Obsession is Normal

So says the Yarn Harlot, who was in Eau Claire, Wisconsin yesterday. Here's me with the Harlot and the stash weasel, who was much smaller in person than I thought (the weasel, not the Harlot)
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Finished sewing the ribbon inside the edges of the Samus while in Eau Claire, but still have to do the zipper. I'll get to that in the next day or two. In the meantime, I'm obsessed. With my Master Knitting Level 1 submission.

When I compare some of my recent swatches with my earlier ones, I can see how I've improved. When I compare other swatches, I can see how I used to be pretty good and now I totally suck. How did that happen?

Here are the current contenders:

Swatch 1

Swatch 2


on the left, reasonably even tension; on the right, gawdawful rowing out


Ribbing is pretty good on both, except for the last knit stitch on the left. It's driving me crazy. I can't fix it no matter what. I try purling Norwegian, Continental, Continental twisted (or whatever it is when you wrap the wrong way around the needle), my "English" method of throwing, which I'm told would be Scottish if I used long, pointy needles and a sheath instead of regular straight needles and the junction of my hip and thigh. I can't decide if I'm being too picky or not, because otherwise, my k1p1 ribbing is pretty damn good. She said, humbly.

This swatch has driven me nearly insane. You'd think after 20 years, I could knit plain stockinette, but apparently, I can't.

Swatch 3


Swatch 4-16... tomorrow