Slow is the Way to Go
Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
I’m humbled by this virus that has haunted me for a few days. It makes my brain and my body work slower. I guess I got a vacation of sorts, but it’s the most boring and slow sort of vacation I can think of.
I’m not *very* sick but I need to recline most of the time. Thank goodness for knitting podcasts to talk to me while I’m feeling too inert to do much but listen and knit a tube, one knit stitch after another with no counting.
I remember other sick days where I actually did real knitting. I knit the most complicated cabled project (socks) I’ve ever done, on size 0 needles, during one resting period. I designed the Turkish-Style Toe-Up sock pattern one September when I got something that made me dizzy but otherwise together.
This time, though, I’m a bit in a fog. I tried to analyze where I could add triangles to my Lucy Neatby Equilateral Vest, a wonderful design that does fit me but that I want to be longer… too much thinking there, for me to do now. I tried to figure out the last 1/3 of the fronts of my unfinished Olympic Knitting project, the asymmetrical vest from Sally Melville’s Purl Stitch book. It’s not the sort of knitting I usually do and I could not figure out where I was in the pattern.
I got out a sweater I knit on the knitting machine last winter, that needs only to be sewn together. I love to sew but this is defying my ability to piece properly. I got out my Aspen (bulky) ribbed sweater, which has one piece knit to the armholes. I think I could actully knit that right now, it’s simple enough, but the pattern is not with the yarn and needles. Sigh.
So I’m back to legwarmers. Good old legwarmers. The knitting is for shop samples… I’m going to do a pattern one of these days. I seem to be the one who cares about legwarmers more than anyone else. After all, I wear them every day for 3/4 of the year. Really. I own at least 9 pair (pairs?) of legwarmers that I rotate, all wool or wool-blends, all but two I made up on the needles., one was remade from the arms of a purchased sweater, and the last was from a commercial pattern before I’d started designing on my own. I wore legwarmers when they were not cool and will continue to wear them if they go “out” again. I get cold. These are the perfect answer to my cold problem. Works for me!
Of course, knitting for myself is easy. I can try it on as I go. Knitting for everyone else is hard. And other patterns are no help… most patterns are for one size, maybe two, and they say things like “add elastic if it doesn’t fit” or something like that. I made two pair that are too big and elastic does not really do the job. I learned from them and I’ll wear them from time to time anyway, but I don’t want to design something that loosey-goosey.
So I’m knitting samples. I finished a pair in Malabrigo merino that is incredible, in stripes. Another solid-colored pair in Lamb’s Pride Worsted will follow and is looking great on the needles. Then I started a pair today in Noro Kureyon and it did not behave nicely. I finally got the right gauge in the stockinette leg portion but the ribbing is acting very different than the ribbing on the other two pairs. Never mind that all 3 yarns are single-ply yarns which will get 5 stitches to the inch. You would think they would knit into fabrics more like one another than they are. Frustrating.
As I said, humbled. At least I have lots of time to swatch! (And as I said, I’m not horribly sick, just slow… I don’t like slow very much but there are many worse things that could happen and I’m OK with taking time to heal.)
Off to take another hot bath. That’s the right answer when sneezing is a problem. Steam is my friend. Aaaahhhh….
Photo: Legwarmers I knit for myself a few years ago. The new pattern will fit approximately like this pair.
