the frog pile was a tough decision. A skein of Wollmeise involved in a bit of stacked pooling.

The plan hasn’t really changed, this color is definitely meant for planned pooling. I just need a different project. I’m thinking about a simple stockinette cowl in the round. I’ll be done with something like that in no time!

And, after all that frogging, I’ve reclaimed a pile of stuff!

Needles, stitch markers, row counters…oh my!

I’ve left a sizable chunk of knitting still on the needles. So now, the only problem is fighting the temptation of a mass cast on. I really want to finish a few of the WIPS that are still on the needles. They’ve been thoroughly scrutinized at this point. They’ve made the grade. I just need to put in the time. Good thing it’s Friday…

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday – Now with more slogging!

On March 4, 2015March 4, 2015 By FogKnitsIn Scarf, WIP6 Comments

I may have been a bit disparaging towards the slog yesterday. I meant it, I’m not a fan of slogging, trudging OR lumbering along but it serves a purpose and at the end, it’s totally worth it. I’ll just keep reminding myself of that. It’s totally worth it.

Last we saw my planned pooling friend, I was jazzed…it was going to be awesome, I was going to carry my lovely little rainbow everywhere, pulling it out for a row or two whenever the mood struck. Things were going to float along with zero effort and I’d have a rainbow around my neck in no time at all. Turns out I was wrong. about everything. This is going to require a slog. (It’s totally worth it.)

This is 13 inches of successful stacking! It was actually more difficult than I thought. This project cannot be carried around, turns out tension has got to be exactly the same every time I pick it up. One small shift in tension throws the colors out of whack. Took me a day or two of fighting with it to realize that it was going to require long periods of focused knitting to keep the colors lined up perfectly. Once I get going, it flows easily but you’ve gotta get the first stitch just right or none of them will ever be right! After a few false starts, I’ve realized the error of my ways. It’s the epitome of ‘a minute to learn, a lifetime to master’. It’s about finesse as much as knitting.

To complicate matters further, daylight is needed to see the colors. The shift from orange to red, in particular, is virtually indistinguishable at night (which is when my best knitting usually happens.) So, I’ll just keep reminding myself, it’s totally worth it.

And it really is! I’m so pleased with what I’ve got so far. It’s gonna be one helluva slog though…I’ve got 128 g of yarn left, that’s 85% left to knit or another 77 inches. We’ll see. T his is going to test my dedication to finishing. It’s totally worth it.

Right?!?

Details: One Row Lace Scarf in Wollmeise Merino Superwash, colorway Sultan

My Ravelry Page

Previously Blogged Here: WIP Wednesday – Planned Pooling

WIP Wednesday – Planned Pooling

On February 25, 2015 By FogKnitsIn Scarf, WIP3 Comments

Planned pooling is something I’ve wanted to tackle for a long time! I’m finally getting the chance thanks to my friend Bambi and a bet I won. Bambi paid up in glorious fashion, with a skein of Wollmeise in colorway, Sultan! Thanks Bambi! Yarn collectors go nuts for this stuff and I can see why! The colors are lively and vivid, photos don’t do it justice!

But lets be honest, if the variegation is left to it’s own devices, the end result is a truly horrible mess. Planned pooling, on the other hand, showcases this yarn in all it’s glory! And this yarn is dyed in the just the right way that the color sequence can be laid back on itself with each new row, stacking the color into columns!

After deciding that this yarn would indeed work for stacked pooling, I fiddled around with swatches and decided my magic number is 48. The magic number is the number of stitches required to use exactly one repeat of color per row. The rest is conceptually simple and with a little practice, it’s easy to execute! Cast on your magic number and knit away, using one full color repeat on each row, the colors should line up, red on red, blue on blue, all the way down and back again too! I practiced a bunch in plain old garter stitch, just to get a feel for it. It came easy with a bit of practice, just modulate the tension a bit if things aren’t stacking exact. It becomes second nature as you watch the colors slip through your fingers and match up!

Ultimately I decided on the One Row Lace Scarf. I think the lace provides a bit of wiggle room with the way the colors stack. Once I got started, it’s been smooth sailing! I can tell already, this is going to be a great travel project! It’s certainly not going to languish at the bottom of the queue anymore!