Today Archie and Fergus are coming – Fergus to stay, at
least overnight. He’s having an exeat from school, or something of the sort,
and we are all going out to a rather wonderful-sounding Turkish cafe for lunch.
I will have to do some scrambling, to have lunch to leave with the carer for my
husband and also to make provision for the other three weekend meals. Archie is
on the very verge of his A-Level exams and for him, life is real, life is
earnest. He’ll go back to school after delivering Fergus and lunching.
The news on the local knitting front is that, at last, I
re-engaged with the Sous Sous. I cast off the front shoulders and sewed them to
the back shoulders, not without difficulty. There is a narrow ribbed edging to
the very deep v-neck at the front. The instruction is to leave it on a safety
pin on one side, and knit it onwards by itself on the other, until long enough
to reach across the back neck.
I did that, and then grafted it to those stitches on the
safety pin, being very careful not to twist. Then I tried to sew it to the back
neck, and found that it was twisted.
That’s where I am now, or a bit beyond – I have un-grafted,
and am ready to do it again. The important thing is that the Sous Sous is back
in my hands, and I think the worst is over. I should be able to pick up
stitches for at least one sleeve today.
....
That much, I wrote last night, expecting to post this morning. I didn't manage that, but I got everything else done and we had a fine lunch and my husband was well cared for. In the
afternoon I started measuring down the Sous Sous for the sleeves.
I found myself wondering why the back was unfinished at the
bottom edge, while the front had a nice little edging. After only a very little
pondering of this problem, I found the answer: the back has been attached
upside down. Its nice little edging is subsumed in the shoulder seams.
I am sure you can imagine my state of near-despair. All I
have got to do is un-graft the neck edging (again), unpick its attachment to
the back neck, and unpick the shoulder seams. It doesn’t sound too bad, put
like that. But…
Oh, my dear, these are the times that are sent to try us! Glare at it sternly and put it on a time out. It is certainly too late of an evening for it to have pulled so cruel a prank on you.
ReplyDeleteI'd let it sit in time-out until around May 24th, when Mercury will no longer be retrograde. (When in doubt, blame the planets!)
DeleteI remember a dress, years ago, that had the sleeves put in and taken out - upside down, inside out, left sleeve on the right side - I think it worked on the fourth try. And that was just sewing fabric.
What an evil sweater. Give it a stern talking-to and put it in time out as Judith recommends.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely time out. Naughty sweater. Some soothing time with a sock would be my advise. And all will be better tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteOh. My. Gosh! That sweater is just picking on you! But just think how lovely it will be when you get it finished. While I support the idea of giving it a timeout, make it a short time out. It really should not become a terminal UFO !
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry, Jean. I completely understand. My sous sous is at nearly the same stage- the front and back are done(I hope) and I have sewn one shoulder seam, ..but I don't like the way it looks, and will probably rework it. But the merino I'm knitting with is starting to look over-worked-it's getting thin and some plys are breaking....and while I have enough yarn left for the sleeves, I'm not confident that I have much more than just enough. So, I'll probably put it down for a bit-I am joining my husband for a short business trip to Aldermaston in a week, and I must research yarn opportunities in the greater Reading environs. I remain almost hopeful that I will muster the enthusiasm necessary to complete this sweater, but I am amazed at the effort it has required. It may be small comfort but, at least you don't have to rip out any knitting!
ReplyDeleteFabulous yarn shop neat Basingstoke
Deletehttp://www.packlanewool.co.uk/
Helpful staff huge range of wool - the shop its adjacent to a bungalow on a road into town 7 miles from Aldermaston
Ugh, did you resist the temptation to throw it at the wall in a fit of pique?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I did to an unco-operative sleeve and it paid dividends, becoming most compliant.
I sympathize with your feelings - we've all been there! But judging by the comments I've seen on Ravelry it will be all worth it. One or two people made comments about the fit of the sleeves so that might be a good point to try on. Just a heads up in case it is needed. I'm certainly no expert. Chloe
ReplyDeleteI hope when this garment is finally done that your can enjoy wearing it - don't think of the long list of hassles in the making.
ReplyDeleteI am so curious to see the finished project.
Enjoy the grandsons' visit!
LisaRR
Oh, Jean! I'm sorry but I burst out laughing. What else can you do? I have made the same mistakes three times in a row after ripping them out. Sometimes a time out is in order for my own sanity. I read Tamar's comment and remembered a shirt I made years ago that has the cuffs and the vents upside down because I'd put L and R in the other armholes. I didn't discover until after all the fancy finishing, so they had to be worn rolled up.
ReplyDelete