Saturday, June 04, 2016

Only a week to go!

Yesterday was tough on the husband-nursing front.

I knit a bit more half-brioche. And I re-addressed myself to the Sous Sous. It is now very close to being declared a TOAD. The problem was, you will remember, that I had attached back to front with the back upside down. So the first problem was to unpick my firm back-stitching and yesterday, perhaps predictably, I snipped the wrong thread at one point and have spoiled a couple of inches of the neat garter stitch edging which belongs at the bottom of the back.

I’m sure I can fudge something. Do I want to? Have I got enough strength and indeed life left for this sort of thing? I think I want to snuggle down with a hap for a baby. (I’m afraid I’ve ordered the yarn for Gudrun's "Hansel" from Jamieson & Smith).

The more I think about the TOAD idea, the more attractive it becomes. There wouldn’t be an acronym for it, if other knitters hadn’t been here before.

And in only a week’s time, I can (at least in imagination) discuss hap construction with Gudrun herself, and ask Lucy Hague (who wrote “Celtic Cable Shawls”) whether she has seen the Dunfallandy blanket pattern with its interesting innovation of the horizontal cable.

Meanwhile: the new VK has arrived. It is to be bi-monthly henceforth, I gather. I hope it won’t spread itself too thin. OK so far: I like the cover pattern (No. 10, in case you have a different cover in the USofA) and also No 6. In a parallel universe, I would knit both…

There’s a plug early on for curved dp’s from a German company called Niko Knit. Has anybody tried them? I don’t like small circulars, for small circular items. They hurt my wrists and I’d rather use four or five short straights. But I’d be very interested to hear what you think of these.

Sharon Miller’s “The Jewel Long Shawl” has also turned up. Wow!

Non-knit

A book recommendation for you. We recently read, somewhere or other, that R.C. Sherriff – who wrote “Journey’s End” – survived the Great War and wrote a good deal else as well. We sent for one of his novels, rather dubiously on my part: I adore “Journey’s End” and felt that anything else was going to be a disappointment.


We have just finished  “The Fortnight in September” as our bedtime reading. I think it’s wonderful. It’s about a lower-middle-class (I think you’d say) English family going on holiday – from London, where they live, to Bognor – for a fortnight in September. That’s it.

18 comments:

  1. Could you put the sous sous into the naughty corner for a while? Lifes too short to waste on unhappy knitting.

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  2. Anonymous12:39 PM

    Yes, the snipped thread sounds like a bridge too far. But f you hadn't tried, you may have felt regretful down the line. This way you can go with a clean conscience and HAVE FUN with Gudrun's Hansel. And be so much hap-pier (sorry, couldn't resist). Chloe

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  3. Where did you see or get the Jewel Long Shawl?

    And I agree, put that sous thing into time out and don't think about it. (I have to confess here that I never found it a very attractive garment so it would be no loss for me...) Go and be hap-py.

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  4. Jean, thanks for your reference to the curved needles. I just watched a few videos on You Tube and they look interesting. Am I too old to learn something new? I know your Sous Sous is not finished. However, I just finished a cardigan, washed and blocked it, tried it on in front of a full length mirror, took it off, and immediately took it out to the garbabe can. Very liberating.
    Ron in Mexico

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  5. It's perfectly fine to set aside a knitting project, even forever. Better to put it in a bag and hide it, that way you won't feel guilty. Banish it from you side bar. Weavers have a saying about how "It's okay to cut a dog of a warp from the loom." I say that the same applies to knitting. Knitting is supposed to be enjoyable!

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  6. I'm sorry yesterday was a rough day with your husband. Hopefully today is better.

    I had to look up TOAD. Oh dear. I think we've all been there with our knitting. I had that failed sweater from last year that was a TOAD. It was truly the most hideous thing I have ever knit. Could you tell yourself you'll give it just a few more hours of your time, and if it still looks unredeemable at that point officially declare it a TOAD? After so many hours of your time already invested in knitting it I can't help but think it would be good to know for sure whether or not you can fix it.

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  7. I tired the nikos and they were not life changing. They do nestle nicely in the palm of your hand. Also it would be more difficult for your knitting to slip off of a needle. But if you are used to DPNs they are not necessary. Interesing to try tho.

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  8. Please: what is a TOAD? I Googled and only found amphibians.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:48 AM

      Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust. It's a jewel of a term!

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  9. I have never seen Journey's End, but read that there was to be a film version for the WW1 Centenary. Don't know if it ever happened. I'll be at a trade show this coming weekend, I'll look for those curved dpn to try. I end up curving my smallest sizes in bamboo just from heat of the hand and frequent use. But not as curved as the ones you mentioned.

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  10. Sorry for a second comment - life is short. Knit only what you enjoy. Sous sous can find a quiet closet to rest in.

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  11. I kind of feel that way about my Dunfallandy blanket. I have two more triangles to go. There is just too much joining to be done. I was so excited about it, but now I am just wanting to get to the border and be done.

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  12. Anonymous6:06 PM

    We've all cut the wrong thread accidentally. Since you love to graft, could you graft over the entire row, and then pull out the thread that has been cut? Lucy Neatby addresses that in her Craftsy class, Fearless Knitting, which I think you own.

    I love TOAD, and sent it on to Seaglass. I think she'll get a chuckle.

    Cynthia

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  13. That Beast has been problematic since you cast it on. FROG that TOAD immediately & use the yarn for something else. Get that new Hap on the needles as soon as you can to ease the pain.
    After speaking to a couple of people who've actually tried the new bent needles, both say there is a bit of a learning curve but they work the same as DPs except that the curve will hold more stitches. One more gimmick to try.
    Hopefully, your husband will have a better day today.

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  14. Just went looking for R.C. Sherriff.

    Were you aware that he was a rather prolific writer of screen plays? There are many old classic movies with his name attached...including Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

    Thanks for the reading recommendation.

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  15. Ooh, curved DPNs? That might make knitting on them comfy for me (it strains my right wrist to knit for long with straights or dpns but dpns are still the easiest way to deal with not many stitches in a circle (otherwise magic loop all the things!) even if it does make my tendonitis flare up).
    Sounds like I'm not the only one who had a rough caregiving few days. Hopefully you didn't have the fun of calling 911 (or 999) for an elder down (Mom fell, still somewhat unsteady, we're blaming the antibiotics and the illness). No serious injuries, but man did it SUCK.

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  16. Surely the Sous Sous is worth another hour or two. Just darn in a strand to recover the snipped thread - we've all been there. Then press on to a wearable garment.

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  17. I enjoyed Fortnight in September too. And then I read RC Sherriff's Greengates (also a Persephone title) and was disappointed. As for your potential TOAD, I have so many shamefully abandoned projects I fear I am the wrong person to give an opinion on this.

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