Wednesday, March 08, 2006

In the Pink

It should come as no shock to anyone that I could not stay off the Pink for long. I'm back in the pink, and it's not just the new Bobbi Brown Pink pallette for spring.

Yesterday, after I finished the blog entry about the upcoming Highland Triangle Along (because, of course, it will be all about me and my project!), I googled the Triangle to see fellow knitter's finished masterpieces. Obviously, I got a hit on WendyKnits. I also stumbled onto one of her self-styled interview Q&A's, where she recommends Kimono Shawl as a good first lace project. W--whhat??? I stammered out loud (that's ok, What????, enunciated with outrage is fairly typical in my office -- he did WHAT? he got WHAT? the judge did WHAT?).

I tried Kimono a few years ago. I used a Zephyrlike Merino Silk that I got at Stitches, and I think I was on 7's. I couldn't even get through one repeat of the 24 row pattern without a half a dozen mistakes. I said, Feh, and put it away.

But, Wendy says, "Easy and fun." Fun? Hmm . . . we'll see about that. I set out to prove her wrong.

I remembered some pink Rowan yarn I got on Ebay when I first started to knit, Rowan dk Soft, which is now discontinued. At the time, I made a pretty drop stitch scarf, but I wasn't crazy about the yarn, and the dull pink didn't do it for me. So, I abandoned the rest of it to the bottomless stash, not even placing it in a queue position. Eh, I'll cast on with this yarn, I thought, because it won't be easy, and it won't be fun, and I'm just going to rip it out, and I'd rather screw around with crap than waste "real" yarn (real = likely to become something).

And low and behold, it was easy, and I'm on the fence about fun -



What's the difference? Am I that better of a knitter three years later? Well, probably yes. But, the real difference is, this time around, I'm reading the chart instead of the written out directions. I always poo poo'd people who said charts would change my life - but now, I've been born again - I see the light. The chart is where it's at. And, the markers!! As I mentioned below - Fast and Wrong is my game - and the markers are really a guidepost. For those of you who know me, you know that I don't drive. That's because I'm an incredibly bad driver, and I've retired myself from the road. Driving a car to me is like driving a weapon, and the world is a much safer place without me on the road. One of my problems was that I liked to drive fast -- but driving fast, I tend to miss turn-offs, along with traffic lights and stop signs. I knit very much the same way, and these markers - oy!, I just cannot say enough about the markers - other than, why didn't I try that before, duh.

Now to the serious business - the fun part. I still don't love the yarn, and 25 repeats is a big (huge) commitment. So, do I say, yep, this was excellent practice, and cast on in the real deal, or do I finish this, and probably gift it. Dunno.

And, by the way - Dolly must have heard about project spectrum - because that could be the only reason for this disaster of a dress!

3 comments:

Knitty Delicious said...

Dolly copy cat!
No the pattern does look pretty.
Finish it, destash and gift it.
It looks motherly.
I've decided on the north sea shawl...unclear about yarn choice

Lisa M. said...

I thought that looked like DK Soft. I've had people willing to kill for a few more skeins of that stuff (though never specifically that color). Wish there were a good online clearinghouse where people could post their desperate needs, to help the rest of us de-stash stuff we never really loved. If you could hook up with the right buyer, I think your DK Soft should be worth more than you paid for it.

Theresa said...

I love that pattern - it's been on my to-do list for a long time, and I think it'll make a lovely, substantial shawl in that yarn. I say go for it!