Do you ever have a knitting project that you really want to make, and things go OK for most of it, until they don't and then you are Just.Done. ??
That happened to me with this project. You may or may not recall that at the beginning of last summer, I started knitting the Strawberry Field Socks. I was knitting along, loving the pattern, and then I tugged on the yarn and was faced with the most incredible amount of yarn barf ever. I made a concerted effort to untangle the yarn, and gave up when it just wasn't happening. The yarn was chucked into the trash, and I moved on to another project. But in the back of my mind, I still wanted to knit that pattern.
Fast forward to this summer, when I came across the perfect yarn in my stash, and decided to give it a try again. It started out really well, and again, I was enjoying the pattern.
Because I was in a bit of a knitting slump, and just wanted to get the pair finished, I decided to make the foot of the pair plain, thinking it would make the whole thing go more quickly. And soon sock #1 was completed.
I wasn't zooming along, but all was well. I was moving down the leg of sock #2, and it happened again - yarn barf. Ugh. I put the whole thing down for a few days, and then tried to untangle this yarn. This time though, it was not as much of a mess, and I managed to get it untangled with only a minimum of aggravation.
The problem? At this point, I just wanted to get the things finished. It felt like I'd been knitting this particular pair for approximately 2 years. So I carried on, but sadly did not really pay the attention I should have to the stitch pattern, so there was a lot of fudging around and just making it work, because I did not want to pull it out and re-knit where the mistakes had been. I finished the leg, and the rest of it went along for the most part without major incident, but with other mistakes and fudging along happening pretty often.
Thank the Lord, they are FINALLY finished!
Project: Hot Mess Socks
Pattern: Strawberry Field, by Sirkku Siiskonen (I made the 38 size)
Yarn: Cedar Hill Farm Company Mission Sock, in the Sweet Strawberry colorway
Needles: US size 1
Modifications: I knit the foot plain. Though I wish I'd done the pattern down the foot. But it was not to be.
I am happy with the finished socks. I love the color, and unless you are holding the socks in your hand, and looking at them closely, you can't see where the fudging occurred. I love the color of the yarn. I think I will like these socks a LOT more once I take them out of my Box o' Socks next year and have forgotten how sick I got of knitting them. With all of the issues related to just finishing this pair, I decided Hot Mess Socks was the perfect name for them.
Fortunately, the current pair I'm knitting are going along much better (plain socks help out), and I'm more in the mood to knit them anyway, so it's all good.
On that note, I wish you a lovely weekend, filled with knitting - if that's what you are in the mood to do - and other good stuff. I have plans to do nothing in particular, and am looking forward to it. :-)
10 comments:
So cute!!! That pattern went right into my queue.
Love the name - Hot Mess!! Perfect. The yarn really is very, very pretty and I think the socks look great. Congratulations on the long awaited finish!! Here's to a great weekend - enjoy.
I do love your new socks, and totally commiserate with the 'hot mess' aspect of knitting.
Perseverance definitely payed off because the socks look great. I think every knitter frequently "fudges" on projects; I know that I do.
I think the socks look great from here, Bridget! Perfect, in fact. So sorry you struggled along the way. Some projects are just that way . . . hot messes! Here's to wishing you continued smooth sailing with your current project. Enjoy your wide-open, no plans weekend! (Those are my personal favorites.) XO
i stopped pulling from the center of center pull balls because of the potential for yarn barf. i solely pull from around the outside now and it's so much better!
these are beautiful btw
WOO HOO.....finishing a project that's been hanging around too long feels so good-and know body knows that better than I do. I never seem to finish much of anything anymore.
At least you got through it in the end. And they are lovely socks!
I think the socks look great in my view, and I hope you come to love them!
I could name a number of my projects "Hot Mess"!
I have had that pattern in my queue for years. It's very cute, and I love the color you chose. But I'm a bit hesitant to start it. What if I find it as tedious as you did!
Post a Comment