Friday, August 18, 2006

Emergency Pit Crew Needed

First, I slashed a hole in Icarus completing an Amazing Lace Challenge (yes, I'm quite sure that I popped the hole in the yarn over column when I shoved it in the toilet paper holder), and now, NOW - I'VE RUN OUT OF YARN. I finished Chart 5, and have knit one row of the 8 row edging - and I have yarn left for maybe one more row. I am so f!#($!!@! I know, it's Zephyr, and it's a fairly standard color, lilac, but I also know that Christina purchased most of what was left of the cone at Rosie's for her North Sea Shawl. I'm off to Rosie's at lunch, and hopefully, I'll be able to gas up, rev up, and finish this damn thing. But, if they're out, I'm going to have to sit back and wait for Christina to finish the North Sea Shawl, and hope that Maggie doesn't eat what's left of her pretty lilac.

Sigh. And, Icarus has been a strangley stressful knit - aside from the hole, and the yarn shortage. For a good deal of Chart 4 and Chart 5, the wrongside row is 12 purl stitches, followed by a lone knit stitch. I found myself counting to 12 over and over again. A friend of mine was up at the prison last week, and her client kept rambling on about how he didn't want no 12 man, I don't want no 12 man. No 12 man, he kept saying. What? And then she realized he was talking about a jury, a 12 man. So, as I did my 12 stitch count, each stitch became a face in a box, and I started reminiscing about past jury trials - but not trials I won, trials I lost, and the things that haunt me still that I could have done differently. Icarus is no longer a pretty butterfly for me, but rather that boy who flew too close to the sun, and melted his wings right off his back, crashing to the sea.

So, there are 13 days left in August - and following Icarus (because I will know Icarus' fate after lunch, one way or another), there are 2.5 projects left to go. I pull out the Koigu socks on public transportation, and they're about a half hour away from completion (of course, I will have to pull up the Knitty photo demo of grafting once again, and slowly, stitch by stitch, follow the directions that simply escape me if I'm not looking at the pictures). My niece's cardigan has a sleeve, and then it has to be sewn together, and the ruffle knit on. And, I'm knitting the heel flap of one of my Jaywalkers. I feel victory within my grasp!

And, in honor of my impending triumph - I'm going to have a contest - I haven't figured out quite what that contest will be, but stay tuned . . . more to come!

5 comments:

AmyDe said...

That SUCKS!!!! I wondered about the shawl that is Icarus - maybe I'm just a literary geek, but knitting something so beautiful, but with such a bad Karma story attached to the name seemed like inviting trouble to me so I have stayed away. I'm not usually superstitcious.

Looks like you are doing GREAT on your goal dates though! Keep going - you can do it!

Anonymous said...

Poor Icarus! I seriously hope Knitty D has enough left for you to use. I also believe that setting it aside for a bit will help the jury faces to fade. Keep your chin up--you're almost to your goal!

Merrill Mason said...

hole? a HOLE?

I'm back from Nantucket and a brief stop at Sheep to Shore, the LYS with a fab selection of koigu. But resisted and instead got some sweet, star-shaped horn buttons for my koigu mill-ends cardigan (yet to be started, but it's the thought that counts with conceptual knitting). Let's catch up!

Wendy said...

If you can't find it, try Cloverhill Yarn Shop just outside Baltimore (my LYS). Want me to see if they have lilac? It might be off just a tad, but it would meet the need... let me know.

Theresa said...

Oh no! So sorry to hear about the Amazing Lace disaster. Our legal team will be in touch with yours to work out a settlement soon. In the meantime, good luck with the lilac.