Saturday, September 03, 2016

Today’s ambition (alas!)  is to do something about the ironing.

My husband had an “episode” yesterday – a seizure? Not hypoglycaemia, apparently. He was in bed when I got there at midday, clearly exhausted by what had happened. Helen saw him later in the day and found him awake and perhaps even unusually talkative. A dr had phoned me in the afternoon to say that the “bloods” and a brain scan had revealed nothing amiss.

Knitting

Oh, Maureen, wonderful!  if you can get me the Whalsay catalogue. Expense is no object, although I doubt if it will cost all that much. Thank you, and thank you, in advance.

I finished the gusset decreases on the first Whiskey Barrel sock yesterday, and began the actual foot. I’m counting carefully, so as to get the second sock to match – this one, I will decide with measuring. But I need to get back to my archive on the other computer, and am grateful to whoever suggested (I’m not going to look, just now) that what I need is a fresh battery in the mouse. I’ll try that.

I did a bit more Uncia, in the evening. Goodness! it’s hard, now that I’ve advanced to the charts. I sort of thought, I haven’t done anything as difficult as this for a while. But of course, I did the Dunfallandy blankie not all that long ago.

I looked on Ravelry. Nobody else seems to be finding it quite as tough as I am. There’s old age for you?

It’s not lace, at this point anyway. The next chart seems to have a generous sprinkling of YO’s. That may go better. Now (Chart A) it’s travelling stitches, as much as anything. The top picture on page 84 of the Haps book strongly suggests that help is at hand – I’m doing the complicated-looking inch-or-so on the model’s (Kate’s) right shoulder. What follows looks straightforward by comparison.

But it’s too much for the exhausted evening, even without television. I’ll try to put in half an hour this morning, after the ironing.

I’ve done 159 rows, out of a total of 400. It’s hard to decide what percentage to assign in the sidebar, as I am knitting an ever-widening wedge. One thing, though – the total length is clearly going to be acceptable.


What a wonderful thing is Ravelry! How very well engineered, the software! 

8 comments:

  1. don't give up on the Uncia, you'll get used to the travelling stitches (there are more to come:)! I find that it knits up far more fluently if I keep at it without too many other projects in between. the symbols stay "in my hands" that way and I don't need much checking anymore. it'll all be worth it, but I'll admit that it's not really a pattern to knit on the side, when tired or distracted!

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  2. Anonymous1:59 PM

    Re Ravelry - If lawmakers were as clever, as thoughtful, as well as FOREthoughtful, and even, I would say, as selfless as Casey and Jess are, the world would be a better place. Those two have put themselves in our places and have answered every prayer. Chloe

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  3. Sometimes I wonder how I ever knitted anything but scarves before Ravelry. It was hard to find patterns and one never knew how it was going to turn out since you only had one or two pictures (if that). Now I'm working on a pattern that has over 10,000 projects (yes I am in fact the last person to make a Hitchhiker). In this case I don't need help but in many other cases the help of Ravelers has been invaluable. And twice someone has rescued me when running out of yarn. It does restore one's faith in knitters, at least, if not all of humanity. And yes, the software is amazing too. We are lucky!

    Sorry to go on & on. And sorry about your husband's "episode". Hopefully it was really nothing much.

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    1. not the last. i have not although its on my queue and since i have been doing socks for months i made need a change and try it.

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  4. Sometimes I think it is just how I am reading instructions - being tired never helps.

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    1. =Tamar6:20 PM

      So true! and for the astrology fans, Mercury just went retrograde, which confuses communications unless people are extremely careful. I certainly notice a difference.

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  5. Jean, I knit Uncia and had the most difficulty with the first chart. Not that it was terribly difficult, but I found it challenging. I know you are a veteran lace knitter so don't need advice, but I put lifelines in after each completed section. I never had to use them, but ended up enjoying seeing them in the work, marking my progress. I also enlarged all the charts, otherwise I would have struggled to see the symbols.

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  6. Thanks for this, Kathy. I'll try enlarging the chart -- I ought to be able to manage that, and it's a very good idea. I've never had much luck with lifelines: they have always seemed too much trouble to insert.

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