Dental Floss Saves the Day!

Not really.  I saved the day.

I had knit a pair of socks using size 1 needles for the first time.  The socks were too short, even though I had added rows to my usual recipe.

SO, do I rip them out and start over using size 2 needles?  Do I find a short-footed person to give them to? 

Nope.  I decided to pull out the dental floss, thread it through stitches just below the beginning of the toe decreases, frog the toe, and then knit up from the dental floss stitches.

Sock with dental floss

Sock back on the needles

Original sock plus one inch---Perfect!

Both socks are now the right size.  I used dental floss rather than thread because it's skinny AND strong.  Worked perfectly.

Now off to soak and block.

Last night's knit night was packed; last week's was almost empty. No predicting attendance at knit night. And with lots of people there, I get distracted. I went intending to return this yarn:

Claudia Hand Painted Yarn/Silky Wool Lace

because it's meant for this enormous wrap, made on size three needles, and will take forever.

Nuvem by Martina Behm

But Sallyknit is making one, and she assured me that I will love it and that I won't mind having to work on it FOREVER. So I kept the yarn and this makes it..about four things? I have going at one time. Maybe five.

When I came home and checked the mail, this yarn from Miss Babs was in it.

Miss Babs Cygnus Gradient Set

It's a spectrum selection of colors meant for this:

Spectral by Debbi Stone

as soon as I figure out how to do the stitch.  

So yet another project.  I am also working on two sweaters and the aforementioned lace.

I must be crazy.  

AND we had consensus regarding William (of William and Kate). He is both a prince and a duke. The Prince title was given to him when he was born and the Duke title was given to him whenever. He is entitled to be a prince because he was, you know, born, but the duke is just a bonus. Or something.  

¿Qué pasó?

See?  I'm learning Spanish!

What's happening with Knittergran?, you may ask.

Well, she can't knit and watch Breaking Bad at the same time.  She discovered this after making a few too many mistakes in her knitting.  So now that she is caught up on BB, she has been knitting.

And she should stop referring to herself in the third person.  It's just weird.  She is not royalty.

So I have been catching up on knitting!

I have finished these socks, the first ever knit on size one needles.  (Signature needles, plain vanilla pattern, and Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock Yarn, color grouse)

AND I have been working on the tricky Miss Winkle scarf:

I don't want to think about how many loops I have attached the wrong way and have had to frog.

AND I have finally, finally, with the help of several Ravelers, gotten started on the Currant Cardigan.  It has been the most difficult project I have attempted because of the new cast on and new stitches I have had to learn.  And I was reading the charts wrong because the right side rows are usually odd-numbered (I think) and the wrong side rows even-numbered (I think) and this was backwards to me, but I didn't realize it until I had done parts of a couple of rows um...backwards?  I'm not actually sure.  I was so confused.... A very experienced knitter on Ravelry helped me sort it all out. And then I frogged.

But now I am on my way, I hope.

AND I may have discovered that I am no gardener.  So far, this is the total of my crop of peppers:

Teeny, tiny.  CUTE!!!

We have had something like 16" extra inches of rain this summer, so maybe that's the problem.  I have no idea. 

It tasted great.  So there's that.

Anyway, Breaking Bad is on tonight, but I will record it and watch it later without the ads.  

Sorry, advertisers, but you break up the mood, the color, the ambiance, the sounds, the carnage, the blood, the swearing......... maybe the ads are a good thing.  

And Ah Hay-elpd

says Baxter.

I am blocking the Color Affection Shawl and as always, Baxter finds the whole process fascinating.  First he dipped a paw in the sudsy water where the shawl was soaking to test the water temperature

and then he checked out my shaping.

 But then he started pulling out the pins to let me know I was doing it wrong.  Since I can read the tape measure and he can't, I told him to stop. He jumped up on his perch (the ironing board) to supervise.

In the end, he approved, so now it is drying.  The yarn is Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock and Baby ---wonderful soft yarn and I love her colors.

The shawl seemed to be drying as I pinned it out, so I think I will be able to fondle try it on later today.