It's All About that Math, 'Bout that Math

Knitting involves quite a bit of math, which can come as a surprise to new knitters.

Knit Companion solves a lot of math-related problems by allowing me to color code and enlarge what I want to work on and I used it this morning when I ripped back a couple of rows and re-knit them. Somehow I had the wrong number of stitches in some sections, but it's all straightened out now. Then I found two stitches that I hadn't even worked---how on earth does THAT happen?! Also, I do think there are some purls where there should be knits, or vice versa, but I'm not sure. This pattern is...quirky. That's the word.

This is part of the screen of KC that I am using for this project:

I colored the repeat section yellow, and then I enlarge the page so that I only see the parts I am working on. I count the stitches necessary for each section from the chart, and then count what I actually have. Ideally they match. But today, they didn't. YO's and SSKs and K2TOG mess up the count if I'm not careful. YOs right before or after a marker can really mess up the count. They get caught on the marker, and then...which side do they belong on? 

The turquoise (my signature color!) line shows that the row I am working on is on the back of the fabric. A yellow line shows up when I am on the front of the fabric. I can see the symbols and their meanings if I want; otherwise I just lower that part of the page so they aren't in my way. There are counters on the right and I can set them to indicate what I want them to count.  

KC gets way more complicated if I need it to to be, but I actually haven't learned how to do anything more complicated yet. First, I just need to conquer the math.

Mistakes Were Made

I think.

I'm not sure.

I am working on Umaro by Brooklyn Tweed, and it doesn't look right. I'm not blaming myself (yet) because lots of other knitters on Ravelry have commented on the confusing charts. 

There are several places where the pattern just doesn't work out right, but I think I will need to knit on and then see if I should just trust the pattern (and myself) to get it right. 

The last time I made a blanket, a small baby blanket, I said Never again! and I did mean it at the time, but I love this one; it's huge but worth the time (if I get it right).  I hope.

Welcome

to my fringe factory!

I don't usually like working on what the Yarn Harlot refers to as the fiddly bits, but once I figured out a simple process to add fringe to my wrap, the task became EASY fiddly bits. A long ruler, each of the two yarns in yarn bowl/yarn bell, scissors, and a crochet hook comprise the factory---easy, peasy as my youngest granddaughter says. (She adds "nice and breezy" but I don't know what that would mean in this context.)

Of course I had the help of my quality control inspector, AKA Baxter. He approved. In fact, he approved so much that he wanted to lie down on it. NO! NO! NO!

Finished! And just in time for really, really warm weather. 

So! Just in time for summer storage.  

Magic Three-Yarn Scarf and Wrap by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

I Played Yarn Chicken

and lost.

My Doppelgänger

I do not say that she is my doppelgänger.  Other people say so. (Actually, they say I am HER doppelgänger, but I am more important to me than she is, so I say she is MINE.) When I am out and about in public, doing errands, going to a doctor's appointment, eating, shopping, at least every week or two, someone approaches me and I know what is coming. 

You look just like Blythe Danner.

I don't know what I am supposed to do with that information. Apply to be her stunt double? I don't think she does stunts so she probably doesn't need one. Maybe take over parenting Gwyneth Paltrow? No thanks. I like my own kids a whole lot better.

Also, I DO NOT LOOK like Blythe Danner.  I promise you that. 

I always say:  It's the hair.  We have the same hair.

My hair

Although hers is grayer. Mine has mysteriously stayed its original color.  

This past week, though, my protestations backfired on me. The nurse at a medical office said: You look like someone famous, but I can't think of her name.

I sighed and replied:  Blythe Danner. I hear that all of the time. It's the hair. We have the same hair.

She said that I shouldn't mind being told about the resemblance because Blythe Danner is pretty. Then she proceeded to ask the questions she is supposed to ask a patient. At one point she stared really intently at me and I was impressed. Wow, I thought, she is really concentrating on my answers.

But then she announced: You're right. It's the hair. You really don't look anything like her.

So I guess that means she took back the pretty part.  

sigh...