Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Why the good, the bad and the ugly? I have always thought it to be right up there as one of the all time great movie titles and of course it was a pretty good movie in its day but today it refers to my knitting misadventures.


Firstly this is definately in the good category, I love everything about this knit, the pattern, the yarn, everything. It is The Central Park Hoodie which I am knitting in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran. I love the colour except for the purple fleck, which I don't like at all. You see as a colour, purple would rate as my least favourite, even in miniscule amounts such as in this yarn but everything else more than makes up for it.


The bad part are these dishcloths, not that there is anything wrong with them but look on the cream one, that edging is crochet. Crochet!! Me crochet, I can't crochet but after reading through Debbie Stollers Happy Hooker I managed this trim and next I am going to make a monkey ipod cover, stay tuned. Bad?? well if you are experienced at crochet you might think that it is bad, but as for me I reckon not bad, even if I do say so myself. No honestly I am just stoked to finally be able to produce something that resembles crochet even if it is just an edge.

These dish cloths are two of three I am knitting for a very special woman in the US (that is all I will say for now) as part of the dishcloth exchange I am taking part in. I am still pondering on which pattern to use for #3.


Then there is the ugly, these fingerless gloves have been given this demeaning title not for their looks but that they don't fit!! The reason I am knitting the silly things in the first place is because a friend of mine mentioned that her son wanted a pair of black fingerless gloves. You know how it goes and before I gave any thought to all the knitting and crafting projects on the to do list the following words came gushing out of my mouth "oh I will make him some"!!

Now normally this would not have been a problem as I have made dozens of these things over the years and they are a quick knit but in the past I have always made them out of 8ply on 4mm needles using the same old faithful pattern. But this time I thought that as they were for a 15 year old boy that 5ply on 3.75 would be a bit more masculine, so I found a pattern in the stash and off I went.

After a couple of days the knitting was finished and I sewed one up, thought that I would try it on and see what the finished mitt looked like. *insert scream* it is too small! Now I am not known for having slender, feminine fingers so after hyper ventilating I calmed down and asked Janelle my 14 year old to try them on *insert even louder scream* they were too small even for her. They actually fit my, small for his age, 9 year old perfectly. Oh well go find the good old faithful 8ply pattern and start again and I hope the friends son isn't in too much hurry for them, it is now spring after all.

So there you have it the good, the bad and the ugly. Knitting does not always go according to plan just as our lives don't always go the way we think they will and with that sentiment I will end this post with thoughts of someone who I am sure thought that they had many more crocodiles to wrestle, RIP Steve Irwin.

25 comments:

Becky said...

Hey there - you have been busy ! that central park hoodie looks fab - I'm tempted by that pattern myself - what weight of yarn is it knitting in ?

Well done you for mastering that crochet edge - to a fellow non-crocheter it looks amazing !

Anonymous said...

Well, I am a crocheter -- or I used to be before I got bitten by the knitting bug and I happen to think it doesn't deserve to be in the bad category.

Anonymous said...

You really really can't see very much purple!! Love the crochet: it looks great. Hmm, tiny tiny fingerless mittens, maybe for "Oliver"!!!!!

Rachael Elswyk said...

Go the CPhoodie! Not much purple at all, but with all those lush cables, maybe you won't notice it??
Can't wait to see how the hoodie grows.

Yarnsticksbooks said...

Love the colour of the hoodie, Hope you are enjoying knitting it as much as I am.

Anonymous said...

i cant see purple :P let's just pretend it's not there??? hehehehe

Unknown said...

I'm glad I'm not alone in the "knitting despair room". May be it is the moon's cycle causing things to be too small???

Suzi said...

This sounds like my mantra!

Perhaps it's a general malady striking all knitters as we see our way through the last of the changeable weather?

Suzi

Marina said...

Where's the purple ;-) The hoodie looks great!

Hmm, how about a dishcloth with a "picture" like her state or something else she likes?

AR said...

Your knitting and crocheting(?) look great! Sorry about the fit of the gloves, my 16yr old son wants me to knit some with bones knitted in white on them. Yikes!
We're sorry for Steve Irwin's family's loss, too.

Jennifer said...

I think your crochet looks fabulous!

Tracy Batchelder said...

Congratulations on the crochet trim! I'm crochet challenged too. Have only done little bits of trim here and there...not really for me, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Your CPH looks lovely -- I'd have to massively enlarge your photo on my screen to see any purple. And I'm encouraged by your crochet success -- it looks pretty to me!

Sorry about the gloves -- I do hope your son will be a willing recipient, and you'll find the right gauge for your friend's son.

I was sorry to hear about Steve Irwin too. I don't know him but he seems to have had a lot of fans of the show. What a loss to his family.

Ann said...

For a 1st time attempt at crochet, it's a great job - I can't crochet too, tried to learn but not so successful. I guess we are all humans - not perfect!

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

The hoodie looks great, and I think the purple flecks are great - though that is probably because purple is my favourite colour :o)

Congrats on the crocheting!

Sorry to hear about your gloves. I guess you could always give them to your 9 year old - or some other kid if he doesn't want them...

Anonymous said...

Your hoodie is looking great! I feel ya on the purple, I love my yarn for my hoodie except for the little purple flecks. What's up with that? Thanks for the help on the ribbing also. I think that I will just make it 4" b/c I like things to match like that!

Nana Sadie said...

Whoohoo! Love that crochet edging!!
;) Just beautiful dishcloths!
(((hugs)))

kittensmittens said...

i crocheted before i started knitting. the border looks lovely and you should be proud of it.

the fingerless gloves story cracks me up.

Nora said...

I love your crochet and hoodie! Your last paragraph was spot-on. What a loss...

Larjmarj said...

I know what you mean about the best laid plans...oh well life and knitting goes on. Nice job on the crochet, not hard but I find the patterns more difficult to read.

MsFortuknit said...

seriously shar

where do you get the time to knit so much so wonderfully!? Hope all is well especially your Taylor!

My Five Sons said...

LOL, I have just wrapped up your Flamingo in...... Purple paper!!!!
Glad I read your post before I posted,
Yes I have been slack,I haven't posted it yet,the bills are lucky to be on time in this house merely because when I come home from work thats it ,I stay put!!!

Craftybernie said...

I love your trim. I'm a huge 1fan of Debbie Stoller's SnB Crochet book and I've caught the crochet bug big time. Your dishcloths look really nice.

X

Tori said...

Hi There, I've been trying to find the gateralec dishcloth pattern. I know it is probably "right in front of me" but I can't find it right now. Do you happen to have the link to the directions handy? Thanks, toriforest@sbcglobal.net
P.S. I like the first two dishcloths you made!

Unknown said...

Congrats on the crochet trim i have always wanted to try but not quite game.