I am
beginning to feel somewhat recovered from hard labour in Strathardle. How do
people who actually live in the country manage it? Today I am expecting the
re-delivery of two packages which were taken away in our absence. Both, I fear,
contain plants, and waiting all day for the doorbell is a pretty unsatisfactory
way to spend time.
I reached
the ribbing of the toe-up sock last night, as hoped. It is not as bad as
feared, having it last. The main downer is the reflection that when this is
done, I will have to go straight forward to another fiddly toe cast-on.
And it
means that my next New Skill, a stretchy bind-off, now looms fairly near. My
first attempt will be “Jeny’s
Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off” from Knitty Fall 09. It was published as a
companion to Judy’s Magic Cast On, at which I have already failed once.
This one
looks easy, and good. The only problem is that I can’t figure out how to print
it, and I can scarcely hunker down in front of the computer during the weary
evening knitting-time.
But, ahah!
I can load the page accessed by the link above, into my iPad, and work from
that!
Life
Tomorrow
would have been my husband’s sister’s 81st birthday – “C”, who died
last year. We are going to lunch together in the Botanic Gardens again, he and
I and her three daughters and a husband or two. For my husband, it will be the
82nd, as he remembers with clarity the day his sister was born.
“June 2” is a date he never forgets.
I think he would
be hard put to tell you my birthday, if you sprang out from behind a bush and
asked him; he certainly couldn’t tell you the day of his wedding anniversary. But
those dates involve only 55 years – that's a lot fewer than 82.
I think I
am right in saying that C. spent the night before her 22nd birthday
on the pavement somewhere in London
One tip I read somewhere (Ravelry, perhaps?) was to start one sock and knit it to a given point, then start the second and knit it to the same point, then continue working back and forth. I suppose if I were for example dreading a heel, I'd be more likely to finish the second if I worked both of them at the same time.
ReplyDeleteMy father cannot remember birthdays. I draw up a wall calendar each year and put them all on that. If he remembers to look then he "remembers" the birthdays! I do it with the other important dates as well. All this has the advantage of helping me to "remember" things too.
ReplyDeleteThat's the cast off I use for socks and it's absolutely WONDERFUL. Enjoy
ReplyDeleteI adore JSSBO. Once you've done it for a few stitches, it'll come easily. All I need to remind myself of now is when the YOs are in the normal direction (before a purl stitch BO) and when they go the other way 'round (before a knit stitch BO).
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for tomorrow. Such anniversaries can bring all sorts of emotions bubbling up.
Yes, ever since I discovered JSSBO I've been knitting all my socks toe up and loving it! Here's how I remember it: reverse YO before the regular (knit) stitch, regular YO before the reverse (purl) stitch. It is surprisingly stretchy too!!
ReplyDeleteOn Youtube you can find a great video by Cat Bordhi demonstrating JSSBO - a couple of viewings put it clearly in my mind.
ReplyDelete-- Gretchen