I swear, I'm defecting to crochet...

Really, I think Loll has broken me.

I have stands what I thought I stands, and I can't stands no more, to paraphrase Popeye (terribly), but seriously, this pattern although cunning (tip my hat to Ms. Hargreaves, yes), is the yuck.

I cannot follow it blindly believing in its clarity and competence. I have to be doing schematics on graph paper before I commit it to yarn, because I refuse to tear stuff again and again.

First of all, I'm at the neck shaping, and it says that I have to rib 8 sts then slip them on to a holder and neglect those while I knit and shape the neck on the other side. So twenty rows later, I have a shaped neck (as seen on the right - although it's folded over) and a pretty steep step to the right which doesn't match the back (hint: where the magenta coloured thread is).

WTF?

I've actually read the pattern three times, and really, it doesn't make sense, not in the schematics provided (God bless schematics, never trust a pattern without 'em), or in the reality. I know that Helen (my knitting svengali) always says that I need to be 'zen' with the knitting and such, but come on now, you mean to tell me that they couldn't sort this knitting pattern out, especially with the book in it's third or fourth printing?

Ugh.

Thanks for the comments in my blog. I seem to be petting them with great fondness and feeding them sticky cookies.

I thought about the buttons, honest - but I attempted the button holes - but they break up the stitch border, so I'm doing the pattern without button-holes and installing a zip, a tip from the beauteous poster at A Mangled Yarn.

Now I can understand why people decide to do top down knitting - it seems to be less open to nonsense.

It doesn't help that I remember crochet being something of a morale booster, wherein you could do an activity in a couple of days, instead of the months it's taken me to do this pattern. I have four assignments due June 11. Four. Yet, I've fobbed off studying time, friendships and yes, even food so that I can get this top done for the summer.

And yet.

And yet.

So, after Loll, I'm going to take a little break from knitting for a while - and turn my hand to crochet.

The main factor which tipped my decision to crochet is the new Teva Durham (apologies if the name is spelt wrong) Loop d Loop crochet. Every pattern is inspired, and I'm tempting to trade in her Loop d Loop knitting book (although it hasn't come from Amazon as yet), because there are so much more exciting things in her crochet version.

There's this fab orange crochet coat that I want - I must have. It's destined to be on my back - or me just doing it and probably selling it to someone for the price of the yarn, and just put it down to process, instead of product.

There's this cute top in Stoller's Stitch and Bitch Crochet that I'm eyeing, called cup cake. The only thing that's stopping me, is me wondering if it's too cute for my tastes. But I can wear it with a denim jacket, and make it edgy.

So, I've called Rowan yarns, asking them for help with the pattern, they say that the designers might call me today -depending on my place in the queue.

Sigh.