The Whining Phase
Art is longing. You never arrive, but you keep going in the hope that you will. --Anselm Kiefer
I was really hoping I would have a finished project to share today, but this project is really trying hard to earn the title "epic."
Maybe I've just forgotten how long it takes to finish a bottom-up sweater after joining the sleeves onto the piece. Maybe I've had to make time for other stuff, like work and house chores and cleaning up the garden, and giving my dog a haircut. I'm sure those are probably valid reasons for the delayed finish.
But I can't stop thinking about how difficult this whole project has been from the start, from weird sizing to inaccurate schematics to vague instructions. And what makes it even more frustrating is how many different stitches and stitch counts to keep track of. It's been so frustrating.
When I separated the stitches to start the v-neck shaping, it took me an hour (!) to figure out the instructions for making the neck cable work. I ended up staring intensely at the photo in the magazine and just fiddling with my stitches to make it match. I also don't think the instructions for the neckline are entirely complete. The photo in the magazine shows a neckline that is nearly like an i-cord along the edge, but the instructions do not describe how to create this. I'm winging it there as well. On top of all of this, I keep messing up the faggoting stitches and having to let down several rows to fix them. I know: at this stage, I could just fudge it and keep going, but I figure I've struggled with it this long that I might as well make it as perfectly as I can.
I think I've descended to the whining phase. I'll stop in a minute. I hate criticizing someone else's design. I just wish, wish, wish it was better. I think it'll be great when it's done. I am much happier every time I stop to try it on. I hope the end result is really worth all this hassle:
Meanwhile, I've been gathering up yarn like it's going out of style. I think I'm just desperate to be finished with this sweater that my eyes have been straying all over the show. I managed to score a Crystal Colourways Fade Set from Tanis Fiber Arts during her last pre-order. I kept missing the online shop updates and had resigned myself to never being able to get a set, but I finally wised up and signed up for her newsletter and was able to get myself in line for these beauties. (Imagine that: figuring out a problem instead of whining about it. Heh.) They're really different from what I would normally buy, but I am really interested in seeing how these will work together in fade-style sweater:
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