Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Swamp(ed) Monster

It has been one heck* of a month.

We had family visiting. We have traveled. We have explored. They have left and since then I have been sick.

I am only now starting to feel as if I am crawling out from under the rock of busy chaos and am staring at the wreckage of my life. Unfinished and In-process surrounds and defines me. I need to make lists. I need to prioritize and I need to get busy. Thankfully I am feeling better and am powered by a massive desire to be on top of things again.

Remember the green yarn? Remember the green blanket for the baby that is due to arrive in about three weeks? Well, that green yarn became this


And I am almost done! Just a nice cast off or crochet border and a good blocking...

But dudes. My lovely knitting friends and those who can empathize with projects gone wrong.
I screwed up.

Blocking.
Lace.
ACRYLIC.

Apparently those three things don't go together so well. I never thought about it. I have never knit with acrylic before, how was I supposed to know! What the heck* am I going to do??!!

I have done a little research and apparently you can KILL acrylic yarn. Yeah, yeah, I know- that's how I feel too, but really that's what they call it. It is a process of steam pressing the yarn and it somehow releases the fibers in some way. But it doesn't always work, or really I should say that it is irreversible. You blow it, you suck. Oh man. This is not good.

So I have an almost finished blanket that needs to be killed, the Ravelympics start in two days (for which I am WIP Wrestling with the ever in-process Husband Sweater) and yeah.

I'm starting to wonder why I decided to crawl out from under that rock.

* no further cursing required

11 comments:

Maya said...

Instead of "killing" in, can't you just pretend it's supposed to be all wavy and soft? ;-)

Had a lovely visit from your #2 daughter - I'm excited to hear she's heading back your way. Though I guess maybe that makes your down time a little shorter!

Love
M

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the same way as Maya, it's a sort of 'adventure' blanket with all sorts of hills and valleys and hidden corners... the other babies are going to be so jealous!!!!

Abigail said...

I'm so bummed for you about the acrylic blanket! I had the same issue with an acrylic rug, but my issue was inconsistent gauge, not lace, so I felt really dumb!

Rima said...

Yikes. Who would have ever thought.

Well, no matter what, the blanket is beautiful. Dont kill it. Or just give it to me. But please dont kill it.

Maya said...

Will you have enough yarn left over to knit a test piece and kill THAT to see if it works?

MrsFife said...

You've never knit with acrylic???? Oh wow!

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Unknown said...

Hi! I just found your blog on Expat Women and I'm looking forward to reading more.

I dig the whole knitting-thing but I stink at it, which is really a shame because I LOVE yarn.

Danielle Barkouse in Chennai (for now)
Earth to Danie

Akshi said...

Hi Cindy,
I came across your blog while researching for pet relocation to India from US. I have a cat and I'm planning to move back to India next month. I am trying to figure out what would be the best way to take my cat along. I have a lot of questions around which airlines to choose, how will my cat manage the long flight, what its going to cost and not many answers :). I would really appreciate if you can share your experience and advice with me. My email address is akshiDOTmahajanATgmail.com
Thanks a lot.

Yasmin said...

I'm still stuck at the part that you've never knit with acrylic before. Have you any idea how shocking that is to me??? I've never ever used anything besides acrylic- thats the only stuff availabe here!
Don't kill the blanket- it's pretty with all the unblockiness. I guess if your friend doesn't like it then give it to someone who'd appreciate it- just don't kill it!!!

Jean said...

So what did you wind up doing with the green blanket? If it's any consolation, someone on ravelry outright begged me not to block my hemlock baby blanket. Lots of people really like the unblocked look.