Triangular proportions*
l to r: approaching the Bermuda Triangle, othewise known as 'Zone of Strange Stitches'/ gratuitous lace purtyness/ new improved plain sailing: stockinette.
This little project has been through the Bermuda Triangle twice.
It mysteriously vanished from the sidebar and was never seen again.
It was a relatively simple lace pattern; an eight row repeat.
And yet twice I had gotten to half way through the sixth repeat or thereabouts, roughly about ten centimetres into it, and suddenly I would have a randomly larger number of stitches on my needle than I was meant to. Twice!
Why is it so? as Julius Sumner Miller said. (and by the way god!, that guy used to scare me witless, somehow I got the idea into my eight-year-old head that his show was Highschool, and that I too would someday be expected to be as clued-up on the laws of Physics as those thoroughly-briefed and smartly-attired 'students' of his, not to mention be able to adroitly withstand the Professor's seemingly rabid interrogations about iron filings and magnets).
Where was I?
Oh yeah, the Bermuda Triangle.
Right alongside the mystery extra stitches.
Ok, I can cope with ripping back once, but twice? Surely I couldn't be momentarily losing my concentration for a split second -just long enough to get totally out of sync- in the same place twice... was I perhaps dreaming of a house with perfect light and enough room to paint and...
See? there I go again.
It's the Triangle I tell you.
What are the chances of losing your place twice in the same spot? I'm no statistician, but I'd say a lot to one.
Let's just say it was driving me up the wall and ,really, with Clessidra on board as well at the moment, frankly I need a no-brainer to balance things out.
Just easy old K1, K1, K1... etc...you know the one.
Which is what I'm doing now.
A little something by Kristin Spurkland aka the Painless Knit.
And the lovely Clessidra ...
embryonic hourglass cable emerging, I know you can't see it, but I know it's there.
Well, she is an exacting mistress let me tell you, but I'm still enjoying the project.
I view knitting the minute, complex rows as something of a ritual, and not at all the anticipated Task of Sisyphus (thank you Eero for the apt metaphor!)
*Or: It's Pear-Shaped
posted by Carson at 3:27 pm
7 Comments:
I love the story of Sisyphus - and I can relate to your frustration. Have you considered that there may be a mistake in the pattern? I've spent hours knitting, frogging, knitting, frogging etc until it finally dawned on me to add the stitches - only to discover the pattern was wrong. (In my case, knowing what's wrong and correcting it are two different things).
Thanks for your comments on my blog - Ms 11 is just a sweetie - we have a special relationship which I hope we can maintain through her teenage years and beyond.
Good luck with the pear!
Julius used to freak the pants off me, too.
You know what you need is a big pile of stitch markers. Put 'em between each repeat of the lace pattern and make sure you've got the same number between each one that you're supposed to every time you finish a repeat. Takes a little bit of counting time, yes, but saves an awful lot of ripping back.
The moment right before a shape becomes itself is wondrous. All that expectation simmering....
I, too, have been flummoxed at the same point in a pattern. On my first lace shawl I dropped a stitch, ripped back, reknit back to that point, and dropped the same stitch AGAIN. My head almost exploded. What's that about the third time being the charm? Good luck.
Julius Sumner Miller - what memories! Did you ever try to get a boiled egg into a milk bottle? I'm doing my first real lace too - I'm using lots of stitch markers. And only when I'm not watching TV or otherwise distracted.
Can't help you with the knitting but...I can see clessidra... somehow.. it's almost breathing...with a heartbeat.
(I had to think of Existenz...the movie and other disturbing movies like it) The wool is beautiful by the way , puts me back on my feet again.
Hi Carson,
Have been enjoying your blog, and so I've tagged you for 'Seven Random Things'. Apologies if you have an aversion to memes or have done this one already. But check out my blog at http://penandpurl.wordpress.com for the rules if you want to participate. :)
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