Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Backtracking (and Grumpy)

Ever since I cast off the tweedy, chunky, moss and cable jacket (called Murney for now, but that's only a placeholder name), I've been meaning to go back and remove the short rows I put in at the base of the cowl neck. The problem is, I knew all along that it wasn't going to be fun because it would involve:
1. removing at least 2 buttons and their woven-in ends,
2. undoing the I-cord (with its woven-in ends) from one side and all around the neck,
3. ripping back to the shoulders, and
4. figuring out where in all the short rows and wraps I was.
And, oh yeah,
5. Re-doing the cowl neck with cables, the I-cord, and the buttons.
I've been procrastinating, until this morning when I found myself sort of between projects. With the latest "Buttonbox" frogged and yarn for the new version not yet here, I resolved to get on with it. So, I tackled it after breakfast.
First, here's a view of the neck with the short rows making a kind of back-of-the-neck bump. Good if there wasn't going to be a cowl neck, not so good with one in place.

I made lots of raspberry-coloured spaghetti.


Luckily, I bought this yarn on sale (for about $3 per ball) and have lots of extra yardage, so I didn't even bother to wash and re-block the frogged yarn.
BTW, Kathmandu is my favourite chunky, tweedy yarn, a blend of merino, cashmere, and silk (not superwash!) with terrific yardage. It's being discontinued and is currently on sale (though not as low as $3) at WEBS. I ordered a couple of bags yesterday before it disappears.
I picked up all the live stitches I could find and looked at everything carefully to sort out where I was in the shoulder shaping. I worked a couple of rows. There were some strange holes-- I'd forgotten to do some wraps. After some more frogging and re-knitting everything seemed to be proceeding fairly smoothly. My mood was definitely getting better.


After lunch, I walked the couple of blocks to the post office and picked up something that's going to keep me going until I get this job done.


BT's Shelter in "Almanac". It's calling to me, but I'll be good. Work before play, right?