Yarn Chicken

 

I am nearing the end of Radient Rubies, I did something smart.  I started weighing my yarn.  Each row, I checked how many grams I was using per row, how many grams I had left, and how many grams I should save for the edging.  

Within only a few rows, I realized that the repeat in progress would absolutely be the last repeat.  I checked my yarn after every row.  

15 grams.  Two more rows.  13 grams.   Last three rows of the repeat.  10 grams.  Six rows of border.  3 grams.  

I feel pretty confident going into the cast off, but it is a new bind off for me, so I can't be certain enough of the yarn usage to relax.  

It is a Suprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.  That sounds like something that might use more yarnage than your average row.  

The bind off is as stretchy as advertised, which is absolutely required to form the little points at the tips.  But it requires a backward Yarn Over.  That sounds simple enough, doesn't it?  Just do a yarn over in the opposite direction than you normally would.  Except my brain no longer thinks to do a Yarn Over.  My fingers do it using muscle memory.  And my head can't wrap around which direction I am supposed to be overing the yarn.  I literally have to start a knit stich, take note of the direction, undo the almost knit stitch, do the Yarn Over in the opposite direction, then complete the rest of the steps.  EVERY BLOODY TIME.  I can't even retain the information for more than one stitch.  

When I think about it, I simply cannot remember which way the Yarn Over is supposed to go.  It has been hundreds of stitches bound, and I cannot for the life of me remember the opposite direction.  It is excruciating!  I have spent hours binding off, and I am still only halfway!

Today it is all about the muscle memory vs the brain memory.  

Just in time for Christmas

The Smittens are finally finished.  After a shockingly long time in the queue, they are finally on the way to their intended recipients.  I hope my brother and his fiancée enjoy them.  I originally had the idea of adding two ear warmers to the gift.  One ear warmer is done, but my sweetie chided me that men don't wear ear warmers.  He tried on one of mine, and I have to admit it made his hair look ridiculous.  The way it popped up on the top beyond the coverage of the ear warmer made him look like Bart Simpson. So I changed my plans to a coordinating hat for my bother.  But as you can see, it is still in the contemplation stage.  I have yarn, pattern, and needles, but I have not yet worked a single stitch.      

But, it takes some time to get Christmas gifts to Poland, so the mittens are on their way, and we will see if I can finish the hat anytime soon.  

Today, it is all about the Christmas deadlines.   

From the Bottom of the Knitting Queue

I have really been focused lately on finishing the long-forgotten works in progress that have been languishing in the bottom of the knitting bag for way too long.  The hunting mitts was one.  This mess is another.  

A long time ago, my baby brother asked me to make a mitten for two people to wear when they are holding hands.  I did some wandering on Ravelry, and behold!  The Smitten.   Then he mentioned two mittens for the non-holding hand.  Then he realized that there should be a set of mittens for each person for normal wear, with a companion Smitten.  When I bought the yarn, there was a cute speckled version in blue/gray and pink/gray skeins, and I got the idea of making an ear warmer for each to match.  So one two-person mitten turned into four regular mittens, one oversized mitten and two ear warmers.  

So I dug everything out of the bag recently, to see where I was.  Two pairs of mittens done (except for the ends and a couple thumbs), and the smitten designed and started.  

I would really like to be able to have all of this to my brother and his darling fiancée by Christmas.   THIS Christmas.  

Today, it is all about getting ready for the Season.         

Done and done

I have been on a finishing kick lately. I finished my recent shawl, and I finished the hunting mittens that have been in progress forever. This is actually the second attempt at this mittens. These were supposed to have a flap that folds over the fingers. That is where I was having the issues. The first time, the flaps were opposite each other. One showed the purl side and one knit. The second time I was trying to figure out another way to do it, when my sweetie decided he just wanted them to be fingerless, like I have done with all the teachers. Really? Just plain fingerless mittes? I can do that. I can have it finished in a couple days. And lo and behold, finished. Whew! It feels so good to scratch off another long in progress knitted item. Today, it is all about the dones.

Pulling the plug

I have reached a point where I had to make a decision: I am supposed to end on a garter area of the pattern. So at what point to a switch to garter whereever I am in the pattern. I think I have reached that point. I am supposed to do twelve rows of the lace pattern, then twelve rows of garter. But I only have a teeny tiny ball of yarn left (pretty nice dark, burgandy yarn. No more beige!) and I don't think I can stretch it that far. Then I remembered that I have a measuring tool. A little gadget where you run the yarn through it, and it measusre for you. It came in a package with my swift and scale, and I think this is the first time I have actually used it. I know I was imperfectly measuring, but it was still only 38 feet left. Definitely time to switch. I have been showing an uncharacteristic monogomy towards this project, and I may actually finish within a day or two. Today, it is all about the final stretch.

A world of beige

 My boring trial inspired burst of inspiration has led to my first cast on.  

I am loving the pattern, and the yarn, except for one thing. There is a lot of beige.  I hate beige.  Beige is not a color.  It is the absence of all color.  I see the pretty pink and burgandy, and I know  that those pretty colors are coming.  For now, however, there is row and after, repeat after repeat, endless stitches of . . . .  beige.  

Meanwhile, I have found something even more dangerous that matching patterns and stashed yarns to keep me amused in court: searching stash for sale. Especially when one person has a bunch for sale, with discounts and free shipping if you buy enough.  This could get dangerous.  Especially when I am staring at a whole bunch of beige.  My immunity is compromised to pretty new colors.  

Today it is all about the need for colors. 

Court time

Sometimes I am just stranded in court with nothing to do or think about.  Something like a  Termination of Parental Rights trial, when my client is incarcerated, in the wind or completely disinterested.  I still have to stay in the trial, because there are other parents in these cases that may have a different participation in the trial/case, but if my client is in prison for a couple years, there really anything that I can do on their behalf. 

That is my day today.  My client is incarcerated until 2022, so it isn't like he can step up and get custody of his child.    So here I sit, at my laptop, listening to witness after witness none of which pertain to my client. 

I can't knit.  That would look bad.  It would help keep me awake and would not interfere with my ability to listen to the witnesses, but optics matter.  So instead I have been looking at a half dozen yarns from my stash, and looking to through Ravelry to see possible patterns that fit the yarn.  I discovered a new feature about searching patterns.  I can actually just search the patterns in my favorites.  I loved being able to narrow the search to those hundred or so patterns that I have already flagged that I liked. 

I now I have my next four or five projects tentatively picked out.  That may or may not be a good thing. 

Today, it is all about the future cast ons.