05-06-2022

Got about .75 inches knit last night and made it to 9 cm today. On to the pattern repeats tomorrow!

05-07-2022

Made it through two pattern repeats today (~1700 stitches!). Starting to get more comfortable with it and should start getting faster soon.

05-08-2022

Was out of town for Mothers Day until dinner time, but I squeezed in half a pattern repeat.

05-09-2022

Up to the second row of the fourth repeat.

05-11-2022

I think I’m on the second row of the fifth repeat, but my hashmarks where I keep count are messed up and are implying I missed a few rows at some point. I’ve been careful, but we did get some very bad news yesterday here IRL, so maybe I spaced out. I’ve set it aside until tomorrow, in the hopes I’ll have a clearer head to figure things out--and, if I did accidentally skip rows, if I should try to rip back and fix things or just embrace imperfection. Maybe I just forgot to make a hashmark after knitting those rows?

05-12-2022

Looking at the project spread out in the sun, I think I did skip a few rows. Sigh. I’m so bad at ripping back. I could ruin the whole thing by doing that and have to start over. But I feel morally obligated to try, since I’m clearly aware of the mistake.

05-13-2022

I did it.

I’m still holding my breath to see if it worked out okay, but I managed to rip out six rows and get what I THINK are all of the stitches back onto the needle. Not sure if they are straight or twisted, but I stayed consistent in how I picked them up (one by one as I pulled the yarn out just ahead of the needle tip on the final ripped-out row), so I’ll know how to fix them if they’re wrong.

I am able to read my knitting well enough to establish that I now have a Row 1 on my needles, and I’m ready to purl my way through a Row 2. Well, once I count to make sure everything is there.

Wish me well.

Later: Yeah. They were all twisted. At least I got lots of practice purling through the back loop--a maneuver I hate to do (part of why I learned the Norwegian purl method was to avoid contorting my fingers to move the yarn back and forth).

Note to future self, slip the “rescue” needle in from the same side as the yarn that you’re ripping out.

05-20-2022

Haven’t given up, just have a son who is graduating from high school in two weeks and am busy with all the requisite activities (and giving the house a thorough cleaning because my mom’s coming for a visit).

06-05-2022

I’m back at it. Caught up to where I was when I had to rip back. (Row 7)

06-24-2022

I can’t go out in public anymore, goodness. That graduation ceremony led to a flu/cold with a cough that’s still lingering two and a half weeks later! (Tested twice for COVID but both were negative. Coughs just last forever.) While a cough shouldn’t stop me from knitting, it does stop me from sleeping much at night, and so the ensuing fizzy-brained fatigue is holding me back. I can just feel the catastrophic mistakes waiting to happen. No thank you.

Might try again this afternoon.

06-25-2022

Did a few rows today and yesterday. The scarf is approximately 10” high and 20” wide. That’s really wide for someone with as little neck as I have. If I had it to do over, I might have made it only 3 sets wide instead of 5. Would have made it a faster project, too. But it will be vast and luxurious this way, and I’ll just have to take my time.

07-01-2022

’Tis July, and knitting will have to take a back seat for the month. Not only is it time for Camp NaNoWriMo (a 30-day writing challenge), but I’ve enrolled in an online proofreading course to brush up on my skills so I can begin working again after an 18-year sabbatical from paid employment to raise my kids. I’ll be back to knitting again in August.

08-05-2022

Sometimes in summer, it grows hot and humid. And you might set your knitting down, mid-row, and turn to reach for something, only to look back and realize the cable and needle were stuck to your arm and turned with you--leaving the scarf behind!!! Sticky arm vs. loose stitches. Guess who won.

Sigh.

Luckily, it was only half a row’s worth, and the yarn has enough grip that no stitches went anywhere, so I was able to snake the needle back through the loops without mishap. I’m also lucky this was a purl row, so there were no M1L or M1R to sink back into obscurity.

07-22-2023

I’m up to 8 repeats of the main pattern. I only manage about half a repeat at a sitting right now, so I don’t have much hope of finishing this this year, but I’m still plugging away and enjoying it.