Steeky Steek Steek Steek

Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones. -- Bruce Garrabrandt

It was a sunny day on Vancouver Island today. It's been so grey and overcast and foggy over the past couple of weeks that the few days of sunshine drive all of us outside in droves. I was tired today, but we did venture out to run a couple of errands and to go for a walk by the water in Nanaimo. We had a pleasant lunch outside in the sun and then walked back through the park to the car. On the way back, we noticed a few people standing at the bottom of a slope looking up, holding their phones up and taking photos. It took me a while to figure out what was happening:

A wee family of otters was camped out near the shrubs. I guess they wanted a family outing on a sunny day as well:

I haven't been sleeping all that well, so I took a nap when I got home but then woke up craving a taste of home. I decided to try my hand at making palitaw, which is like the Filipino version of mochi, except it takes literally a minute to cook. I've never made it by myself before, and it was a little soggy after cooking, but it was so good that I ate three before I managed to take a photo of them:

Meanwhile on the knitting front: I was really hoping that I'd have the sleeves on this thing by the weekend. I finished the sides and joined everything together and was getting ready to pick up stitches around the armholes to start the sleeves. I decided to pop it over my head to try it on and was immediately disappointed to see that I'd made the armholes too large and the neck too deep. I stood in front of the mirror with a frown on my face for a few minutes before taking it off:

I thought I could remedy the situation by adding a ribbed neckline border around the square neckline, but the longer I thought about it, the more I hated the idea. The problem really was that I'd overshot the length of the shoulder "straps." Ordinarily, I would just unravel them from the top until I got it short enough, but I couldn't do that this time because I used a sideways construction (knitted from the centre outwards to the sides). 

This is what happens when you decide to go all "experimental" with your knitting. There. Are. Consequences.

I pouted in the living room for a while last night while watching an episode of Dirty Jobs, and then I decided I'd better stop feeling sorry for myself and do something about it. So I brought out my sewing machine and used it for exactly the purpose I originally bought it for: I did a steek:

Steeking, for the uninitiated, is when you used sewn stitches to secure the fabric of a knitted item so that you can cut it without it unraveling. I used a mattress stitch and a darning needle to sew the shoulder seams at a height that looked better, leaving the extra fabric on the inside. Then I used my sewing machine and tight zigzag stitch and stitched the heck out of those seams before I took a deep breath and cut the excess fabric off. I don't think I can use any of the yarn from these scraps, but I feel a need to hang onto them for some reason. False security is still security in a way:

I am much happier now with the size of the armholes. The height of the neckline is much better, but it is still a smidge too wide. I've decided to knit the sleeves before I figure out how I feel about the neckline width, and then I will tackle the rolling hem at the bottom. It's getting there, slowly but surely:

While this top is pretty messy and has quite a few issues I still need to address, I am quite pleased with the progress so far and am feeling quite proud of how I've been able to use techniques I've gathered up over the years to work through each idea. It is really very nourishing for me to use my brain this way... it feels exciting and fresh and bright, which are all these I need to feel so desperately these days.

I think it's time to go get a cup of tea and have some palitaw. I hope you are well. Have a good week.