Knitting Math

I am so proud of myself. I was actually able to modify the Katje pattern (CocoKnits) from the gauge used in the written pattern, which is 4 sts to one inch to my own personal gauge, which is 5 sts per inch. It took a while, but I am determined to use the Madeline Tosh Worsted yarn that I bought at Stitches for this hoodie. I even bought an extra skein from WEBS just to make sure I have enough.

I used a combination of the Calc-O-Knit, a tape measure, simple division and multiplication, and a handy dandy handwritten chart. Besides measuring my stitch gauge, I measured out my row gauge to be 7 rows per inch. It's good that I checked this because if I hadn't, the hoodie would have been much too short.

Based on all of my calculations, I charted all of my increases (and later, decreases) out. I don't know if I ready to read through Barbara Walker's or Elizabeth Zimmerman's books yet though. The numbers in the CocoKnits pattern helped me with the calculations. At the moment, I am not confident enough to just use my own personal measurements to design a sweater. Probably someday...

Not so hip to be square

I started using the square circular needles from Kollage a couple of days ago, hoping they would help decrease my hand and wrist pain. I had high hopes for them; the cables do not kink (very fluid), the metal that the needle tips are made from are almost warm to the touch and very comfortable to hold. The needle tips put less stress on my fingers; I knit in a way that puts lots of stress on my right ring finger - very uncomfortable. I've noticed that I don't feel pressure on my ring finger with the flat surface of the square needles at all, so in this way, they are nice to work with. However, there are some major problems with the needles.

To put it simply, they are a major PITA to use, and they make my knitting slower. I am using Madeline Tosh Worsted for my current project. If anyone has used this yarn, you will agree (I hope) that this is one of the best yarns ever. Very soft, not splitty...and absolute dream to use (not to mention the deep, rich colors, that truly are eye candy--yum yum yum). I do not have any trouble using this yarn with my Addis or my Knitpicks Harmonies. None at all. I can knit pretty quickly with these needles and apart from the minor annoyance with the cables sometimes curling up if I choose one that is too long for my project, they are great to use. The yarn moves easily from cable to needle, but not too easily that I drop stitches.

In total contrast, I have a ton of trouble knitting this yarn with the Kollage Square Needles. The major irritation comes from the TERRIBLE transition between the cable and the needles. Let me put it this way, the yarn always gets stuck at the join. Always. Okay, I'm being nice - it DOESN'T TRANSITION!! And it's not me; I don't knit tight. I knit loose. The yarn just gets stuck! Could it be because the yarn is so soft and is superwash merino that the fibers stick to the cable?? Sorry that is not a good enough reason to start knitting with acrylic that will slip better! Could it just be the needles that I bought??? But they all have the same join, same cable. How could that be??

I have to give this needle a C+. Despite the great needle tips and the fact that they are easier on my hands, they are not easy to use. I switched my project back to my Harmonies, and it's the difference between driving in traffic during rush hour, and a nice Sunday drive to the neighborhood park.

Ambidextrous Knitting

I have to learn how to knit different ways. East European, English, Portuguese, Combination, Under my arm, with a Knitting Sheath...all of it. Huh, you say? Alright, I'll start from the beginning.

My right hand is giving me problems. Perhaps the beginnings of carpal tunnel caused from too much knitting?? I don't know. All I do know for sure is that it is really putting a cramp in my knitting style. I noticed it about a week ago. Not too bad, but I noticed that when I woke up in the morning, my right hand was numb. I didn't worry too much about it since the sensation went away after a few hours. I was working on my sweater and I will admit that I worked on it obsessively because I really wanted it done. I started worrying more when the numbness interfered with picking up my son. He is almost 2 and likes me to carry him at various times throughout the day, usually when he is tired. I tried to make the sensation go away by taking a break from knitting by doing more housework, moving my hand/wrist in a circle throughout the day, and resting my hand. That helped some, but not enough to stop me from worrying. My FLYS is now selling the square circular needles and I've read that they are better for your hands, yada yada, so I went yesterday to buy a pair (any reason to visit, right?). The owner also let me try on the special gloves that are supposed to help hand and wrist pain as well. They cost about the same, so I figured if the needles didn't do anything, I would buy the gloves. I started knitting with the needles, and they are nice to knit with. One thing I noticed is that they don't put as much pressure on my fingers as the regular circulars do. The flat surface sits more uniformly on my joints. However, I still have some numbness in my hand. More on the square needles later...

Suffice to say, I needed more information. Since I am a knitter, I read through Ravelry through some threads where people discussed similar problems. I had contemplated going to my doctor. I've done so before and have gotten treatment; however, I want to know how to prevent it, not just make the pain go away. Most posts I've read suggested resting the hand, doing "waving" exercises to bring circulation to the affected hand, etc. I've noticed that the symptoms are similar to carpal tunnel, in which numbness is caused by constant repetitive motion. This led me to the conclusion that if I learned how to knit different ways, then the movement in my hand won't be as repetitive. I am also very interested in learning how to knit with a knitting sheath. This used to be the norm, but it seems that it fell out of favor in the last century. Very unfortunate because it sounds like a good way to keep stress out of the hands from constant knitting.

I'm off now to research this almost ancient way of knitting. I just hope that it doesn't mean I have to spend extra money on tools that I would rather spend on yarn...

Mail Santa

I enjoy getting fun things in the mail. Today 2 packages came for me. The first was the T-shirt and tote bag that I ordered from City Knitting this past Monday. Cheryl has the shirt and wore it to Stitches. It really is a cute shirt, perfect for a knitting enthusiast like me. It has the words Know Your Cuts of Lamb above a sheep divided by perforated lines. Within each part of the lamb, words like sweater, scarf, and purse (items you can make with wool). Very clever. The tote bag has the same design. What pushed me to buy it though was the great price ($15 for the shirt and $12 for the tote). I do not find screen printed shirts like this for less than $20, so this was an awesome deal in my opinion.

The second package came from New Zealand. I swapped my Second Treasury of Magical Knitting with yarn from a nice gal from there. She gave me a full skein of Vintage Purls yarn, plus a few extras. I haven't heard of this dyer before (and to be quite honest, I just realized that yarn from New Zealand must be spectacular because they have tons of sheep!) but now want more of her yarn. The colors are deep and rich (can you say gorgeous??) and sooooo soft. She must be one of those little known but fabulous dyers out there who are eclipsed by Wollmeise and Sundara. I am now very excited for the other skein on my way, from the three-way swap with Melissa.

Will I miss the book that I swapped? Nope. When I received it, I was looking forward to knitting the bags and wraps that I've been seeing on Ravelry. I just thought the way the projects looked were so cool. However, the CO is awkward for me and I felt clumsy...After a few tries, I decided that this type of knitting would not work for me. Besides, I can make tons of other garments and bags, and if I want them to twist, I can twist them afterwards and just seam them with the kitchener stitch. The frustration at the beginning of each project was not worth it for me. I gave it a shot; now I can chalk up to experience. I'm truly glad that I was able to give it to someone who really loves the technique; besides that I can say that I have a knitting friend on the other side of the world, and look, I have wonderful yarn from her too!

So far so good

I am enjoying knitting with the Madelinetosh Worsted. The color variations are beautiful. I hope that the one skein that I ordered from WEBS matches what I have; otherwise, I will probably have to knit it at the same time I am knitting from the ones I have to keep the colors blended. I got past the PCO for the hood and now it totally makes sense. I actually think it is really cool, the way the increases (KRL and KLL) make the corner of the hood curve in ever so slightly. The row that I started knitting even looks a little loose, so I am hoping it blocks out. I am pretty happy with the way it's turning out, though and very glad that I modified the stitch counts.

The rest of the pattern looks pretty straight forward. Of the 13 projects for this pattern that I found on Ravelry, none of them mention any mistakes in the pattern. A few mention how PITA the provisional cast on is, though. This part did bother me. Not wanting to use waste yarn, I wound up using the crochet cast on, using nylon crochet thread. Now, this was a Godsend and I wonder why I didn't think to use this before. Waste yarn always gets caught when I knit into the crochet bumps. The nylon thread is PERFECT for the purpose because it is stiff; the bumps are easy to find and knit into them. For this particular project, the stiffness of the crochet chain helped when I had to knit into the provisional cast on. Also, when I pulled on it to unravel, nothing caught. It was like pulling on a zipper - how perfect is that? Add the fact that I can easily reuse the thread and there you go. Favorite PCO implement.

The first KRL increase was a little confusing..."lift up the stitch right under the stitch that you are going to knit into, place on left needle and knit into it..." Huh?? I just found the best stitch that fit the description and continued knitting; same with the KLL. But as I mentioned, as I kept knitting, it became easier to find the correct stitches. And you can't really tell, unless of course, I say anything...

Playdoh

So my son played with playdoh yesterday. It would have been no big deal, besides the fact that I must be the only mother on earth who does not like it. Playing with clay has never appealed to me, since the semester I spent in college ceramics class, where I was the only student who could not control the wheel and make a simple cup with even sides. My teacher told me, "See? (insert classmate's name here) can do it. That means you are not far behind." She was very wrong. I was light years away from that student and not in the right direction.

My husband enjoys playing with it, as does my daughter. I, as I mentioned, do not.

However, yesterday proved to be a different kind of day. It was the first time my son pointed to the designated arts and crafts box in our closet and pulled out the small tubs of color. Once I pulled them out for him and showed him how to make a ball out of them (Ball! Ball!) he was fixed. I flattened the balls out for them and he pulled different colored pieces and put them on top - his version of a pizza. I showed him how to put some of the clay in the molds and how they came out looking like food - blue bananas and pink pears. He "fed" some to me and I "fed" some to him. He somehow understood that it wasn't real food, but he pretended to eat a meal with his Playdoh snacks. I showed him how to flatten the balls with his hands; he didn't like this and motioned that he wanted his balls back. I made him his balls, and made more molded green and purple bananas, and "ate" his yellow and blue apples. He liked to play with the blue and purple colored ones the best (boo! pupple!) and was very precise in where he placed the pieces, so his playdoh looked just right. He apparently didn't like the butterfly mold that I made because he used the plastic knife to cut it apart (cut! cut!).

We spent an hour playing with playdoh. It was time well spent, and to my surprise, I had fun! I had wondered what kinds of things I could do to keep this little guy busy. I feel relieved that he can decide this for himself.

They grow up so fast

I took my daughter to the park yesterday. I brought my knitting and noticing that there were not any comfortable places to sit, I sat in my car so that I could knit in relative comfort. It's a small park, so I parked close enough so that I could watch her.

Weekly trips to the park used to be rewards for me, after a long week away from my baby. I worked all week and needed to be a mommy. I enjoyed my time with her. I loved watching her grow from a little toddler who could barely climb up the baby slide to a little girl whose face lit up every time she was able to reach the step that she couldn't reach the week before. Her growth always amazed me...I thought she was the smartest and cutest little girl in the world.

We stopped making our weekly trips to the park a few years ago. It just became really difficult to take both of my children to the park; she still wanted me to watch her play, but I often could not (and felt guilty about it) because I had to watch her little brother. I still make efforts to have mom/daughter days with her, but being a stay at home mom is a full time job with lots and lots of overtime, and sometimes after a really exhausting week, all I want to do is to take all of the accumulated breaks that I didn't get to take during the week.

When I watched her play yesterday, making friends, running around, climbing the slide, sliding down the firefighter pole, I remembered that little toddler that struggled to climb up a step only a foot high...and missed the feeling I had when the weekends came and I could finally spend time with my little girl. It just occurred to me that maybe she misses those too.

I traded in my job away from my children to be a stay at home mom. Do I regret it? Never, and I would do it again. I can't take breaks like I used to in the office, I can't take vacations, I can never say "That is not in the scope of my position" and refer my children to someone else. They are my full responsibility...and I love it. It is a challenging position, ripe with growth opportunities and rewards. They give me endless reasons to knit (needs socks? okay, let's go buy some yarn!) , play games, sing silly songs, make funny faces and noises, and meet other parents with children. Best of all, I get free daycare, and I know that my children are getting the best care that I can provide for them.