Sunday, May 20, 2007

You gotta take the good with the bad...

Let us review the good and the bad, shall we?

The good: fun knitting with awesome yarns on a beautiful pattern.


The bad: gauge kicked my butt. I must confess, that instead of actually checking the size of my needles, I assumed I had the right size. I didn't and so my gauge was off by 1/2 a stitch. The result was snug even on Alex. This project is no more.



The good: stripes going across the sock. I love the way they look!


The bad: ladders going up and down the sock. (As always, click on the picture to see it bigger). These occur at the join between the needles. The common cure is to pull the first stitch snug. I believe that I am tugging too firmly. Hopefully it will come out in the wash.

The good: getting the garden planted.

The bad: sore muscles.

The worst: tummy troubles!

Thank goodness it's a long weekend, because I need another day to recuperate.

9 comments:

  1. wow, i have missed so many of your posts; this week was just a black hole of too much to do in too little time.

    i loved what you wrote for mother's day; we share a similar history of grnadmother and mother who maybe (or probably) weren't mothered adequately themselves.
    it's a very interesting situation, but good that there is more awareness now as to the whats and whys of their behavior (and ours).

    as for socks; i pull too hard at my joins too! and they do even-out in the wash, or, at least the creasing goes away. still, in the spirit of celebrating organic knitting, i think it's ok, and better too tight thatn too loose . . .

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  2. Ooo, sorry about the tummy troubles =( I never replied to your post about work, as I was leaving town, but I would love to hear more about your job. I think one of the best things about reading blogs is finding out more than just knitting. I'm going to go try to come up with something engaging for mine =) Sorry about your gauge... I assume I have the right size all the time. Then I get knitting and I think, hmmm, this is looking a wee bit tight...

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  3. Anonymous8:11 am

    Well - even if tiny - that mitten is beautiful...Are you starting right back up again on bigger needles or are you taking a break?

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  4. Hope you feel better soon!

    I can *think* a gauge and maintain it, but only because I did production knitting for so many years. If I don't want to push my brain like that, I just change the music on the stereo. My gauge is more open if I knit fast, so a Mozart piano concerto decreases the stitches per inch. I knit a little slower when listening to choral music, thus tightening my gauge.(!) --Syl

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  5. I like the red striped.... Sorry about yourmuscle and tummy..

    why do you have THREE knitting needles?? I thought it only took 2...

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  6. Anonymous4:31 pm

    Oh, the mitten was so cute! I hope you will restart at the correct gauge.

    The socks are looking great. I like when yarn stripes like that. The stitches at the join should even out with washing.

    Hope your tummy is feeling better.

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  7. Will you be starting the mitten over? Or finishing it to give away to a smaller child? I hate when that happens, but I rarely check gauge on mittens OR socks! Serves me right if my butt gets kicked.

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  8. Anonymous7:30 pm

    I love the mittens and the sock! Great work, Laurie! I know that's not the point of the post, but hey, when you love something, you love it! =) I just love the colours, the patterns and the precision with which you knit!

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  9. Anonymous12:09 am

    I know how you feel about those ladders. I've had better luck tugging on the SECOND stitch after switching needles. Hope that might work for you. I so enjoy your blog. Thanks for the bit on using circulars as double points. I'm about to embark on a round baby blanket and I am definitely encouraged to try your solution. I hope I stop at some point reasonable.

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