Lots of things happened in the last couple of weeks. First, I have to tell y'all about a sale. (Yes, that's read as SALE!!!!) Connecticut Yarn and Wool in East Haddam. I got the email on Friday morning that they were getting rid of their old fall and winter stock because of the arrival of the new spring stock.
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Fill a 30-gal bin for $300. Now, yes, $300 is a lot of money. But I'm facing surgery. (Yes, I picked a date. I have to call on Tuesday, but I'm shooting for April 23rd for some very strange reasons... /wry g/) So I'm going to be sitting on the couch for a couple weeks in recovery mode. That means time for knitting next year's Christmas projects as well as finally breaking the seal on all those DVDs I've bought last year and haven't had time to watch.
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So I picked up my friend Linda and we descended on CT Yarn & Wool. Now, they always have a "remainder" room where you can get bargains. I can choose from that room and they had bin after bin on the porch. All kinds of colorways. Practically everything is hand-dyed. Yes, most of it is worsted weight and spun singles (think felting). I loaded up. At first, I was very careful to match things, but I lost that ability soon after. I dug into every bin so I could check everything. I unloaded some baskets so I could see what was on the bottom. (Yes, I was careful to put everything back so I didn't make a total mess of the place. /g/)
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I picked up 14 skeins of this gorgeous silk/cotton/wool blend. I looked it up on the Internet later. $20 a skein. That's $280 right there and that was a small portion of what I'd stuffed in my bin. Then I found an absolute treasure. A cotton/rayon blend that they call "I'm Allergic to Wool". It's soft and cushie. A wonderful thick n thin that would make some gorgeous sweaters (and scarves and even another shawl). It runs $30 a skein and I've got about 50 skeins of this stuff. Okay, some of the skeins are pretty short, but others were full and fat. That alone is about $1500 worth of yarn.
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Oh yeah, I easily stuffed at least $2000 worth of yarn into this bin. Believe it or not, the woman working at the shop suggested that we untwist the skeins and lay them flat. Worked well. We got more into the bin. Course, it really helped that when I thought the bin was pretty full, Linda looked at me and said, "Oh, no, we can fit more" and she sat in the bin... /wry g/
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Okay, so I'm going to be laid up. Basically, I talked with the doctor and we agreed that the fibroid needs to go. It's a good size. We also agree that I'm at that age that the plumbing serves no purpose either, so she's going to remove the whole shebang. It's simply a matter of picking a date. Lots of things to consider and not that simple. I'll be laid up for approximately 6 weeks before returning to normal. And since I do a LOT of yardwork in the summer, I don't want to wait too long or we can just forget summer entirely and that's not an option. After all the work I did last year, there's no way I'm going to let my yard go to hell. Another thing to consider is I really can't do without the paycheck. So I looked and I have just shy of 3 weeks sick time accrued. Back up from my last week of work and that means April 23rd. I should be cleared for regular life by the first week in June and, since I never plant much before Memorial Day (danger of frost any time before that and don't let anyone tell you otherwise), the timing would work well.
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And this all leads back to my shopping spree. I imagine I'll spend a mimimun of two weeks laying on the couch. Okay, maybe the first couple days I won't feel much like knitting (is that possible?!? /g/), but then I'll have lots of time and lots of boredom to fill. Hence, knitting. Now, all these yarns are in fall colorways. If I start Christmas presents now, all those colorways will be back in vogue by the time I give them away. Sure, it'll be weird to be knitting with oranges and yellows and browns (autumn leaves) in April and May when I'd rather be working with yellows and purples (think crocus). But I'll also have a huge jump on Christmas knitting. Purses and clogs for everyone! LOL!
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Now I can finally move the the update seciton... Let's see. I finished the Diamonte socks. Okay, I call them "Cat Yak". The yarn is lovely. The pattern is lovely. Put the two together and it's definitely something the cat yakked up. I don't like it and they would NOT be a favorite pair of socks. But Younger Daughter likes them. So they now belong to her.
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Pi Are Sqaured Shawl is coming along. About 3 more rows and I can move to section four, which will double the number of stitches. I think I'll be up to about 1000 sts or so. Yup, a long-term project. Another one to keep handy when I get tired of extremely big knitting for felting.
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I just turned the heel for the Widdershins sock last night. I got the increases for the gusset okay. That was fine. But I followed the directions for the heel and it was way off. Not the direction, mind you. I was way off. So I frogged back and did it again. Hmm... definitely something skewed here. I frogged it again. Then I sat down with my trusty pencil and worked out the math from an entirely new direction and it clicked. I turned the heel and I'm now working my way up the heel flap. Again, I looked at her directions and they didn't work for me, so I didn't even try. I read through about three times and got the overall concept, worked up my own math and it's working beautifully.
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Okay, how to explain my math (for someone who doesn't understand her concept of math)? I put a stitch marker at the center of the heel. Now, you have to remember that you're coming toe up, so you've got to begin with the largest part of the heel first. So, as you work the short rows, you'll be decreasing the number of sts that you work with, rather than increasing like you do with a normal short row heel.
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Wow, it just dawned on me what's wrong with the directions. She makes stitches as you add your short rows. You make a stitch before you wrap and turn to create the short rows. No wonder the heel looked weird when I was looking at it this morning. I haven't tried it on yet, but I think I'm going to have to frog again and decrease, rather than increase in the short rows. Hmm... have to check that out.
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But anyway, I started with working 8 sts out from the center before the "m1, k1, w&t". Then I'd work 8 sts in the other direction from the center marker on the purl row. Then I'd work 6 sts from the center marker on the knit row, come back to center and work 6 sts on the other side of the stitch marker. Back and forth in decreasing numbers from the marker as I worked closer to the heel itself.
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Bingo! Heel is turned. Now you have to work up the gusset and decrease all those stitches you'd added to make the gusset.
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Again, it's really easy if you simply think of working a set number of stitches to each side of the center marker on the heel.
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IOW, I like 60 sts overall and I work Magic Loop. So my heel should ultimately end up with 30 sts on that needle. At the beginning, I didn't count, but let's say I have 50 sts, so I want to decrease 20 to get back to 30. As I knit each row back and forth, I only have to remember to knit 15 to each side of the center marker. Then I ssk on my knit rows (pulling one stitch in from the gusset and decreasing on each row). As I purl back, I don't have to remember anything except to purl 15 on the other side of the marker and my last stitch is p2tog, again, pulling one guset stitch in and decreasing). I go back and forth in this manner, almost like working a short row heel, until I have no more to decrease at the end of the needle and then I can begin knitting all the way around again.
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Hmm.... now I'm really curious if that heel turn is wrong. Well, not wrong for her or anyone who loves it, but I wonder if it's wrong for me. I think, rather than w&t, I should also be doing an ssk and a p2tog on the heel. It should be pulling in towards the end of the heel, not getting wider and adding more stitches.
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Oh dear. I've already frogged it 3 times. Now, I not only have to frog it again, but also about 20 rows of heel flap.
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Bat poop... /sigh/
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