Right. Here's the scoop.Western Seas.
It's hard to get a decent picture of her, seeing how I chose to work her in NAVY BLUE. The original design is from Alice and Jade Starmore's "The Children's Collection", with an amendment purchased through Virtual Yarns. The finished gansey will be a classic - something I'll be able to wear for years to come. Geez, the damn thing is so dense (and I don't mean dense as in a can short of a six-pack) that it'll probably keep out the rain better than my MEC raincoat... And warmer too, I might add. But the problem - she's a bitch to knit, pardon my french.
I. Cannot. Get. Past. The. Miles. Of. Freakin'. Stockinette.
Knitsters, it's brutal. I don't know what it is. When it comes to plain stocking stitch, I'm OK as long as it's some nifty variegated yarn, or at least color changes from time to time. Want to make Brigitte's lower lip tremble? Make me knit stockinette in 100% cotton. I admire anyone who can work almost exclusively in st st. But, this is just proving to be demoralizing! At the end of the day, the dark blue makes me drowsy, and even though I've been knitting for a couple of hours, I don't feel as though I've accomplished anything. The specs on Western Seas: 5-ply authentic gansey yarn - AS "Scottish Fleet" (it may make a lovely piece of fabric, but cashmere it ain't), 296 sts knit in the round on 3mm, with a tension of 30st and 40 rows to 10cm. For the body, which is the kick in the teeth part, I need to work approx. 30cm (about 12") of stocking stitch above the border section before hitting THE GUSSET, dammit. Oh, yay, there'll be more stitches to work then! Do the math. I don't have the heart. I've managed about only oh, 5" in about 4 months... What the hell was I thinking.
So, it's hard to motivate myself to want to pick it up and say - 'hey Brigitte, let's work on breaking your spirit tonight'... But, it is a gansey that deserves to be made! Kind of making it difficult on myself, isn't it? Which is why I said to myself - 'Self, time to get you to the MLC Knit-a-Long'. Put it out in the open. Commit yourself to ONE NIGHT a week (with any luck, my support pager will go off on those nights...but I digress) of working on Western Seas, and be forced to report in on your progress once a week. I know there's my blog, but I need someone to shame me into progress.
There you have it. I think Western Seas will be posted on the "Misery Loves Company" blog today, so look out for it! *sigh*
Also, a BIG THANK YOU for all of your good wishes! I am feeling much better, and have learned my lesson...
Hey! It's Canada Day tomorrow!
Happy Canada Day from myself and the Little Dudes to you!
5 comments:
It will be so worth it! I'm with you, though - miles of stockinette or miles of garter stitch are sheer torture unless you have something to distract you. (you know, interesting textures, fun colors, tequila; something like that)
One night a week is a good start. Think how warm, cozy and dry you'll be in the coming winter and lots more after that.
Happy Canada Day!
Hmm, can you distract yourself with a book or a good movie on those nights, so you don't get so bogged down in the boredom?
A book, a movie, company? I feel your pain. That stupid big Critter Blanket I'm slogging away on is all stockinette stitch and if it wasn't for charity and poor shelter animals, I'd probably leave it somewhere. (The fact that it started life as.......something, who knows what, baffles me. What was I thinking?)
Happy Canada Day!
I feel for you, won't let myself even swatch for a gansey. The crew over at MLC will keep you right good company (and hopefully keep you awake!) and Junieann will share bandaids :)
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