A Curious Statistical Anomaly

I saw this in the library and picked it up. I’d been noticing it in the bookstores and flipped through it quickly but didn’t want to buy on a flip through so did my usual and got it out of the library first for a closer look.

This is a great book if you haven’t knit for a while, or you have but you don’t own any stitch pattern books — I own 6 not including this one. It has a short section that goes over some of the basics like casting on, casting off, how to read a pattern, knitting abbreviations, and other basic knowledge that lot of us take for granted and, if you’re a beginner or return after a hiatus, might need to get started. Myself, if I was a total beginner I think I’d opt for Bitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook since it has a lot more of the “how-to” stuff.

Now to Super Stitches Knitting, the stitch library is laid out so that the left hand page has the instructions for the (usually) three patterns shown in the photo on the right hand side. The photo shows stitches usually horizontally — top to bottom — changing colors for each pattern. The instructions on the left are leftmost column for the top pattern, and the right most column for the bottom pattern. The problem is that they while the instructions are labeled as to what pattern it is, the photo is not labeled on the photo but in lighter lettering on the very bottom of the lefthand page. It took me a while to find the labels for the photo and I was actually looking. So the info is there.

While most of the photo clearly show the stitch definition because of the light color of the yarn, some of the patterns were in a very dark blue, making if very difficult to detect the stitch pattern unless you already knew what it was going to look like. In a book of stitch patterns, having clear photos is not only a good idea, it’s critical for the reader using it. This didn’t happen often but it was often enough to be annoying.

The book has a great mix of stitches patterns: knit and purl patterns, knit and purl panels, ribs, textured stitches (that seemed to repeat some of the knit and purl patterns/panels), edgings (some wonderful inclusions), ornamental stitches, eyelet patterns, cables, knitted lace, textured colorwork, and some fair isle.

Most of the instructions are written out in standard knitter code. There are some charts but not as many as I’d like.  But I wouldn’t let that dissuade me from getting the book. Instructions for the patterns that I read through seemed clear and easy to follow — same for the charts. Since there’s a section on how to read charts and instructions — you’ve got a primer for following which ever method you choose.

So, overall this is a great book for the beginner, a returning knitter, or someone without a stitch pattern. Unfortunately, for me there were no stitch patterns that I don’t already have in the other books that are in my library. However, if I didn’t already have so many stitch library-type book, I’d certainly be adding this one to my bookshelf. So, if you’ve looked at this quickly thinking well, maybe, take another closer look. This may just be the book you need to begin putting together your own bookshelf of stitch patterns.

Not much to say.  The zines went live yesterday.  So if you go to SFRevu or Gumshoe Review, you’ll find the new September issues are now up and live.  This month SFRevu has an interview with Joe Abercrombie, the author of The Last Argument of Kings. In Gumshoe, we’ve got an interview with Sheila Lowe, author of Written in Blood.  If you enjoy science fiction and fantasy or mystery, check them out.

In other news, my harddrive is full and I can’t download my photos to get them uploaded to my site.  I’ve ordered an external harddrive but it hasn’t gotten here yet so I’m feeling bereft of photos.  As soon as I get it and get connected, I’ll get up a photo of my September coffee cup, my new sock project, and the totally finished and organized pantry shelves.  Bet you can hardly wait on that one.

Meanwhile, I’m working on the final few items to finish up a website project.  Ran into a few wrinkles, but when don’t you, when designing and setting up a website for someone else.  But, it’s coming along nicely and I hope to finish it before too much longer.

I’ve also bookmarked some interesting articles on science topics that I hope to turn into blog posts as soon as I get a chance to read the articles and then look for the original source material and check some collateral material as well.  Then there’s my TBR (To Be Read) pile to starting getting whittled down for the October issue of the zines.

Moles and Trolls.  Work, work, work, work, work….

It’s been a busy month and we’re quickly approaching the end; and that means getting the publications up and ready to go live on September 1st. “What publications,” you ask?  Why SFRevu and Gumshoe Review.

Time usually seems to compress near the end of the month, but it seems like I had even less time than usual this month.  Well, I did go to the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver.  We drove and that add an extra 5 days to the trip.   We had a heck of a great time and brought the laptops and wireless card.  Then coming home to over a weeks worth of snail mail — that took up a lot of time.  Then there was the server crash that our ISP had.  Followed by a loss of data from our database of reviews and books when we found — or discovered accidentally — a bug in the interface software to the database (not our homegrown interface but another package) .  That meant contacting reviewers and others and checking shelves to make sure we recovered everything that we lost from that three days between the restored backup and the day we got them restored.  Whee — that was so much fun.

But it did make me think that somehow the month shrunk when I wasn’t looking.  Luckily, other than a few days of feeling like a wet noodle (and about as aware of my surrounding) this has been a productive month. Just think what I could have done if I’d really had all the days rather than only about half of them to devote to what I was supposed to do.  We will get the zines up on time and there’s going to be some great content but I can’t help thinking I could have done more.  Three days left and about ten days of work to do in them and one of those three days has been commandeered for another  purpose — which will be lots of fun but will take away from being able to tick items off my To Do list.

I keep wondering how other people budget time.  Do you get stressed out when  life and planning come up against chaos and the unexpected?  Does opting for fun in the face of a towering mountain of work seem like a cop out or a self-destructive impulse to failure?  I mean I could have turned down the fun but you can’t live for work alone now can you?

Life goes on and I had an acupuncture appointment today.  So, you see, I’m all set for stress and the push to the finish line of getting the zines up on the 1st.  And before you ask, I did finish the socks I was working on, I’ll get a picture up next month and I’ve got to start another pair of socks as soon as I figure out the number of stitches to fit on my feet versus the number needed for the pattern I want to use (more on that later too).

My first skein of yarn so far. As I said in an earlier post, it’s about 329 yards. Haven’t done the w.p.i. yet. But, it looks to me like sock yarn-ish. I ended up doing 3-ply.

Here’s a photo of the spool before plying.

After plying (which I forgot to take a photo of….sigh), I put it up on the niddy-noddy as I took it off the spool.

I started another spool of singles tonight. So far, I’m spinning some every day. I took a look at the one pound ball of top and I’ve hardly made a dent. I really don’t think I’m going to finish it off by the 27th. But as long as I get in the habit of spinning again, it will be a success for me.

I’ve also got to decide if I’ll do the next batch as 3-ply again or do a 2-ply. Decisions, decisions. I’m leaning towards 2-ply right now but I may change my mind and do one more 3-ply for the warm winter socks and then do the rest of the wool in 2-ply for a lace something-or-other later. Hmmmm… what do you think?

Today was hot — 98 degrees (107 with heat index). Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. But this evening it was another thunder, lightning, and rain storm. I’m hoping if dries off so we can get some yard work done tomorrow. We were supposed to run errands today but it took 6 hours at the tire place to get a replacement tire and wheel alignment. That blew a day. Paul went alone and I got to stay home and catch up on some of the work I didn’t get done during week because of headaches and missing spoons. Guess what, you can almost see the dining room table again.

But I finished my one of my socks while reading. Did you know if you sit cross-legged and hold the pages open with your big toes, you can read while knitting? Well, you can. So tonight I kitchener stitched the toe and wove in the ends of the sock. I already started the second sock. I really mean to learn to do two socks at once this year but didn’t this time.

The yarn is thicker for warm winter socks. The pattern is my plain vanilla one that’s just from trial and error from making socks using a pattern. I cast on 72 stitches and k2p2 around. Then every 5-6 rows or so I did a cross with the knit stitches. I think if I do this again I’ll stagger the cross and do half off set by 5 rows and see what that looks like. Then a standard heel. I reduced the stitches by a bit when I got to the instep by purling 2 together every other group of purl stitches. Then as I approached the toe area, I did the same again when I hadn’t purled 2 together. Then about an inch from the end I just switched to all knit stitches. All the decreases were at the sides so the toe tappers (rather than every so many stitches for a round toe).

Last night we drove to Virginia for the 1st Friday meeting of WSFA (Washington area Science Fiction Association). Just as we left the driveway and started down the main road, there’s this big field. That’s where we saw these guys…

You can see the ones closest to us. We stopped the car on the edge of the road. I recently got a new camera that’s small enough to carry in my bag and it has a 12x telephoto lens. In the back you can see two other deer that are smaller and in the tall grasses. I love coming up on things like these and we used to always miss them because we didn’t have the camera with us because it was just too big or too awkward to carry. We’d have gotten a better picture, but the battery died in the camera, and in the few seconds it took Paul to fish out the replacement battery he always carries, the deer moved away.

Later on the way home, we saw a fox, two cats, and, I think, a groundhog. We also saw several deer but it was nearly midnight so we didn’t even try for photos we just wanted to get home and sleep.

Getting out to see friends is always nice but getting back home, safe and sound, is even nicer. Hope all of you have a good weekend too.

Finally, I finished my purple socks. The yarn is a variegated that made strips when knit. I didn’t know that when I started as the swatch in the yarn shop wasn’t striped. So, nice surprise, since the pattern is a plain jane just knit’em one. The best kind of knitting when one’s brain is not working on all thrusters.

Besides, I figured it’s about time to post an update on my knitting and fiber. I’ve been working on finishing things. So far since the start of the year, I’ve finished a sweater, these socks, and have about half another sweater done. I’ll post a picture of the work in progress soon.

I bought sock yarn at Maryland Sheep and Wool and have been itching to get a new pair on the needles but decided to finish some of what I’d already started. Currently, that’s another pair of socks in a heavier yarn, the sweater (of cotton yarn for summer wear), and a sweater I started last year of acrylic.

It’s been raining for days with bits of scattered sunshine so the purple yarn made me happy and the knitting was very simple so it was a way to relax and imagine flowers and sunshine. Today, I walked through all the puddles to the mailbox. I haven’t done that in a while and found myself really tired when I reached the mailbox. Of course, suspecting that I’d be wiped with so little exertion, I’d had Paul call me when he was a few minutes out so I could ride the rest of the way back with him. The mailbox is quite a hike from the house (a quarter mile–a breeze of a walk most days for me).

Got a lot done today because I had a lot of little things to do. I keep saying that I’ll do the little things as soon as they come up in email, but somehow I end up with an In Box full of small tasks to do. At least when you get them done, you feel like you accomplished something–in this case reducing the messages in my In Box by down to a third of what it was. Yeah, me! I take my successes where I can. Now it’s off to read for a while and to sleep…perchance to dream…unless insomnia bops me over the head again.

I’m rather proud of myself in finishing this sweater. It’s not just that I finished it. It’s that for the very first time, I’m made a sweater from scratch with no pattern. I had a book on top-down sweaters and that told me that I had to increase every row or if not every row then when I did I had to do the equivalent number of increases for the total of the rows that I’d done. I swatched and swatched and still had a few problems.

I used the swatch and measurements to decide just how many stitches to cast on and then once I got about an inch found out it was way to big. Frogged. Reduced the number of stitches by a third and started again. It looked like it was going to be all right until I did the join under the arms and tried it on and found the neck was too loose again. What the heck, I decided I’d pick up stitches around the neck after I finished and knit up an inch or inch and a half — that’s what I did this weekend.

So, I finally finished the neck and wove in the few ends there were and tried it on. It may not look like much to you but it’s a real accomplishment to me. My first sweater that’s from my mind — to yarn — to finish. It’s rather exciting. I did a happy dance and glowed a bit after it was done.

Of course, now that the temps are in the 80s and above, I won’t be wearing it much until fall. It was in the 60s and rainy outside all day. We walked down to the road to get the paper between downpours. But, with the furnace out of it, it was 80 in the house. We kept the sliding doors open with just the screen to let fresh (cooler) air in and the living room was fine. Of course, we had to close it when the rain sheeted at a slant. The rain also meant we didn’t get to do any of the yard work we had planned for today.

Since we couldn’t work outside, we moved some basement boxes and got ready for some major clean up. I dug out a sweater project I had on the needles last spring for a short cotton cardigan. I finished the back and half of one front so guess that’s now on the top of the to-be-finished list. I’m on a roll in the finishing knit projects. I’ve got to make a list of all the things on my needles and figure out a way to get them done.

Maryland Sheep and Wool is the first weekend May and I intend to have a few of these lingering projects finished and a list of projects I want to do so I can have a bit of organization to my wandering the booths. Who am I kidding? I don’t know. I’ll have a great time just breathing in the wool fumes and patting the fiber.

I was at a meeting a week or so ago and a friend mentioned that they’re doing a fund raising party for cancer and calling it Liver for Boobs. Raising money for breast cancer research is something that I’m committed to since I was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago. While mine was found very early and I just had a lumpectomy, my mother and my uncle both had to have mastectomies. So, before I knew what I was doing, my mouth opened and I said, “I can knit you a boob or two and maybe a liver for your event.”

Then I get home and the panic sets in. What was I thinking. A quick search found a pattern for a boob but it couldn’t be sold, only made for personal use — wasn’t sure whether fund raisers counted so gave it a pass (Yes, I know I should have checked but I was under a deadline here). I looked at the photo and decided it couldn’t be that difficult, after all I’ve got two of my own to build a design on. In the past, I’ve done several circular objects: hats, tea cozies, bowls (felted), so the basics should be the same. I ended up making two different ones, each in one piece using the top down sweater increase only knitting one row and decreasing 6 stitches or increasing 6 stitches in the next round depending on whether I was knitting up to the fold or decreasing down to the forward tip. (In the first you can see I tried increasing and decreasing on each row but I didn’t like the swirl that it made so on the second I did the increase and decrease ever other row and then spaced them randomly to get smoother look.

For the liver I found a pattern, which for some reason (probably the migraine I had the day I made it) I totally misread the pattern and did it back and forth instead of in the round. Because of that it was in garter stitch so then I had to keep it that way when I did figure out it should be in the round. But by then it was a lot of short rows so I could cope with keeping the garter stitch with an occasional stockinette row popping up here and there. Figure we’ll explain that the liver is from too much drinking to raise money — moderation in all things, etc., etc., and so forth. It’s not much of a liver, but that’s my fault — but it was for a good cause and if I ever knit another one, I’ll try to time it for a non-migraine/headache day — though duress does make for some interesting and weird results.  Someday I figure I might make a liver using the pattern as written to see what it would really look like — this one is only an approximation of a liver — if you squint.

So, I finished my promised boobs and the liver so they could have visuals at the party. Hopefully, they’ll have fun and raise money for a good cause. It was the least I could do since I don’t drink. But I must say, I never expected to knit body parts — but it was fun.