Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Things That Scare Me

Exciting news - I've managed to finish one of the Scott Base toe-up socks and have a good start on the second (pictures next post).  I'm even becoming quite accustomed to the Magic Loop method of knitting.  It may be growing on me.  

All of this to-do about learning how to knit toe-up socks got me thinking about other knitterly things that scare me, so I decided to make a list and share them with you.  Perhaps you either relate or can give me some encouragement that may spur me on to get past my fear at some point.  

In no particular order, here are my current fiber-related frights:


© Lion Brand Yarns



Intarsia - This one I truly want to conquer at some point simply because I see too many lovelies I'd like to knit that require intarsia.  But at this point, I haven't come close to mastering stranded color work which seems like it should be easier than intarsia somehow.  I'm not sure that's accurate, but that's my impression.  Besides, all those little balls of yarn to juggle. Yikes.

Cute intarsia scarf pattern from Lion Brand yarns -->
Get it here FREE.









Steeking
The thought of purposefully cutting into something I've knit gives me shivers.  I know it is very useful, but it seems like steeking mistakes would be quite costly both monetarily and emotionally.  I'd have to practice on some cheap acrylic before attempting something else.

Steeking?!?  EEEEK!!



Alpaca lace:  SO pretty...and scary.
Lace-weight yarn - It's lovely.  It's perfectly suited for the warmer climate I live in.  It can be maddening.  I've had a previous adventure with an alpaca lace shawl.  But I have at least three patterns in my queue that require lace-weight yarn that I simply MUST knit.  I've even purchased some ridiculously fabulous 100% silk lace-weight yarn from Lost City Knits that I am too afraid to even wind.  I get this vision of my beautiful, expensive silk tangled around my swift and ball-winder and me sitting in the middle of the room sobbing hysterically.  


These are the biggies.  On a related note, there is one particular stitch that annoys me a great deal, not because I don't love how they look but because I am so dismally horrible at them:  cables.  They are so beautiful when done well.  I have several patterns in my queue that use cables and I have a slew of Celtic cable patterns in my stitch dictionaries that I want to incorporate into something.  And yet, I don't proceed because I come up with holes on the sides of even the simplest cables and I have some sort of wonky thing going on with ones that lean to the right.  This cable handicap makes me incredibly sad.

What are YOUR worst knitting fears?

Lisa

  

6 comments:

  1. I used to avoid any pattern that said "place marker". But I managed to conquer that fear. I share most of your fears, especially steeking. One thing that still sends shudders down my spine is the thought of knitting socks. So many knitters love doing this. But I'd be afraid that all my hard work would be ruined the first time I wore them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I understand your fear! I used to be terrified of the thought of knitting socks too. I just thought they were small with skinny yarn and too fiddly. Thankfully, when you use yarn that's specifically for socks, they hold up better than you'd imagine. Maybe one day you'll take the plunge!

      Delete
  2. I think intarsia is actually easier than stranded knitting because you don't have to knit with two colors at the same time and worry about floating yarn and keeping things loose. The hardest part of intarsia is learning how to properly switch the colors so you don't have gaps in your knitting, but really, it's just about carrying one yarn color under the other. You can do it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know you do intarsia beautifully, Brandy! I'm gonna try it eventually - thanks for the encouragement!

      Delete
  3. That alpaca lace looks positively good enough to eat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right?? I have a lovely beaded shawl pattern I have attempted a couple of times using this lovely pink lace-weight, but have failed both times. It's still in my queue though! I shall prevail!

      Delete

You will need to choose a selection under the "Comment as" drop down menu. You can comment using just your name by choosing the "Name/URL" option.