In which I get extremely frustrated and hang it all.
Imagine the following:
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1.I have to head back to the UK today.
2.Round 5 on Sock Madness is about to start – with the pattern to be released between 7-10 am in the US. That comes out to be 1300-1600 my time.
3. I have to catch the Strass at 1329 to make sure that I make my train connection in Mannheim. I could leave later but if the Bahn is wonky then I have flight issues.
Did I mention that I had doodled away most of the morning running errands with the Voice (currently hoarse)? Sprinting through the house and packing like made, I checked my email before turning off the computer.
S-Bahns run on time, trains don’t. Leaving early turned out to be a great idea as I made my connection in Mannheim. From there I call home, get the teen to log into my email box just in case and wait.
As I am pulling into the Fernbahnhof at Fraport, my handi rings. It is CelticMemoryYarns calling from Ireland to make sure that I had the pattern since it had been out for almost a couple of hours.
Nope, I am on the train. She texts me the pattern. (Is this woman great or what?)
Meanwhile, I drop off my bag at Lufthansa (life is easy) and get through the first security check point.
Sitting on the floor of Terminal B with my yarn
I knit the first toe and look at the pattern.
It doesn’t compute. The stitch numbers don’t balance. I txt Jo, she checks and gets back to me later with the corrections. Meanwhile, I am prepared with extra needles and knit the second toe.
Starting the pattern, it seems strange, there are issues with second row as well, but I am now on the plane.
It is still Pesach and the sandwhiches are turkey. Now cheese would have been fine – I would wipe the bread off the cheese. But turkey? I eat more nuts from my trailmix bag.
I fight the socks, and they fight me through Immigration, bagagge claim, customs, the bus, the train, the wait and the second train.
Knitting while walking from the Camberley Train Station to the Royal Military Academy just is not in the cards. It has gotten cold and I left my fleece jacket in Heidelberg.
Rolling into the house – it is now 2030 I go on line first thing. I look at the pattern. I am not knitting the pattern, I am knitting something else.
I have two sock feet done, ready to fight with the heels. But that second row of the pattern – it is P1, K31, P1 – just like Jo txt, but I wrote it down P1 K3 P1. I had quit taking pictures while on the plane, it just didn’t make sense and I wasn’t having a lot of fun documenting that everything looked strange.
So I am not going to show you two feet done incorrectly.
I just am going to hang the whole thing. Getting sleep tonight and going to work in the morning fresh is much more important.
What I have learned from this pattern and the last is that test knitters are critical. They have to knit the pattern as it is written, from charts and from words. Mistakes do happen, we are all human. When you are writing a pattern for a contest, it is not the same as writing for open knitting where people are free to change whatever doesn’t suit them. It has to be precise and explicit. Every word has to be checked and accurate. Repeats have to be defined as to how many.
Spinning
Making me much happier is this bobbin of fine wool singles.
Yes, singles. The roving was a tri-colour white, light blue, and black. A delight to spin, I varied the amount of each as I went to arrive at a progression of change. I have a nice contrasting light grey alpaca which will be the second ply.
Books
Since I wasn’t knitting – I went back to The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison. It is the 6th Rachel Morgan book. I am enjoying it, the sub-plots are interesting. Don’t be put off by the blurb, which is not an accurate reflection of the story. Good review here.
-Holly
i think you have demonstrated convincingly why it’s called sock madness–you are all certifiable!!!!! lol, of course…..