Sleeve Island

I want to know if it’s OK to drink beverages with little paper umbrellas while vacationing on Sleeve Island. Though now that I think about that, maybe it’s not such a great idea. We were invited to a party last night and I took my knitting bag along, as it was about an hour’s drive from home. We got there about 2 hours before the party started (don’t ask; it’s a really long story, and it’s NOT my fault). The hosts were nice enough to let us in anyway and give us something to drink. I really wasn’t going to bring my knitting in to the party until the sister of the hostess arrived (also about 2 hours early, but then she was family). She promptly brought out her knitting and stated that she just couldn’t sit still without it. So I went out and got my purple sweater and worked on the sleeve. She very politely commented that working on knitted lace while drinking bourbon and watching a World Series game might not be a good plan. Well what the hell did she know? I just ignored her and kept knitting until I realized that I just had seriously f***ed things up. I finished the row anyway (never stop in the middle of a row, you know) and put it away until tonight. After looking at it awhile, I decided that I just needed to go back to the beginning of the row I had been working on. Then I realized that, in my bourbon-induced knitting zeal, I had done one whole repeat more of the lace pattern than what I needed to. I started to rip back the whole repeat, lost count, and just ripped the whole thing out. During tonight’s World Series game, I redid the lace border for the first sleeve. It turned out fine, which leads me to believe that it was the bourbon that was the problem, and not the excitement of the game.

I’m done with the back and both front pieces. I was too lazy to take a good picture; here’s a pile of knitted pieces;

And the sleeve, after the ripping and re-knitting:

Author: Lorette

My name is Lorette. I learned to knit in 1999, and took up spinning in 2009. I'm a physician specializing in internal medicine, and live in the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy my blog!

6 thoughts on “Sleeve Island”

  1. There should be an award for ripping back. I’m not talking “tinking” either. It takes courage, perseverance, dedication, and stubbornness. Especially if it’s a sleeve. So here’s to you (even if the cause was bourbon). 🙂 (Go Sox!)

  2. Love the color-ditto the question above-what yarn?
    Perhaps from your trials we should learn an important lesson: Never Drink and Knit!! Penalty? Loss of needles!
    I’m thinking bumper stickers! MADK (mothers against drunk knitters) groups! Pictures of messed up rows! Is there a test for under the influence-maybe prove if you are able to bind on?! {{ok, ok, whew}}
    ….loved the story 😉

  3. Of course it’s okay to drink beverages with little paper umbrellas while you knit. It’s okay to bungee jump off a short bridge too. And while you’re at it, have you tried a game of Russian Roulette lately? Life is full of challenges, and lace knitting under ANY circumstances is certainly one of them. But your pictures show that nothing was lost except time. Your purple sweater will be a beauty. When it’s done, you can wear it the next time you sip beverages with little paper umbrellas.

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