Thursday, November 19, 2009

Doing the hard good thing


Vera - front view
Originally uploaded by snowdenbecker
First things first--Vera is finally ready for prime time! Like Adelaide, she has been tech-edited, and thereby much improved, by the wonderful Hadley (Ravelry: hadleygetscrafty) and some extremely patient test-knitters. So that wasn't too hard for me, and I hope it'll be good for you! This design was originally made for Rowan Calmer, a longtime favorite of mine, and between the chainette construction of the yarn and the ribbing, it's a great stretchy cardigan to wrap up in for autumn (which has FINALLY arrived here in Texas). It's a $3.00 PDF download from Ravelry; the pattern includes charted and written instructions for the leaf-and-vine insets, and it's worked bottom-up with seamless set-in sleeves--practically no finishing required.



Second things second: Today I had to frog out half a sleeve and the entire body of a sweater-in-progress. Everything was the right shape, but it was just too small--the fit wasn't right for the style, and I knew if I went ahead and finished it as an XXS, I'd be so frustrated at not getting it right. So, rip rip rip up past the armpits, wind wind wind the yarn back onto the ball, and start from square one. Maybe one and a half--the shoulders and upper back were fine, and I had a lovely swatch to start with...

This is only the latest in a string reminders about something my husband says: Anyone can do the easy thing. Most people can do the easy good thing, and everyone does the easy bad thing more often than they should...but sometimes you have to do the hard good thing. I've done a couple of projects now where doing the hard good thing--ripping out hours worth of work--became inevitable. I wouldn't say it's gotten easier, but I've never once regretted it, or felt it wasn't worth the extra effort in the end. And hey, any excuse to put off doing more work on my dissertation!

9 comments:

Sarah A. said...

I've never regretted starting something over again. The fun is in the knitting and the satisfaction is in getting it right.

The swatch looks promising. I look forward to seeing the finished piece.

Yarnhog said...

Yay! Congratulations! My version is sadly stalled, since the handpainted yarn I am working it in turned out to have huge color differences between skeins, and I'm pretty sure I will end up poking my eye out if I continue. But the pattern is wonderful! (I may have to take a page from your book, suck it up, and rip, so I can restart in a different yarn.)

Laura Sue said...

Okay, you gave us the link to your flickr. So now you must tell about Myrtle. It is -- words fail me. Fantastic. Dreamy. I would like to knit it, please.

TT820 said...

Aw, thanks, Laura Sue! Aren't you the sweetest thing? Myrtle's actually one of the (four)(OK, five) projects I have on the needles at the moment...I'm working on a third (prototype sized for 40" bust so I can make sure the charts I worked out for the different sizes are going to be OK) and hope to have that finished, and the pattern ready for test-knitting if not actual sale, by the end of the year!

Steven said...

I have to say I've never regretted ripping back, either. As a friend of mine says, "You're always gonna be knitting on something. It might as well be this."

Hadley Makes said...

Thanks for the nod! The cardigan is so lovely, and you are so stoic!

meg said...

i need to heed this advice when i'm knitting on something that i know isn't working out. i knit two cardigans this year and knew well before finishing one was too small and the other HUGE!


congrats on getting this out, snowden. another absolutely gorgeous pattern from you.

Anonymous said...

I think that restarting always ends up with an end result that's worth it. That's why, when I'm not satisfied with something, I usually rethink my process. Why ignore it?

Vera said...

Very cute. Should do it for the name alone.