Progress on Kai

The last time I posted about Kai, it was quite awhile ago. It is now 14 inches in length, and I'm almost ready to cast-on for the sleeve steeks.



It's a bit more form fitting than intended, but I'm hoping that a nice bit of blocking will loosen things up just enough to look casual.



Franklin has already volunteered to be the recipient if things really don't work out with the blocking.

I have recently made a few observations about my knitting. These are actually things I've known about for awhile but hadn't quite come to grips with until now. The first observation pertains to my work bag. I generally thought that I carried important "work stuff" back and forth from the office in this bag as a necessary part of my commute. Well, I realized today that I've been fooling myself all this time. The real reason I really carry it is so that I can conveniently transport my current knitting project(s) everywhere I go. While it is true that, occasionally, work-related items do find their way into the bag, it is by no means essential.

I find myself taking my bag to lunch and to coffee breaks. Since it zips, its contents are inconspicuous to the rest of the world. People ask me if I'm leaving for the day when I sling my bag onto my back. "No," I reply, "I just never know when I might have some time to knit." I have even found myself knitting while on long conference calls and in meetings. We're all a bit eccentric in our group, so very few really give a second thought about it.

The second observation pertains to large circular knitting. When I'm knitting on one big circular, I mark the end of the round with a stitch marker. I'm the kind of guy who likes to knit round by round, stopping at the end of each to consider if I should knit another. Well, since the marker is at the end of my round, I can't actually stop there, otherwise the stitch marker would fall off. So I have a tendency to sit and knit a large circular project for long spans on time because there is no good stopping point. When I have to stop, I usually try to stop one stitch before the marker, but I can't help but feel a bit dirty about this. Like I somehow haven't really completed the round because I'm one stitch short. Does this bother anyone else?

Comments

LaurieM said…
It's easier to stop when there are steeks. I'll "set up" the next round by joining in the new colors and knitting a couple of stitches into the steek. Then I can move my stickie on the pattern and I'm ready to begin the next session.

The moral of the story is: knit cardigans.
Anonymous said…
That's so funny! I am a sock knitter making my first jumper (sweater) in the round, and in fact I *do* have the same thing about not being able to stop at the marker. I tend to knit past it, smirk with satisfaction about having finished the round, and then park the knitting in the plain section that runs down the sides of my *much* plainer design. Great colour work! And I knit in work meetings too. If they think that's odd, imagine how they'd feel if on some bad day I unleashed my temper instead of enjoying knitting and listening! mary
The other nice thing about cardigans is that you don't have to weave the *@#!ing ends in at the start of the round. Since Rosemarkie was a cardigan, this is my first discovery of the "joy" of weaving in 20,000 ends.
I can never start a round if I know I can't finish it, and I always stop 5 stitches after the marker. Enough to keep it from falling off, but not enough to get carried away. Cuz 6 stitches, that would certainly be getting carried away! ha!
hugs said…
I once started a hat and finished it without stopping because I have lots of issues with the "end" of the round.
Kucki68 said…
I always knit one stitch of the new round, that way I have a head start on that round in my mind.
Mauren Mureaux said…
Hmmm. I might have the same problem, except that i put the stitch marker between stitches one and two. When i stop one stitch before the marker, i'm at stitch one. See? Easy! ;)
Lanea said…
You could try those markers that hang off of a stitch--they allow you to stop at the beginning of the round. But moving them is fiddlier.

I say just keep knitting and stop with all of the frivolous, time-wasting activities like work.
Anonymous said…
I have to admit to using dpns a lot more than circulars. For one thing, I'm little, and also, I only have 3 circulars, so dpns it is. It's a lot easier to stop that way. Not that I do...
AmandaCellist, I can't help but think that dpns on 336 stitches would drive me a little apesh**...
YTT said…
I just love it that so many other people seem to have the same problem with the ends of rounds that I do.

I have sometimes compensated by putting the stitch marker itself one or two stitches in from the end of the round, so I can actually stop at the end of the round. This works best, though, on DPN's, when all you really need to indicate is which needle is the starting needle.
TurnipToes said…
Oh my goodness, I soooo have that same problem with stopping on things in the round. I hate that little booger marker that likes to cackle in glee at the torment it wreaks upon knitter.

I usually end it by doing one stitch beyond the marker and sending the piece of work-in-progress to bed without dinner.
noricum said…
Yup, it bothers me too.

(Dang! The silly word verification decided not to load!)
Anonymous said…
it drives me crazy- so i throw a point protector on when i finish the round. it keeps the stitches on there without me having to start the next round or stop short of the current one!
Anonymous said…
I so do the same thing! I've even been known to stop at the stitch marker and just put the marker at the bottom of my bag for when I start up again. The other thing I do is move the marker to one or 2 stitches before or after the round beginning proper. Why is it so hard to stop in the middle of a round, I wonder?? :)

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