Well, maybe it's not, maybe I am just being overly pessimistic. I have had quite a number of successes for the day, so what is the problem in my current feeling of completely at a lack of inspiration? It could be that, even though I finished both sleeves of the sweater I am knitting, I realized I had other big problems. Remember two inches frogged and one inch knit equals three inches of progress? Turns out that I still hadn't read the pattern carefully enough. The size that I am working on is somewhere in the middle of the sizing for the pattern which can get confusing, and on-top of that reading knitting patterns can be a confusing as it is. I often feel how perhaps the opposing forces felt when trying to decrypt the Navajo language that the US was using to send secret messages during WWII. So, two inches frogged again, I am feeling a little down, despite the fact that now I am almost back to wear I started.
On Sunday I returned fabric. I know. I know.
This was a first (and perhaps once) in a lifetime experience. I bought three yards of this great animal print, but upon getting it home realized that it wasn't as great as I originally mused. Because it was three yards, I didn't feel badly about taking it back, three yards is enough to include back into the bolt, and I have bough enough fabric from them that even if they lost the money from this return, they still come out ahead. Not knowing the procedure for the return, I checked with the gal at the counter. She informed me I needed to take my receipt and my fabric back to the cutting counter to have my honesty measured (the fabric re-measured). Upon doing so, the fellow at the cutting table informed me that my fabric was 1" short of 3 yards. So, I told him that I had not even taken it out of the bag since I got it home. To which he responded, "Well, it is not 3 yards," and I replied, "Well, if it is 1" short, maybe you all need to have a cutting lesson, because the only reason it would be short is because you all don't know how to cut fabric." He finalized the return after that. What the hell am I going to do with 1" of Lycra, stretch it so thin it wraps around the earth's equator, and then use it to find my way? And why would I buy three yards to steal 1" just to return it.
Lesson learned: Unless you need to return the fabric save yourself the hassle, and unless you need the fabric, don't buy it.
This started a great internal debate about the wool needed for the black McQueen suit that I am working on. I have almost finished the wool-blend test skirt, but with the sewing machine out of commission—don't worry, I'll get to that part—haven't completed. I don't want to make really nice garments out of shitty fabric, so I decided to go to San Francisco on Tuesday morning to buy the wool that I need for the entire suit. This was no easy feat. The driving there was simple, I even found a free two-hour street parking spot, half a block from the store I was going to. I wore boots, so walking and standing were also no problem. The staff, as usual, was polite and helpful in their San Francisco way. So what was the hard part? Once I got there, I carried that beautiful bolt of black wool around that store for an hour. An entire hour. I know, because I set an alarm on my phone, just in case this should happen. I thought that, like Project Runway, I should set a time-limit, and then head for the cutting-counter—don't get things I don't need, only the things that I do.
I had never paid this much for any fabric. Granted that $25 a yard for pure, fine wool is not expensive by any stretch of the imagination, for me, it was. The entire time I was in the store I felt anxious, "is this the right thing to do?" I decided, yes, this is the right thing to do, because this is what I want to do. THIS is the entire point of this project: to learn, to push my limits, to do new things, to experiment and be creative. I didn't go overboard. I bought the wool, and a few yards of really, really cheap black knit to practice on. I also bought an embroidery hoop—no, I am not striving to become a hand embroidery goddess or something—some floss, and a thimble—granted, this is needed regardless of the project—because I want to work on my hand stitching skills, and I thought that learning and practicing some embroidery would be a good way to go. (More below the images)
The Goods:
The Shocking Total:
I felt a lot better after I had bought the wool, maybe it is like ripping off the band-aid. It stings, but after you've done it, you can see that things are looking a lot better than they felt.
There were other successes today, but for now with the sewing machine now in the shop for repair—more of this story, and others to come—I return to knitting for the evening. Big Kitty really enjoys the knitting, as she finds it a good time to snuggle with her personal heater.
Big Kitty just farted again. Maybe, I am on the right track after-all.
Caption Below
Big Kitty likes the knitting so much, that she sleeps on the knitting bag even though it is not comfortable (it has books and knitting needles inside).
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