About
knitting, for a change....
I toiled
on around the Dunfallandy blankie edging, purling clockwise, and
decided long before I finished the round that I would purl normally
henceforth.
The next
round was not much better. The stitches from the first round were
turned, so that the only way to proceed with any ease was to knit
into the back leg of each stitch. Before I had finished going around
like that, I had reached a conclusion:
Four
rounds of purling, however executed, are not garter stitch, they are
reversed st st. For garter stitch in the round, you've got to purl.
(Well, you don't, there are work-arounds, see below, but for rhetorical
purposes...) But for st st, I could just turn the whole thing around.
So I did.
The worst that can happen is a small hole every time I turn, namely every four rounds, and
there are ways of dealing with small holes. I finished the round, I
wrapped the first stitch of the next round, I turned the work and
knit very happily off in the other direction. I am not far off
the moment when I turn again and resume knitting on the right side.
I remember
having great difficulty with this operation when I was knitting
Hellie's bridal shawl. In that case, I wanted to wrap and turn at the
end of every round, to produce garter-stitch-in-the-round. I can't
imagine what went wrong, to produce that Messy Corner that I kept
grumbling about. It seems so obvious now – helped by the fact that
I now change needles at that corner.
I wrap the
stitch which would be the first stitch of the next round if I were
knitting on straight ahead. I don't knit it. I turn the work. At the
end of the next round, I knit that stitch with its wrap, wrap the
next one, and again turn. So two stitches are being wrapped, in
alternate rounds. The effect, in lace, is visible and a bit
heavy-looking. But better than purling.
Miscellaneous
I have
bought Queer Joe's Koigu scarf pattern, and printed it. It looks fun.
It's knit sideways – you cast on the whole length of the scarf. He
uses two different shades of Koigu – I may have to involve more.
Perdita is
getting better. She is now putting some weight on the injured leg,
hobbling rather than hopping.
I'm poised
ready to go with the Income Tax. Maybe I'll even file it today. I
logged on to the gov't website yesterday just to see if I could, and all seemed
well.
I make
porridge (thanks to Delia Smith here) by putting a pint of water in a
pan, whisking in 65-70 grams of medium oatmeal (a bit more than Smith
recommends) and putting the whole in a low oven for a while. Remove
and season and stir when the diabetic nurse gets here, in case it
needs a bit more time bubbling on the hob. I re-heat half the next
day – easiest if I can leave it in the pan and just add a tiny bit
more water and put it back in the low oven. But sometimes I need the
pan for other purposes and have to keep the cold porridge in something else.
Interesting! I make my porridge in the microwave, and serve with milk and sugar. Not at all the Scottish tradition, I know, but then my Scottish genes have been overwritten by all manner of peculiar Australian habits.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, this porridge method. I wish I had one of those nice "heart of the home" stoves to make my porridge. I stir it on the stove until it's thick. Hmmmmm. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am just getting the reasoning around wrapped stitches.
I'm so glad that Perdita is on the mend!
The blanket looks so cozy and warm!
ReplyDeleteYour remedy for purling in the round seems excellent - I have to remember it for future.
Enjoy the London trip planning,
LisaRR
I make oatmeal in the microwave, but you have to be careful it doesn't boil over. I also like the overnight oats where they sit overnight. The baked oatmeal trend is cool too since I can make it once a week and just slice and warm in microwave plus it's has protein from eggs.
ReplyDelete