This is just a brief little note to myself that is based on perseverance. I struggled for the first two rows on the Fair Isle vest. I was determined to do everything according to Meg Swanson's video. I was going to set up my pattern work just like Meg.
Okay, Okay! Not exactly like Meg's vest, but close.
So after unknitting the second row not once, not twice, but three times, I screamed. I am sure that this is early onset dementia. I cannot believe this could be so hard. I got to the last stitch, and I was one stitch off somewhere in 288 stitches! ARGGGGH!
Why was this so hard? I have done Fair Isle before. I have done charts before. I have done more complicated knitting than this. What is wrong?
I went to bed so frustrated that my eyes were watering from trying to read the damn chart. I lay in bed thinking about the damn thing, and I finally gave up and went back into the living room/knitting room and went back over the thing from the beginning. I finally found the mistake within the first 20 stitches, which meant I would have to unknit back to that mistake. The next day, of course.
Well, after a fitful night of sleep, I tackled the dreaded vest thing while I was fresh and the light was bright. I unknit to the mistake, counted out loud, and got to the end without a mistake. And I did what I had been taught by my grandmother-I set up markers in certain places that tell me if I am on track. And it worked! I went back to my own way of doing the thing, and it worked!
I am cruising along now with one OXO and one Peerie finished. I am on the second OXO and I am sailing along. I know immediately when I have a mistake and I unknit back to that spot and continue on without frustration. Sorry Meg-I can't do it your way. I have to do it my way.
And one might ask-Why is it so hard to get this thing going? It is because I am centering the pattern so that there is the center of an X on the front and the center of an O on the back. It makes it "pleasing" to the eye. Or something like craziness.
Anyway, now I am unsure if I like the color of the Peerie. I am going to look at it again in the daylight. It seems awful bright to me. Like "Look at me" bright instead of blending in pretty. I am unsure if I can actually unknit that much knitting. Is it worth it?
My brown semi-gansey is still growing, but it is slow going. I pick it up when my eyes bother me from chart work. And it is faster knitting than two-hand stranded work.
I can actually do the Fair Isle while t.v. is going now. So my method is working. I only made one mistake last night, and I figured it out before the marker came up.
No other news. My neighbors are gone for a coupla months, and I am getting the mail, the newspaper, and checking on the house once a week. I talked to one of their sons and he wanted to make sure I would call him for anything that goes on at his folks house. This is my third winter to do this and I can't understand why everyone is so nervous this year.
I leave you with these two definitions. People tell me I am stubborn, and I can be bullheaded. But there is a big difference. Have a good weekend.
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