What Happened with the Rug, Part II
I went to Springwater Fiber to ask for help. Asking for help is not really a high priority for me; indeed, not asking for help is the priority most days. But I really want to have a finished object that works. And that doesn’t often happen. Perhaps over the weekend I will write some posts on the Polar Blue Sweater and the other blue sweater.
At any rate, I went to Springwater.
To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t that simple. I generally find knitting stores to be intimidating, and I went to both Springwater and Knit Happens and ‘browsed,’ hoping for someone to read my mind and insist on helping me. At Knit Happens I ran into a stitch ‘n’ bitch and wandered around the outskirts of the table, looking at the yarn, knowing I wouldn’t buy anything. On my first trip to Springwater, I did the same.
By my second trip, though, I was desperate. I told the nice lady, in very punchy tones, that I was working on a rug so ugly that I was too ashamed to bring it into the store. “It’s horrible!” I said. “Seriously.” After the requisite arguments, she had me pull out the colors I was using, and by the way she looked at me I knew she had found her way to believing me.
She suggested I add some light green, or some dark green, or use gray as the neutral instead of the cream. With the exuberance that got me into this mess in the first place, I decided to do all three. Will it work? Only time will tell.
Next up: Photos of the rug, pre-felting.
Don’t tell…
Continuing Adventure with the Rug
No traffic on NJ Turnpike!
Massachusetts
Rug, Needles, Yarn, iPod
UglyRug scrap #863
New Jersey Tnpk
Sock and Dashboard
Sock ribbing, no traffic, 8pm.
I-95
Sock and Many Needles
Koigu KPPPM on I-95
What Happened with the Rug, Part I
The thing about the rug was that it was a stash-busting exercise. So you’re supposed to grab all your felt-able wool, find a neutral, knit two-color squares with one strand always the neutral, crochet them together using the neutral yarn, felt the whole darn thing, and ta-da! you have yourself a Felted Patchwork Rug. The pattern is from Barbara Albright’s Odd Ball Knitting, a very fine book.
The knitting, however, is by me — and therein, as always, lies the problem.
I will say that I don’t necessarily believe that cream is a neutral any more.
So the cream-colored yarn seems to have heightened the contrast between the various colors, which is fine, but not helpful. Also, I thought nothing of putting both orange and pink in the same project, and that was a mistake.
Adding More Color Doesn't Work
I kept adding more and more colors, thinking that would fix the problem. At some point, I thought, I’d throw in one more square — and the whole thing would gel in some mysterious way, and for the rest of our lives Andy and I would look at the rug and think, “There’s that miraculous rug made of little scraps of nothing.”
Pink and Orange?!?
This did not happen.
It persisted in not happening for quite some time. Indeed, it has never happened, and at some point I did have to accept that it would not happen. The rug would not be the thing of beauty of which I dreamed. I clearly had some kind of obscure color-blindness that had to do with combining color; incidentally, this explained my difficulty dressing myself in a reasonable way. Everything made sense, and other than being doomed to a life of knitting ugly items (something to which I had been accustomed for some time anyway) we would all get along just fine.
Either that, or I could ask for help.
Later: Part II
Ugliest Rug in America
Friend Eileen has confirmed for me that the rug is indeed ugly:
yeah, I really like you and think you’re impressive. But that is an ugly rug.
Now, how hard was that?
Color
This ugly rug would probably be fine in a pioneer home, where every scrap of yarn would have been used. In my home, it is cause for mockery.
I’ve been struggling with color for a while — I don’t know whether I lack a certain color sense, or simply have bad taste, or what. The folks at Springwater were very helpful and kind to me last week when I went in with The Ugliest Rug in America (photos to come).
Springwater’s blog has an interesting suggestion with regard to color — learn to spin or weave. I find this very tempting, but some part of me suspects this is another in my brain’s ongoing attempts to distract me from the rug — which I have decided I will finish before beginning any other projects.
Instead of starting all the other projects I want to, I have been writing them down in a teeny little notebook. There are…lots. And that doesn’t even count the ones that aren’t projects but are similar distractions — spinning lessons! Master knitter classes! I could avoid this rug for years.
Edited to add link to Ravelry project and photo of Disastrous Rug.
These Things Are Addictive
You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you’ve got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it’s amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!
What kind of knitting needles are you?
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What Yarn Are You?
You are Shetland Wool.
You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a
little on the harsh side. Though you look
delicate you are tough as nails and prone to
intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are
widely respected and even revered.
What kind of yarn are you?
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Knit Like You Mean It. 