Woolgathering

I scored skeins for 3 pairs of cashmere socks. I tried to tell myself I was going to knit them up for my beloved. I won’t of course, they are all too pale by far for a manly type like Mr L

Bad girl. Bad, bad, girl!

I need stash enhancement like I need a hole in the head.

Tonight, from 7pm, cashmere yarn, 50% off at Hipknits

http://www.hipknits.co.uk/shop.php

By bed time last night I had the scarf restored to where I had ripped it back from, plus a tiny bit. I had ten pattern repeats done (the pattern calls for 13) and I laid it down to admire my handiwork with a sigh. It’s a large psychological barrier and always good to leap it and overtake the unpicking part, is it not?

And that was when I noticed it, the third pattern repeat - the THIRD!

I asked my beloved: “Do you subscribe to the theory that only Allah is perfect?”

Blank stare.

I put my knitting away and slept the sleep of somebody who plans a smoke and mirrors campaign (they’ll never notice…)

By this morning I knew that I had to do it. RrrrrrrrrIP……….

All the way back to the third lace row.

*sigh*

Not as bad as yesterday. Could have been worse.

I carefully set the error right and then went to start the breakfast porridge, feeling a little virtuous and a great deal mad. I mean, who knits before breakfast? Only a fool, I am sure.

After breakfast, I began again, feeling rather like this project was about to make airborne contact with a structural feature of the house.

I don’t understand it. I am a reasonably competent knitter. I might have taken a twenty year break out of a knitting career of (*cough*) (many) years, but I can do better than this, and have done so recently. I took one of these out to fondle (hmm, must photograph a completed one) to remind myself that I can beat this little bugger. I can knit socks. In 4ply. On four/five 2.25mm needles. In Lace, goddamnit. Why can’t I do this simple scarf, in DK, knitted on two monster needles?

Is it the lack of light? We are at Latitude 59, and at this season the days tend to be a little on the dim side - made worse by cottage windows. I’m knitting with dark yarn and with two shades mixed, that makes the stitches difficult to see, I admit. And then there’s Nell, and my constant refrain of “just a minute, only one row to go, and then I’ll take you out.” I’ll admit it, she can be most distracting. Or maybe it’s just all too frequent “senior moments” - that seems very likely! Sadly, I think it may simply come down to overconfidence and lack of engaging brain before engaging fingers. I think I just switch off and lose track of where I am in the pattern.

Whatever it is, it is driving me crazy.

I took time out to show my scarf this, the backup project. Aha! That put the willies right up it! I pointed out that, for one troublesome scarf, I could make one bag for me and one for a present and have some yarn left over for other felting projects…

It went reasonably well thereafter, with a just a few tinked rows each time I realised I had missed a line four out yet again. And by the time I began to make my lunchtime chilli non carne, there it was, up to eleven repeats and the end of my first pair of balls.

Relief? You betcha!

In between peeling onions and crushing garlic and boiling beans…

…I actually contrived to get the first half completed and off the needles. It is now ready to pick up the remaining side of the centre section in readiness for knitting the second tail.

I haven’t had lunch yet. Somebody is having similar problems with a recalcitrant car. We shall eat once the starter motor decides to a) go onto the car and (b) actually start the engine.

The current project is a free pattern, from Interweave Knits via Knitting Daily: the Pine Cone Scarf. It should be fashioned in Mountain Colors Mountain Goat but I am using Noro Kureyon. This was a poor choice - I hadn’t realised that Kureyon is not washable. Oops. However, it comes in fab colours and is actually available in the UK - the Mountain Goat is very expensive and I failed to find a UK supplier anyway.

I am using shade 157 “Emperor” - it’s a mix of greens, browns, russets, and purple … kind of. The greens and browns are just right to go with Mr L’s storm jacket, but are nicely leavened by the flashes of colour. I think it will look good.

You will just have to believe me, despite my previous post, when I say that it is a quick and easy knit. Using 8mm needles and two strands of DK yarn, the main part of the scarf is worked over 21 stitches in one single pattern of Old Shale - a 10 row repeat, with only one lace row to handle. Just try not to have a puppy in tow or, like me, you may end up missing out all your fourth rows, or something worse -like not noticing that the chart is written in reverse on every alternate row. (Yes, I am still sulking)

I will do this pattern again, and again, I think - it looks to me to be ideal for homespun. I’ll report back on that later, just as soon as I have spun sufficient (and I am not wasting my BFL on it, I can tell you) Jacob at a semi-correct weight.

Time for photos? OK - Mr L has taken Nell for a walk so I can take a few shots. It’s in artificial lighting, though.

Well, the yarn that I had ordered, then cancelled, arrived today. I still hadn’t decided what to do about it. Unfortunately, the yarn looked so gorgeous, I coughed up the dosh and cast on

The centre panel knitted up quickly, although the “BO all stitches” had me foxed for some time. What on earth is a BO? I’ve never seen a BO before. It took a while, and then I “Cast Off all stitches”. Bind Off, indeed. Pshaw!

I really didn’t like the centre section and had a lot of trouble equating the following instructions to what I held in my hand. By lunchtime, I had the centre done, the stitches picked up on one side, and 3 or 4 pattern repeats of one end had emerged. IT just didn’t feel right…

Nevertheless, after lunch, I knitted on, and was by now wondering where on earth the pine cones came into it. I had almost completed my first two balls of yarn, nine pattern repeats, when my glance strayed back to the chart. At the top of the chart, it said “Pine Cone.” The pattern of dots certainly looked pine cone-ish, but what I had at one end of my knitting was definitely a ribbed diamond shape.

I shall have to get new glasses.

I ripped it all out and began again and this time I was certain to reverse the chart rows… and understand that a dot is purled on the right side but knitted on the wrong side.

Why are knitting charts not consistent in their protocols?

For that matter why are knitting charts? What’s wrong with a good old written pattern, in the British style? I can understand those. Charts are nasty alien things. I want a nice, clear instruction: ROW 1 (Right Side) Do this, ROW 2 (Wrong Side) Do that. You can’t go wrong. There’s no difference in the way that they are written; linear is linear.

This was meant to be a simple exercise. It’s just a wee scarf…

Anyway, I got three more pattern repeats done after knitting a much nicer pine cone of a centre panel (and therefore finding the picking up far easier.) And that was when I realised that I had consistently omitted line 4 of the pattern… and out it came again, but at least this time I was able to retain the centre piece.

It’s growing again now. Let’s hope that is the end of the trauma. It has been more than sufficient for one small scarf.

Spinning day today, at P’s. The cake was cherry and almond. I like spinning at P’s. I have discovered that, if I sit on her sofa, it’s very comfortable for my bad arm and it doesn’t aggravate it, even if I spin all morning - so the BFL is progressing. Painful slow progress, to be sure. But I am halfway through it now, more or less, and looking forward to the knitting of it when it is done.

I made arrangements to do some rainbow dyeing with M, as she missed the session that we did before - though we didn’t actually fix a date when we might do it, we do have to to look forward to.

Next week’s spinning is at one of the island’s accommodation providers. We are going to talk about course provision, and eat chocolate cake.

It’s good, this spinning lark, is it not?

It beggars belief, but after asking the seller to cancel my purchase as it is now too late for me to receive it in time to do what I want to do with it - she sent me a new invoice! When I said I had no intention of paying it, her response was that she has dispatched the goods.

The cheek of it!

Do I refuse delivery? or quietly cough up?

I suppose I could always do my secret knitting for Christmas or our wedding anniversary (Dec 31st) but that’s not the point, is it?

Last week, on the 19th Nov, I bought some lovely Noro Kureyon (at a v attractive price!) from an eBay seller. I planned to knit this with it for my beloved’s birthday next month.  I paid immediately, by PayPal, as is my habit. Postage was for 1st Class Mail, so I expected to receive it within 2 to 3 days. I figured I had enough “secret time” in which to complete the project if the parcel arrived promptly. Only… the yarn has not yet arrived.

This morning I received this email:

You’ve received a question about eBay item: STUNNING NORO KUREYON SHADE 157 lot C (200172259449)

Hi I have just changed my address and am having problems with PayPal at the moment. My email address is now ***. could you please bear with me until it is sorted. regards ****

Well, if there’s a question there then I do not see it. Nor do I understand the message. However, I did have a deep sense of foreboding and I wrote back to enquire:

I am sorry, but I do not understand your message. I have paid for my item, though I am somewhat worried that it has not yet arrived. I have to knit a gift for a birthday in 2 weeks’ time.
PLEASE confirm that my purchase was dispatched in a timely fashion.

The reply appears to confirm my worst suspicions: the parcel appears not to have been sent and the seller appears to have no concept of customer care. It seems to be my responsibility to unpick her mess, somehow…

Hi sorry for the delay I have been having problems with my new address. Could you please cancel your payment to *** and resend it to *** this will hopefully then go through and I can post your parcel.Regards ***

In short, she seems to care not at all that she has made no effort to sort herself out and to send me my item.

*sigh*

It’s probably just me. I seem to be the last person in the world to understand any notion of customer care. I’m an old-fashioned girl. To me it is obvious: the purchaser did everything correctly, the seller cocked it up. The seller should refund and re-invoice and in the meantime, send the goods anyway as a matter of good faith. And if they really can’t be arsed to do that then at least they should have held their hand up before now and informed the customer that the goods have not been sent! A timely notification would have allowed me to purchase elsewhere.

I have cancelled, of course. It would be of no use to me by the time that it finally got here. Mr L won’t get his present as I have no alternative source to buy from that doesn’t involve postal delay.

I was so looking forward to knitting this up, too.

I really feel grumpy now.

I made it to spinning group today despite a lingering migraine. I didn’t expect to get much done, but I did manage to ply off the remainder of my two bobbins of BFL singles. I now have 2 skeins plus a short skein of 2ply. It’s gorgeous soft stuff, really lovely. I now cannot wait to complete the job so that I can knit it all up. But what to make? I counted one skein and made it 236 yards. That looks like 500 yards or so from the 2 bobbins, and more than halfway left to go. What can I make from (let’s guess) 1,250 yards of fine-ish 2 ply?

Yay! My rag rugging kit arrived. Now, what to do with it?

I have to recommend the seller. Excellent communications and great friendly service.