Dear Ann,
I have been on such an endorphin rush with this Kaffe Fassett Big Flower Jacket. It has taken years off my age. (Or maybe, years off my life? Those are two very different things.) This state of elation, of giddiness at the fun of knitting something slightly above my pay grade, has put me in a strange, powerful state of mind. (On Whole30, they call this feeling “Tiger Blood.”) I’m awesome! I can Do Stuff!–that’s the general idea.
The latest evidence is that on Tuesday, as we packed up for a day trip to visit a college 190 miles away, I decided to take the Big Flower jacket as my car knitting.
Mind you, I was not driving. I was going to be a passenger, the whole seven hours there and back.
I was aware of the difficulties of working on a project like this while in a moving vehicle. I knew that I’d be digging around on the floor and fishing balls out of the giant bag of Big Flower fixings, measuring off lengths, using my scissors (losing my scissors), and peering at the Big Flower chart, the stripe color chart, and the shade key card, several times per row. Lots of dangling and tangling would be happening, at 70 miles per hour. But having been given the gift of seven whole hours of prime knitting time, I couldn’t stand to work on anything else.
As it turned out, walking around a college campus for 90 minutes in blazing sunshine meant that I didn’t do too much on Big Flower on the return trip, but on the way down, I did ten rows. Ten! Rows!
One hard fact I’ve learned: in 1985, it must not have been common practice to number the rows in a 68-row chart. Nor is there a grid of bold lines marking off every 10 rows and every 10 stitches, as is so common in this profligate age of free-flowing ink. There is a bold line marking the center of the chart. Apart from that, you’re on your own. You have to count, and recount, and mark up the chart your own self.
Knitters today are spoiled rotten with bolded lines and numbers and color coding and such. The knitters of 1985 had it tough, and it made them strong.
Stephen Foster wrote a song about this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95itEHED8Hk
(If you let YouTube keep playing the next song for a while, you will not be sorry. So many great versions.)
Another problem with Big Flower is that there are a lot of single-row stripes running across the background. That single row includes several instances where only a single stitch of the background stripe color is needed, between the petals of the flower. If a few of these single stitches are stacked up (each with two dangling, unmoored ends), you have a disastrous hole waiting to happen. (This is why people were telling me to strand the background color across the back, I know. Not doing it! Stubborn!)
These wobbly single stitches make it important to stop every now and then, and weave in all the loose ends, thereby closing up those holes and stabilizing the fabric of the sweater. Having completed row 68 (of 120 in the sweater), it was time to take a weaving break.
On the right: before weaving. On the left: after weaving. All better.
Weaving in the ends is tedious but not difficult. It’s a nice thing to do with your hands while you are on a long phone call with your co-bloggette.
Here’s another gem of a tutorial from Ruth Herring on how to weave in the ends in intarsia. Thank you, Ruth Herring!
That’s all I’ve got this beautiful Thursday. More Big Flower ahead. I promise to talk about something else–someday.
Love,
Kay
“That’s all I’ve got” – understatement of the year.
I believe carpets, cars and beds eat stitch markers. That is the only explanation for what happens when they fly off of your needles never to be seen again.
There isn’t enough Dramamine in the world for me to knit in a car, so I take my (stranded colorwork, of course) hat off to you.
I can’t read in a car to save my life, but I have no trouble knitting. Odd.
And I can’t knit in the car, but have no trouble reading! Odd, indeed.
Thank you Ann & Kay for taking time to inspire us daily with your beautifully written musings. I will have Hard Times in my head for the rest of the day. Always appreciate each of your links as well. Best!
Thanks from me, also. I love the instructional videos and you always know the best ones! This Big Flower is exciting!
Please, keep “talking” about this!! I am fascinated!!
Like
Love your musings.
Thank you so much for sharing Ruth Herring. She is priceless, so calming, wonderful knitter, and just all around inspiring.
We love watching the growth of this Big Flower. Keep the posts coming!
My problem with knitting in the car is that I am the world’s worst passenger. I brake. I flinch. I make odd noises. I, therefore, always end up being the one driving (which has saved my relationship.) I did take some knitting out the other day when stuck in an epic traffic jam on the West Side Highway. I tried rolling the windows down and getting the people in the cars around me to chat with me but when that didn’t work, I put the car in park, put on a podcast and knit a few rows.
Karen, I’m with you. I like to drive, too. However, you remind me of a time years ago when a dear friend, Betty, went on long car trips with her husband. She would get all comfy in the back seat, put her feet up, and knit all the way (maybe this would be a possibility for a future trial, although I would want my seatbelt). She once made a lovely gold mohair cable knit cardigan for their then teenage daughter, who ended up rejecting it (“Oh mother!”).
The sweater looked nice on Betty.
LoveDiane
I am amazed you knitted 10 rows of this complicated intarsia in-the-car! You ARE on a high roll – keep it up. The Foster tune – great melody and lyrics.
Kay, are you NUTS?!?!?! Wow. I am impressed–more so than usual, which is saying a lot. If I’d attempted that, by the end of the trip, I’d have had 68 rows worth of raveled yarn strands in a bag waiting to be hidden until such time as I got over my trauma.
Regarding chartwork, that’s what post-it notes are for! Finish a row, move your post-it! Not sure how I managed before I thought of this.
Very impressed with your new found dedication to this project. I’m in a terrible creative stall right now…
I always have a passenger project when Mark is driving. I crocheted a whole kitchen curtain for our 1950’s Donelson home on a road trip to DC once. It’s mandatory that I take something that keeps my eyes off the traffic, the road, and Mark’s driving. Having said that, I think that the Big Flower is more than I could handle as car knitting. Hats off to ya Kay. I am loving this season of hard challenging knitting from you both. I’m still looking through that brioche book and contemplating jumping into chartland.
OK. You’re calling this a jacket, which means you’re not doing the ankle-length, butt-enlarging coat version. And you’re periodically stopping to weave in (at least some of ) the ends. There may be hope for your sanity yet, as long as some guy named McFly doesn’t show up in a DeLorean to swipe the thing. . . ;-)!
Never underestimate the usefulness of a car knitting project when there is a less-than-pleasant passenger in the back seat. I’ll say no more. 😉
Hadn’t thought about the beauty of using a sharp darning needle instead of a blunt tapestry needle. Like that! Now I’m off to get a leash for my scissors and a magnet to park my needle in case I’m offered the luxury of being a passenger on a long car trip. Semper paratus knittimus.
Kay, I doubt anything is above your pay grade. I have complete faith this sweater is going to be THE sweater we will all aspire to make.
We didn’t have removable highlighter tape in 1985, either.
“Giant bag of Big Flower fixings”, Kay you crack me up!
Over 50% of the rows completed! You go girl! The jacket is looking good on both sides, too. I like the pic of before/after weaving in the ends. Never having knit a Kaffe pattern, I always imagined a ton of strands hanging down inside. Your woven the in section looks beautiful and is a job in itself.
Make no mistake, the giddiness, elation, and fun keeps you young. Not knitting your heart’s desire could take years off of your life. So Kay, you’re good.
LoveDiane
So much goodness in this post…Whole30 awesomeness, Hard Times Come Again No More, epic car knitting, satisfying woven-in ends, and the lovely, soothing Ruth. Also love the philosophical question of, “[this knitting] has taken years off my age. (Or maybe, years off my life? Those are two very different things.)” And I took your suggestion to root around for more Hard Times covers. Found this one with James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyV60kTvEFE
Inspiring! And I dare say no knititng is above your ability. I IAs inspiring! Becaue it’s the first thing that popped in my mind when I saw your top photo. But then why o why does it not get me to even finish a silly little mitt set that is actually fun and easy?
I love seeing your progress on the Big Flower from the past, but would like to read more about the college visit. My college visit days happened in the late 90s and early aughts, but I can still get wound up retelling the stories–the drive through Chicago, the snow in Pittsburgh… . I hope the process goes smoothly for all involved.
One takeaway? Changing the way I pronounce in-tar-zha. I need some refinement in my life.
Don’t stop talking about this wonderful knit. OMG, I’m loving this! So beautiful! And I’d forgotten all about those fantastic chenille yarns. Sigh.
I love Knitting and can knit just about anywhere. Enjoying knitting that much. 🙂
You’re the bravest knitter I know, Kay! I can’t even manage DPNs in the car…they always get lost under the seat! I can’t read in the car, but happily I can knit. There may be no basis for my thinking, but at least for me, I think I’ve figured out the difference. When reading, our eyes rapidly track from left to right, line after line. While knitting, our eyes don’t move so quickly and don’t span such a broad area in such a short time. Color me crazy…but I think there may be some truth to this. I am knitting vicariously through you and enjoying every minute – thanks!
Love that “knitting slightly above my paygrade”. Totally cracks me up, as usual.
I hope you and yours find the college that suits them best. Exciting times. Enjoy!