Just Try Knitting Again

I am so bad at posting this month! A couple of days of holiday, a September vacation to plan, plus the (very) odd ray of sun, and the whole blog thing goes pear-shaped. I am going to do some bag sewing this weekend though, so that should be fodder for posting.

In the meantime, I decided I would knit something. I read Kyoko's great blog, and she had inspired me to pick up the ole needles again. It has been 5 years - maybe more since I knitted a stitch.

Perhaps it would have been a good idea for me to ease myself into this rediscovery of knitting by tackling something small, easy and fast. Oh no. Not me. I found a pattern (can' t be difficult, it is only a scarf) and jumped right in and bought the book it was in (a bit pricey, but I liked another shawl/scarf and one of the hats in the book, too).

 

Kimono Ribbon Woven Scarf

Louisa Harding, The Accessories Collection

And here is the yarn - the blue for the scarf, the variegated for weaving into a lacy ladder created when knitting with the blue. Phaw! Piece of cake, no?

NO!  This ribbon yarn is so, so lovely - the colours are gorgeous and it shimmers and shines, and ....  SLIPS! And because it slips, it is impossible to unpick when I make an error - so three times now I have started - made a mistake and had to pull the whole thing out and start again. The first attempt, I had to begin again after knitting about 4 rows, then the next time was after about 12 rows , and the third time, I had knit about 32 rows. For goodness sake! There are only 25 stitches to get through per row, and the directions are pretty simple:

1st Row: K6, (K2tog, [YO] twice, sl1, K1, psso, K5) twice, K1.

Next row: (K8, P1) twice, K7.

How hard can that be? I know how to read the instructions and I should know how to execute them. But somehow, I am creating an extra stitch (inconsistently) and I CAN'T SEE HOW!!!!!! Using "normal" yarn, I would "undo" until I was on a row where I still hadn't gone wrong and go again. But this lovely ribbon just slithers away from me and won't stay still to be picked up on the needle again. Ai-yi!  I'm determined, though.

if anyone has tried Kimono Ribbon and knows some tricks to working with it - PLEASE let me know. In the meantime, I think a large glass of white wine is in order!

Comments

[Kyoko]

How cool that you knit again! This is absolutely exciting! We must knit together one day :) I bet your kitty cats are excited to see the ball of yarn.
The ribbon yarns DOES look difficult to knit. I have personally not used the kimono yarn before but I have knitted with a tape yarn. Yeah, k2tog, psso can be very tricky when the thread is flat!
What I always try to do is to insert the needles further than usual so as to make sure the yarn is picked properly. It makes the whole knitting slow but definitely less slipping sts.

[Tracy]

Delicious yarns!! Those will make a great scarf! And super that you've picked up the needles again--hooray! I've worked with various ribbon yarns off and on, though not this Kimono yarn specifically, and they are very slippery...The only way to go is, as Kyoko says above, just go slow, really pay attention to each stitch and really stabbing the needle into each stitch to catch it correctly and avoid dropped stitches. Slow going, but worth it! You know like Slow Food, think Slow Yarn ;o) Have fun...and can't wait to see the finished scarf! Happy Days :o)

[Judy]

Kyoko and Tracy - thanks so much for your advice. You are correct, too (as I would expect such experts to be!). The trick is indeed to curb the enthusiasm (go slow) count out loud, and stop Dylan in midair as she leaps at the WIP! (She seems to be more interested in the needles than the yarn, and the two older cats are just pointedly ignoring the operation at this point ... no doubt biding their time). So far I have got about a foot knitted - I am more used to looking at the stitches which make up the lace, so I can kind of tell where I am a bit better now. KNOCK ON WOOD!! x