Friday, December 16, 2005

Why I will always be a ghetto knitter

I unpinned my cardigan today. It is so soft. Blocking has performed some sort of complex magic upon it. It has transformed my sweater in a way blocking has only done once before *cough Adams shawl* The purl stitches around the cables no longer pull in. The cables really pop. The stockinette at the top is flat and beautiful. I spent at least ten minutes hiding from the children just petting it. On my bed it was lovely. On me, it's another story.

I have decided that there are a few issues with this sweater. I'm not going to list them. If you can't see them then I'm not going to point them out. I'm just not as excited as I thought I'd be. Maybe I just need some buttons.

Here's my point. If I had done this with simply soft I would probably be thrilled with it. So what if it's not perfect. I knit the entire thing for eight dollars. It's close enough to perfect. But with this sweater, with this yarn, I want it perfect, not just close enough. The yarn is perfect, I want everything else to be worthy of the yarn, the pattern must be perfect, the knitting must be perfect, the finishing must be perfect, and the final results must be perfect. It's too much pressure.

So I guess it's back to the ghetto for me, where close enough is good enough.

2 comments:

Knittypants said...

Oh no, that's too bad that you're disappointed after all the work you put into your sweater. Maybe once the buttons are on you will forgive it. Can you overlook or fix some of the flaws?

Anonymous said...

Those are some of the perils of making things yourself. No trying on beforehand, no seeing what it looks like completely knit, just your power of imagination and talent to forecast how the whole thing will turn out. That's why I don't put too many demands on my knitting. If it turns out at all right, I'm happy. Lately, I've had some real luck, everything seems to be turning out better than what I thought. That's where the real talent lies-being able to see what it will look like and fit before we knit or sew. Isn't that the goal where we are all working towards? How borring to already be there. Be proud of what you've done. I'm sure it's just gorgeous!