Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Tank top stand still


All I need to do is seam the sides and weave in the ends and I CAN'T DO IT!!!

There was an incident when knitting the edge of the neckline. It said 'knit loosely' which I didn't take too seriously. I realised why they said that when after the first attempt, I could not get the top over my head.

On the second attempt, I knitted very loosely and it goes over my head just fine. I just think the issue now is that it's all messy from being pulled the first time and it's just so damn hard to pick up stitches along that neckline with stitches bound off in both directions! So the neckline is kinda depressing me, but I think I can tidy it up a bit.

But that SEAM! Ugh. It just curls up and I can't see very well what it is I'm supposed to do and I can just see myself missing stitches and making a malung out of it. A malung (pronounced mal-loong) is a Sri Lankan dish, supposedly cabbage based, but it's a bunch of things messily tossed together. So if something is a mess, you can call it a malung. I think my seam is going to be a malung.

So I kinda can't cope right now. Any advice? Breathe?

The pattern says to use the invisible seam stitch. I found this example online (the one at the bottom of the page) but I am still freaking out about it. Partly because I can't lay my work out nicely to line it up. And the edge throws me off. I think I'll pass the needle through different rows each time. I was thinking of running a small piece of different coloured yarn along with it to help me see what I am doing better. Maybe next weekend...

6 comments:

me said...

You can seam it, it's really not as hard as it looks. Look back at figure 77 on that site, it's a perfect pic.
There's a trick though: when you start, loosely tie your yarn somewhere _near_ where the seam will be, like an inch or so into the shoulder or whatever. That will help stabilize your first stitches. Then look for the little horizontal bars, as in the figure, with the right sides facing you. Your needle will go under 2 bars for each side, and you'll always go back into the "hole" where the yarn is coming out of on the other side.

Am I making any sense? It is helping? Personally I don't like seaming much, but it doesn't need to be feared! I believe in you! =D

Simone said...

Thanks for advice ladies. I'm going to give it a red hot go this weekend using your advice. I promise!

me said...

So... where's the report on how the seaming is going? Have you pitched it across the room yet?

Simone said...

*tumbleweed bounces across the room....*

me said...

=( Aw. I know a lot of people who hate seaming. I don't mind it, once I get started, but I don't like the idea of it, so I rewrite patterns to be worked in the round. I just finished seaming two baby sweaters that a co-worker knit b/c the babies are born and growing and she wasn't going to do it.
Once you actually do it, you'll be surprised how easy it is and how wonderful it looks.

Simone said...

Thanks Desiree, I'm sure it'll be easier than I think once I get started. I am just terrible at starting things I don't want to or am scared to do! I've got a lot of time this weekend, so I think it's going to happen. I'm thinking with more optimism and I feel like I'll le tyou and Emily down if I don't finish soon!