Monday, September 19, 2016

Success and Failure

This was a success -- leftover steak sliced up, fried in a cast iron skillet with some red onion and smothered in Trader Joe's bacon cheddar. Served over half a naan with some fresh spinach. 




But for every success there is a failure -- and this failure was particularly painful! I realized several inches into the patterning of my White Pine Cardigan that I'd made a mistake with the cabling (I've never read from a chart before...). I decided to go back and repair, rather than rip out. It was kind of exciting to realize that I can now rip out just a few stitches and repair them, rather than frogging back most (or all!) of the project, as I would have had to do when I first started knitting. Then, as I was finishing up the cable repairs, I realized that I had COMPLETELY messed up both side panels. Rather than the seed stitch pattern, I was doing ribbing. It looked awful, and the seed stitch is one of the "features" of this particular cardigan. I was even less thrilled about frogging back all of my pattern work (so many cables!), and decided to tear out just the side panels. This actually "kind of" worked -- I used double-point needles, and had some success with this method. 




But this is a naturally twisty yarn, and by the time I reached the end of each row the yarn was quite taut. Add to that the difficulty of correct tension over such a long section, and it was really just not right. Blocking might help, but then again, it might not. Of course, I only decided this after I had repaired both sections... So after hours of extensive "time-saving" repairs, I frogged back to the beginning of the pattern work. *sigh* 

Fortunately, all of that practice has paid off, and things are going much better now. I'm actually further along now than I was in the "repair" picture above. Quite honestly, I feel that a lot of the problems I've had are due to the way the pattern is written. I actually copied it into a Word document and split up each step, because it's all sort of mushed together in the original pattern, with no clear divisions between steps. There are fewer stitch counts than I've ever seen (which I find very helpful to see if I'm on the right track), and lots of "continue in pattern" when it's not exactly clear what the new pattern is. You're not even told if the first decrease is on the right or the wrong side of the garment! I've spent so much time just puzzling over the pattern (even my revised copy). Right now I'm repairing the seed stitch section (AGAIN!), because I don't like the way the decreases turned out (admittedly, I didn't slip-slip-purl correctly) and I've decided to omit them altogether rather than risk wonky side panels. Hopefully it won't turn out too boxy. I really love this pattern, but between the extensive twisted ribbing and the confusing directions, I'm a bit disappointed. Perhaps I'll feel better once it's done!

Success and failure. There's a balance, I suppose?


8 comments:

  1. That dish looks delish!

    I know how frustrating it is to keep having to go back and redo, especially when you've invested so much time in the original and in the repairing. I know it will be beautiful, though!

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    1. It was rather yummy, if I do say so myself. ;-)

      And thank you for the encouragement/sympathy! I keep telling myself with the though that the end result will be worth the effort now (and that I'll be much happier with it if it's *right*). I feel like I'm on the right track now, at any rate!

      Cheers,
      Shannon

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  2. Wow! What a lot of work to try and repair certain sections. I must admit I always just start over. I am not very adventurous. : ) I love the yarn color you have chosen, it will look so pretty when you have finished and worth all this effort.

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    1. Well, I suppose I have a better idea of what's possible now -- the worst part of it was that it ALMOST worked... I was hoping blocking would help, but the "What if it doesn't?" question niggling away at my mind eventually convinced me to frog back.

      Thank you for the kind words! I'm certainly excited to get it finished -- hopefully in time for the cold weather.

      Cheers,
      Shannon

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  3. Oh, I feel your pain :( I'm not much of a prolific knitter but when I have tried to fix mistakes the "fast" way instead of frogging, it NEVER saves me time!! On the bright side, it's a beautiful color and pattern you've got going there!

    Now that colder weather is approaching, I'm inspired to start a knitting project or two. :)

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    1. It's so encouraging to know I'm not the only one! ;-) I've managed a couple of small repairs (about four stitches "wide"), which I've ripped back and then re-done using a crochet hook. But apparently such a large section just doesn't work.

      I'm so excited for the colder weather! :-) Hope all is well with you and your littles!

      Cheers,
      Shannon

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  4. Dear Shannon,
    You might remember me. I am Mrs.Hope Lauren Hope/Berkompas' mom. She had the blog A Cornerpillar. I have read your blog for almost as long as you have been blogging even before you were married. How are you?
    I first have to tell you that I love to knit but I also have struggled with understanding the patterns. In the past the only patterns out there were the ones that the yarn companies put out and they were very easy to understand and they all worded the instructions the same. Now you have so many individuals writing patterns ie Raverly and they are not what I call standardized. So often I am stumped as to what they are wanting me to do next. :)

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    1. I certainly do remember you, Mrs. Hope! I just came across Lauren's new blog recently -- what exciting news for your family! :-)

      I am encouraged to know that I'm not the only one to struggle with some of the independent knitting patterns! Usually I can Google/Youtube what I don't know, and most of the patterns I've used so far have been great -- but sometimes... At any rate, I've made it through the body of the sweater and am working on the first sleeve now. I know it will be worth it, but I do feel this pattern is just not very clear.

      Thank you for the encouragement, and it is so good to hear from you!

      Cheers,
      Shannon

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