I have to accept it. There is no hope for me. I’m a loose knitter.
When I first learned to knit, in elementary school, I knit so tightly I could hardly insert the needle into my stitches. Apparently I finally compensated without learning any lessons.
As most knitters know, but somehow I’m starting to doubt I know this one, if you knit loosely, no problem, just use a smaller needle. I should have this down.
Instead, as I embark on this new adventure called stuffed animals, this lesson went out the window, not to be seen again until I’m assembling my mouse.
Loose knitting is good for drape, but not for a stuffed animal. It’s not supposed to drape and play dead, but be able to stand and do other tricks.
When I bought the Knitted Animal Friends: Over 40 knitting patterns for adorable animal dolls, their clothes and accessories it felt like a new beginning, like using a new notebook, remember that feeling (if you had it)?
I opened the first pages and studied techniques, yarn types, patterns, colors…. immediately decided on an easy first animal pattern to see the pitfalls I would be experiencing and to get practical information empirically.
Wanting to do this right, I even ordered the suggested yarns and needles. As usual, I don’t have what is used in the book. Even the needle size was one I didn’t have, though I find this hard to believe. It’s probably hiding on some project I started and didn’t finish yet.
I should have known, but I didn’t, as I happily knitted all the body parts that make up a cute mouse. The head, the body, the legs, the arms, the tail. Ok, I found the tail a bit long, but it’s a mouse and they have long tails, right?
Once finished, I washed all the pieces. And in the meantime made some pants and started on a cardigan. Wow, those pants were huge, but I would love a bigger stuffed animal instead of a tiny one. I should have known, but didn’t.
Today, after a palate cleanser of a littler rabbit yesterday and while waiting for the mouse pieces to dry, the mouse was going to be assembled. And this is where I couldn’t deny my loose knitting anymore. I should have known, but I didn’t.
The body seemed a bit big, but I remembered the big pants and thought: ok?!
Next came the legs. I like some pretty long legs, but this was getting ridiculous. This mouse is not going into modeling legs. And this is where I take a break and reassemble myself, my emotions and my reality.
I had no intention of embarking on abstract so early in my stuffed animals career, but what choice do I have now? Certainly not throwing it all away or unravelling. Not after having washed the pieces. Even dirty, I would work with what I have. So we’ll see where this leads to. Oh, I know, smaller needle sizes next time. And a huge abstract mouse. Will see you at the other end of this monstrosity in a few days.