12-05-2018

And we’re in the “dear sweet god, what ever possessed me to think this was a good idea” territory.

I tried a new provisional cast-on which went extremely well. It involves crocheting onto the needle. But, after having done my initial garter rows, I took it into my head to double-check and see if the damn thing really does unzip as per promised. I did understand that this would mean redoing the garter rows. But, you know, I’ve had such amazing problems with removing the waste yarn. I used crochet cotton as the waste yarn, since the last time, my biggest problem was that the waste yarn was too “sticky.” Taking out the waste yarn went swimmingly. And then… The Process kicked in.

So, I ended up doing the provisional cast on several times, and lost count, and redid it, and lost count, and eventually had the correct number on the needle, and then I don’t remember what happened, and it all had to be ripped out again, and then it was fine, but on row 3, I somehow managed to acquire an additional stitch (which I pray was not there all along) so I K2tog in the middle of row 4, and ran a lifeline. I have now commenced the pattern.

And…the only other Shetland pattern I have done seemed to suggest that you don’t distinguish between SSKs and K2tog, but this pattern apparently thinks that you do. But I think….I think that means that the SSKs are K2tog and vice versa on the even-numbered rows. Sigh. I am also not entirely clear that anyone can tell at this small a gauge. But, best to do as I mean to go on, I guess, or something.

This is going to take a really, really long time.

I found a lovely yarn on eBay which alleges to be 70% Mongolian fine wool (whatever that is), 25% cashmere (of no known ethnicity) and 5% synthetic fiber for strength. I have no idea what the synthetic bit is, but I suspect tencel because it has a bit of a sheen. It has a really, really nice hand, is fine and even, and lovely to work with. I bought a spool of pale lavender, and I like it quite a bit. We’ll see if I still like it in a thousand yards.

12-06-2018

Dear sweet God, how I hate knitting three together. I especially hate that there are three, count them three!, different double-decreases. And I hate all of them. Also, I had to rip out 3 rows, and thank god for lifelines, but that’s a lot of work that went up in smoke because I flubbed a knit three in some obscure way that didn’t lend itself to repair. I have continued to let my stitch markers hang off the lifeline, and this really does make it easier to pick up the stitches. One can tell on each iteration if one has all the stitches, rather than putting as many on the needle as one sees, counting, and finding that one is missing one or two stitches, and gods know where the fuck they are.

12-07-2018

Well, it goes better than it was, but there are still many too many exciting bits. I have finished the first of 8 iteration of the center lace panel. It looks…ok? I think? There are errors. I am not tearing back, so those suckers are staying. Also, I have questions about the pattern. Possibly I need to find go visit my knitting consultant. I continue to like the yarn quite a bit. I think I might have started to have fun. But damn, some of those double-decreases are a bastard.

12-20-2018

I can report that I have made extremely good progress on my goal to commit every knitting mistake possible.

I love life-lines. I really do. But, you know, they will catch and hold a dropped stitch and you won’t necessarily notice. The double-decreases have been giving me all sorts of grief, and evidently one of the many mistakes I have been making is, very occasionally, knitting two of the three stitches, and dropping the third.

So, there was a problem. and then another problem. And I don’t quite remember exactly how I ended up tearing all the way back to the foundation row, but that is, indeed, what happened. So, that was fun.

But wait, there’s more! I then spent 12 hours attempting to untangle and recall the yarn. This went…not so well. I really didn’t want to cut and splice because a) I am a little uncertain about my tension and I while I’m not exactly tight on yarn, I don’t want to get myself in a jam, and b) it’s all one very nice unspoiled skein and I wanted to keep it that way. Which is how I ended up staying up until 3:30 when I had to get up at 6:00, and I still ended up cutting and splicing, and throwing away some significant amount of tangle.

This second attempt looks much better, though. So there’s that.

I have finished the third of the 8 iterations of the center tile, which means I’m basically back to where I was a week ago, minus (I hope) the dropped stitches.

12-29-2018

OMG, I have never, ever had a project which involved so much back-tracking. Not even the Yggdrasil afghan, where I was learning everything for the first time. What is wrong with my brain?

I have finished five of the eight iterations of the center tile. And after that, it gets difficult. What on earth am I doing? I regret my life choices.

Still really like this yarn.

01-03-2019

Ok. I have finished the 8 reps of the center tile. I have two more rows of garter, then a bunch of pick up and knit, and then, um, I don’t think I understand the pattern as written. As I am currently 1,000 miles away from my usual knit consultant, I expect I will wing it. I do hope that doesn’t go as badly as winging it usual does. Pray for me, internets.

01-06-2019

For the first time ever, ever, ever, removing the waste yarn and picking up the live stitches went as planned! “I drink from the cup of victory…bring me the finest bagels and muffins in all the land!” So, first, the crochet cast-on with thread cotton worked. Also relevant to this important victory was running a life-line on the first row, as I did manage to drop two stitches while getting them on my needles, but with the lifeline, I could find them.

The pattern has one of two errors. Either you are supposed to pick up, but not pickup and knit, around all the edges, and then start purling, or you are supposed to work the live stitches when you encounter them. The pattern specifically states “pick up and knit” and also “you will work these stitches on the next round.” However, if you don’t work the live stitches, then your yarn is in the wrong place. I picked up all the live stitches, and then had to shift them back to another needle to knit them. No huhu, but there was confusion.

01-07-2019

So, after the trauma that was the center tile, the border is dead easy. Even the pick up and knit went well, and the rest is, so far, extremely pleasant. There’s a bit of confusion on the chart in a couple of rows, but I am unworried about it, as it is a really simple 10 stitch repeat.

01-16-2019

I have finished the border. There was a moment of unusual interest when I realized I’d misplaced all my stitch markers by one, and had to go round all 880 stitches and move them, but that was all right because my lifeline was too short and that was the easiest way to replace the lifeline, too. Then there was a great deal of puzzlement about how to start the knitted on lace edging. Why these things always confuse me, I cannot say, but they do. However, I only had to do it twice before I got it started. I have now completed the first iteration of the lace edging, which leaves….79 more to go. There’s no instructions about easing around the corners, so I am hoping this all just, you know, goes round the corners without trouble. If it doesn’t, I have no idea what to do.

Excelsior!

01-25-2019

I have rounded my first corner…and I’m not sure if it’s ok or not. It…doesn’t seem right? Maybe it all comes out in the blocking? If it doesn’t….well, that will be upsetting. But there is no instruction about corners, and the total number of stitches divides into the number of necessary rows with no left over… Arghh.

01-30-2019

So, I _think_ it will come out in the blocking? I’m about half-way through the second side, so, 35% of the edging, I guess. And some iterations go well, no problems, and others… starting over three or five times happens. A lot. If it goes really well, an iteration takes about 40 minutes. I put a lifeline after every iteration. For the record, that’s a lot of lifelines, and I need them.

02-18-2019

With three sides done, and 15% of the last side done, I have re-injured my right wrist, and must proceed more slowly. If I were a sensible person, I wouldn’t knit at all until it heals. I have never been considered sensible.

03-06-2019

So, provisional cast-ons are some bullshit, I tell you what. Even with the “unzip” method, it took me the better part of an hour to get the correct 18 stitches on the needle. Good thing I ran a lifeline. And then, once again, it all ended in tears, as I fucked the Kitchener yet again, and ended up having to do the equivalent of a K2tog in order to get the stitches to come out even. At that point, I was too daunted to tear out and try again, as I did not want to spend another hour getting the provisional stitches back on the fucking needle.

So, it looks a bit smaller than I was hoping for. One of these days, I’ll swatch. Yeah, right after hell freezes over, I expect.

I do think it will be very pretty, if smaller than I wanted. Will block next week.

This is a very lovely pattern, complicated and irritating in all the right ways. But my gods, has this taken a long time.