#this is what happened to the two of wands streamline tank
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On Swatching
I have a Bachelor's of Arts in Graphic Design, which I have maybe used for paying work 5 times in my life. And the only courses I really enjoyed were the required studio ones. Transitioning from real life medium to digital painting was a breeze, except...
Well, I'm an Aries. You can't tell an Aries anything, especially when they've somehow picked up Taurus traits even though the 12th ain't really a 'cusp'. And that + neurospiciness?
Pfft, no patience AND stubborn as a steer.
But I realized something in my digital painting time. You can't fudge the details. If you want it to look the way it looks in your head - that problem so common to artists with the inner eye that knows what it is you're trying to do - you cannot skimp. You cannot rush it. You have to go back to that one spot and put those details in. You have to take the time required to do something that looks good to you. The good/fast/cheap triangle doesn't really exist here, not for personal work. No one is paying you more to try and make things good and also quickly. In a lot of ways until you get better and more practiced you simply can't.
You have to do the work. All the work. The boring stuff, too. You'll feel like you're gonna die if it's not done soon. But the effort is actually noticeable.
When I got into fiber arts I forgot that lesson. Surely no one needs to SWATCH to make scarves and mittens and baby blankets. Gauge isn't relevant!
I have a finished object that's a garment. I won't show it here because I'm too ashamed to look at it. I spent literal months trying to perfect that garment. I messed up the front panel of it so badly once and the yarn had already gotten so terrible on it that I had to re buy two balls of yarn to re-knit it from scratch. I blocked it. I wove the ends in like a champ.
I never swatched. I thought to myself - I've knit this woman's patterns before. I did swatches then. It should be fine.
It was completely different fiber content.
The result was a tank top that was far too wide and far too short, with uneven straps and incorrect shaping. And all of that pain and spent time and spent money could have been avoided if I'd swatched.
Recently I just frogged another thing because instead of making a real swatch, blocking it, and checking, I stretched the stitches out on my needle and held them down with something heavy, got out a ruler, and figured my 'cheat blocking' would be enough.
Guess what. It wasn't. Now I'm frogging and going back down a needle. The pile of very annoyed superwash yarn ramen that is getting a bit natty and catching on itself is judging me. I'M judging me.
Sometimes, if you want it to look the way it's 'supposed' to look, the way the other projects do, the way the samples do, the way you know in your artist's eye you need it to - You have to do the work. Even the boring parts. Even those stupid swatches.
That failed tank top stays in a drawer. It'd make a great oversized crop top, I guess. I'll knit another one some day soon.
Hopefully this is the last time I heave to learn this lesson.
#spoon+knifeyarnfails#knitting#knitblr#knitters of tumblr#this is what happened to the two of wands streamline tank#thankfully I swatched her other two patterns
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A new WIP enters
It's actually an old WIP. It's a WIP I've been working on since April, and I got one panel (out of two) nearly done one time!
So what happened? I'll tell you what happened. What happened is Steph doesn't really know how to knit! So when I got to the right side of the top part of this knit, which is also a tank top, to start knitting up the ... idk we'll call it a 'boob panel', I saw 'slip slip purl' on the armpit decrease and went OH MY GOD WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING THAT PART COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY ALL THIS TIME and then I panicked, and- look I am not proud of me in that moment. We'll move on.
This WIP is the Streamline Tank by Alexa Tavel (Two of Wands) and it's... it's a well written pattern. Alexa takes a lot of time and care, actually, to make sure that plus sizes in her line always tailor correctly and the pdf's are always clear, concise, and very slick - professional looking. I dig her a lot. Also she gives me tons of fomo.
I decided to knit this thing in Truboo because I'd impulse bought a ton in Thistle for something else and then said 'oops what tank top can I make' and landed here, though it was designed for Coboo, so my drape will be different.
Anyway I had to start over on that but I started it over with a better edge and am now back on the part of the body with the cute neckline details so go me?
Look at that edge. We're proud of that edge.
Not proud of my stockinette though. If someone browses the knitting tag and knows what's going on with those stitches 6 rows from the top that are tilted sideways please give me tips. I'm already knitting with the 'purl side' on a smaller needle so I don't 'row out'. But gosh my stockinette is heckin' uneven and it bothers me.
Here's another photo of the old nearly finished object before the unfortunate thing happened - this tank is going to be really cute. Someday.
#spoon+knifeknits#knitblr#knit top#knitting#spoon+knifeWIPs#multipleWIPcrew#two of wands streamline tank#knit rants
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