Thursday, March 01, 2012

I encountered a double-yolked egg yesterday – I can’t remember when I last saw one. Commercial eggs are candled, I believe, and the oddities normally removed. Wonderful that it should happen on February 29!


No news (is good news) from Archie. We get him back tomorrow. Here is a picture of him on the doorstep on Monday morning, about to experience British education. "Smart casual", they said. That's his anxious mother, behind.


Yesterday evening when I switched on the kitchen light, the bulb fell from the socket. It didn’t shatter, and for half an hour or so I felt happy about that. Then I began to wonder whether I will be able to get the metal bit out of the holder in order to replace it. I’ll postpone getting the steps out and going up to have a look, until I’ve had my porridge. Life is frot with problems.

Knitting

Yesterday I was looking at a knitting magazine in my bath, as is my wont, and had a Thot. What if I abandoned Effortless and Vitamin D alike, and used that madelinetosh yarn to knit Roberta Rosenfeld’s very simple and very clever sweater, No. 12 in the Winter 11-12 VK?

(If you go to Ravelry and search on “Roberta Rosenfeld” you won’t find it, but “drape-front sweater” will get it. It took me a while to work that out. You probably have the magazine anyway.)

I am worried about the gauge for the Effortless. It is written for madelinetosh DK, remember, but she wants me to use 5.5mm needles and get a gauge of 19 stitches to 4”. I’m knitting the v-neck vest on 4mm and getting 20-22 stitches to 4” as the ballband says. I don’t like knitting with big needles – will I be happy with 5.5? And I like the fabric I’m getting – do I want it looser?

Vitamin D is written for sport-weight yarn. Not an insuperable difficulty, of course.

But VK No. 12, written for alpaca, wants 5 stitches to the inch. I think I could achieve that. Try a swatch on 4.5 mm maybe. I think madelinetosh has a native droopiness which would go well in an alpaca pattern. The pattern sounds straightforward, and also sounds as if it could be tweaked if necessary to accommodate the gauge I was actually getting. The Ravelers who have knit it are very happy with it, and look nice wearing it. That is not always the case.

The v-neck vest got on well yesterday. Lying about, waiting to be picked up and worked on, it now looks like a sweater, and a rather nice one. I remember when Thomas-the-Elder’s Brownstone (madelinetosh scarlet, late last year) began to look like that.

Knit Now

Shandy, I am ashamed not to have thanked you. Three people sent me copies.  I was very touched, and am very grateful. It is an interesting idea for a magazine (small knits only). I don’t think I want to go on with it but I am glad to have seen it, and will have another very thorough look before committing myself on the snood front.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:08 AM

    For the metal bit still stuck in the light socket? Use a potato! It won't conduct electricity well and you won't be injured by any glass that might be left. You just stuff the potato into the opening until it "catches" on the metal of the lightbulb. You then just turn the potato until the lightbulb remnants come out. I know it sounds pretty silly, but it's a tried and true method.

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  2. I concur with Anonymous' suggestion to use a potato to remove the metal bit from the socket. It seems to be the classic method!

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  3. I concur with Anonymous' suggestion to use a potato to remove the metal bit from the socket. It seems to be the classic method!

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  4. Jean, you may well get your 19 st to 4" with a 4.5mm
    needle, if you're getting 20 st to 4" with a 4mm.

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  5. Potato OR needle-nose pliers, BUT, turn the power off first (of course)

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  6. Anonymous6:12 PM

    (I've heard carrot instead of potato...)

    Good gracious - Archie looks so tall! I must have seriously misjudged his age, or his mom is quite petite...

    The whole idea of boarding school is foreign to us in California - I am looking forward to his report after a week.

    Beverly near Yosemite CA

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  7. I just finished a dozen extra-large eggs, and every one was double yoked.

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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