Markers

My husband and I were planning a day trip. It came at a good time for making progress on my cardigan.

The night before, I finished the raised ribbing. I then knit the first row laying out the patterns of the different columns to follow. You may remember that I talked about markers earlier. I'm using left-over blue yarn tied into loops. As I lay out the pattern, I place markers to separate the columns. I had previously marked only major landmarks like center back and underarm. Now I was placing them every 11 to 40 stitches.

So when we started our drive, I was prepared. I had the scanned directions and my spreadsheet chart on my device for easy reference.

The goal was not just to knit inches, but to internalize each pattern, to recognize which column as I come to it and where I was in that pattern. As I moved from pattern to pattern, I transferred the marker from needle to needle.

It was a lovely day, I always enjoy the captive time talking with my husband, watching the passing scene. And I knit, referring to the directions less and less.

This is a picture of what the cardigan looked like when I got home. Can you see the sections? It was a joyful time to realize that I could remove the markers. I had progressed sufficiently to rely on the the garment itself, I didn't need the external props.

And so I am working on the fugue of my cardigan and the fugue of my life. 

For those interested in the details of the cardigan:

Two patterns, accounting for 40% of the circumference of the cardigan, were really easy to master. The column that I call the ladder, is the easiest and most frequent column. It has only two rows that repeat and appears eight times. The pattern for the underarms is a two by two checkerboard. Both are easy to recognize in context which also makes it easy to quickly realize if you got off. 

And then there are the two patterns that are more complicated requiring a third needle which holds stitches to the front or back of the work. The honeycomb repeats every eight rows. It is positioned center front and back. As a focal point, it really must be right. Then the fishernet meanders for 20 rows before repeating. This pattern won't be noticed by many people, but the knitters will be drawn to it. This is the pattern that proves your skill to your peers.

And to tell the truth, I did spend the next morning redoing the fishernet sections. But that's another post.