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April 6, 2005
No Pictures, But Lots of News
I'm so mad at my computer. I have lots of great pictures to show you, but I couldn't get my computer to send an e-mail last night so I don't have them to show you today. I'll try again tonight and maybe will have better luck tomorrow.
It's been busy and I have lots to tell you. The knitting guild meeting was ok. Not great, just ok. The lady who hosted was nice and it was just her and I for about 45 minutes. I was a little put off when she started explaining to me how Principles of Knitting dedicates two pages to the discussion of why knitting with the yarn in your right hand is the only correct way to knit and the yarn in your left hand is never correct (I'm a continental knitter). I thought that was rather tacky, but maybe I'm just overly sensitive because she treated me like it was an oddity. Hello, lots of people knit that way. A couple other observations. Center pull balls are not a novelty and by definition when you pull the yarn from the center, the center will become hollow. This was a topic of great discussion and speculation at the meeting (I just sat quietly). Also, it is a good idea that when you are using yarn that comes in a hank to wind it into some sort of ball rather than just knitting directly from the hank - talk about a mess of yarn. Not a surprise to you, but apparently unheard of by some. Heck, if you're really brave and smart you can wind it into a center pull ball! And my last snide comment, I promise. When someone is working with kid mohair and doing a sleeve with an eyelet pattern (that would be me), chances are that they are not attending the meeting to learn how to knit and should not be spoken to like they are 10 years old. Yep, one lady actually asked me that. Sigh. Maybe she just didn't know what to say.
I attended an extremely boring seminar yesterday. It was 7 hours long. Seven hours of discussion on easements - not my favorite topic and definitely not for 7 hours. Yikes. The highlight of the day was that I took my knitting and finished the second sleeve of Rebecca and did gauge swatches of the 4 yarns I was considering for the Phildar cardi (there was supposed to be a picture here). Of the 4, 3 of them were almost the exact same gauge - 20 sts and 30 rows to 10 cm. The 4th, Rowan 4-Ply Cotton knit up at 24 sts and 35 rows to 10 cm. I need 25 sts and 35 rows, but I haven't washed it yet so I'm hoping that will make the difference. It is sooo pretty and soft. A sweater made from this yarn would be yummy (and I like the springy green too)
When I got home Monday night my blocking board was waiting for me. It's wonderful. So wonderful that I blocked Rebecca on it last night (picture for here too). That was my first time blocking something so meticulously, so I hope it turns out. I can't wait to sew it up and knit the ties. I'm going to try to do it this weekend so I'll have plenty of uninterrupted time.
While waiting for Rebecca to dry and to start the Phildar cardi, I started another pair of socks. This will be my first attempt at a toe up sock with short rows. I'm using one of Wendy's patterns. I had to do my first provisional cast on and found good directions on Knitting at Knoon. So far so good. I'll let you know after I get a little further (I'm only on something like row 4).
Have a great day.
