Autumn has arrived, the trees are turning gold, the clocks have gone back, and my horoscope for the first two days of the week basically advised me to “Chill out with a book or a movie; nothing’s happening.”
On Monday, I tried to defy the inevitable and make decisions, work on my jumper, and force things to happen, then I got disappointed when nothing turned out right, thus the lack of a blog post to start the week. On Tuesday, I accepted my fate, toddled into town and bought some lovely spa-style bath salts, then came home, put on a face mask, and lay in the bath with Roy Wood. Well, not with Roy Wood, he wasn’t available, but with his greatest hits playing in the background.
My Heather Sweater has been particularly fatiguing. I knitted and unpicked the four rows where the armhole and neck shaping start an uncountable number of times across the course of three days, each time starting with the right number of stitches and inexplicably ending up with the wrong number. As you can see from my photo, I have resorted to using two row counters to keep track of where I am, and I still seem to be unpicking two rows for every three I knit. Progress is very slow. In fact, it’s like one of my favourite scenes in the Star Wars movies – the one in “Revenge of the Sith” where Anakin Skywalker has fallen in the lava flow and painfully inches his way up the cinder beach.
At least I have found a top which will work very well underneath the Heather Sweater, come the wonderful day when I finish it. And I know what I want to knit next, so perhaps I just have to wait for the stars to come back into a better alignment and everything will slip neatly into place.
I am making sure to pick up plenty of these packs of tights from Marks and Spencer, which are an ideal match for my wardrobe basics. It doesn’t usually work out that well and I’m secretly a little worried that they have a camera fitted inside my wardrobe….
Even if my own progress is nothing to write home about, my African Violet is thriving and has put out some buds despite my lacklustre horticultural skills. Perhaps it is a sign that things are just about to take an upturn.
Pam Alison Knits 
I feel your pain with the sweater. I have had many fits and starts with my knitting this year. Nonetheless, progress was made. I love your choice of colors with those tights and they will definitely complement your growing wardrobe.
I’ve been reading some tips for writers about how to work on through when you feel things aren’t moving, and these could equally apply to knitting. One idea was to move ahead to a different part of the story then come back to the bit you’re stuck on later. I could always cast on the cuff of a sleeve….
I love this idea. It makes sense. Reminds me of when my boys were small. If they got in a mood, I would change the scenery-take them outside, or to the kitchen. A change is as good as a rest.
Nice colours on those tights! For some reason, it’s quite rare to have such a selection. Normally you can have any colour as long as it’s black.
Hi, yes, I was amazed by the tights. I have had a similar pack previously – I’m going to say possibly two or three years ago – which had burgundy, forest green, and possibly grey… Apart from last year when I had to wear black head-to-toe at work, I avoid black in favour of navy or grey and I have to say M&S are pretty good at keeping navy going.