Zen, Karma and Knitting

In Zen philosophy, one guiding principle is living each moment with intention.  That is, you live only with the effects on the others, environment, and world at large that you intend to have.  Masters of this principle are adept at saying only what they mean to, leaving no ambiguity, and acting without recklessness or disregard.

These are skills that are seriously useful in knitting, and yet not always fun (or achievable!)  As I carefully and thoughtfully grafted together the toes on my "Girlfriend Socks", I could not have been more focused.  I was not in a hurry, or stressed. I was not drinking my evening glass of wine.  (It was skipped on this evening to make sure I was clearheaded when working the Kitchener.)  And yet, two-thirds of the way across the graft of the toe, on a sock that was until now knitted entirely in one piece with one continuous strand of yarn, the unthinkable happened:  the yarn broke.  During the graft.  Almost done.  But not quite.

I uttered several very un-Zen words.  How far back do I go to join a new piece of yarn?  How do I ensure that the new yarn join won't cause a blister?  Is this a big enough flaw to make the gift un-givable?

I tipped the box of wine and watched the Merlot swirl into the glass. And then it hit me.  Another Zen principle is that nothing is perfect, and nothing is permanent.  I sat and drank my wine with intention for a few minutes, and then decided to go with the flow.  I only ripped back a smidge, joined the yarn, and moved on with my grafting.  It went flawlessly this time.

Karma is the circumstance of bringing about inevitable results onto yourself in this life or the next by the quality of your actions.  Whose Karma broke the yarn?  The yarn manufacturer's? Did I do this? Did the recipient Karma herself into blister-causing socks?  Accepting imperfection as part of reality is much easier to do than achieving perfection.  I will focus, and intend good work, but I will learn to accept the inevitable intervention of Karma, too.  At least some of the time it has to make me look good, right?

Two Color Brioche - The Continuing Saga

The holidays have come and gone, and things are settling back down to normal around here.  I've seen a few knitting friends in the last few days, and the long and short of it is this: I have not found a two-color brioche teacher yet.  I thought I had one, but she turned out to be thinking of something else.  When I mentioned my dilemma to my Mr., he suggested I just borrow a pastry cookbook.  Then he wondered where the colors come into it.  I explained that it was a knitting thing, and his face visibly fell as he realized I wasn't about to bake some brioche.

As always, I am not a loss for projects, but I haven't given up on the brioche thing, either.  As a knitting teacher, I always feel funny about not being able to perform a particular stitch.  (Does this mean I have nothing to offer as a teacher?) I don't know whom to ask for help. I've decided the next two steps in my journey will be to attentively work with the website briochestitch.com (run by Nancy Marchant), and to order the book Ms. Marchant wrote called Knitting Brioche: The Essential Guide to the Brioche Stitch.  Ms. Marchant is Vogue Knitting's go-to expert on the brioche, and the work I've seen in photos from her book is stunning. (Why isn't two-color brioche covered in any of the Vogue books?) She has directions on her website which appear to be a little different from what I've been able to find so far, and I'm hopeful.  No video, though, so we'll see. The book also has several pages of directions with photos. So I will patiently knit socks as I wait for my book to arrive, and perform lessons while staring at the website.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Giving The Girlfriend Socks

This is a close-up of the heel flap reduction on the Girlfriend Socks.  The specific reduction technique is easy, and I really like the look.  It makes a neat line with no holes where the fabric changes direction and tension.  (The pattern is in the Knit Simple Knitting Workshop booklet.) The Girlfriend received hers today, and seemed pleased.  This photo has the colors pretty well down, which is half the fun of these socks, in my opinion.

They're roll-top socks, and have a slip-stitch heel for durability.  The kitchener stitched toes, once the scourge of my existence, were achieved through obsessive You Tube video lessons.  The yarn is the lovely Schaeffer Nichole, and the  needle size is US 2.5.

On the Brioche stitch project I cannot claim as much success.  I have done well with the one color brioche swatch.  I then cast on my reversible scarf project.  I'm having a little trouble fully understanding what I am to do for the set up row and for row 1.  The designer may have written it perfectly and I am overthinking it, or she may have given sparse instructions where I need the gaps filled in.  I'll be trying again tonight, and I'll let you know!