Persistent Knitter

I kept promising, so I just took a pretty horrible picture of my desk chair "modeling" Hardangervidda. I’m sooooo close to being done with the top. Another 15 rows or so and I can start the sleeves!

Also – do a good deed for all knitters and post a review of the yarn you’re currently using right now to this website: wiseneedle. I promise to add one of Falk (esp as I’m using it for two projects) as soon as I see how it washes up in sweater form. You, my intrepid blog reader, can help keep me to this promise. :)

So I figured out what happened. My error was twofold. First, I counted the # of stitches in the back portion of the sweater wrong. I had added 10 stitches in my head, but really there are only 137. Second, the pattern is written less than clearly in this section. I was fine as long as I had the chart to follow along. I could see where the decreases were supposed to happen, how many stitches, etc. But once I’m off the chart, all hell broke loose!

I stated before I couldn’t figure out why they put the "twice" word before the stitch count. I’m still not sure why they used that word as I can’t figure out which portion of the damn pattern it’s supposed to apply to. Here’s an example of how I’m supposed to decrease in the block rib portion:

… work 15 Rows of Block Rib and, AT THE SAME TIME, cont dec 1 st at the beg and end of every other Row twice (225 sts).

Written as exactly shown in the pattern except I spelled out Row instead of just putting in R. To interpret this poorly worded sentence, you have to realize that they have now split the sweater at the front neck opening and the beginning of the row is the right side of the neck (as you are wearing it), and realize that you should be working back and forth. No problem. So beg and end mean each side of the neckline (why don’t they just say that?)

So you decrease one stitch away from each side of the neckline, but here’s the kicker – how often do you do it?? Well, to get to the stitch count they’ve given (225) you need to get rid of four stitches total because according to the last row in the chart you have 229 stitches on the needles at this point. Going with the easy math that means doing two decrease rows over the 15 block rib rows. Easy! Not with how they describe it. If you assume that "twice" applies to the noun preceding it (every other Row), then it seems that you’d be decreasing every 4 rows?? That interpretation doesn’t work either, cuz you could decrease THREE times that way within the 15 block rib rows, and you’d be two stitches short of the count you need.

eesh.

I’m fully in favor of fully charted patterns at this point. Of course then everyone would see how easy it really is to knit a sweater and they wouldn’t be intimidated by patterns at all, and gee – wouldn’t that be a crime?

So the pattern does the "twice" thing again when describing the decreases for the back neckline, but since I know now I need 44 stitches for each shoulder I can just figure out how many decreases I need in that section of the pattern.

Whew!

Hopefully pictures tonite. I’ve made good progress on both Hardangervidda and Katie’s sock.

I have finished all the charts for the body of Hardangervidda. This doesn’t mean I’m done though – there is still some block ribbing and a small stripe at the shoulder. Since I decided to do a neck steek I wanted to make sure I understood how the front & back neck decreases should proceed. The pattern has you restart your round at the neck,where I’ve just left the beginning of the round at the side.

So I’m reading the pattern and totally confused for a bit. Then I realize that you are supposed to be working back and forth starting at one neck edge and ending at another neck edge. Fine, I adjust my head and figure out that if I do it how I plan to, I will end up with the same number of stitches they say to after the block ribbing section: 225. Yay, right?

Wrong.

I will now have 39 stitches on each front shoulder. That means I should somehow end up with 39 shoulder stitches for the back after casting off for the neck on the back, right? *sigh*. After redoing the calculations 2 times, I end up with 49 on each back shoulder! 39 != 49 in my book.

There is part of the pattern that says:
Working each side of the body separately, cont C OFF every other R at back neck edge, 1 st twice (88 sts)

I don’t know what the heck that stupid "twice" word is there for before the stitch count, but if I ignore it, I can come up with 88 stitches total for the front and back shoulder combined. You would think that somehow you’d have 44 stitches for front and 44 for back? Well, if I go with the 39 stitches for the front that I previously came up with, then I’ve got 49 on the back – so WHERE did I go wrong?

Ignoring their horribly written decrease schedule in the pattern, Let’s assume that they want the neck hole to take up approx 1/3 of the stitches across the body. There are 147 stitches across the back and front (before any decreases) so if you divide that by 3, you’d want 49 stitches for each shoulder, and 49 stitches for the neck. It even divides evenly! They have 49 stitches for the back neck if you are making an XL, but I’m not, I’m doing the M, which has 45.

So I take a step back and realize that I counted the #$^%@%$#$!^%@^% stitches on the back wrong (on the chart even!) and I only have one hundred THIRTY seven stitches not one hundred and FOURTY seven stitches.

::hang head in embarassment::

I’ll get back to you when I’ve redone everything, but I think it’ll work out now. :)

And I promise pictures soon too!

Now – what kind of logo can I use? I’d love to have a little button and/or a cool graphic to display across the top of the page that is a bit more eye catching than just text. Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks!

I had a few suggestions yesterday, all of which made me laugh, but the one that worked best was “The Persevering knitter”. That’s really hard for me to say, let alone type, so I’ll change it to “The Persistent Knitter” which means basically the same thing and flows off the tongue a bit easier.

per·sis·tent ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pr-sstnt, -zs-)
adj.
Refusing to give up or let go; persevering obstinately.

per·se·vere ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pûrs-vîr)
intr.v. per·se·vered, per·se·ver·ing, per·se·veres
To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.

Here are some of the Thesaurus entries that contain persevere and persistent:
Entry: dogged
Function: adjective
Definition: determined
Synonyms: adamant, bullheaded, firm, hang tough, hard-nosed, hardheaded, indefatigable, inexorable, inflexible, insistent, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, perseverant, perseverative, persevering, persistent, persistive, pertinacious, pigheaded, relentless, resolute, rigid, single-minded, staunch, steadfast, steady, stubborn, tenacious, tough nut, unbending, unflagging, unshakable, unyielding
Antonyms: compromising, indifferent, irresolute, undetermined, yielding
Concept: effort
Source: Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.5)
Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Entry: firm
Function: adjective
Definition: definite
Synonyms: abiding, adamant, bent, bound, consistent, constant, determined, enduring, established, exact, explicit, fixed, flat, going, hang tough, inflexible, intent, never-failing, obdurate, persevering, persistent, prevailing, resolute, resolved, set, settled, specific, stable, stand pat, stated, staunch, steadfast, steady, stipulated, strict, strong, sure, tenacious, true, unalterable, unbending, unchangeable, undeviating, unflinching, unqualified, unshakable, unshaken, unwavering, unyielding
Concept: unchanging
Source: Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.5)
Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Entry: game
Function: adjective
Definition: brave
Synonyms: bold, courageous, dauntless, desirous, disposed, dogged, eager, fearless, gallant, hardy, heroic, inclined, interested, intrepid, nervy, persevering, persistent, plucky, prepared, ready, resolute, spirited, spunky, unafraid, unflinching, valiant, valorous, willing
Concept: bravery
Source: Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.5)
Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

So here I am now, The Persistent Knitter!!!!

When I first started my blog, I was uninspired, a bit bored and didn’t know what to call it. Hence “Nancy’s Knitting Adventures”. I thought “Knitting with Nancy” was a bit too smarmy and copied “Sewing with Nancy” too much. Since starting the blog, I have thought often about what type of name would be good. I’m not cool enough to pull off a name like crafty bitch, or inventive enough to be so adamant about string or nothing (this is one of my all time favorite blogs. Great details, technical info, and pictures). A new friend who would always Rather be Knitting, took the words right out of my mouth – but alas, that cool phrase is already taken by her!

I played around with the idea of some alliteration: Nancy’s Knitting Noodles, or Nancy Knits Noodles or Nancy’s Knitting Kneedles, but it seemed kind of corny and rather contrived.

So, I am up for a name change, and want it to be a bit cool, a bit of play on words maybe, and something to distinguish myself among the many knitting-bloggers out there. How ’bout we have a small vote, and you, the kind reader, can help me out?

Some finalists:
* The Impatient Knitter
* Knitting Pathways
* The Fiber Smith
* Geeky Knitting

Suggestions? Votes?

More pictures of hardangervidda soon! I’ve started the neck steek, am being daring and not casting off my neck edge, but doing decreases instead to make it smoother. I am carrying the yarn today for Bjerk’s sample, but of course had no time to get to it. I’ve been working on child #1’s sock, and will be done with the heel flap soon. I might need to try it on her or do a measurement of her foot to make sure it will fit, and that requires her in a good mood.

The UPS man has been very kind to us lately. Not only did he bring us new movies for my daughter (so we don’t have to listen to Monsters, Inc for the 400th time), but yesterday he brought me these:

These are baskets from Royce Craft Baskets. I have three other baskets I ordered from them about 8 years ago, and they are still in great shape. They are handmade, and signed by the person who made them with their initials and date. While they are a bit country for my taste, but they work so well for knitting that I couldn’t resist ordering these two with liners & lids. The lids will keep the cats out of my knitting and help hide it from little inquisitive hands that might decide to pull a needle out of my work just for fun. The larger size is a Canawl, and the smaller one is the Tollhouse style. (I think of choc chip cookies when I see the word Tollhouse, don’t you?) I thought the tollhouse would be as square as the Canawl, but it tapers more at the bottom. It’s perfect for the midsize projects, and the larger one is great for bigger projects. See?

You can see the liner in this shot too. I ordered those so that I wouldn’t lose very small stitch markers through the bottom of the basket, but I’m not sure I would again. The Tollhouse basket’s liner is a much better fit than this one, which is a bit farther from the sides that I thought it would be. I’m still in love with the baskets, and I’ll still carry my knitting to work with me even though lots of people ask me if I’m having a picnic for lunch!

Sock
Forgot to mention – I’m making decent progress on Katie’s sock. I’ve started the heel, and am chugging along:

I finally had a moment to sit down with digital camera, computer and a few minutes to write about what’s going on in my knitting life. I started back to work this week and haven’t has as much time to knit as I’d like. I’m too tired in the evening to do much but get the kids into bed and then maybe knit a few stitches if I haven’t already spent all my awake time on boring stuff like chores. Even so, I’ve managed to make a tiny bit of progress.

I know you’re all anxiously awaiting to see what Hardangervidda looks like now. Well here he is in all his glory:

The picture is a tiny bit fuzzy, I had to turn off the flash and try to hold the camera very still while it took a long exposure. This sweater is better photographed with indirect daylight – but there wasn’t any around when I had time to take the picture. I’m very happy with how this sweater is coming out. I might start cursing again while I’m trying to figure out the first sleeve, but I have hope :)

I also previously mentioned my new project, Bjerk. My mom and I chose colors together, and here’s what we think will look just fab:

The dark purple is the bottom of the sweater, the lighter purple (going clockwise) is the top of the sweater, the blue is the "flower" pattern in between and the red/burgandyish color is the POW in the flowers, what I’m calling the "spot" color. I will be doing a test run of the colors soon so you’ll get to see the swatch. I’m worried the blue won’t be dark enough, but I think it will be pretty stunning overall.

Tipping update
I was able to talk to a friend of mine that knows people who work at one of the restaurants we frequently order to-go food from. To his knowledge, it’s the kitchen staff that prepares the food into the to-go containers and then the waiter/hostess person simply puts it in a bag and walks it to your car. In my opinion, that’s only worth like a buck tip if they are really friendly and don’t make you wait past the time they said it would be ready. Otherwise "No Tip For You!" (Think Soup Nazi from Seinfeld). As a side note, I always tip minimum 15% when dining in (unless they were inexcusably rude and then we’d ask for the manager) and 20%+ most of the time. Hooray for wait-people that understand you need your bread very quickly to keep the little ones happy while waiting for the rest of the food!

And then….
Tune in tomorrow to see what the wonderful UPS man brought me!

(there should be pictures in here, but I haven’t had time to upload them from the camera yet. I paid bills and balanced the checkbook last night instead. Also – future note to self, make sure you type in the "final balance" amount correctly when reconciling an account in quicken,or you’ll never get your numbers to come out right!)

Ok, so I wasn’t on vacation, just maternity leave (10 weeks), which are now officially over! I’m back at work today and getting back into things. What did I do while on leave?
1) Have a baby
2) Recover from having said baby
3) Clean up & Organize my workshop (new shelves, new workbench)
4) Knitting: Hardangervidda, started 2 new pairs of socks and finished nothing.
5) Organize my scrapbooking stuff
6) Organize my knitting stuff
7) Take a few naps
8) Play Thief 3 on xbox

In the Knitting world…
Hardangervidda is coming along great! I put it on two needles this weekend & had DH try it on. It fits – yippee skippee it fits! Here’s a picture of the latest progress:

[imagine great picture of Hardangervidda here!]

The zipper steek is started, and I’m soon going to have to start a steek for the neckline. I think I have an idea on how to do this, but will consult with my local expert (aka Judy) to make sure. I know that the pattern says to start back and forthing at the neck, but forget that!

Another thing that happened, I’ve decided to NOT knit Ingeborg at this time. Yes, I swatched like mad – and was pretty pleased with the results. However, the intended recipient decided she’d rather have a different sweater first. Yeah, I heard that "first" too and told her that we’d see about a second sweater. What will I be knitting? Bjerk from the same book as Hardangervidda in these colors:

[Imagine really pretty colors here -- light purple, dark purple, deep blue & burgandy]

I’ll swatch first to verify that the colors will work well together. I’m pretty confident though. I’m using Falk again for this – so the same yarn as Hardangervidda uses. It has the same exact gauge, but the suggested needle size in the pattern is much larger (must be because the model sweater is knit in Tiur). I’ll be measuring my gauge on Hardangervidda and deciding what size to make Bjerk from that. Another odd thought – when comparing Heilo with Falk, the Falk felt softer! I always thought that superwash yarns weren’t as soft as non-superwash yarns. This one will go pretty fast because there is very little colorwork in it even compared to Hardangervidda. I might have to make this twice – once for my mom and once for myself if it comes out really well.

Random non-knitting thoughts: My husband and I have an ongoing discussion (mainly when I’m entering the receipts into the computer) about how much to tip at restaurants where you get the food to go. Some restaurants bring the food out to your car for you, and some make you walk in. Either way – what do you think? Is a tip required (and how much of a tip?) just because there is a TIP line on the credit card receipt? We love that restaurants are actively advertising to-go service and making it really easy for us. They did get your food together (well, didn’t the chef actually do this?) and put it in to-go containers and put it in a nice bag for you. They walk it out to your car and take your money for it. Hopefully they do it in a timely manner and get your order correct (we’ve never had a problem with either of these at our standard to-go restaurants). How much is that worth tip wise? Is it a waiter or waitress who performs these tasks? A hostess-type person? A dedicated to-go person? (doubtful) Who gets the tip? When you eat in a restaurant you get interactive service from a waitress, get drink refills, make a mess in thier establishment that they have to clean up after, and I really value that – and tip accordingly. I just can’t figure out what the proper tip amount is for the to-go food service. Ideas? Opinions? Anyone in the know on the restaurant side of things? Enquiring minds want to know… :)