Frustration!
Alianne mentioned in her latest post that there are negative knitting days where nothing seems to work and you keep knitting, but frogging as well. I agree totally, but also want to add that when negative knitting days combine with other kinds of negatives they make things a lot worse. I have a bad cold and throat that hurts, it’s grey, gloomy and freezing outside, the very thought of final exam bluebooks is making me shudder, I have realised that I am waaaaay behind schedule for finishing work I had planned to before I leave for Spain next week, and on top of it all, the monkey cap is not going well. More stuff is about to hit the frogpond.
So the Turkish motif isn’t working out, because the Pure Alpaca is really not at the Andean Silk’s thickness and it pulls in the fabric too much for it to work. The colours were lovely, the motif was great, but my f***ing gauge was off, and I frogged nearly 15 rows of fairisle. Then I just knit the main colour in stockinette, but now it seems that I have even less than I had anticipated. I have already cast on for the head part, but cannot decide how to proceed. Here are my choices at this stage. I can:
1) Buy some more Andean Silk, so what if I have absolutely no more space in my flat, or money.
2) Use whatever worsted yarn works after the AS runs out and be done with it, so what if it is wildly jarring, at least I will get gauge.
3) Chuck the idea of the monkey cap for this yarn and make a simple stockinette cap, so what if I made grand claims in my blog, I’ll just resolve never to foolishly start a project without checking to see if I have enough.
In the meantime, though, I have to steel myself for bluebooks. Already, some students have alarmed me by asking how they can set up their off-campus library access. Isn’t it reassuring when, two days before the final exam of the semester, your students nonchalantly ask you how to access their online reserve readings? Warms the cockles of my heart, it does.
But at least I don’t have to speak in class for the next three weeks, so my throat can recover. Any suggestions for feeling better, folks? Only remedies with alcohol in them are welcome.
I’m so sorry you’re not only having negative knitting but other things as well. Hope you feel better soon.
I don’t envy you with your students. I remember being in a novel class one summer. I was the only one who ever read the required pages every day. (I had taken a couple a couple of years off to get married and was paying my own tuition; it makes a difference in how a person views their classes.) Anyway, everyone always begged me to throw the daily quiz because he curved the end total of the quizzes.
Feel better!
Honey, lemon, and whiskey–sip. Old singer’s remedy. Knitting woes–keep a comfort project just for times like these. Yummy, soft yarn. Students–no clue. I taught for 8 years and never could figure it out. Most want the most credit for the least work.
Take care of yourself!
I’m fairly sure Russians would recommend vodka with a bunch of freshly ground pepper in it. And raw garlic (not in the garlic, just on the side). At least, I think I’ve heard of such things.
I just finished my grading, and will now channel good grading thoughts your way. I’m not sure that’ll work, but…
Thanks for the suggestions and sympathy, everybody! Alison, I hope you didn’t throw your quizzes! Gosh, the nerve of the students. I sat through one of the exams today and tried another fair-isle combo on the cap with a skein of Lopi Lite I had, but it’s still causing the knitting to pucker. More frogging. But am going to persevere. Jen, I am going to try your honey-lemon-whiskey; if that doesn’t work, I’ll try Spud’s pepper-vodka and garlic. Spud, the Russian restaurant in Denver has a heavenly pepper vodka.
Let’s just say I wasn’t liked very much in that class