I'm All Loopy Here.

So, remember this?

It's the start of the Loopy Velez Cowl from Stitch N Bitch. Well, it turned into this over the holidays:

Click to make bigger! It's loopy fun.

It's knit in Karabella Aurora 8, shade 1561 Topaz. [The color is much more accurate in the lower, close-up photo. My apartment these days is 100% tungsten, which seems to have created a weird periwinkle color.] Very soft, snuggly, with the right amount of stretch to keep it snug without being suffocating. It will look better on the recipient, who doesn't have puffy hair to sneak out the back end.

There were two things keeping me from finishing this. One was the pattern itself. The loops took a lot out of me. I had to redo them several times before I really got the hang of it. But I like the way they look. Here's a close-up:

And then, once I was all the way done, I cast off, what I *thought* was loosely. No good. It felt like the yarn might break whenever I pulled it over my head. (Since you're basically knitting this upside-down, the cast-off edge is the one that has to go all the way up over your noggin and then rests at your shoulders. Tight = bad.)

I was so frustrated I put the whole thing in the corner for a few days to chill out. Then I ripped out the castoff edge and went up three needle sizes, to a US10. After about halfway through, I checked. It still seemed awfully tight. ARG. I ripped out again and came armed with my last weapon: A size K crochet hook.

I did the crochet bindoff as specified in Vogue Knitting, and it seemed to do the trick. Of course, this was before Jody so thoughtfully and smartly sent me the link to Two Stretchy Castoffs. Oh well. I'll have it handy for the next time!

***
The second reason this project languished for so many months is that it is a gift, and the recipient really upset me this summer when it was midway done. On more than one occasion, I wanted to just say "f-you" to both the cowl and the friendship. It was a pretty dark period -- by now, I thought I'd pretty much weeded out the jerks in my life.

But it took me many months of reflecting to realize that one jerky action does not a jerky friend make. And, though the reconcililation was unpleasant, and the relationship still is awkward from time to time, she apologized profusely for her actions and genuinely seemed to take an interest in repairing the damage she'd done.

So I decided to be an adult and forgive. Once I'd made that decision, before I could really act on it, I started knitting on the cowl again, thinking about the good times the friendship had yielded and how I would want the same considerations if I'd really wronged someone. [Which I hope I never do.] And by the time I got to the ribbing at the end, I felt a lot better about me, about my friend, and about the future of our friendship.

Boy, forgiveness is hard. But I think the rewards will be worth it. New year, new beginnings -- even with old friends.

Posted by Ann at January 5, 2005 12:59 PM