Hook and ladder
Feb. 26th, 2007 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamagotchaSo I'm well on the way to finishing the second fingerless glove, but Linc was making it impossible for me to concentrate on the cabling yesterday. I waited until he went down for a nap, and grabbed the needles. I got about two rows in and he woke up, grrr.
So Bill very kindly urged me to find some sanctuary outside of the house, and I took him up on it (that's another problem with KC... I don't know people well enough to invite myself over to borrow a corner to sit and knit it, whereas in Davis I could think of ten people right off the bat). Libraries and yarnstores and most coffeeshops were closed, but there's a little teashop in Westport that was open until 9.
Another knitter was there with her sweetie, with the same idea. She was a pretty awesome knit goddess... showed me some of her stuff, some wild cabling and funky colors and really fun stuff. We chatted a bit but it was clear she was sort of into the book her husband was reading (knitting and reading? whoa... sometimes I can knit plain stockinette while a movie is playing, but reading? wow). So I plugged in Episode 8 of Cast On and soldiered on.
It finally happened. I dropped a stitch, right in the middle of the cables. I tried and tried and tried to figure it out, but with the new bifocals and the medium lighting and the tiny stitches and the grey wool all conspired to make the whole thing a muddled mess. I was almost in tears, it was about ten minutes to 9, and I wanted to just go into the loo and flush the whole thing away.
I didn't want to bug the other lady... she had mentioned that she teaches knitting at the LYS, and I didn't want to commit the sin of asking someone for professional advice for free. But I wasn't sure I'd be able to fix this... and she was sitting right there... so I waited until she said something to me ("Did you finish your glove?") and used that opportunity to mention that I WAS IN EXTREME KNITTING DISTRESS SOS SOS SOS!
She kindly took pity on me, and picked up the mass of wool and needles and fiddled with it for a few moments. I was so grateful I almost cried with relief. She handed it back, I tucked it in the bag and showered her with gratitude, and we went on our separate ways.
Today, Linc finally took a proper nap (he's been going up and down with the naps lately, but he's still a bit snotty and sickish, so he was down by 1) and I snuck upstairs to finish off the cabling part... just about six more rows. But when I came around to that part where I'd dropped the stitch... I was still missing a stitch.
Deep breath. It's here somewhere. Don't panic, calm down, this isn't the end of the world. I look and look and look, and sure enough, there's a bit of a tangle a few rows back down there. I fiddle with it, trying to find the stitch, and I think I've gotten it... at least, now I've got the right number of stitches on the needles. I happily knit along, heedless of the impending doom.
When I pull on the glove to try it on, I notice a bit of a hole. Hmm. It's right where all that trouble was... and sure enough, when I pull it apart, there's the start of a ladder forming below it. Dammit! A dropped purl stitch, about ten rows back. I'd picked up something else, apparently. Now what?!
Well, I've heard about laddering back down to fix something, but I've never had to do it before. At least it was a straight shot of purl stitches down to the mess, no cables crossing mercifully. I find the lowest loose stitch and hook it onto a needle, then dig up my smallest crochet hook, take a deep breath, and loosen the stitch at the top live row. The entire column unravels alarmingly quickly, but I'd picked the right stitch... the laddering stopped right where I had the loose stitch on the hook. I started pulling the stitches back up and realized I was making knit stitches (d'oh!) and had to undo them and redo it through the back to make them purls.
Anyway, long story short, I DID IT! I'm looking right at it, stretching the fabric back and forth, and you can't even tell there was a problem! I've never had to do a repair like that before, and it was pretty darned (ahem) scary, but the glove survived and so did I. The cabling part is done, and now I just need to finish about 3 inches of fingers and the thumb (and now I know how to do that, too).
I was so danged proud of myself, I had to come post about it. I guess it's a pretty dinky thing... it wasn't so bad once I got over the palpitations caused by seeing my work unravel. A small step for knitting, but a big one for me. W00t!
So Bill very kindly urged me to find some sanctuary outside of the house, and I took him up on it (that's another problem with KC... I don't know people well enough to invite myself over to borrow a corner to sit and knit it, whereas in Davis I could think of ten people right off the bat). Libraries and yarnstores and most coffeeshops were closed, but there's a little teashop in Westport that was open until 9.
Another knitter was there with her sweetie, with the same idea. She was a pretty awesome knit goddess... showed me some of her stuff, some wild cabling and funky colors and really fun stuff. We chatted a bit but it was clear she was sort of into the book her husband was reading (knitting and reading? whoa... sometimes I can knit plain stockinette while a movie is playing, but reading? wow). So I plugged in Episode 8 of Cast On and soldiered on.
It finally happened. I dropped a stitch, right in the middle of the cables. I tried and tried and tried to figure it out, but with the new bifocals and the medium lighting and the tiny stitches and the grey wool all conspired to make the whole thing a muddled mess. I was almost in tears, it was about ten minutes to 9, and I wanted to just go into the loo and flush the whole thing away.
I didn't want to bug the other lady... she had mentioned that she teaches knitting at the LYS, and I didn't want to commit the sin of asking someone for professional advice for free. But I wasn't sure I'd be able to fix this... and she was sitting right there... so I waited until she said something to me ("Did you finish your glove?") and used that opportunity to mention that I WAS IN EXTREME KNITTING DISTRESS SOS SOS SOS!
She kindly took pity on me, and picked up the mass of wool and needles and fiddled with it for a few moments. I was so grateful I almost cried with relief. She handed it back, I tucked it in the bag and showered her with gratitude, and we went on our separate ways.
Today, Linc finally took a proper nap (he's been going up and down with the naps lately, but he's still a bit snotty and sickish, so he was down by 1) and I snuck upstairs to finish off the cabling part... just about six more rows. But when I came around to that part where I'd dropped the stitch... I was still missing a stitch.
Deep breath. It's here somewhere. Don't panic, calm down, this isn't the end of the world. I look and look and look, and sure enough, there's a bit of a tangle a few rows back down there. I fiddle with it, trying to find the stitch, and I think I've gotten it... at least, now I've got the right number of stitches on the needles. I happily knit along, heedless of the impending doom.
When I pull on the glove to try it on, I notice a bit of a hole. Hmm. It's right where all that trouble was... and sure enough, when I pull it apart, there's the start of a ladder forming below it. Dammit! A dropped purl stitch, about ten rows back. I'd picked up something else, apparently. Now what?!
Well, I've heard about laddering back down to fix something, but I've never had to do it before. At least it was a straight shot of purl stitches down to the mess, no cables crossing mercifully. I find the lowest loose stitch and hook it onto a needle, then dig up my smallest crochet hook, take a deep breath, and loosen the stitch at the top live row. The entire column unravels alarmingly quickly, but I'd picked the right stitch... the laddering stopped right where I had the loose stitch on the hook. I started pulling the stitches back up and realized I was making knit stitches (d'oh!) and had to undo them and redo it through the back to make them purls.
Anyway, long story short, I DID IT! I'm looking right at it, stretching the fabric back and forth, and you can't even tell there was a problem! I've never had to do a repair like that before, and it was pretty darned (ahem) scary, but the glove survived and so did I. The cabling part is done, and now I just need to finish about 3 inches of fingers and the thumb (and now I know how to do that, too).
I was so danged proud of myself, I had to come post about it. I guess it's a pretty dinky thing... it wasn't so bad once I got over the palpitations caused by seeing my work unravel. A small step for knitting, but a big one for me. W00t!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-26 11:19 pm (UTC)I was so danged proud of myself, I had to come post about it. I guess it's a pretty dinky thing... it wasn't so bad once I got over the palpitations caused by seeing my work unravel. A small step for knitting, but a big one for me. W00t!
You should be very proud. I remember the first time I did that. Soooooo scary. But what a sense of accomplishment....
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-26 11:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-26 11:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 12:25 am (UTC)go you.
If you see that woman again, maybe you can buy her a cup of tea?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 01:07 am (UTC)give it a try... you could definitely do this!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 02:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 12:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 01:04 am (UTC)maybe after i pull off a sweater... that's kind of a rite-of-KnitGoddess passage in my mind.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 02:41 am (UTC)Fixing mistakes is definitely the hard part of knitting. And I totally empathize with your sense of panic at the coffee shop -- I know that rush of anxiety. I don't usually get it about knitting stuff, other things mostly, but it's the same feeling. Ooooog.
So glad you soldiered on! Those gloves are incredibly beautiful.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 03:32 am (UTC)You & Lunchboy have been in my thoughts these last few days. Hugs are flying through the ether towards you both!