Tag Archives: knitting

Goodwill, scissors, craziness, and knitting

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Yes, I did it.  I took the bags of clothes to Goodwill.  All 14 bags.

The next questions is: Do I want to have a yard sale or just take the stuff to Goodwill?  Most of the stuff I have is not worth much but I don’t want to throw it away.  It’s still good/usable, just not for our lives/house anymore.

Maybe the “good” stuff will make it to Craigslist.

Mr. Aitch and I did not go the farmer’s market on Saturday to seek out the scissors repair man.  It was just too darn hot.  I did go into town (18 miles round trip) to my LYS for some knitting needles and the market for few things we needed for dinner.  Mr. Aitch said I was crazy for taking the motorcycle.  A good part of the ride is fairly shaded.  I did have to wait for a train to pass and it seemed like it took FOREVER.  I managed to get in the shade of the telephone pole (yeah, I was that desperate) so I didn’t totally melt into the pavement.

Mr. Aitch was right.  I was crazy.  99 degrees with a heat index of 103, a mesh jacket, helmet and black leather pants don’t play well together.  I was glad to get home and into air-conditioned bliss.

I’m into the neck shaping on the Lace Hem Topping shell.  I’m not as into it as I should be.  I guess the fitting disaster has toned down my enthusiasm for finishing it.  But I will persevere.

It’s the right thing to do

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“If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”  Emma Bronder Kreidle, my grandmother.  

If you have been following my dilemma about the Lace Hem Top here and here, you know I am not happy with the armholes.  I tacked a few stitches together under the arm and shortened the shoulder by a half-inch on both the front and back thinking it would fix the problem.  

There are no shortcuts to doing something right.  I’ve spent too much time knitting this only to have it second-rate.  I would always look at it thinking I should have…  

So I ripped it down to the beginning of the armhole shaping and knit another inch before I start the armhole shaping for the second time.  Then I will make the armhole an inch shorter.   

Second attempt

 

It’s the right thing to do.  Right, Gram?  

On another note the thermometer already says it’s 89 degrees and it’s only 9:00 am.  Gonna be another hot day.  

Mr. Aitch and I “planned” to ride our motorcycles to the Farmer’s Market in Springs, PA this morning to visit a scissors repair man.  

Broken Stork Scissors

 

I have a pair of stork embroidery scissors and the pivot broke many years ago.  I didn’t want to throw them out so I finally found someone fairly local that would take a look at them to see if he could repair them.  Not sure if we want to ride 40 miles one way in this heat.  It just might be too darn hot.

It’s never easy

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So.

 The armholes on the Lace Hem Topping shell are too big.  My bra shows.  Once a woman reaches a certain age, a little peek at the bra isn’t as titillating as it used to be.  Not good.  I took in a couple of stitches at the underarm to tighten it up.  Then I decided to undo the shoulder seams and rip back a few rows to shorten the offending armhole before I attempt the crochet edge.

Remember when I said the mattress stitch was slow going?  That’s because I evidently ROCK at the mattress stitch and weaving in ends.  I’m so darn (not the first word that popped into my head) good at it that I couldn’t find the end to rip it out!

It took over an hour to find and undo the mattress stitching for one of the shoulder seams.  19 stitches.  The other side was about 15 minutes.

So now I need to rip back seven rows and start the neck/shoulder shaping all over again.  This time I will do short row shaping and the three needle bind off at the shoulders since I’ll be knitting both the front and back at the same time.

Word to the wise.  Don’t weave in the ends until you are 10,000% sure you are completely done.  Fin.  Fini.  The end.

Dilemma

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I finished all the seams last night on the Lace Hem Topping and when I tried it on, the armholes seemed a bit too big.  I don’t have the crocheted edge on yet. 

I think I will shorten the armholes by 1/2 inch and see if it fits better.  Or will blocking it again work?  The lighting isn’t good and the color is way off.  And my arms look huge! 

Seamed before edging