There it is, the monster. At this exact moment, I caught myself wondering whether I should continue to knit on this thing, or should I rip it out and repurpose the yarn? I have been knitting this since about the middle of July last year, and it's hung over my head and on my needles, taunting me, torturing me, luring me to attempt to finish it and wear it to school during the cold seasons. Should I stay or should I go?
Last night the Emperor and I put on the first Hobbit movie, and I worked on the Monster, as I'm calling it right now. Hilariously, despite all of the extra stitches on those needles, it seemed to go faster. From here out, the monotony of the miles of stockinette is broken into sections, with decreases and a fancy-ish raglan line on the shoulders. The worst of this is the purl row, but even that went more quickly because I had to note stitch numbers, do variations, and just generally pay attention periodically.
Okay, here's the deal. If I finish this cardi, try it on, and think it looks horrible, I will not hesitate to rip it out and recondition and repurpose this yarn. Even if it took me a year to do. I've been sensible about other garments (Dahlia Cardigan, I'm looking at you), I can be sensible about this one, too.
The reason I thought about doing this project in the first place is that I have three other sweaters in the closet with similar lines and construction, all of them commercially made. Two of them have three-quarter length sleeves and are of light yarn, and the third one is a polyester fabric and is sewn (and I confess, it's my favorite of the three). I also have two of those hankerchief hem flyaway cardis, and I like them, although they pile up a lot of fabric on a part of my body that doesn't need any more bulk. So I know I like the shape and style of this sweater I'm knitting. I measured myself, checked gauge, and everything should work out and fit all right. It's just possible I'm going through a phase in this project, where I taunt myself and think about pulling it all out to no effect.
Yesterday I went over to my friend A--'s to spin. I've got another long-term project going in spinning, too -- that Corriedale roving that used to be in the left sidebar of my old-version blog. I'm still working on that, and have about 700 yards of very nice two-ply DK/sport weight yarn to show for it. I plan to use it to knit a Cloud Chaser Vest but I'll need at least that much more yarn to get it done. I have plenty of roving in the correct color -- I did that much right several years ago, when I bought it at the Estes Park Wool Market. Part of the problem with this roving is that it's kind of hard to spin. When I first got it, I spun a sample right off the roving, and gloried in the slight texture; it has pink bits and greeny-blue bits, in a silvery silky strand when it's spun. I also tried one of my favorite techniques, which is to hand-card it and then spin from the rolag. That method gave me an easy spin, but it smoothed out the texture too much, and I lost the fabulous colored bits. So I elected to spin it from the roving, and it's been a long uphill slog. When I was still living 'Way Out West and getting together with The Amazing A-- to spin regularly, I made some progress and that's how I managed to get seven hundred yards spun. But since moving here to Smack In The Middle, my spinning has slowed to a crawl and I've spun maybe fifty yards of this silvery stuff.
There's a crimp in the crafting getalong: space, and The Publication. The craft room is still in chaos, and part of the reason is that I've been trying to get real work done, as in serious worky work. The kind you make money doing. I need to get one article published in the next couple years in order to keep this job I love so much, and I've been having a heck of a time finishing one and sending it off to a publisher. I've got two pieces almost ready, and for some reason have been both putting it off and finding other honestly more pressing things to do. It's almost like I want to sabotage myself and I need to stop doing it and get on the lickin' stick.
Okay, here's a promise: today, I will email the editor of a history journal I know, and ask him if I can send my article that I've been working on. I will report back here later tonight and either say in triumph that I did it, or will confess that I didn't. That is the first step in getting the job done.
The other stuff I need to do today: I will go to the mall and see if they have a pair of shoes that I can wear for winter; that hunt really does need to start today. I need to vacuum the house, to counter the potato bug invasion of the past couple of days. I need to prepare at least one lecture text to record and put in the course I'm developing.
I need to put this computer down and get my happy tuchas in gear.
Later: I did not email the journal editor. I got three (of seven) lectures not only written but recorded and posted, with their transcripts. I began the shoe hunt but came up empty-handed (or rather, footed). I have not yet vacuumed the house. So the glass is both half empty and half full.
Several days later: House is vacuumed, but potato bug invasion continues. Editor emailed, response received, and article will be published next year. Sweater still in progress despite pause to make new dishcloth.
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