Tuesday, April 2, 2013

A Ripple in Time


Tuesday morning, and I have plenty on my agenda for the day.  Various small tasks, drive by the bank, meet a friend for lunch, and if I'm brave enough, stop by our local Walmart to pick up a few things (this subject warrants a whole post to itself - someday).  

My post yesterday was a little diversion from my regular “knitty” repartee (see what I did there?) – a vapid entry designed to manipulate you with pictures of cute pets so as to keep your attention off of my current WIP, the lace shawl.  It occurred to me this morning that I must have prayed for patience recently, as this shawl is giving me many opportunities to showcase my fortitude in times of great trial. 

I have no new progress to show you from the last two days because what progress I did make during those 48 hours (and there was a great deal of progress made) is now just a memory.  I hesitate to even mention it because my whining about my lacework has gotten on my OWN nerves, so I can only imagine how weary you all are of my constant complaining.  Plus, the many self-made challenges I’ve experienced while knitting my first-ever lace project must certainly make you all think I’m a complete idiot who has no business owning, let alone using knitting needles.  If these are your thoughts, I’m beginning to think you may be right.

The latest incident is something of a blur.  I’m fairly certain that some twist in the fabric of the universe froze time during which some dark, anti-knitting force pulled three stitches off my needles.  All I remember is looking away from my work, adjusting my position on the sofa, then looking down to find a large gap in the shawl.  I thought I must be hallucinating, so I frantically counted my stitches and found that I was not hallucinating at all.  I was three stitches short.  There were no loops left to pick back up, only those distressing horizontal lines that formed an unwelcome ladder.  I’m positive that some sort of X-File worthy event caused this disaster.  That, or my elbow slipped while I was shifting around on the sofa...(you can't prove anything).

The good news is, I had a solid lifeline in place, AND I seem to be getting better at not having a complete nervous breakdown each time I screw up (which is good, considering how often it happens).  Rip a mere 15 rows and voila…back in business.  At this rate, I’ll have this shawl done by early 2014…

On a more cheerful note, I am working on being able to take better pictures.  If I lived closer to my sister-in-law, who is a brilliant photographer, my problems would be solved.  Unfortunately, we are separated by around a thousand miles.  The Husband has a decent camera, so I’ve determined I’m going to learn how to use it.  Let’s hope I am better at this than at lace knitting.

Can we be friends?

I’ve also decided it is time to obtain my own yarn swift and ball winder.  Do you remember my frogging and thwacking a sweater I never wore so as to reuse the yarn for something useful?  Well, said yarn still looks like this:

"Wind me!  Wind me!"

Plus, while I don’t buy a lot of yarn over the internet, I do purchase enough of it that it makes sense to have a swift and winder. 

Do you own a swift and winder?  Any recommendations on what brand I should buy?

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9 comments:

  1. THANK GOODNESS for lifelines. You have to show this shawl who's boss. That's all there is to it. :-|

    We shoot all our pictures with a D80. We've learned mostly through trial and error but feel like we're finally starting to get the hang of it. When you feel ready, I think the best gift you can give yourself is a 50mm F1.4 lens. It instantly makes your photos look more professional.

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    1. Thanks for the tip on a lens! The Husband has a second lens, but I'm so camera ignorant, I have no idea what it is... : )

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    2. YES, YES, YES to the 50mm F1.4. I have a Canon, but it's also one of my favorite lenses.

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  2. I took a photography class on Craftsy... well, kinda. I still haven't finished it. Now I have enough information to be dangerous.

    http://www.craftsy.com/project/course/Shoot-It-A-Product-Photography-Primer

    btw, I'm kinda mad at you for posting that sock pattern the other day. Now I have ANOTHER sock pattern to add to my growing queue!

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    1. Hey, at least the sock pattern wasn't in German... ; )

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  3. Thank goodness for lifelines! They've saved my butt on more than one occasion!

    I have the KnitPicks swift and ball winder. They're okay (actually, great for the price and on sale right now), but if I were to do it again, I'd hold out for something a bit nicer. They're squeaky and the ball winder wobbles a bit if you get going too fast. These are minor annoyances, since they work, but annoyances none-the-less. That said, I've had them for almost 2 years and wind yarn at least once a week, so it's definitely not stopping me. :)

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    1. Thanks for the input on the swift and winder! I noticed that KnitPicks had theirs on sale this month. I'm looking forward to winding soon...

      Is that odd? : )

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  4. We have both made the same "sum zero" progress on our lace projects, but for different reasons. I simply haven't picked mine up and knit on it over the last few days. I must get back to it...

    I have a swift from Paradise Fibers. I can't tell you the exact name because the rest of the household is asleep and I have to make noise to get it from its resting spot. It is the one that they have designed and make themselves, and I absolutely love it. If you go to their website you should be able to find it, but if you can't let me know. And Paradise Fibers has wonderful customer service!

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