Last weekend I had the knitter’s equivalent of a temper tantrum, of holding my breath until my face turned blue, of lying down and pounding my heels on the floor, of flinging my plastic dish and Tommy Tippy Cup defiantly from my highchair. I decided I was tired of all the fiddly work I had been doing. Tired of size 0, 1, and 2 needles. Tired of stranded knitting. Tired of fingering-weight yarn, steeks, and patterns with 423 frickin’ rows and a million fussy yarnovers. When I had regained my breath, cleaned the scuff marks off the floor, and removed the spaghetti sauce and grape Kool-Aid stains off the wall, I decided to insert into my knitting queue something easy and excruciatingly pedestrian. And I say you can’t get any more pedestrian than a plain cardigan knit on size 10 needles using Lion Brand Homespun. Yep, I'm using cheap-o crapyarn again. I’m using a yarn that, for lack of a better description, is “emerald blue,” a deep but bright blue with some bright teal woven in. The Mysterious K has developed a liking for the color and the yarn, and has, in fact, already started fondling the sleeve I’m working on and saying things like, “Oooooo.” And, “I hope the sweater stretches so you have to give it to me.” That’s the thing about crapyarn. You yank your children away so they don’t brush up against it, you make a “hey, who farted?” face as you walk by it, you want to start a special school for its kind, but the fact is, the stuff is dayum soft and fun to knit with. And ironically, The Innocents, The Babes, the Naïfs, those non-knitters for whom we knit and whose brains haven’t been tainted and twisted by yarn snobbery—they like it better than the expensive, high-end stuff. I know I’ll end up with something shapeless and saggy with sleeves that end 6” beyond my fingertips, but I’m having a liberating time knitting it, secure in the knowledge that there isn't a yarnover anywhere in the blasted thing. Well, maybe a few for the buttonholes but I should be thoroughly over my conniption by then.
(Can I still be a member of the Commune, even though I threw a big-ass fit? Maybe I’ll just have to be sent to the Tantrumarium for a while. Which, by the way, is wholly different from the Tantricarium.)
Faina, on row 100 of the second pattern repeat. Still lovin’ it and lovin' it more now that I have the blue sweater to balance me mentally. (Note to anyone who is knitting Faina: Lisa and I have both noticed that it tends towards the weirdly lumpy and wavy when you start out, especially where you transition from the pointy end to the straight edge but do not despair—it all settles out during blocking.) Two more looooong pattern repeats to go and then the reverse pointy end. Oh, and the fringe. Musn't forget the fringe.
Oak Leaf Scarf for Pseudo-Mother-in-Law, done. Again.
Janine Pillow, can’t find the right backing. I wanted to use a matching Prussian blue velvet for the back but can’t find such a creature. Maybe I’ll need to knit the back. Urk. Although I am having some intriguing ideas about doing the back all in the Prussian Blue Jamieson's but adding a subtle but large glyph-like Celtic swirl by purling the swirl (or would that be swurl?) and knitting the background.
This Sunday, October 10, from 2-4 is the next Gay People and Straight People Who Don't Want to Stone Them knitting get-together at The Fiber Gallery, 7000 Greenwood Avenue North (206-706-4197). I will be there. Melinda? LindaK? Rebecca? Jessica? Cuzzin Tom?
While I'd probably prefer to spend most of my time in the tanticarium (ooooooo that's an intriguing word), I occasionally would need to be banished to the tantrumarium too. I call those fits of frustration. I try not to leave permanent damage on the walls and keep the dishware intact. Don't worry about it. You're entitled. Wish I could be knitting with the Gay/Straight/Anything-Goes-We-Just-Want-To-Hang-Out-And-Knit-Together crowd. I will be with the Oakland version instead. Mwah!
Posted by: Nathania on October 8, 2004 09:48 AManother benefit of the homespun is that by the very nature of its texture you can hide a multitude of stitching sins- it does make very comfy things though- afghans from homespun are just soo nice to snuggle under and what's wrong with a few frayed ends and split stiches?
i may have just 'outed' myself as a partial yarn slob!
i think an occasional temper tantrum is one of life's most liberating events! after looking around to see just who was watching you 'lose it' you can take a deep breath and just go 'ahhh'-
stay happy-
Posted by: barb in texas on October 8, 2004 09:52 AMBarb, I forgot to mention that, because I am a stuck-up, reserved East-Coaster (remember the Princeton hug?), in truth, my fit was mostly internal. You know how, on TV, the bomb squad puts a bomb in a detonation chamber and detonates it and the chamber just makes a slight "poof" sound and lurches a bit and then smoke curls out around the door? That's actually more like what happened.
Nathania, I think we'll have to institute a reservation system for the Tantricarium, don't you? In the meantime, until the reservation system is in place, race ya!
Posted by: Ryan on October 8, 2004 10:06 AMI'll be there. It completely slipped my mind but I just put it back on the calendar.
Posted by: Jessica on October 8, 2004 10:12 AMDefinitely think the tantrumarium should have adult areas and child areas...no one likes to be reminded they are acting like a 3yo...and kids love to point that stuff out.
You know, Homespun is inexpensive, nice colors, knits up fast...what's not to like? No...it isn't a "natural fiber" but it can be mistreated quite badly and still look pretty darn good. Go for it Ryan...especially if it means you will be ignoring your own Faina a bit...Maybe I can catch up over the weekend between work, kids, laundry...yeah, right. We're only a hundred rows apart..who am I kidding??
I want to come to your knit group so badly I can taste it. Have a wonderful, FUN time. :)
Posted by: Lisa in Oregon on October 8, 2004 10:16 AMLisa, I was glad to read that Homespun can be mistreated and it still look okay because I was concerned about pilling. Thanks, missy!
Posted by: Ryan on October 8, 2004 10:42 AMThis is too funny. For 10 years, I worked in VIP catering in D.C. Served the chicest cuisine for everyone from the President on down. And I and the others got so jaded -- "Oh, not braised lamb tenderloin with roasted chipotle and smoked gruyere confit *again*..." Then we'd work a wedding with a kiddie buffet. You've never seen anything like a half-dozen grown, tuxedo-clad men diving with both fists into an aluminum pan of macaroni and cheese with expressions like the Day of Rapture had finally arrived. This being the main course after stuffing our faces with hors d'oevres of pigs-in-blankets.
So I understand the joy of back-to-basics. To this day, I can't even *look* at salmon.
Love to attend your soiree, but you didn't mention if there'd be brownies and what kinds of rules would apply if there were.
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on October 8, 2004 11:08 AMSorry Ryan & Nathania, but I'm already in the tantrumarium. So, take & number, get in line, & don't hold your breath! Or, maybe should should, since you're trantruming....
I can totally relate to needing something mindnumbingly basic on the knit front. I dumped my Folk Vests cover vest kit & lace socks in favor of a very basic knit-in-the round ribbed sweater. Mindless knitting can be very therapeutic.
Enjoy your knitfest. I wish I could be there!
By the way, Cuzzin Tom, I found a joke in a recent issue of Reader's Digest that I thought you might enjoy:
Every 10 years the monks at the monastery are allowed to break their vow of silence & speak 2 words. 10 years go by & it's one monk's first chance.
He thinks for a second, looks the head monk in the eye, & says, "Food bad."
Ten years later, it's his turn again. He goes to the head monk & says, "Bed hard."
Fast forward another ten years. The man gives the head monk a long stare & says, "I quit."
"Well, I'm not surprised," says the head monk. "You've been complaining ever since you got here."
Posted by: Samina on October 8, 2004 11:36 AMWhat Cuzzin Tom doesn't tell you is they dove into the mac and cheese BEFORE they served it to the kiddies, and then patted it down again with a spatula to make it look undisturbed. Hey, maybe if someone patted me with a spatula I, too, would become undisturbed. (No, don't go there.)
Posted by: Ryan on October 8, 2004 12:30 PMDearest Ryan: I'm so glad to hear your back-to-basics rant. You are definitely growing as a knitter and finding yourself along the way. It is a good thing for a knitter to have a basic, no-nonsense project as you described your cardigan. I always have (at least) one of these in process--along with the more complicated stuff. We knit, after all, to some degree to relieve stress--it's a little hard to work a complicated fair isle or lace pattern and remain totally stress-free. But that ACK-RY-LACK. I have a little trouble there. I have used it on some things, many years ago, but the damn stuff, while, yes, it's true, it can take a lickin' and keep on ticking--it just doesn't keep one WARM. And after all, when it's all said and done, the job of a good sweater, be it fair isle, or big knit on size 10, is to keep the one who's wearing it warm. But that's my opinion, and I certainly don't want to detract from yours, or anyone's, efforts.
Alas, I can't join you Sunday, but I will be there in spirit.
Mary B
PS If you're still interested in doing a top-down raglan sleeved sweater--all plain knit (similar to the green one I wore to ferals) let me know--this would also fill the bill as a great mindless knit--heck, I'll bet TMK would also enjoy the fruits of this particular labor.
Posted by: Mary B on October 8, 2004 12:49 PMMary, I DO want to do the top-down blahblahblah especially because I love yours. Where is the pattern? You mentioned something about its being on line...
And I do understand about the ACK-RY-LACK. I realize that it is just a fancy word for "extruded plastic" and that, for all the warmth it will provide me, I might as well just climb into a T*pperware container, but it's what my knitting soul says I need right now. Using Tom's example, I think what I'm doing is sitting down to a plate of braised lamb tenderloin AND macaroni and cheese.
Posted by: Ryan on October 8, 2004 12:57 PMRyan, Your comment section is acting funny, cut too close to the left.
Tantrums can be good, if you feel better after.
I thought Lion brand was high class yarn when I started knitting and made my first sweater with it. It knits up quickly. You will be done in a nonce!
Debra, dunno what's going on with the comments. It looks fine to me but that doesn't mean it isn't displaying kinda funky on your computer. Anyone else having problems?
The sweater would knit up a lot faster if I didn't keep losing *one* stitch. Twice now I've increased to 62 stitches, knit a few more rows and discovered I only had 61. Heaven only knows where that stitch is going. The first time I tinked 3" inches of the sweater; the second time I satisfied myself that the stitch hadn't been dropped and just slapped a new stitch on right where I was. I had had enough!
Posted by: Ryan on October 8, 2004 03:49 PMRyan,
I understand the allure of LB Homespun; I just finished a 10-inch-wide, five-foot scarf in the cranberry color for an acquaintance who needs a little cheering up. Outlay? About five bucks and two nights knitting. It's soft, drapey, and warm. I have a triangular mini-shawl in the blue-green that I grab when it's too warm for a jacket and too breezy for shirtsleeves. I'm keeping it handy on the back of my computer chair in case I start freezing in front of my computer this weekend.
I even have Bonne Marie's 3xchic mostly knitted in Homespun, waiting for me to finish the Starmore Marina and the Celtic Dreams sweater. Well, and waiting for me to get up the nerve to find out if the sleeves really aren't the same length. The universe made row counters for a reason, I know...
Posted by: Beth on October 8, 2004 04:22 PMHonestly? You've talked me into it. I want a Homespun cardie. I do. I'm gonna make one. I need quick. I'm tired o'those 1,2,3 needles, too. yay! Let's start an acrylic revolution!
Posted by: Rachael on October 9, 2004 04:13 AMtest
Posted by: sheila on October 9, 2004 12:02 PMok, I think I've got those comment counts updating correctly. Who'da thunk you had to disable background tasks in the mt.cgi file?
Posted by: Sheila on October 9, 2004 12:04 PMwell I have also had the fiddley blues.. the hush hush I am knittin on size 3s (and truly to be honest it was supposed to be size 2s, but I rebelled) and the gloves I was knitting on size 3s and the 10 hundred other projects I have planned on size 3 or lower made me drop them all and make a nice large fulled tote this weekend. I knit it on the way and back (twice, don't ask) to the shore. I now also ahve a nice big fulled hat on the needles.. and I'm grinning from ear to ear simply b'c it looks like I got somethign done... When in reality I am still stalled at over 11 inches on hush hush. :) its all in my mind see??
Posted by: anj on October 11, 2004 09:42 AM