I am also stymied by the fact that I haven't figured out how to put pics on my blog yet. Grrrrr! It's the small annoyances and frustrations like this that keep me from doing great things! I think.
Knitting news: I have, in the last 2 months of feverish kntting, officially become obsessed with knitting. It's all I want to do. I forgo house chores to knit. I forgo venturing outside my house and socializing in general, other than going to the yarn store or other necessities, it just seems like a hinderance to furthering my current project's advancement. I utterly resent the fur balls rolling around my wood floor and the ring in my toilet. They have no respect for my process! I also imagine this might also be another reason for my blogger's block. But as I said, I can at least breathe now so I'm trying to make a concerted effort to not obsess too much about each moment spent not knitting. Even when I'm not knitting, I'm thinking of it!
So, what I'm working on is the last & final Xmas gift that didn't get done. It's a heelhead hood/scarf for my aunt who has a fro and can't wear traditional hats. It's a really great pattern by Carrisa that can be found on Ravelry or here: http://carissaknits.blogspot.com/2008/10/heelhead-scarf.html
There's so much going on in this pattern, it's just a joy to work! She's got everything from cables to short rows in here and I love that it's not boring. After reading many comments from fellow Ravelers, I decided to widen the scarf that originally includes 2 4-stitch cables going up each side and insert a winding 8-stitch cable up the middle as well. When I came to starting the increases for the hood, I froze! I'm ashamed to admit how long it too my brain to work out the modifications to start this part of the pattern. But, I eventually did and thus a genius was born. I'm not kidding. Need a shot of self esteem? Modify a pattern all by your lonesome! I guess I got a slight glimmer of what it might feel like to be a designer of an original pattern. AAaahhh...maybe someday...I too can bask in the glow of triumphantly creating a design that was born from my own little brain cells. That would be so awesome!
Right now tho, I need to figure out the short row increases & decreases. It was going along just fine until I'd knit enough for it to be obvious that something was amiss. The YO side is not gelling with the YO-B side. It looks like crap, quite frankly, and that just won't do for my auntie's fro. No sir. I await a reply from Carissa, who is, amazingly, still responding to posts on her blog from people about her pattern, even though she published it more than 2 years ago. I am preparing myself for having to rip down to the start of the short rows and perhaps even doing them using a different technique than how the designer has written. Hmmm...I don't wanna, but I might hafta. Sigh. Anyhoo, here's a pic (yes, I figured it out) of it so far. 1st pic is where I'm at, you can see the scarf going up in to the hood increases. The close ups are of the short row mess. Any suggestions out there, feel free to share!
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| YO messy side |
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| YO-B good side |
My teenage daughter is in a good place. Mentally, that is. we have been having a good last couple of weeks with minimum drama and I truly have the Parenting Teens with Love & Logic series to thank for this. It's really helping me take a new approach to dealing than I was previously. My way was so obviously NOT working. So, I'm kinda patting myself on the back 'cause this shit is hard, man! I don't know how I'm going to make it through the next 4 years but at least I'm open to learning new approaches. I think I need a "Knitting Parents of Teen Daughters" support group. Think one exists out there? I'll let you know. I'll make it a quest. I can't be the only one, right?
And, btw, who is this "you" I just referred to? No one is reading this but it's cathartic anyway.
My dog is twitching in the hallway, dreaming doggy dreams and oblivious to scratching my wall.
One kitty is curled up her snuggy bed by the window and the other is under the covers in MY bed.
I'm going to start my next knitting project; a hat my husband will love & wear. Hopefully. I must start something else while I wait for Carissa's reply, before making another move on that project.
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| Cali girl watches the weather wistfully |
