It was the
Tulip Cardigan, of course – I stand by my claim that it was an impossible
assignment, but I was pretty confident that you could crack it.
I google’d
it confidently as soon as Jenny’s comment arrived yesterday – and found, top of
the list – did they slip Google a fiver? – a website selling the kits for £103.
Pounds. I stepped back. I returned to the problem a bit later, and found Coldwater
Yarns. Forty-two dollars (dollars!) for the 12-18 month size. You can’t
order directly from the website, but I’ve emailed them. The “Joseph’s Coat”
colorway.
What I need
– perhaps the answer would be to form a Subsidiary To-Do List, If-There’s-Time
– is a system like Kristie’s
where comments can be specifically, publicly replied to as they come in.
However, I
must also keep my eye on the ball. I wound the fourth skein for the snood last
night, again successfully. Today I will swatch the Roman Stripe pattern (to
begin with), p. 219 of Walker II. I wish I had kept back some KidSilk Haze to
swatch in – I can’t venture any of the precious Shibui. This is the first time
I have felt the slightest regret for any of the stuff I have shovelled out the
door.
Still, a
swatch in sock yarn will give me some idea of how easy it is to knit. And I
must refresh my mind about provisional casting-on. And I must consider the question
of the edge. The pattern that comes with the yarn (seed stitch) has no edging.
Jared’s “Convoy” pattern has knit-on i-cord. Is anything necessary? If so, will
2 or 3 garter stitch stitches suffice? The Shibui doesn’t come across to me as
very curly. And does it matter if it does curl a bit?
Lots of
questions.
And with
all of that, I am now within shouting distance of the Hundertwasser heel – not
only is Lizzie’s foot deliciously small, but she preferred a sock short in the
leg. I think, after all the recent talk here, that I should go ahead and
attempt the Gibson-Roberts heel and see what happens.
Sarah
(comment yesterday), I have added the “Sherman heel” to my electronic Filofax
“heel” page – thank goodness there are so many wonderful yarns, that I will run
out of heels (and the list is long) before I get through them all. And also the
link you sent for the Gibson-Roberts video, which I may need before the end of
the day. And I will remember your promise to talk us through the Gibson-Roberts heel, if necessary.
Non-knit
No advance
on the dining room yesterday, except for a generous cheque from the insurance
company for re-decorating. I will phone ChemDry today. Kristie, you’re probably
right that replacing the ceiling is what we should do. But it’s a very big
ceiling, and I am increasingly aware of our age. Plaster from one end of this
already-dusty house to the other?
And Cynthia
– hi! – I almost envy your situation. I would prefer to pay for the damage to
our furniture and books – I think the pictures are OK – rather than deal with
my husband’s furious insistence that Upstairs bear every penny of the cost. (We
have no contents insurance.) Old Age is the anxiety that doesn’t go away.
But there's blue in the Sky Scarf today, after an unusually broad dull-grey passage. It does lift the spirits.
Hi Jean
ReplyDeleteI do hope you can be restored to order post flood with the minimum of disruption to your home or your equilibrium.
Re. enabling the comments replies like Kristies, and mine for that matter, it is easy to achieve in Blogger, particularly if you are using the old Blogger interface.
The route you need to take is Design tab (top right), Settings tab (third from the left), Comments (from the options that appear just below the tabs), select Comment Form Placement 'Embedded below post'. If you need to enable Post Pages (doubt you will) that's next along under Archiving. Hope that helps :D
Jean, if you need help getting the kit from Coldwater Yarns, I'm happy to pick it up for you and mail it. It's close to me here in Minneapolis. Just email me at bethwallace AT visi.com to set it up. Really, don't hesitate if you have any trouble setting it up with the store; it would be easy for me to do.
ReplyDeleteI recall doing some swatching in Roman Stripe. The only tip I have is to put a safety pin or something that marks the right side. I got off rather easily.
ReplyDeletegreenmtngirl beat me to it! Coldwater will be at Yarnover on the 27th and I could pick it up there if arrangements were made. Looks like you are covered but just in case: greenboatgb AT netscape DOT net.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't your insurance company talk to Upstair's insurance company? Isn't this like an auto-accident situation, where the insurers determine who was at fault and therefore whose company has to pay more toward the damages?
ReplyDelete-- Gretchen
Doesn't your insurance company talk to Upstair's insurance company? Isn't this like an auto-accident situation, where the insurers determine who was at fault and therefore whose company has to pay more toward the damages?
ReplyDelete-- Gretchen
I've been knitting socks only for the past 4 years & didn't participate in any on-line knitting communities before then, so I may be all wet with the following ...
ReplyDeletePriscilla's book was originally published in 2001 (same year at Cat Bordhi's "Soaring on Two Circular Needles"). From my cursory research, Priscilla's may have been one of the first sock books to outline a short row heel (or perhaps just one w/out wraps)and/or to speak about knitting socks from the toe up.
In any case, I adore "Simple Socks" for the rules of thumb on fitting socks, the relationship of sizes for circumference of foot to length of foot and circumference of leg, and the brief history of sock knitting (Western European = cuff down, Western Europe, Middle East = toe up is how my simplified memory has stored this).
That said, I wouldn't strongly encourage anyone to learn the P G-R toe/heel as "the best heel out there". I think that many folk since 2001 have sussed out different -- and simpler -- ways to do a solid short row heel.
That said, I'm still game for coaching to you & any other followers should you want!
Cheers.
As far as I know, Google does take money to let certain companies' websites be first on their list. There are spamming companies that claim they can work the system to do the same thing. Google is pretty much useless to me nowadays because of that; 90% of the responses are fraudulent sites. Safesearch seems to cut out many of them, and Hotbot is sometimes helpful.
ReplyDeleteJean, we live in a 116 year old house and will need to re-plaster ceilings. Not looking forward to the process and it's hard to find workers in the area who are pros.
ReplyDeleteAre there other options, such as drywall, that won't make as much of a mess and be easier and cheaper to replace if this kind of water damage happens again?
Jean, we live in a 116 year old house and will need to re-plaster ceilings. Not looking forward to the process and it's hard to find workers in the area who are pros.
ReplyDeleteAre there other options, such as drywall, that won't make as much of a mess and be easier and cheaper to replace if this kind of water damage happens again?
Is contents insurance very expensive? Since Upstairs seem a little prone to this type of water damage, it might be worthwhile looking into contents insurance. Then your insurance company could deal with their insurance company. I recently had to redo my homeowners insurance (which would be similar to contents I think) and I found it helpful to shop around. I saved almost $400 by putting the car insurance and the homeowners insurance with the same company. I'm assuming you have car insurance and it might be worthwhile to ask them about contents insurance.
ReplyDeleteI knit a scarf in Roman Stripe a couple of years ago; because of the odd number of rows in the pattern, it behaves like garter stitch and lies flat. It's a very open stitch, and pleasant to knit. Mine's on my Ravelry page, where I'm donice, if you want to take a look.
ReplyDeleteI admire your sock adventures!
I like PGR's heel. It is not hard to do, just hard to explain. That is why it takes up so m uch room in her book. Tackle it when you have enough time to go through it slowly and read every word. The old thing about following instructions.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your flood. It sounds like it will all be settled eventually.