Knitting Woes

Today I write of my frustration with a knitting project that just doesn't like me. Two years ago around this time of year I was given a sweater pattern which I liked and decided to try. Now I am not the world's most accomplished knitter but I've made dozens of mittens on four needles, a few toques, sweaters, and an afghan. Anyhow, I purchased a lovely dark royal blue yarn, soft to the touch but sturdy enough to last. Soon I was well into the project, knitting rapidly whenever I got the chance. (I love to do this while watching TV.) I got into a problem with some of the instructions and took them to the store where I had purchased the wool. They didn't know but gave me the times when a super knitter would be in the store so I could ask her.

A few days later I went back and this super knitter gave me her take on the instructions. Needless to say, I was glad to get that help. Home I went and tried her suggestions but we still didn't have it. I called the store and was told they had no one to help. What to do? Where to go? I thought and thought until finally I remembered a friend's mother just outside the village who was a super knitter. I took the project to her and she worked on it for a couple of days. When I got it back, she had ripped back a few rows to fix the problem and reknit the piece. I was elated. She told me how to continue and I did, finishing the five larger pieces--back, two sleeves, and two fronts--in short order.

It was time to put it all on a circular needle to knit the yoke but spring had sprung and my thoughts were on the outdoors so I shelved the project till fall. Only thing is I let another whole winter go by till I picked it up this fall. Putting all the pieces on the circular needle took some doing but I managed to succeed. Then beading got in the way for a couple of weeks. Finally, I started the forty-some rows of the yoke. This would be a snap! Well, maybe not. Once again, a funny instruction got the better of me. This was was Sl1K, which was defined as slip one knitwise. What the heck is knitwise?

I pondered for a couple of days, tried a few things, ended up ripping them out, and finally called my super knitter. "Haven't you got that sweater finished yet?" she teased and then easily explained that knitwise means as though you are going to knit the stitch. Simple. Off I went again, but all too soon I was sure something was wrong and it was. This time I figured out what the pattern had left out (pulling the yarn forward and then back again after the stitch.) I'm getting smarter, I thought. I worked across the 300 or so stitches but when I got to the end of the row, I realized I had made a mistake as the pattern didn't come out evenly. I was short two stitches. And I put it down. I give up. I am going to call Elsie and see if she can finish it for me, but first I have to rip out most or all of that row. Maybe some day I'll have a completed sweater but not any time soon.