Working Out the Kinks

The sweater design I'm working on is a new shape for me. That means that there are more kinks to work out of the pattern than usual. And it means more frogging and more kinky wool to deal with before it can be re-knitted. If you knit something and rip it out soon after, you don't need to worry about this problem--the wool won't have had time to "set" in the shape of the stitches. However, not only did I wait a several days, but I also blocked the piece of knitting in question. So, when I took it all out, it looked like this,

and this.

 

The solution? First, I wound the frogged wool onto my niddy noddy (you can use a swift to do this if you don't have a niddy noddy, or even the back of a chair),

 

then I gave it a bath, and hung it up to dry on my trusty music stand.

Trust me, it's worth taking this measures as the knitting and final product will be so much nicer. I'm pretty excited about this garment, which I intend to wear with this shawl pin just received from here.

Why are today's photos so grainy and grey? It's because we're in the midst of an ice storm and we're at the solstice when the light is in short supply to start with. My new (and hideously expensive) beeswax candles are at the ready in case of a power outage,

and I've just sent James out on foot for some last-minute supplies (and instructions to stay safe). I gave him some cash and only just noticed our new polymer ten-dollar bills with transparent sections.

That's supposed to be Sir John A. (our first PM). He looks different for some reason, but I can't figure out why...