Grumpy


Dear Aeolian Shawl,

I think it's time that you and I broke up.

It's not you, it's me.  Or rather it is you...but it's how I am with you.  Maybe it is you.  Maybe it was always you.  No, it was probably me. 

Sigh.....let me start at the beginning. 

I fell in love with you the instant I saw you all the way back in 2009.  You were EXACTLY the sort of knitting I love best...a gorgeous shawl, intricate lace, Estonian stitches, even beads!....absolute perfection.  I knew you had to be mine.  I knew I had to knit you.  Love, love, love.  Rarely have I fallen so hard or so fast....or remained devoted for so long. 

So I did what any good knitter would do...I began to look for the perfect materials.

The beads were easy.  I already had a pack of a gorgeous size 8/0 matte bronze bead, so all I had to do was pick up another 4,000 or so so that I had enough to fulfill your promise.  Easy.

The trouble began with the search for the yarn.  I had in my mind's eye an olive green to play against the bronze....yes, a perfect olive green. 

If only it were as easy to find as it was to envision. 

I spent forever searching for my olive green laceweight.  I think you know...having been with me for so long...of my frustrations for finding laceweight yarns.  I've never had a local store stoke the types of laceweight I enjoy...much less laceweight in my earthy colors.  I looked online, but that's always risky.  Fortunately, I was willing to be patient. 

I thought I had found the perfect match when I discovered an alpaca laceweight in just the right green, with oh so subtle streaks of red, yellow and blue in desert tones throughout.  Four skeins...a bargain price...a sale!...I was ready! 

Then, before I was able to start working on you....sigh....the agony of an alpaca allergy.  That yarn, sadly, lives in a plastic bag in my closet...one of the only two alpaca yarns I was unable to sell.  It's very sad, unfulfilled potential and lost promises. 

Back to the drawing board. 

You know what I went through.  You know how often I've tried to apply the yarns I had to your gorgeous pattern and/or marry it with the beads.  I was stubborn.  I refused to give up on my green...and then I refused to give up on my beads...and I refused to buy something new...and I refused to settle for less than perfect. 

I thought I had finally figured it out. 

You see, two summers ago I picked up two skeins of The Sanguine Griffen's laceweight in a beautiful dusty purple with pink undertones.  Imagine my delight when it looked gorgeous against the beads.  I cast on back before the Christmas gift knitting began, and then set it aside as a future gift to myself.

Of course, I ignored the warning signs back then. 

But after messing with it for two hours again this morning, I have to admit that it's just not working.  The yarn is composed of many wee plys...which are prone to shredding when adding the beads.  Neither one of my beading tools work with it for one reason or another, and with some 5,000 beads to add I can't bear the thought of placing them one at a time with a crochet hook.  I just can't go on.

So I think it's time to let go of you and go look for something else to create.  There are other patterns in the world, after all, which are just as lovely as you. 

You will always have a special place in my heart.

Sincerely,

Your Grumpy Knitter

Comments

Bonnie said…
Out with the old, in with the new! Cast on something else!

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