Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It's all over now, baby blue

You know how it feels to have your words thrown back in your face, especially when they're true?

"If it's bugging you now, you know it's going to bug you even more later"

Yeah, my knitting coworker and I tell each other that a lot. Because we both know it to be true.

When I started on the third skein for Jeanie, it looked darker, but I kept knitting, trying to believe the difference wasn't significant. After all, I hadn't been able to see the difference in the skein.

It's no good. The difference is noticeable. In the photo posted below, I hope it's obvious that the edging is significantly darker than the rest of the knitting. The last third of the project would be that darker colour.


And as much as I've tried to tell myself I don't mind if the last third is darker, it's bugging me now. And experience tells me, it'll bug me more later. It certainly cannot be my entry for the state fair.

This yarn is, of course, an "experimental". I bought it at a discount because it wasn't a regular line of yarn, so the inconsistent colour is all part of the experience. I just wish it had been visible when I examined the skeins.

My entire summer's knitting efforts are for naught.

Bye bye jeanie.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Musings and Numbers about Jeanie

  • There's just not a lot to blog about when knitting Jeanie. I've done it before and she looks the same, just longer, day after day.
  • Jeanie needs to be 3 skeins long.
  • July didn't even finish off one skein.
  • Jeanie progresses in groups of 6 rows, one cable unit.
  • I could theoretically knit one cable unit in 35 minutes, because 5 of those rows take 5 minutes, while the cable row takes 10.
  • I have never actually knit a cable unit in less than 40 minutes.
  • What with interruptions and distractions and life, a cable unit often takes an hour.
  • While on the road, I challenged myself to knit 3 cable units in 2 hours, theoretically possible.


  • The first time, I completed it in 2 hours 6 minutes. The second, in 2 hours 11 minutes.
  • There is no "making up time" if you get behind in knitting Jeanie. If you have to reach back and pass the ipod to the teen, that is time forever lost. If you try to quickly find Pretty in Pink on the ipod, but it's not there, and you search and search and never find it, that's all knitting time forever lost.
  • I focused on knitting on the trip home, and I calculate that I knit a half a skein in a 13 hour drive. My goal was to knit a cable repeat for each hour. I managed 15 repeats, by way of the above-mentioned 2-hour challenges.



  • I'm almost finished with skein 2.
  • I'd like to finish skein 3 in the next 8 days.
  • That would have been easier if Mockingjay hadn't come out on Tuesday.
  • But I finished Mockingjay last night, so now to knit knit knit like a maniac. Back to knitting!