I Hate it When This Happens

Happily knitting along on my Wonderful Wallaby and my right hand feels a lump.

I hate it when this happens!

I hate it when this happens!

Thankfully, I’m knitting with wool and since it’s a natural fiber, I can do a “spit join” and it will be a seamless (and end-less … read this as no ends to weave in) way to keep on knitting.

To do this, all you have to do is:

1) cut out the knot with your handy dandy scissors

2) separate the plies from each end of the yarn

3) mine was 4-ply. I cut out two plies from each end of the yarn

After separating the plies, cut out half of them & wet both ends and lay them together again

After separating the plies, cut out half of them & wet both ends and lay them together again

4) “spit” on the yarn (or dip it into some water) and hold the two ends together and rub them between your two hands. The heat and agitation will bind the fibers … like magic!

Magic! Ready to knit on!

Magic! Ready to knit on!

5) knit on!

Gone knitting!

Making the Big Decisions

Last summer I bought the most beautiful yarn at the Maine Fiber Frolic.

Seacolors Yarn

Seacolors Yarn

 

And I also got a “free” pattern with the sweater. I really liked the idea of the boxy cardigan with this yarn using a random pattern with the three colors. Different sleeves. Not too matchy-matchy.

Over the summer and fall, I got all the pieces knitted and was ready to put them together. The shoulders and sleeves, though, didn’t fit. They were at least two inches off (the sleeves were too small for the space that they were supposed to fit into). Well, what to do?

I mulled it over and decided that I had to re-knit the sleeves. Frog them and re-knit them with more increases so that they’d fit into the space … and then as I prepared to frog the sleeves and re-knit them, I noticed that I had (for some unknown reason) joined two balls of yarn in the middle of the back right about exactly where it would be most noticeable. What was I thinking? So, I decided to frog the back to the join and re-knit that, too. And then when I got that far down and was ready to rejoin the yarn, I noticed that I did it not once, but twice and there was another join just about two inches below the first one.

A second join in the middle of the back ... what was I thinking?

A second join in the middle of the back … what was I thinking?

 

That did it. I frogged the whole sweater. It went from this …

All the pieces were finished and blocked

All the pieces were finished and blocked …

To this … in just a few minutes!IMG_1420

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh well, that’s one of the most wonderful things about knitting … you can start anything over if it isn’t pleasing you. This one wasn’t pleasing me at all. But I do love the yarn!

And if anyone is wondering why we may be allergic to wool? Well, check out what was left on my desk after I frogged and re-wound the wool!

Wool dust ... ahhhhh - choo!

Wool dust … ahhhhh – choo!

 

Gone knitting!