I wasn't going to post anything about this until it was done, but I've never done anything this big before, and I need a little encouragement. I'm making an afghan from Teddy's and Latte's wool. It was originally just going to be from Teddy's wool, but I realized fairly quickly that I wouldn't have enough, so I decided to also use Latte. Teddy is a brown and white spotted ram -- my only brown and white spotted sheep, so I decided to mix it with Latte's wool, since he's a fawn color. I think it will take at least two years worth of wool from both boys -- maybe more. It will be Teddy's wool on both ends, and Latte's wool in the middle. I'm using two strands of double-ply yarn that Katherine is spinning for me. I thought it would go faster than it's going, but then I'm making it big enough to fit on our full-size bed in the guest room.
Things were going along perfectly until the past week. First, I knitted a row that I should have perled, so I had to unknit that entire row, which was terribly disheartening, since each row has something like 140 stitches in it, and it takes about twice as long to unknit as it takes to knit. Then I was working on it when Carmen went into labor, and I immediately stopped in the middle of a row to come home. I never stop in the middle of a row. When I picked it back up yesterday, I started knitting in the wrong direction. When I got back to the stitch I'd started on, I knew something was wrong but couldn't figure it out. Had I dropped a stitch? No. But what had I done? It obviously did not look right! I asked Margaret to look at it, and at first she had the most puzzled look on her face, then suddenly her eyes got huge, and she gasped, "Oh, no!"
"That sounds bad," I said. "What is it?" When she explained what I'd done, I whined, "No! No, no, no!" like a two-year-old. So, I started unknitting again. Being the sweet daughter that she is, she offered to do some of it for me. As she pointed out, it's much less frustrating to unknit something that is not your own project. I agree.
5 comments:
I think you are courageous for tackling such a BIG project! It looks beautiful, and I can close my eyes and imagine snuggling up in its wooly warmth. You might just have to make several, so each of the kids can take one with them as their "launching" gift. What a treasure that would be for them! Knit on...and on...and on....
Just hang in there..I've been knitting a very long time (probably longer than you are old!) and stuff happens.
I knit an afghan with my second spinning project and it was a lot of work. You are lucky enough to have a spinner in your midst and some extra help with "froggin"
It is an incredible gift of love. Good job -- it will be fine.
So far so good I believe :-D. Very pretty! My neighbor had to make me unknit stuff when I first started knitting, but now I realize that it really doesn't "hurt" that bad and I am willing to tink or frog anything so that I really like the finished product. Hang in there - you're doing great!
It's GORGEOUS! I love the colors. I'm still working on the Queen sized blanket that I'm knitting from one of my former sheep. I had to buy his fleece from his new owner to keep going! It's WAY too hot to work on it in the summer so I only knit it in the winter. It's a perfect project for me to work on in my FIFTY degree house....
Thanks everyone for the encouragement! That's a great idea, Michelle, to make one for each of my kids! Now, I really have to get knitting! And oh, Nancy, it keeps me warm and toasty while I'm working on it. I only started this fall, and it covers my lap, so I'd better finish it before summer, or I won't want to work on it then.
To think that I originally wanted only black, gray, and white sheep! Now my browns are my favorites.
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