Dear Kay,
You know how a knitting project has a narrative arc to it—all that Joseph Campbell hero’s journey stuff? “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
Exactly! That’s us!
Well, this Moroccan Nights pullover is proving to be a region of supernatural wonder, that’s for sure. A very mild region. It just doesn’t take much, people. For example, this:
Challenges
Those are the eight stitches I added under the armhole. It’s a knitted cast on—purled, actually, because you have to purl to get the yarn where it needs to be to keep going. I anticipated those eight stitches for at least two weeks. Could I purl a knitted cast on? The answer is yes.
Even more thrilling was the start of the new cable that will sprout from my underarm once I finish this sweater. I’m not sure how I feel about cables sprouting from my underarm. Did Odysseus have cables sprouting from his underarm? I just don’t know. But in terms of knitting drama, this was good stuff.
I sailed through a deep, blue sea of double moss stitch until . . .
Temptations
Remember my fear of spontaneous ribbing, the phenomenon that occurs when you blow your moss stitch and do consecutive rows of knit-purl instead of alternating a knit-purl row with a purl-knit row? Yeah. That happened.
I noticed an irregularity three rows down. Like every monster, once you see spontaneous ribbing, you can’t unsee it. And it ran right across the front of the sweater. I did all the traditional negotiating, including the harebrained idea that I could reverse the purls and knits for three rows down, a hundred stitches across. It would have been the equivalent of knitting without knitting needles, as if I were on a boat in the Aegean with a pile of seaweed and a desire to make a bathmat, but no circs on hand.
You have to understand, I found the spontaneous ribbing when I was maybe two feet from finishing ball number 2 of the Frangipani 5-ply Guernsey yarn. Unknitting meant backward motion, which is never a good thing in a hero’s journey. I finally caved and performed the retrograde dis-knitting, taking me back to an annoying ball.
Onward I knit. Surely nothing else will happen on this journey. Definitely not headed for an abyss of death and rebirth or anything.
Side note: A navy blue pullover is just about the worst possible thing to have in proximity to a Persian cat.
Finally, I have a question. I have been a part of the online knitting world for over a decade, yet just last week I discovered a giant online hotbed of knitterly chitchat that I had no idea existed. Knittingparadise.com. It’s a set of forums, totally stripped down, yet there are a ton of knitters over there yakking it up 24/7. What the heck? Nobody tells me anything! Are you a part of Knitting Paradise? Is that where I’ll end up when I finish this hero’s journey?
Love,
Ann
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But soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, Ann handed her a tangled mass of whine-dark yarn and said, “αποτύπωση αυτό.”
I asked Google to tell me the translation of “αποτύπωση αυτό.” I got lots of possible answers, but maybe the best is “map?” Or “pattern.” Or maybe “plan?”
“Fix it” is the translation the internet gave…
“Whine-dark yarn” – perfection. This comment sets *such* a high bar …
It’s having Ann and Kay back that lets my wit flow. MDK for President!
you win the internet for me for the day and it is only 6:30am!
This post has confirmed my suspicions that I live under a rock that I have never heard of this designer. So far my favorite pattern on Ravelry is Treble Linen as I have developed a passion for cowls and scarves and other things to keep me warm. There are so many kits it is difficult to pick only one. So I pick Horatio the Nautilus. He would make a lovely gift for my son-in-law. Next would Hand Spun sampler Kits and Bifrost.
Thanks!
NancyP
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I have started the same pair of socks three times, toe up. I’m finally at the gussets, closing in on the heel turns. This particular journey includes three more pairs by xmas. I’m clinging to the hero metaphor to carry me through. Thanks for the inspiration!
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. ”
–T.S. Elliot
Hang in Ann. Your journey through this knitting wilderness will make your arrival home all the more sweet.
LoveDiane
I seem to have fallen into a cable pit this year. Plenty of spontaneous ribbing and miscrossed cables to be fixed. Good to know I can do it, but little joy in the execution.
That is SO what my cat would do. More knitters to talk to??!! Gotta check that out.
About the un-knitting – my friend says “you cry, I’ll rip”.
so glad to have “re-found” y’all. I need the laughs
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“As if I were on a boat in the Aegean with a pile of seaweed and a desire to make a bathmat, but no circs on hand”– I hate when that happens.
First of all (and I’m not sure when you all started posting again) — it’s so good to have Modern Daily Knitting back!! I love reading your blog, and I missed you guys. Love the humor!
Second (and this is more my aging eyesight that anything else, but it’s too good not to share) — you know where you said “narrative arc” in the first line? It took me five minutes to reassure myself that you hadn’t said “narcotic”. Disbelief. So, where is my mind?
I noticed one of the main pictures of someone who knit this (in Ravelry) is of the underarm showing the spontaneous cable–had to laugh!
Humorous. Educational. Entertaining. Lots of good stuff in this post! Thanks!
Soldier on, brave knitter.
You are my dark knitting hero, to be sure. I added two stripes of onyx to my last cowl in your honor — that’s onyx– and almost named it after you, but instead came up with the very original “seed stitch cowl”. The stripes were a nice accent and the dye didn’t bleed. Now I have a ball of mad tosh black yarn, though. My knitting friends think I’m a little nuts, but I referred them to your blog. I could tell that I hadn’t completely won them over to the dark side of knitting….
That is the most gorgeous sweater; I applaud you for tackling anything so dark.
I’m currently knitting my way through a perfectly simple pair of socks that is driving me crazy because they are dark green. Really dark green. Very pretty, but…. never again.
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I am knitting a gansey-inspired lap blanket out of very similar yarn (Creskeld Guernsey 5 ply, also a verrry dark navy blue), and your cat photos make me shudder with horror!
That is a fine-looking cat. A veritable avatar of cat-ness. An Ur-cat, obviously one of your guides through the Underworld.
Ouch. I had that same problem with my on the grass, but I was not as far along.
Stephanie
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I think that Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben would be an appropriately heroic soundtrack to the knitting of this jersey. If you were looking for a soundtrack.
I’m finally to the endgame with three skeins of yarn fingering weight that have been laughing at me for several months. Hand dyed, same color, but one is noticeably lighter than the other two. I have knit the total of one sweater from them (the tops of two separate sweaters), but neither pattern will work in the end. Today the yarn arrived for my evil plan: colorwork. It is now destined to be a Tilghman Island pullover, which has a mostly stockinette body but stranded colorwork arms. The body will be knit with the two darker skeins, and the sleeves the pale skein. So what I’m saying is that I’m familiar with this one step forward, three steps back that is so unique to knitting.
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I have the Afghan Of Doom (AOD). It began as a mitered square blanket that required cutting the yarn between the miters. *tink* Then it advanced to a non-snipping miters. *tink* Now it currently is a dumbed-down continuous yarn version of the mitered square. I have completed three squares over 10 times each. ARGH!
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Anytime your beautiful kitteh needs a pile of yarn to preen upon, let me know. My Mr. Cat (a flamepoint Persian) was partial to black.
Slog on!
I sure didn’t know about the online knitting thing (non-rav, I mean) but then, I am a bit out of it in general. Especially at the moment…I was quite confused through most of this post and only figured out why when I reread for the third time and noticed that, no, you had not started by mentioning Joseph Conrad.
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Knitting Paradise new to me too (the forum not the concept). Not sure I want to check it out. Pretty sure I will though.
Have been a member of Knitting Paradise for several years..surprised that it is new to you! Many very good knitters are there, including some designers, lots of ideas shared on topics from A to Z, However, takes away from accomplising actual knitting so beware!
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Why would one need another online knitting thing? Ravelry takes all my time as it is. Catching up after a week away! I had a knitting adventure: had to cable with a straightened paper clip as a cable needle. Very heroic, I thought. And I couldn’t do without a cable needle, as I was twisting 20 stitches of fingering yarn…
I am a fairly new knitter and have been lurking on posts for awhile.
Okay, your declaration that you are too old for Tumbler made me finally comment. Love your blog!
Re: navy blue sweater vs Persian cat. I have decreed that henceforth any pets that join our household — which currently consists of 2 big dogs, 2 long-hairs mutt cats, and 2 hairy humans — will be BLACK. After 66 years of dealing with cat & dog hair on my clothes, I have finally figured out the solution.
Hey…so glad you’re back. Signed up for the new posts email but received nary a one. So I’ll try again.
You crack me up like nobody else! “It would have been the equivalent of knitting without knitting needles, as if I were on a boat in the Aegean with a pile of seaweed and a desire to make a bathmat, but no circs on hand.”
Glad to re-connect!
MDP
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