Therapy!
So, you set out to wrap up a project you are anticipating being an easy fix and it isn’t so easy, or rather it isn’t fixed and thus not completed. Then, your swatch is dry and you discover that your design will need to have 50 rows removed, throwing off the placement of the main motifs and balance of the sweater if you take the easy route and remove those 50 rows from the lice section.
After Fugly Friday and the swatch surprise I was in serious need of some knitting therapy. I think you know what I’m talking about. You know, mindless knitting! Well, except that I can’t often bear truly mindless knitting. So what I really needed was something that was pretty easy and would require no design adjustments. As I had also mentioned on Friday, I’m craving the autumnal colors now that leaves are beginning change. So, what is a girl to do who has several project in various states of design and completion, but is in serious need of avoidance tactics to calm her nerves and mind? Cast-on yet another project, of course!
I opted to cast on for a Coriolis sock from the new Cat Bordhi book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I decided to finally ball and use the gorgeous hand spun yarn that I got from Deb back in late July. It’s a heavy fingering (nearing sport) weight 2-ply yarn spun from one of Abby’s Luxury Sock Batts called Flame. It’s about 360 yards I’m told and weighs in at 5 ounces. It is spun in much the same way as my sock yarns - high twist singles and high twist ply for a durable yarn. The gold and burgundy twist and turn with each other in varying proporations giving the overall sock a feel of a rusty orange, with spots of bright gold and dark burgundy.
I felt this yarn would be a great match for a basic Coriolis sock because of the high contrast marling of the gold and burgundy and the striping of the hand spun yarn. There is little for the yarn to compete with and the yarn doesn’t obscure the spiraling band. I’m melding the Tall Tibetan pattern with the Spiraling Coriolis Master pattern and then decided after completing the heel to also add a second spiraling band. I am finding it a bit tight to get over my heel even though my calculations indicated no need to make foot adjustments. I am unsure as to whether that is due to the additional spiraling band. So, my plan to not have to frog may be out the window.
I haven’t yet decided if I should go back to the heel or not. Even if I do I haven’t lost too much knitting time (I’ve knit all of this since late Saturday afternoon) and it should be easy to back up there. Though will the yarn bloom and thus loosen my gauge measurements just enough to make it easier to get over the heel? Do I just work a few increases right above the heel and keep the second spiral or do I knit it with the single spiral as is and see how that goes?
I really wanted a more or less non-thinking project! I guess this is pretty minor compared to the other issues though so I’ll take it.
