Same lesson learned again

I cast-on the Misti Alpaca worsted again last night. Only to have to rip it out again; this time because I twisted the additional stitches I had cast on for the front neck. So, I ripped it out yet again. Cast-on again and got about three rows into it when I changed my mind about the front neck shaping (I know, I'm fickle). I'm going to rip out these three rows and try again. Hopefully, the fourth time will be charm for me. One of these days I'm going to really learn that I shouldn't try to knit a sweater that I mentally envision when I'm tired. If the fourth go round doesn't work, remind me to find a pattern and line by line instructions!

Reasons to blog

On Mother's Day, I attended Fleece Day at Deep Color Studio. We learned how to select and wash fleece. We washed an Icelandic fleece as well as a fleece from a sheep that had escaped being sheared for a year and half. Julia of Knitting History and I got to talking about blogging and why she started. Julia told me that it was a way for her to keep track of what she was knitting and how it grew into something bigger, a part of a community.

I realized that I hadn't kept up with my blogging in part because I believe that I can keep track of everything I knit and spin in my knitting journal. Then I realized that I don't write about the nitty gritty in my knitting journal. In fact, my journal has become a record of completion dates and what yarn I used. No notes about what I learned or changed. The only exception being the sweater I designed myself. And, even then I started with a formula from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. So really, all the math was done for me.

I recently knit a sweater from Greetings from Knit Cafe, blindly following the pattern without really thinking about it. Once I laid out the pieces to block them, I noticed that the sleeve cap looked too small for the depth of the armhole. All of my training in flat pattern making kind of kicked in--the eye saying to the brain that is too small. I, of course, chose to ignore this. Instead, I found myself thinking that the pattern can't be wrong (despite knitting for decades and knowing that it is universally true that many, many knitting patterns are, indeed, riddled with errors and in search of errata). Once I tried to set the sleeve in, it didn't fit--by several inches. Rather than feel defeated (as this was the third time I knit a sweater from this particular yarn), I sucked it up and put these flat pattern skills to good use. I consulted Maggie Righetti so that I would know just when to calculate the decreases for the perfectly shaped sleeve cap. And, it worked. It really honestly worked.

So back to the topic of this entry--reasons to blog. I realized that I do want some place to write about my knitting and spinning. I don't have to be the Yarn Harlot or Wendy or anyone else. I don't have to join a knit along or secret pal swap or anything like that. I can just be who I am; and maybe this will become something more, something bigger, a part of a community.