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i see lice


posted 14 November 07 & filed under busy bee, knitting

finally, after months and months, i’m back to my poetry in stitches sweater. when last you saw this knit, i’d done most of the body and had just blocked the center panel, only to realize, like many a knitter, that row gauge is not my friend. a few months later, with the help of a braver knitter (mg!), i frogged the whole darn thing. fast foward to the beginning of november when i finally bought some size 0s and 1s – don’t know what happened to the earlier pairs i had – and swatched. oh wait, no, i didn’t swatch. bad andrea.

ah well, so far the gauge is looking good. i initially swatched this yarn on size 4s, 3s, and 2s, so i have a pretty good idea of its’ expanding qualities when blocked. the pattern asks for 25 stitches and 31 rows for every 4”, and i’m getting roughly 30 stitches and 34 rows. yup, that sounds very off, no? i’m not very worried though because a) i know this yarn and its’ deceptive blocking ways, and b) size 2 needles clearly don’t cut it, as evidenced by the earlier sad frogging, and c) there’s a good ten inches of ease in the pattern, so 8 inches instead won’t hurt my feelings. and length wise, it’s no problem-o as there’s no waist shaping, etc. to get in the way.

oh, and what’s all these pics mean? well, i joined the round, and yup, i twisted it without realizing until a good thirty rows later. ahem. so, first i tried dropping down to the join and seeing if i could twist something there that would fix the problem. i’d read something about that before, but couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. i then picked up all those stitches, grumble grumble, and decided, what the heck, it’s got to be cut later anyhow, i might as well do it now. so i did, and then calmly re-joined, without a twist, and continued knitting. the stickiness of the yarn is saving me, as i really should have crocheted on either side of the cut before grabbing the scissors, but hey, it was 2 am, the witching hour for all, especially knitters. anyhow, crisis averted and the knitting continues, which is the most important thing.

so chatty about the knitting, huh. on other fronts, things are still tough but life just keeps moving. thanks for all the nice words sent my way ~ we’re getting over the shell-shocked phase, which i think is a good thing, that’s not a fun place to be. as for what’s next, oh who knows. so, for today, knitting knitting and more knitting, plus some driving and sitting and waiting, oh and some spinning. see?

happy wednesday to you all, you nice people ~

p.s. that pattern i’m knitting, the black and white you see there, is called lice. i don’t actually see the little critters jumping around, no fears.

Comments

I am so glad you’re back working on that sweater; it’s gorgeous. I can’t believe you were so brave to frog and then fix the twisting. Good thing you had a friend with you to help you with it; it really makes a big difference.

~ Francesca (Nov 14, 10:27 AM#)

So funny, because when you were struggling with that twist I was thinking “why not cut it?” And you did. Yay! It looks great. Still sending good vibes your way. The girls are getting together this weekend. You will be greatly missed.

xox, J

~ Julia (Nov 14, 11:49 AM#)

Beautiful knitting as always, Andrea. I wish the best for you and your family.

~ Merna (Nov 14, 12:11 PM#)

your sweater looks beautiful, and i hope that you’re feeling better these days.

BTW—I wanted to share some exciting news w/you—I’m having a baby! So I guess it’s time for me to bust out my rusty knitting skills :)

~ lalitha (Nov 14, 04:24 PM#)

Thinking of you and yours; and WOW do I admire your persistence and courage to keep on with that sweater, which is sure to be just as beautiful in its completion as it is already in its process.

Take care of you—

~ kodachrome (Nov 14, 05:11 PM#)

so glad to see this sweater on your needles again. it’s so beautiful!

way to boss that twist.

hugs,
frogging-buddy :)

~ meowgirl (Nov 15, 04:13 PM#)

Wow! looks great! you are very brave to just cut it like that. I’m glad to hear that worked..I may utilize that idea someday.

I’m glad to hear you are feeling a bit better. My thoughts are with you and your family. ugh. I’ve been kind of going through a bit of a family-related rough patch myself, so I’m right there with you, if that helps in any way. If you need to chat, you are more than welcome to e-mail me :)

~ moni (Nov 15, 06:00 PM#)

Hi! This will be an amazing sweater, I’m sure :-)

If you still want to play in my PIF game, send me your mailing address! It’ll be fun, wheee!

Rhonda

~ Rhonda (Nov 18, 09:13 PM#)