On Fire

I get it. I finally get cables.

For years cables mystified and scared me in the same breath. I admired their intricate dances across traditional sweaters, worshipped at the altar of anyone who could cable and was scared out of my wits at the thought of trying to knit one. Cables haunted my dreams, chasing me into a corner and attempted to smother me.

But yet, I was determined to master these traveling stitches. I studied books, read every articles I could find and kept telling myself this year I was going to conquer the fearsome cable. I even had my first cable project picked: His/Hers Reversible Cable Scarf from Cables Untangled. My sister even bought me the most beautiful yarn to knit this scarf out of: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Peru in Shadow, a lovely, soft, glorious alpaca/merino/silk blend. For some reason I could never stir up the courage to cast on. I told myself I just needed to swatch on a lesser yarn in case I needed to frog it a few or so dozen times. The pattern and the yarn are still sitting, waiting for me to cast on.

But, OH NOT NOW! I can do cables!

Let me repeat myself.

I CAN DO CABLES!!!

Thank you dear Knit & Knag ! Cables are no longer scary or a mystery to me.

How did this happen?

I’m a sucker for KALs. I will get all gun-ho about joining the latest, greatest KAL, buy the yarn, then something will come up and I will forget all about it until they are wrapping. I barely remember in time to get all the pieces of the pattern off the group website. As part of 101 in 1001, I swore I would actually participate and finish a KAL item. It didn’t matter what, I was just going to stick with it.

Enter the Mystic Light KAL that started last week. I nearly did the same thing as I normally do I was rushing to finish this as a retirement present for a friend:

Wendy Knits Grape Arbor Shawl out of Heritage Yarns Serenity in Atlantic Moonglow.

Here’s the super-cheesy taking the finished object shot in the bathroom mirror (Pardon the paleness, I’m no where close to that pale!)

Back to the KAL…

After I killed myself to finish the Grape Arbor, I faithfully printed off Clue #1 instructions and chart for the Mystic Light and had a panic attack! Charts, cables and provisional cast-on all thrown at me once! Only my vow and the world’s most perfect yarn for this KAL: Handmaiden Tussah Silk in Origin

gave me the courage to cast on the first rows.

I found myself holding my breath as the first signs of cables began to emerge from my needles. After nearly passing out by Row 10, I wanted to show the world my beautiful, perfect cables. The only ones were the cats, who won’t be impressed if I could knit cables standing upside-down, underwater with no knitting needles whatsoever. I’m not sure winning the lottery would impress cats.

Finding the cats unimpressed and not wanting to scare the neighbors with the crazy knitting lady routine, I was dialing Mom and the Princess about my cable prowess (they’re the best knitting cheering squad in the world as long as I keep knitting them socks) when I noticed the center cable was twisted the wrong way.

Why is it that wrong-twisted cables can be seen from space but we can’t find Osama Bin Laden?

Now there was no way in the world I could do the amazing feat of dropping a few stitches down to the oops, rework them and all would be well. With cursing that would make a sailor blush, I yanked everything off the needles, restarted from scratch and preceded to knit my fingers off to make up for starting late and having to frog.

Clue #1 done with twisted cable border and plaited cable down the center. Barely done in time for Clue #2 to come out tomorrow.

My reward for trying to kill my fingers and wrists:

Five skeins of STR Mediumweight including two colorways I have been tearing the world apart: Jewel of the Nile and Seastone. Between saying I can finally knit cables and finding these colorways, I can die happy.

Please bury me with my yarn.