Dry Fit the Pieces

Finally forced myself to sit down with a mug of encouragement and finish the fronts of the Twist & Shout cardigan. (go all the way back to December blogs) This one hit a dry spell. It was just decor on the coffee table for weeks. But now I need it done! I know the exact date of the first wearing. So I am back in focus.

The instructions for the fronts were confusing at first. I still can't decide if what I knit is what the pattern wanted me to knit - but it looks OK. Even better, the fronts match the back at that all important arm hole/sleeve area.

Talk about a good thing that I always work two fronts or two sleeves at the same time. All of the cabling, decreasing, binding off and worrying about matching the back armhole shaping got the better of me. When I focused in on the final 24ish rows I had to read, read, sketch, count and read again. Just could not 'see' the way it was going to work because every time I counted there were either 3 or 6 rows more than there should have been.

Ended up writing my own version of the detail for each row and what happened on the right front and on the left front. Only then did it click in. Even the row count was working out to match the back. Somehow my mind kept missing that bind off for shoulder slope and bind off for neckline can not happen on the same row for each front. On the left front the shoulder was bound off on a right side row; the neckline was shaped on a wrong side row. And the OPPOSITE for the right front.

Toss in that shoulder bind off for the back was on every row - due to working one side on the RS and one on the WS. So, that was a total of 6 rows and I kept thinking that I needed to bind off the front 6 times. DUH - 3 on each front side times 2 sides actually equals 6. Who knew?

You know what? Once the brain clicks, the knitting is not so much. It is highly possible that more time was spent in the figuring out and rewriting than in the actual doing. But it is done.

The fronts, pre-blocking, dry fit well. I like it. Don't fret the center edge. It is rolling back in the photo. But it will be blocked and eventually a nice crochet edge will add a half inch to each front.

On to the sleeves!

Do Over!

Remind me that knitting and car maintenance do not always go hand in hand. This is the current state of the lap robe, my current item destined for a worthy senior.


I want a do over! A mulligan.

The skein was collapsing in on itself; the robe was growing toward success. Practically one-third completed.

And then nothing. A twenty stitch section became only eighteen stitches. A yarn over became wrapped three times. Garter somehow transformed into reverse stockinette.

Total stoppage.


How does one go from almost ten inches to the above in only thirty minutes? Rude behavior. That's how.

I was calmly sitting in the waiting room of the auto repair shop and knitting in public on the lap robe for seniors. Several other trapped souls were also calmly waiting. You should know that the other calm souls were engaged in the following totally appropriate public behaviors: reading a newspaper, managing children while patting the babe in arms and updating family on the medical condition of "mom" (ok, perhaps I did listen in on that one sided phone call).

And then she stormed in. Rudeness in motion. Taking out her anger on the repair shop by looking up at the service manager and declaring, "I am through - no more. Someone will come to get me!!" Actually, the tone of her voice should be emphasized by more than two exclamation points. But I do not want to offend you.

Everyone overheard her next phone call. Clearly a family member who is comfortable with an aggressive conversational style was making utterances on the other end of the conversations but not able to neutralize the situation. Seems she had simply been driving along when the scary red warning light flashed on in her car. And it did not go off. So, she did one thing right, and stopped in to have it checked. From her side of the conversation we all, those of us doing perfectly acceptable public activity, know that:

• the light came on
• she came to this shop because she rarely bothers them with car trouble
• she so rarely bothers them with her car that she had not taken it in for any service in the last year
• they should take care of the people who are not a constant bother first
• they must be stupid because they can't even fix her perfectly fine car
  
• it had been 'hours' and now 'some stupid test drive' and she still did not have the car back
• all she wanted was for the engine light to go off because now she would be late for the party and probably have to change on the way there and the make-up is at home and what about her hair...
  

So, when the above referenced service manager attempted to calm her down and tell her the car was ready and they felt it now safe for her to be driving, she blew up and that is when she announced (see above) that someone would come get her. And, further more, she would have to come back in the morning to get the car - if she had time.

Any wonder that the lap robe is now totally frogged.

Swapping for Charity

Went to a yarn swap yesterday. It was a lively and fun event. The Vanna wannabees did their thing in describing the yarns being re-stashed to a new home. Now normally, this group conducts a yarn swap under generally loose guidelines - bring something, get something. Fairly typical. We've all participated in one of those.

AH, but this was different. At the suggestion of a forward thinking participant there were new rules.
1. Discounted selling is acceptable. Yours truly scored six balls of Kidsilk Haze at a steep discount.
2. Plain giving away is acceptable.
3. Offering up a prized jewel of fibre in exchange for a donation to The Women's Room at Friends in Deed is desired.
4. Donating unclaimed swappable yarn to The Women's Room at Friends in Deed is desired.

Swapping for Charity. And it worked. It worked fabulously and generously.

One of the women in attendance is associated with The Women's Room. It is a safe daytime refuge for women who are alone and homeless or at risk. Totally free services are offered including shower and laundry facilities, computer and telephone access and a place to rest. A recent offering was free hair styles from a professional. And soon to begin - free knitting classes where the women can make items for their personal use and spend time relaxing with a group in the safety of the facility.

Without hesitation, many items were declared by the original owner as a swappable for a donation to this cause. Two hours of fun and petting of yarns interspersed stories about life in general and the facility for women in particular.

And, at the end of the swapping, selling and donating - our little group sent over $100 to our chosen charity and an entire bag filled with enough yarn for the clients to learn and make for months to come.

Swapping for Charity. I highly recommend it.

Shuttle Along

Gee it is hard to believe it has been six whole days away from the desk. Mostly, non-knitting life has taken a front burner these days and the knitting is suffering.

A quick day flight away on business, a quick day drive away on business, conference calls and dinner events have taken a huge chunk of time. But this very day there was time to refocus on the knitting and the gloating over accomplishments.

Today was the inaugural wearing of the scarf - to go along with other inaugural events.

As promised by the designer, Ms. Japel herself, it truly looks wonderful no matter which side of the pattern one declares to be the "right" side. No wrong side. Gotta respect that.

I brought the scarf to share with the Guild today. Now you must understand that the Guild members are quite accomplished knitters. We have teachers, experts and international brilliance. So, for a pattern to impress this bunch it must be remarkable indeed.

We contemplated the visual effect of both sides - both close up and from afar. Final result? Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

So wander on over to the Glampyre Etsy shop (link is above) and check out the current offerings. Last I looked, the bamboo is all gone, but cotton remains. This was the best $25 I have spent in quite a while. Custom hand dyed bamboo, three (3) scarf patterns and two stitch markers. A true value indeed.

With Charity For All

Having finished and blocked the scarf, a new project seemed appropriate. I still have cables -lots of cables - to complete and the mind and fingers were wanting something mindless. When I don't know what to do, doing for others is appropriate.

Thus, the needles are now occupied with a lap robe that will find a home with seniors. This one is an adaptation of my K2Tog Scarf pattern (link is over on the left). The modification is to cast on 140 then k 20 before the YO and K2Tog.

I'm enjoying focusing on "charity" knitting for a bit. Busy hands lead to grateful hearts.