a post on (g)knitting(k)

I have a touch of the knitting ADD meets knitting bipolar disorder. I go for years without picking up needles, and go manic and all I do is knit. However the ADD kicks in when I never go much beyond stockinette and seed patterns. In theory I know how to knit in the round, tend to think that by and large dpns are better than circulars (although it DOES depend on the project), but I can't do short rows, cables frighten me, and have never been more adventurous than scarves (rectangles are good) with single colors.

So December 2003, I told my lovely Mary W. that I'd make her a scarf. A pink scarf to suit her pink obsession (sort of like me with orange, or more recently, kermit green). And I decided I'd do multiple colors in stripes, not rows. And since I was feeling uber-adventurous, I'd do random racing stripes instead of knitting the colors one into the next. I didn't get started until January of this year. And a HUGE portion of the project was dividing the 3 colors of yarn into 7 (yes, seven!) different working skeins. (My dad's engineering background came in handy when it came to putting them on nifty cardboard winders of his design that were finalized in about their 9th incarnation). And I started off rustily, as it had been about 3 years since I'd thought in that methodical knit-purl, cross over, blah blah blah, and it was uneven, I fidgeted around with a pattern that was quickly abandonded...however not abandoned quickly enough to make the frogging worth my effort... And I trudged. Slowly, slowly, slowly. I made some real progress when I first moved to Denver and didn't have a job. And suddenly, it was mid-December, I was going to California in 10 days, and 1 year later this scarf was about 5' long, which was FAR too short for it's 14" width. So I've knitted like a madwoman, and decided that it would NEVER be finished in enough time to bring back to CA. So I got inventive. And worked off of the slipknot function of the scarf that people seem to use (I personally prefer enormously long yet skinny scarves - about 8-9'L x 4"w so as to wrap like mad around my neck without being too bulky or making me claustrophobic). And I decided I'd knit a hole into the end of the scarf, so as to slip the other end through and lessen the need for length. And then I tapered it down at the end so that the 50-odd stitches narrowed to 3.

And it looks like crap. After a year of putting it off, I can't even in good conscience give it to miss Mary.

So, Mary, my darling, I've gotten a yarn selection I prefer, I'm going to buy some dpn's (about size 15, with the chunky yarn), make a tube scarf, and if I'm lucky make a matching hat. Because I suck, and I'm sorry. But I still love you!!!