Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Tinking

Knit, knit, knit. Uh-oh... Tink, tink, tink. Okay, try again.

That was what my day was like yesterday. BUT... I HAVE FINISHED TETSU'S CHRISTMAS PRESENT!! Whew!

I spent the whole day yesterday doing the finishing touches on the vest that was started, when? At least from November. I really expected to be done with this sooner but December busyness took over. Yesterday I had to get this finished because I was running low on yarn and since today is a holiday I knew the yarn store would be closed.

"Oh no! Don't tell me I'm going to run out of yarn! The yarn shop is clear on the other side of the next town!"

I had completed the two sides of the front and the back and had only the ribbing left to do when I went into my last skein of yarn. My skein kept getting lighter and lighter and I kept thinking that I needed to make a decision to go buy yarn or not by 2:00 so I could go the 45 minutes to the yarn store, buy the yarn and get back home before 4:30 (English class).

Sew the ribbing around the front. Looks good. Knit, knit, knit. Make the armhole and do a neat job of finishing the edge of the ribbing. WHAT?!? I followed the directions! Why is the armhole flapping? What time is it? Pull out the edging (I think I need to get stronger reading glasses!) Tink, tink, tink. Okay put the armhole back in with fewer stitches. Knit, knit, knit. Hey! It looks like I have enough yarn after all! Thank you Lord for small blessings! Repeat on the other side. Make button holes. I definitely need stronger reading glasses! And Voila! Done!

Of course I won't know whether it really fits or not until Tetsu tries it on. I've held it up to one of his old vests and it looks like it will fit. There have been years when I started all over and tinked and re-knitted through the New Year holidays. And there are been years when we just took whatever I'd made over to his mother and said "Here's an unexpected hand-me-down." And there have been a couple of years when I reaped the benefits of my own knitting. ("Rats. If I'd known I was going to wear this I would have used a cheerier color.") So you can see that my yearly knitting efforts are pretty hit and miss.

At least I don't have to tink about it anymore before Christmas!

10 comments:

RedefinedPossibilities said...

Tanya -

My son-in-law found your post from 2007 regarding your Haten pattern. He asked me to look at it to see if I could understand how to make one for my daughter. I usually can figure out patterns, but cannot understand how you have done it. Do you know of patterns that I could get to make one? I would appreciate any help you might give me.

AnnCP

Mart Bright said...

Lovely shade of blue! It took me a moment to get the "tink tink!" The pattern is very nice. As a person who doesn't knit I am very impressed!

Millie said...

knit, tink! How very clever of you Tanya! I can't knit to save my soul! You have made a beautiful sweater. I hope Tetsu likes it.

Quilt Pixie said...

so glad you're able to close down Santa's workshop with a little time and yarn to spare :-) The pics look great. Hope it fits tetsu...

June said...

Congratulations on finishing Tetsu's vest. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will fit...it looks wonderful! Merry Christmas and God Bless your family.

R.H. said...

Wow, you do beautiful work. I am sure Tetsu will enjoy this wonderful gift. Each stitch made with love. I've tried knitting,learning on my own and well that didn't fair out so easily. I can knit and pearl, forget all the pretty stitches. I thought someday I'd take lessons, but that hasn't happend yet either.
Now you have time for yourself. Enjoy, sit, and sip some tea and breath. Rae

andsewitis Holly said...

Tetsu will love it. It's beautiful, Tanya. Everything you put your hand to is beautiful. Merry Christmas to you and yours near and far.

Amanda said...

Well done you, finished just in time. I do hope it fits, though you seem to have a fairly pragmatic approach to the business - 'if it fits, great, if it doesn't find a new home for it'. Perfect. Have a great Christmas, and I look forward to hearing about Tetsu's reaction to the waistcoat.

Shasta said...

It's a beautiful color. I'm glad you were able to get it done on time.

The Calico Quilter said...

It's lovely and beautifully done. I'm so jealous of anyone who can knit or crochet. I used to do a little, but that was 30 years ago. I got out the needles and tried recently. Bad, very bad! How can we forget so many skills?