Sunday, January 17, 2016

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.

4 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. Very 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!
    I am just getting the reasoning around wrapped stitches.
    I'm so glad that Perdita is on the mend!

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  3. Anonymous9:37 PM

    The blanket looks so cozy and warm!
    Your remedy for purling in the round seems excellent - I have to remember it for future.
    Enjoy the London trip planning,
    LisaRR

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  4. Anonymous6:38 PM

    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.

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