Tuesday, July 18, 2006

What I learned today...

[Can I just say, could it possibly be any hotter out? EW.]

The straps of the Body-Hugging Flat Purse are 168 rows long. On the last one I knit I made the straps 20 rows longer so that I could wear the bag across my body. Here's what I learned on that project: 188 rows is a lot of rows. Also, because you are only working on 10 stitches, it is tedious and time-consuming to turn your knitting so frequently.

So when I started the straps on this version, I decided I would try to teach myself how to knit backwards. (I always hear all the cool knitters talking about it, and you know I want to be cool like the other kids.) It's awkward at first, but it's not quite as unwieldy as you would think. I figured it out by seeing where the needle goes into the stitch from the other side, and which way the yarn needs to be wrapped. You can still carry your yarn in your right hand (if that's how you usually do it); it's just that the stitches travel from the right needle to the left instead of left to right.

I'm not sure if it saved that much more time and effort, but I have to say it was entertaining, and I do love to learn a new trick. It's also good that the strap will be felted so it didn't matter if my tension was that loose. I don't think I'd try it on something that wasn't being felted.

[I'm inserting a gratuitous cat picture here, since this entry is so wordy. This is Funny, trying (not very hard) to get a moth stuck on the outside of a window.]


I was very excited about my new trick and told Matthew (who was sitting next to me watching the Phillies game) about it and, at his blank look, said I'd explain it between innings. When the inning ended, he turned to me with his patient, tolerant, go-ahead-Diana-and-explain-something-inscrutable-to-me look, so I started to explain it to him. He's generally very receptive to this sort of information. I guess, however, unlike other knitting stuff I've laid on him, this technique was so byzantine and pointless that he actually pretended that he was crying so I would stop explaining it to him. Wa ha.

The Phillies won (stinkin' Burrell went 4-for-4 yesterday!!!) so of course they're going to go on a mini-tear and make it impossible for the GM to unload and rebuild. Sigh. Now I'm actually rooting for them to stink so Burrell and Lieberthal will GO. Trading deadline is in two weeks.

Tomorrow: The Brown Blob Becomes a Bag! (Or Does It???)

4 Comments:

Blogger CurlyGirl said...

I like the image of Matthew crying with agony at the knitting details! (Although you ARE a clever girl to figure out how to knit backwards!)

9:05 AM  
Blogger diana said...

Yes, he made me laugh out loud. He's a very tolerant soul, usually, but I guess this was too much for him.

9:40 AM  
Blogger purlewe said...

good to see you on KR asking questions. I think the singles idea is a good one (I love grafton) and I think the ginko leaves are exquisite. You can sort of tamp down the overall pattern (without fully felting) and then walk away and come back the next day and re-evaluate it. If you don't fully felt it then you can pull it bac up and re-design.

hugs from chez purlewe.

11:26 AM  
Blogger Liberty Fan said...

I don't know...CAN you??? Whaa, haa, haa! I also admire you for learning to knit backwards. Especially when I am having such trouble with it forward! (Still no sock, I'm afraid to say - typed with head hung in shame.)

12:46 PM  

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