Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere
Did I check gauge: yes
Did I get gauge: hmm, sort of, not really?!
Initial reaction to tension square sample: Ohgoodgrief - I've knitted an armadillo! The honest truth? It's looking more Joan of Arc battle armour plating than sexy lacy lingerie-like a la book model (see left).
But...you know how it is, I bought this yarn in a summer sale. I had this specific project in mind for it.
So somehow, I felt committed. However, I gave myself space, I pondered it over the whole of last weekend, I looked at other patterns (but knew deep down that I really wanted to make this), I looked through my stash (nothing else suitable), I sighed, I toyed with some swatches for another project (am awaiting my yarn - its not due to arrive until this coming Monday) and then I read this blog again.
It was my downfall - I read all of the posts on this project. I read the joyful comments from those of you who completed your shaped lace tees in a week. I looked at the yarn. I looked at the pattern again. I considered that I had nothing to work on during my commute to work this week. That thought alone made me panic quietly inside: no knitting? On the train? What on earth was I going to do?!
So Monday am, bolstered by the collective assurance that this was a quick knit that I could (conceivably) fit in before I start my next 'deadline driven project' next week, I jammed my needles, yarn and a hastily scribbled version of the initial cast on and lace chart into my bag and headed for the station.
"Y'know, I could bore you with the day by day detail," she drawled dryly, while sipping on a glass of Friday evening red wine, "but suffice it to say that if you listened very carefully while I was knitting on the train this week...
...you would have heard circus clown music playing in the background! Oh yes, honestly. A veritable comedy of errors!"
On top of the speed that I knit at (clearly a lot slower than many others who knit here), it took a round commute to work out that I should read the text under the lace charts, not just rely on the graphic, then I left my 3.75mm needles at home...blahblahblah...from that point onwards, my knitting week disintegrated quietly.
So how far did I get in a week?
Well this far, as it happens. No, that is not the front, it is the back. Just the back. So 5 days, two 35 min commutes per day, I've knitted 8.5" and used 75m of yarn? One ball - a single ball. Good grief, I feel inadequate. This is not going to be a shaped lace tee in a single week.
So, come on, please cheer me up - those of you who did finish your tees in a single week - please tell me that you get to knit for more than an hour a day....?!
She sits, sips wine and awaits the news that, with only 30 minutes of knitting per day, 11 people started (and finished) their lace shaped tees this week.
Oh bah humbug. Well, I worked hard but this won't be - finished in a week, that is.
