How do you eat a whale?

 So, I'm here to talk about a project that I was really excited about when I started it.  It's double knitting, which is a fun technique for me, it's nerdy, which I love, and it's relatively endless.  Which, admittedly, is a double edged sword.

I usually knit/craft relatively monogamously.  I might take a break from something, cast on a few new things, but usually I'm hyper focused on finishing whatever it is that I'm working on.  I am not one to spend a bit of time doing one thing, switch things up and do something else.  It's just not really how my mind works, it's not how inspiration usually strikes.

Therein lies the rub about the double knit thing.  Double knitting is a technique where you are essentially stranding in a 1x1 rib.  You are left with a fabric that is reversible (the colors are reversed on the back) and very stretchy.  It's a neat way to put pictures and motifs in knitting without having to worry about the reverse side with all the floats.

 

Everything about this kiiind of hurts my hands when I do it for more than 30 minutes.  So, alas, from the time I cast on and knit about 20 rows to oh, about a week ago, it got no love from me.  And that's a shame!  On the product vs. process dichotomy, this project is firmly in the product side.  It hurts my hands too much to enjoy it thoroughly.

 Another interesting thing about this project, I learned that I am a much looser purler than knitter, so every other row would "row out" and pop out loosely.  I was advised to look up eastern purls, which is wrapping your purls opposite. This creates a twisted stitch, so I'm knitting through the back loop and purling reverse.  It's a real mind trip on top of everything else.  It's difficult to change anything about the way one knits after doing it for 10 years!

 Last week though, I decided to do something about it.  I decided to take a bite out every single day.  two rows, there and back.  The task would only take 20 minutes, maybe 25 if it's a particularly tricky row.

It'll still take me about a year to finish the scarf, but it will take a lot longer if I don't work on it at all.

 

Wish me luck!  I'm looking forward to having a scarf next year! XD 

Melinda Mae- Shel Silversteen (from Where the Sidewalk Ends)

Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started in right at the tail.

And everyone said,"You're much too small,"
But that didn't bother Melinda at all,
She took little bites and she shewed very slow,
Just like a little girl should...

...and eighty-nine years later she ate that whale
Because she said she would!!!

 

Pattern: Wonderland Adventure Scarf by Celia Cabodevilla

Yarn: knit picks stroll "sprinkle" and "pearlescent"