The title says it all. Yesterday (Saturday) I cast on for the Cable Down Raglan.  After a few false starts (what? you want me to cast 108 stitches onto DPNs? I think not!) I think I’ve finally got the gist of the pattern, and I’m exactly halfway through the first pattern repeat.

(this is less knitting than it looks like here, maybe 2-3 inches)

The problem?  I am not having fun. I just find making cables and reading charts to be really tedious.  I don’t mind a cable row every few rows.  That can be fun and make for interesting texture.  The problem comes when I’m having to make bunches of cables every row, and when the chart has a key that I cannot memorize (because they all look similar, and even when looking at them I want to switch them around… and color-coding isn’t helping)  Really, just ask the half-finished Shedir hat that languishes in the windowseat. I seem to be unable to learn this about myself, as I keep attempting cabled projects, getting bored, and quitting.

Another interesting thing about this pattern is the tightness of the guage.  Knitting worsted weight yarn on size 6 needles produces a very dense fabric, which makes nice cables (in theory,) but which I’m not necessarily in love with.  Here’s a closeup of one of the cables.

Sorry it’s all crappy looking, but my cables always look like that.  I think it’s because I don’t like them, so I’m always in a big hurry when they appear.  I know how to cable without a cable needle, but that doesn’t really seem to help my speed any on this project.  And I don’t know why the yarn looks pink here, it’s definitely purple.

So why am I a weird knitter?  Because I love stockinette.  Adore it.  I also love ribbing and textured patterns (I was all about the basketweave pattern in the Jess jacket.)  I like lace so long as it isn’t crazy, because lace has a symmetry that I find soothing.  I love crocheted features.  I don’t even mind seaming that much.  But cables… bah.  They make me crazy.  And charts. I think this is an instance of where my background in counted cross-stitch works against me.  The charts don’t work the same way, and this makes me nuts!

So I don’t know about this sweater.   I’m not going to go frog it immediately or anything, but I’m going to wait and see if I still want to work on it.  I stand very firm in my belief that knitting is supposed to be fun, and I refuse to knit anything I don’t enjoy.  Projects can be given up without guilt!  Of course, I may change my mind, because I’m fickle like that.

Of course, I don’t know what else I’ll knit right now, but I suppose I’ll find something… my list it is long.  For instance, I bought this pattern awhile ago.

It’s from Knitting Pure and simple.  I like the seed stitch border, and I ain’t gonna lie… I am really disappointed that it doesn’t say what yarn this is.  I suspect it may be one of the Rowan DK tweeds.  I don’t actually have an appropriate yarn for this, although I have been looking!

And I’m considering buying Lace Style just for this shrug.

I’m really trying to find something I can make for my wedding, to wear over my shoulders in church (no, it isn’t a rule, I just like the idea of the shrug.) I like rectangle shawls, but I don’t really want to have to fuss with anything.