Inside and Out

No sooner had I cast on for Knee High to a Grasshopper (the April Rockin' Sock Club pattern) than I knew I was in trouble. There had been rumors (okay, a small riot) all over the web about the challenges of this pattern. Pishaw! I thought. How hard could it be? Dumb ass! I told Lola on Friday that maybe legion of knitters expressing their displeasure just didn't give it time. To all of you lovely folks, I extend a whole hearted mea culpa. I even went so far as to change the p2tog to k2tog, but one round seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Then, River Rapids entered my life, and all was right with the knitting world. In just two short days, maybe 2.5 short days, one is done and the other is due to be cast on . . . right after I swatch for my teaching sock. Oh, Lola dear, little TBA (can we please call him Sting? Please?) has a set of booties on the way courtesy of said sock class!

The girls got into the knitting thing this week. Veronica likes knitting hats; sometimes we have even questioned her sanity about them. She has been known to sit down and crank one out in a couple of hours. This hat wasn't anything out of the ordinary for her, but the thing that cracks me up with her is that she make them all up. She'll look at the yarn, look at a generic pattern (sometimes), and then come in with a scrap of paper and say, "Does this make sense to you?" Viola, three or so hours later . . . a hat. She promises to model tomorrow. Right now, she is out driving with her dad and Betty. Betty, on the other hand, methodically chooses a pattern. She finds the yarn, stalks the patterns, and comes up with Coronet. "You think I can handle a tangy pattern?" she asked. I didn't even bother to look at it before I said yes, since I know she is a challenge knitter. Right now, she has the headband done and grafted, with minimal help from me on the Kitchener stitch. My mother would always say, "Here, let me do it," if something was kind of challenging (hence the zipper joy) so I try not to . . . I did try, didn't I sweetie?

Thank you all for your kind words about the zippers and the sock classes. I took my sewing machine in to have a bit of a tune-up so the sewing will have to wait until next week. My big question should I wash this stack of fat quarters before I make the quilts I have in mind? One one hand, I really like the puckery look of older quilts, which I would get if I allowed the material to shrink after quilting; however, I don't want the reds to run when I do wash it the first time. Trust me, there are a lot of reds and oranges in this lot. So, to wash or not to wash, that is the question.

Cheerleading practice begins tomorrow so I am back to work for a little while. Don't ask how I became the cheerleading co-advisor. Anyone who has ever spent a mere five minutes with me will question that decision for the rest of their lives. I generally tell the girls on our squad that a) I am a knitter, b) I will knit while you warm up, c) I will knit while you cheer at games, and d) I will tell you exactly when you thought I wasn't looking at you while I was knitting. Only one ever tests that theory . . . one is all it takes. Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Comments

[Deb Luttrell]

My vote would be NOT to wash the fat quarters. They are all so bright and pretty - you can always use Retayne when you wash your quilt.

[Susan B]

YIPEE!!! For the first time I can properly post as myself without screwing up the surprise!!!!!! LOL.

Over at Dogged, she had a quilt washing mishap where the pinks bled all over everywhere - and said that next time she wished she could have avoided the whole nightmare by washing it once it was all finished in something called Synthrapol or some such chemical-y sounding name. Apparently the stuff sets the colours so they won't bleed. Ook - it might be the Retayne that the other commenter listed above, too.....

I'm sure if you navigate your way over there you can get the full info much more eloquently than I currently can.

(A week off of work has led to a wee bit of scrambling and insanity in the few short hours that I've been back!)

;>