Lately my hand has been bothering me more than usual.
I don't really know why.
So, you know, I'm trying to ignore it and keep on keeping on. Perhaps with the judicious use of a few painkillers prescribed for the purpose. You know. Nothing extreme.
This afternoon, I remained calm, and breathing slowly and deeply, crocheted my steek.
Then, using very small, very sharp scissors, with my hand behind the arm hole, I cut.
(Incidentally, the one time I cut a huge, gaping hole in my knitting by accident, I wasn't drugged. Just cocky. I'm not so cocky any more.)
After that, it was a simple matter of picking up stitches. Sort of. This is the pattern where I pick up stitches in pattern, using both colors.
Then I knit off down the arm, staying in pattern, so that there's no noticeable arm hole seam. (This is the arm hole seam of the first sleeve, which is actually done.)
Very clever, but trickier than I thought.
I got the stitches picked up all right, then chose the wrong spot in the bloody chart to begin 'in pattern', fucked it all up, and had to tear back three or four hours' knitting down to the pick-up row. (On the other hand, this gives me a chance to fix the wrong-colored stitch in the underarm pattern. Whoopee.)
Then I chucked it back in the basket and went to do the Setesdal gauge swatch. (Got the book on Setesdal jerseys. Book review to follow, once I'm done reading it, but it's good.)
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I also got the first half of the orange sock yarn plied. (This could be the other source of my hand issue. Other than the cat.) It may be thin enough for socks after all.
Either way, I like the color. (It is merino of my own dyeing, chain-plied.) I'm just not sure when in hell I'll get to it, to knit it up. I keep reminding myself I spin for relaxation, meditation, and hand therapy, and it doesn't matter when I knit it up. But geez. The Pit is overflowing.
8 comments:
omg... now see, this is why I'd never steek.
A. I don't take a lot of drugs (painkillers or alcohol) and so my tolerance is pretty low
B. I couldn't do that unless I'd been TOTALLY drugged to the gills.
C. That all adds up to a sweater butched by design
Oh, but surely the cat was helping! A nice warm, soft, furry, purring cat can be a balm, no? Like a heating pad...
Ajax, my 100+ lb. dog, does that! (Er, from a standing position, not in my lap.) His head probably weighs as much as a cat.
Steek-cutting is both really cool and nerve-wracking even to look at.
The yarn! Orange creamsicle!
Love the handspun. Love the Russian Prime. Picking up in p[[attern is awesome! Tres masterful!! Sekhmet is just trying to help.
Can you tell us how to crochet a steek like that? I'm working on a sweater that is in the round and will be steeked into a cardigan. The crochet technique looks really cool.
It will be my first steek. I may have to be drugged for it. LOL
Love a good steeking post, drugged or otherwise. Glad to see RP is making good progress!
Love the sock yarn. Very pretty!
And hey, it could be worse: Sekhmet could be FOUR cats sitting on you, like in my house! Then they start fighting over who gets to sit in my lap...while in my lap.
You have more courage than I to do steeking, drugged or otherwise. Bravo.
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