grumpygirl

High school bumps

I feel like we achieved a lot today, despite the lack of plan-age.

First we went to yum cha. On the way out, we caught up with a guy from high school who I hadn't seen in years. He was with the prospective in-laws and raced over to us - relishing the opportunity to get away from them. Considering they've been engaged for 2 years and he's still trying to get parental approval...! They must be very fussy though. Richie's a good guy. Lovely, smart and has a great job, what's not to love? He and the fiancee were very taken by WB, and I can't say I blame them really. BD told Richie to take him over for a walk to the prospectives as an incentive - no marriage no babies!

WB was way ahead of them though, he'd already taken the initiative and was walking over with Belinda to charm her parents. After a few trips back and forth, Richie was like ok, how much?

We didn't go through the usual platitutes of 'we must catch up', but he's one person I think I would enjoy catching up with. Hmm. Maybe I'll look him up on Stalkbook.

Anyway, then we did some shopping and I fondled some iPhones.

On the way home, we stopped off at our ace local park as the rain had stopped. And on the way home, we decided we really should take WB for a swim. So they waited in the car whilst I rummaged around the house, collecting all our swim gear.

We bumped into a work colleague outside the gym which is much preferable than doing it inside and in my bathers. It turns out they're encouraging people to take leave before and after the Easter holidays, so it looks like we'll be able to fit in a European trip before WB's 2nd birthday (and his airfare goes from 10% to 75%). And wonder of wonders, I left the boys for a bit to do 11 laps, all on my own! After 3 weeks of no exercise.

Admittedly, one week of that was due to sickness. You know how I thought I was going to die when I had gastro a little while back? Well whatever bacterial infection I had this time, it made me want to die. Anyway, antibiotics are good.

I first started feeling sick on Saturday when we were at the boathouse catching up with some other high school people.Pity really, the vanilla slices looked divine. At first I thought I was nauseous from hunger, and then I thought I had eaten too much. I didn't start throwing up until the drive home. I really hope no-one else got sick, 3 of them were pregnant.

One girl and her husband both worked for an American drug company and were SO full of American company spirit. They seemed quite normal otherwise. Interesting perspective on generics though.

He was telling us that when generics are released, their sales go down by 80%. And that the reason chemists offer us generics is because they make more money out of it. So a brand-name drug that cost you $50 would make them a profit of $10, but a generic brand that costs you $40, would make them a $20 profit. Do, I care, really, considering I save $10? And don't help out an evil multinational drug company? (ok, I've watched too much West Wing.) Oh and here's the best brainwashing... It's ok to buy generic panadol, but would you really trust the super complex drugs like AIDs medications? They're very complex - they can cost up to $6K/month. But the active ingredients in a generic are still all the same, we argue. Ah, but do you want to risk it, he asks. To save any percentage on $6K/month, I certainly would! Plus, if any generic could be scientifically PROVEN to be a non-performer, you can bet all of the $6K/month on the brand-name drug company being the first to go to press about it!

Oh, and when we got home, I cooked a yummy seafood chowder and polished it off with some turkish bread. Yum.

Saturday morning knit-in

Hooray for husbands and babies who go to sleep at 7pm.

I'm loving the way this KPPPM is knitting up. No crazy pooling. Fingers crossed this continues. My gauge is 26sts/4" rather than 28sts on 3mm needles. But I like the drape on these needles. 2.75mms might be too tight. Plus, my 2.75mm straights have been chopped up, waiting for the ends to be removed and re-glued onto the shorter needles.

Plans

The Deep End

Despite sockmonster's evil entreaties to practise continentally on projects that require me to Buy More Yarn, I remain Unmoved.

I'm going to throw caution to the winds and practise on yummy yarn.
I'm going to use the Koigu KPPPM #P852 to make a Baktus scarf. I've got 2x48g.

 

I've also prepared the Socks that Rock January One colourway too.

 
I'm jumping in!

28.7

Ok, so I must knit faster on circs. 28.7st/min the continental way vs 42 sts/min the old way. Interestingly, I seem to be purling faster than I knit, when continentally.

Since I cut my finger pulling steel wool (dead tired, not thinking - don't ask) I've been wearing a band-aid that makes crochet difficult.

So I've been back knitting the dishcloths. I've only improved by 2 sts per minute. It's madness. I don't think I've ever going to get any faster! I just can't seem to hold the needles quite right. Still, I must soldier on. At least until I can think of a garter stitch project with stash yarn. Where gauge doesn't matter.

Beanies

Darn it

I've been have confidence issues with my knitting lately. It's been gradually increasing since the first holes appeared in my handknit socks. My gauge has always been way off, but up until now, I've been able to avoid the issue by carefully picking my projects. And by knitting (and crocheting) flat stuff. And knitting small sizes or on smaller needles.

But you can't really knit smaller than 2mm needles. Well, you can, Sockmonster has lent me a pair of 1.75mm, but that aside, it's my sideways gauge that is weird. The stitch gauge looks right when measured, but it stretches sideways like crazy when worn. It's been driving me nuts, so I've just avoided the issue by not knitting.

But then the sock casulty count got to 4. And I was getting more and more stressed. And then some people went to sock summit. And I really really wanted to knit socks, but I am rubbish at knitting socks. So I'm learning continental stitch, but this will take ages to master. And in the meantime, I can't wear my socks.

So last night, I bit the bullet and got out the needle and thread.

Before (outside):

 

Before (inside):

After (outside):

After (inside):

It took me FOREVER.

So with the next sock, I took the easy way out and forgot about the messy.

Inside:

Outside:

Then with the next pair, I got even lazier (and messier)

Inside:

Outside:

 

I won't even show you what BD's socks look like.
But I've made these socks which I spent so much time go a little further, and learnt a big lesson for future pairs.

Feeling slightly better about the knitting. Must work towards lifting my game. Especially as I've just realised I have to knit some items for WB at child care in a few months. He can't go without handknits, but they need to be a bit more hardwearing and not so...precious.

Here's a video on darning that I found useful.

26.5

So I practised some more last night and tonight and I've managed to get the 22.5st/min up to 26.5sts/min.
It's not 40, which is still rather slow in my opinion, but I'm getting there. I'm wondering if I should have a 'real' knitting project to practice on, rather than dishcloths, so I can have a better idea of my gauge, but I'm not sure there's any other yarn I can sacrifice. Maybe something small and dk weight as a scarf for WB? Thinking.

From Portland

Koigu KPPM and Shibui:

Assortment of freebies that sockmonster scored for me:

And tweedy love:

Slow and unco

Oh dear. It appears I've got some way to go on the continental knitting stakes. I'm doing 22.5 sts/min. My normal style? 40 sts/min. And I'm going rather leisurely pace too. Still looking as unco as, but I can only improve, right? Lucky I don't have any knitting projects on at the moment. Apart from the washcloths, which a great for practising knitting, purling and slipping.