Or Why My Husband Needs to Be Bat-bogey Hexed!

As I continue my journey of lace knitting, I am discovering that husbands and lace knitting do not mix. I knew that this rule applied to children and pets but I didn’t realize that there was a corollary extending it to husbands as well. You would think a fully-grown, college-educated, highly intelligent man would would be able to realize the difference between doing nothing and doing something that requires concentration. Last night, my hubby proved this theorem wrong.

Yesterday had been a very good day with MS3, I had managed to complete quite a few rows in the morning without any mistakes. So after the kids were in bed and while my hubby was busy with the computer, I decided to work another row or two before going to bed. Guess I should have noticed the foreboding music in the background. I managed to complete two rows before Clueless Muggle Husband decided that he desperately needed my attention – it just couldn’t wait until the end of the row. This is the man who hadn’t offered three words in conversation all night and suddenly he’s a chatterbox. You guessed it – made a counting mistake. Okay – no need to panic – all is not lost – I spotted the mistake on the row where I made it so I can tink back and correct it, right?! Do you hear the foreboding music getting louder? I gave Clueless Muggle the “I’m counting” warning, counted back and found the mistake and turned my work to tink and again he just has to chat – this time he his tapping my shoulder when I don’t immediately respond. Made another mistake picking up stitches, dropped some more and picked up the wrong amount. Can you see the rapid downward spiral? Panic starts to set in, I give Clueless another warning – after all he had been kind enough to make my yarn swift, he deserves a second chance. I try again (I can hear your yells of “Don’t Do It”). This time I drop stitches in the center of the largest lace motif – heroine screams and faints. After I lost 4 stitches that I cannot find, I decided MS3 needed a time out. I had hoped that I would be able to correct it this morning but, of course, Youngest Child got up early – please refer to children and lace knitting rule. It is just not my destiny to finish Clue 1 this week. And I was just starting to feel that I might actually finish MS3. Maybe not, now.

On Friday, MS3, as well as all other knitting and household chores, will go on hiatus while I read the new Harry Potter book. Please do not expect blogging, emailing or answering or phone calls. Clueless Muggle Husband may not even get fed. We are even going to a midnight release party this time (last time I ordered the book online).

Yesterday, we worked on costumes for the kids. HPFan1 has decided to be Luna Lovegood. She originally planned on Hermione but decided Luna would be more fun and might be a little more original. We had a grand old time working on her costume.

She is using a knitting needle as her wand. We made a Butterbeer cap necklace and radish earrings. I found that KnitPicks Bare yarn makes a very convincing radish root. (Add those to your list of unconventional uses for knitting yarns and tools.)

Just add a copy of “The Quibbler” and instant Luna.

HPFan2 finally decided on Colin Creevey. We literally went through every character in all 6 books before he decided. I chased down a Bill Weasley wig, Gilderoy Lockheart robes and tried to make a Mad-Eye Moody eye all before he decided on Colin Creevey. That one should be easy all we need is a black robe and a camera. Done.

I have actually done a little non-MS3 knitting too. Finished this pair of socks for the daughter.

Started the lace part of Indigo Ripples Skirt. Sorry this is a really bad photo.

Am almost to the heel on these Hedera socks from Panda Cotton.

Have complete one sock plus a little cuff of another pair of Chevron Lace baby socks.

Then there is this pair of toe ups that I am knitting for a lady at church.

If I would quit knitting other stuff, I might make some progress on MS3.

Having a holiday in the middle of the week really throws off my routine. It’s like having two Mondays in one week – totally messes with the balance of the universe and the time-space continuum. My hubby is home in the middle of the week, the kids think it is Saturday, the cleaning and cooking schedules get all out of whack and it generally throws the whole week into disarray. Consequently my knitting suffers.

I am still plagued with frogs. I don’t know if it was the two Mondays thing or the fact that it rained all week (not complaining since we REALLY needed it) but I have very little progress to show for all the knitting I have done. I guess that is to be expected when you are learning new things. The toe up socks that have been frogged so many times that the yarn is starting to look worn are half-way through a short row heel. This is my first one with wraps and it is not going as well as I had hoped. I think I need to find a better set of instructions because the set that I am using is confusing and seems to contradict itself. No photo because I refuse to take pictures of stubborn and uncooperative yarn!

I finally started the lace section on the Indigo Ripples skirt. If I ever get the first round correct, everything will be okay but I keep getting interrupted – previously mentioned time-space continuum disturbance – and end up reversing the order of the stitches somewhere along the way. It isn’t a difficult pattern, it just won’t cooperate with me right now. No new photo because it still looks like a big blue blog.

Real Lace

I am working away on Mystery Stole 3. I am way behind the other knitters but since this is my first real lace, it is a very slow process for me. I am just going to plod along like a turtle and not concern myself with the rabbits of the group. I have completed several more rows than this photo shows but I decided to wait until I completed Clue 1 before I took another photo. I am pleased that I have something that actually looks like lace and looks like everyone else’s. The beads are really slowing me down but I like them so I will keep adding them. I think I can rule out wearing this stole this summer but I might have it ready for winter wearing. It is going to be magnificent – if I can actually knit it. Wish me luck.

Maybe this week will be better for my knitting. I am really wanting to get a couple of pair of socks off the needles.

This month has been full of knitting firsts for me. It has been almost a year since I started knitting. I am gaining confidence now, patterns no longer scare me, and my knitting is faster as I become more proficient – this newfound speed is very handy as I was painfully slow when I first started. I have come a long way from the garter stitch scarves I knitted for Christmas gifts. I am getting brave enough to try new things. That is not so say that I haven’t gotten in over my head on a couple of projects. To the contrary, I think I have spent more time “unknitting” than knitting. Fortunately, each trip to Frog Pond taught me something new and important – lessons that hopefully will not be repeated often.

This month, I completed my first sweater – details in the post A Plague of Frogs. I know summer is not the best season to complete sweaters but it will be ready when it does cool off a bit. Truthfully, there are a couple of places that keep their thermostats set so low that I would gladly don a sweater even if it is 96 ^o outside.

I am about half way finished with my first knitted skirt – Indigo Ripples from Interweave Knits. I think it will actually look nice on me once it is finished though I had my doubts since I am a lot curvier than the pencil-thin model in the photos. I think it is hilarious that the skirt isn’t even finished and it is already wrinkled. You gotta love cotton!!

I have swatched for my first “real” lace shawl – Mystery Shawl 3 from PinkLemonTwist – there is a link in the side bar if you are interested in participating. I still haven’t made up my mind on the size of the needles to use. I want it to be delicate and airy but I don’t want it to be so loose that it provides no warmth. The yarn is so fine and delicate that I have my doubts about whether I am up to the challenge. I only thought sock yarn was small – after playing with the lace weight yarn for a week sock yarn feels practically HUGE.

I knitted my first picot edged sock – more precisely I have knit the picot edging but not completed the sock. The looks great but I am a bit concerned how that hem will feel against the leg. Hopefully, the baby that they are being knit for will not mind.

I have successfully completed my first short row heel. I will probably reknit it now that I actually know what I am doing a bit as I think the decreases could look neater. I still like my heel flaps but this will be a handy technique for toe up socks and plain vanilla sock in self striping yarns.

Here is the whole sock – or at least the whole leg. Still have to add the little foot and toe.

And I have actually started my first pair of toe up socks. I am not really impressed with the toe of the pattern I was using but I am convinced that with a different cast on I will like the technique much better. Just so you don’t think the surface in the photo is my dining room table, that is a badly stained outdoor utility table. It really is cleaner than it looks.

And I learned all this in a month were I didn’t knit for a week because of Vacation Bible School. Can’t wait to see what I accomplish in July!!

As I continued my Spring Clean, I have been plagued with frogs. Ms. Emerald’s Scarf – frogged for redesign, Ms. Emerald’s Redesigned Scarf – frogged for design problems with the new design (maybe I am not ready for design), Rose’s towels – frogged for gauge issues, Dublin Bay socks – frogged for yarn/design incompatibilities. Pomatomus socks – destined to be at least partially frogged for lack of yarn but I haven’t had the heart to frog them yet. It seems that most of my knitting lately has ended up in the frog pond. I will be glad when the curse is lifted.

I did manage to complete one Spring Cleaning project – my hubby’s Christmas Father’s Day sweater.

It almost hit the frog pond too but I chose ignore the mistake in honor of the time already invested with the silly thing. If you want to knit for your hubby, marry a short guy. These long torso sweaters get boring. The color is still not right in the photo but I give up. My camera has a mental block against burgundy.

I got practically no knitting done this week because I was teaching at VBS. So my time was occupied preparing materials for my class. I had a wild bunch of 1st and 2nd graders but they were a lot of fun. Thursday night I couldn’t stand the separation from knitting needles any longer so I cast on a skirt for myself.

It is a modification of Indigo Ripples from Interweave Knits Spring 2007. I am lengthening the skirt and adjusting the increases to match my shorter, curvier torso. As you can see, I have a very long way to go.

My hubby had the day off Friday so he drove us to VBS which allowed me the opportunity to knit on the way. It was a good thing I carried my knitting with me because we had a most eventful morning. There are two kids who live across the street from the church building who have a rough home situation. While we welcome them to events and have tried to help them in every way we could on numerous occasions, we have also had some problems with them – behavioral problems as well as vandalism and petty theft. Friday they were in top form. Within 15 minutes of arriving, they had stolen some supplies from one class room, hit a child, given the stolen items to another child to get him in trouble and stuffed paper towels down one of the toilets and flushed it causing the two rooms on either side of the bathroom to be flooded with water from the toilets. I spent the next 15 minutes mopping. I was so frustrated by the situation that I went upstairs to my classroom and pulled out my knitting to calm myself before I had to face a classroom full of first and second graders. I was knitting quietly when there was a tap on the door. One of the little boys from my class came in and wanted to know what I was doing. I explained that I had come upstairs for some quiet time after having to clean up the mess that had been made in the restroom. He then proceeded to tell me about his grandmother who knitted “things to go on the bed”. We had a very nice conversation about knitting while I clicked away on the needles. After about 5 minutes, I was calm and ready to deal with my class. The moral of the story is “Five minutes of knitting is worth a hour of therapy and a whole lot cheaper!!”