Can I make it???

A few weeks ago, when P.'s birthday was coming I ordered some sock yarn, hoping to get use of the sweater curse. A while back I hear Franklin Habit's essay, on one of the early episodes of the Cast on podcast about trying to put the sweater curse into action intentionally... The essay was funny, I laughed my (hmm...) backside off, and it ended "well Mr. Bush, how do you feel about bobbles?"... It made me think, especially because all those celebrations were coming. Birthday first and the nameday. Nameday is basically the birthday of the saint someone got his/her name from, when the church celebrates that particular saint. Every person has a name and therefore every person has a nameday, which here in Hungary we celebrate much like the birthday. There are slight differences though. Namedays are in most calendars, so most everybody knows when a person has his/her nameday (except for rare names), more so for more popular names (while birthday are -kind of- private. But Presents are usually a bit less serious than for birthdays though... Anyway, the nameday of P. is coming up... I could knit him a nasty scratchy acrylic sweater. No, I decided a while back, that being a yarn snob, I will practice what I preach, and I will not knit from nasty material. For any reason. Then I was thinking if it really have to be a real sweater, wouldn't the thought, the intent and the act work? What if I'd knit him something else, a smaller piece maybe? Hmmm, the only time he commented positively on my knitting was when I made the sock for Chris. Ok, let's see if it would work with socks too... I went ahead and ordered the yarn, which didn't arrived in time for the birthday, nor did it came two weeks later. When I had to accept that the Hungarian post had been it's best again... I wrote to the seller who is one of my favourite eBay seller, and she (or is he? from the letters we exchanged she sounds like a woman but signs the letters a Bing, therefore I keep wondering. I just don't know how to ask... Well she-he?- knows I have this blog, so might even let me know one time) ...anyway they sent me the package again, which I received on Wednesday late afternoon.
OK, I can knit faster than the average, but can I make a pair of socks in three days? Big feet. Though the leg part wouldn't have to be too high, P. preferred his socks shorter.
I cast on Wednesday evening while I was meeting Dinara. Let's see when can I finish it...

(Yes, I know. I am a complete idiot, for knitting the socks in the first place, then thinking I can do it in such a short time. By now I see that since the yarn nice as it is only 40 gramms per ball, they will probably be anklets. Big, mensize...anklets.)

Lacey Racy

Withouth further ado...
I finished this over the weekend:

I think the front is OK too:

I am glad I did ordered the fifth bal of yarn, withouth it I wouldn't be able to finish it, but there about two third of the ball was left over... so, since I wanted a crocheted cap for ages, I thought I might try to make one:

I used up all the yarn I had, even had to frog a couple of rows from the swatch, but at the end all I had left were the pieces I cut off after weaved the ends in.

The details... pattern is so heavily modified, there was only the original idea left... Yarn: Patons Serenity DK (50% cotton, 50% bamboo), needles 2.5mm straight knitting needles, 3mm crochet hook.

(Mom, Grandma, see what I made??? Are you proud of me?)

One true man

An other sleepless night. The heat and other things keep me awake. Since the sock yarn I want to use for P. still haven't arrived I decided to get ahead with the kid-cardi. I checked the pattern again, calculated the necessary stitches and cast on. Knit one row, it didn't came out as it should. Frogged, did it again. Putting the stitches with one to the right. Still not, OK. Frog again. Actually I frogged about seven times, then I took the pattern in my hand. I can't use the pattern, only the lace stitch in it. I checked the the chart. It says a pattern repeat is eight stitches. Checked the pattern it says: "The repeats are the multiplies of eight Cast on 58 stitches (seven repeats plus two for the edges)". OK, I only use the lace stitch, not the pattern, but a repeat of eight stitches is a repeat of eight stitches, right? I cast on 84 stitches. That is ten repeats, two edge and two for right after and before the edges (would be much easier to sew it together), right? I knit again. two rows of garter stitch and two rows of pattern. WRONG AGAIN. By then I was ready to throw the whole thing out of the balcony. frog, knit. WRONG. Frog.
Then something is getting suspicious. I remembered when knitting the swatch I had problems with the edges, because the pattern was drawn out one column more, which gave me one extra yarnover in every fourth row, and I realized that I have to stop and turn one column sooner. I count the little boxes on the chart... I count again. I count one repeat, and I count a second one. Thea are SEVEN stitches. Darn it. Why didn't I realized that when I was knitting the swatch???

Ok, an other calculation 77 stitches plus four, I cast on 81. * Knit the garter, knit the first row. It still didn't end the right way. I go back, unknitting stitch by stitch. About halfway I realize a mistake I made a wrongly placed yarn over trew the whole thing off. Knit again. Still didn't ended the right way. Unknit back, now only third way of the row, i find a mistake. Knit. Hurray it ends with the stitch it supposed to. Purl back. Knit the pattern again. knit six more rows of the pattern.* Measure realizing it would be too small. Frog cast on 88 stitches, and repeat from*. I find an other mistake in row eight so take it off the needles frog, but thinking it would be wise to measure it off the needles. Too big. Frog, cast on, and repeat from *.
Why is it that the simplest the pattern the more I have to frog it until I get the first four or so rows right?
Anyway, I fighted and won. The cardi is on its way. have about ten centimeters of the lace.

In the meanwhile the TV was on. After some medical shows and news came on a movie about Giorgio Perlasca... Mankind never cease to make me wonder, and sometimes just stand in awe. Of course it goes for the negative as well, but sometimes one can run into a positive story. I did heard about him before, but this film put the whole story together. The man was brave. And/or crazy. He did things without thinking. Acquiring a list of "protected persons" dragging them off the train, and asking more and more names from them pretending the names being on the list. And when the Spanish ambassador left, he pretended to be the Spanish consul and issuing counterfeit safe passes to thousands... According to legend at any given time there are 36 true men live on earth. He must have been one of them.

Comments...

Isis wrote this in the comments
I thought this over when I started knitting/crocheting again after a long interval and for me it is clearly because I NEED to create things with my hands... baking bread works too and so does gardening/planting things. I have a brainy job and doing things I can actually touch with my hands keeps me sane and balanced (or so I hope). It's a need, a drive, much like an artist feels the need to create art I suppose.

You are right. That is also part of it. Even from my early childhood I hade to make things. Do stuff with my hands... Gardening, baking too... but MAKE things. Sew, make clothes, blankets. Knit. Bead, make jewlery. Whatever. Just DO...

Why do I knit???

It is so simple. Because I do not know life withouth knitting...even in my baby-pictures I wear something hand knitted. As I already mentioned my mom learned to knit in highschool from a classmate of hers, a boy at that... and my paternal grandma did all kinds of crafts, knitting and crocheting included. It was always around me... my father told me that when he was a kid they kept angora bunnies and my grandma spinned their hair, and she knitted the yarn up, and that time angora was the poor men's wool... how the world chanded since. So few keeps animals these day, and so few knits (or crochet, or sew) at home anymore. Ever since I learned to knit and crochet I cannot imagine being bored, or sitting down with my hands empty even to watch television. Especially to watch television. Even when in the mid-late nineties handkits were sooo out of fashion I always did something. Crochet tablecloths. Trying to knit lace, whatever just to keep my hands busy. Of course there is reading also, my other infatuation. But that is for an other post.

Which stitch???

Ok, I have this idea, the thank top with a lacey patterned racerback back, much like this one:

But don't ask me why I just don't want to use the same stitch pattern... so I am making all these samples to figure out which one to use... I want one with fairly strong vertical lines and LOTS of holes (which are necessary, because I am kind of short of yarn...)

Help me choose which one to use, ok?
First I thought I would use this one:

but then I tried this one

And I just couldn't say no to a butterfly pattern, like this (the lower part), but I was like naaaaahhh, and tried the very simple lacey grid like the upper part of this piece:

I am for one leaning toward the last one which at the upper part of the above sample, what do you think???

And while I was swatching I did the swatch for the cardi I want to make for my best friend's daughter:

Which gave me one more possibility on the racerback stich too...

Last but not least... the white butterfly tunic

was finished last week too. Look:

The blue pulli

I finished the blue pullover I knitted out of Rowan's all season the color Remote.

Pictures are -once again- shot by Dinara. Thank you again.

Haircut

I also managed to get my hair cut last week... Dinara shot a few pics of it on our friday meeting. Here they are

Dinara is such a talented photographer... she made me look much better than I really do...
Oh and here is me and Christopher on Saturday:

Dinara, thank you... these picture will be my favorites!

WWKIP day

I didn't post all week, because there was nothing much to post about. No word jobwise... We did had some lovely knitting meetings, and I finally have pictures to show!


We also organized a meeting on Saturday the World Wilde Knit In Public day... We choose a place where there is a small playground so I took Chris with me.


These pictures were shot by him, so forgive me for the quality they are the tryings of a seven year old...

The day started out rather cold and cloudy, but for the afternoon it was lovely. Sunny and not too hot... At the evening we went to a concert of a band where Kriszta's hubby plays. It was fun!!!

seven year old

my son that is... unfortunately the weather didn't really cooperated, all days the possibility of rain hanging over us, closing out the ZOO, and I thought the Palace of Miracles wouldn't be the best idea for sunday with a not so nice weather, because there would be wayyyy to much kiddos there...I did managed to take him to IKEA on saturday. I wanted to take a look at the plastic storage boxes (I need to dosomething about my stash). Sunday, I cooked, knitted and baked Chris's BD cakes. Two of them. One of them is to go to the ovoda(kindergarten) and a smaller one for home. OK, they are still rather rustic looking, but here they are:

And here are some pictures of knitting. the swatch I did a week or so ago for the purple beaded shrug:

I've deceided to knit it with the short bamboo needles, but the package haven't arrived yet...

And the second act of the butterfly story... it is a happy story, so much I made the same pattern twice in very rapid succession...here are some pics of the white linen/cotton version:

By now it is dry. I hope it will not take me too long to sew it toogether and crochet the picot edge around it. (That is something I still haven't did for the blue one.)

There was also nice advancement for the yoga wrap, now I am at the point when I have to figure out if I should to the whole for the sleeves here or one repeat later...then I have to figure out just how to so the holes for the sleeves.

Accident...

My father had been in an accident with his morbike... He is OK, more or less though, he has his shoulder dislocated/and broken, he needed an opreation to put it back and screw it toogether. Ad I haven't even knew about it until two days later. He called me himself though, but obviously he was in lots of pain...Appearantly somebody was breaking wery suddenly, therefore he breaked to and the first wheel blocked, and as the bike slided down to the left he fell on his left shoulder I keep thinking about him, how long it is going to take him to heal, how long he will not be able to fly... and of course the selfish me... that how will this effect me, and my plans, and his willingness/ability to help me, if I could push this separation through somehow...

On a lighter note...here is a few picture from our friday knitting lunch:
Pictures are curtesy of Dinara (in the purple top). Kriszta is on the right side, me in the beige pulli and sunglasses (not to mention the red hair) and on the left side is Genia (if that is the right spelling, sorry dear...)

Long time no post...

But I am still alive... let me see what happened. Tuesday P. and Ch. came home. Up until the moment the rung from the gate downstairs I felt OK, but from then on...In five minutes P. managed to make me feel, small, inadequate, and some more... I don't really know how he manages it, and why the heck still I care...
Wednesday lovely meeting with the knitters, sending back a dry croissant and getting faboulous eggplantcream instead...
Thursday afternoon after many times putting it off I finally started the translation, just to have to drop it, because... There is a lady I bought some yarn from many months back on e-bay, and when we were discussing shipping she said she would come to Hungary on a tour in early summer if I don't mind waiting for it she would bring it to me. Somehow the dates were messed up in my head, I was kind of thinking they would come next week, but she called me on Thursday. They are here on a very busy organized trip, so it was hard to find time to meet up, unless I dropped everything, and jumping on the bike I went over, which was what I did. They were lovely people, the lady even brought a book for a present for Ch., which was nice... I felt sorry we didn't had more time.
When I got back I really started on the translation.which went rather well. And even though I have to admit it wasn't the samertest idea, (umm shall I admit it was rather insane), but I kept doing it until it was finished... at six AM. It felt good to be done with it though. For friday I had a knitting meet up, and after work the goodby party for one of my favourite collegaue, and I promised Ch. I would be with him on Sat. and Sun. I would have hated to have it in the back of my mind that I still have this or that many pages...
The friday knitting meeting was great, but it is that always. We have a new member, a girl from Russia, Siberia in fact. So the club is really getting international...Work was rather slow, so I managed to knit, just to have to frog it back... the butterfly top needs to be decreased for the waist shapig, so why did I increased instead???

new week, new month...

I amstill wondering what will it bring, but it is out of my hands now, so I am calm(er) about it. I still haven't even mentioned it to P. as I don't want him to tell me why I shouldn't do it (he always does this) and then be snug if I do not get it, and later throw it in my face (which is his usual way). On his BD pressie I deceided to go the middle way I got him a book, "The secret of water" by that japanese man who took those amazing pictures of the watermolecule in containers that had words printed on them, and what a difference between the one that had hate and the one that had love written over... fascinating. Ch. did ask me why didn't I got a bigger present for his dad, and I told him, because I didn't got ANYTHING last year, not even a happy birthday, and when the next day I asked him that really this was all he planned to celebrate my 40th he said "hah! celebrate? You do not deserve any celebration!"... I should have known that he would rush to his faaather asking why did he do it, and he simply denied it. He said that something is wrong with my memory, and the usual... but he simply DENIED it. It didn't happened. I asked him "ok, then tell me just what did you gave me", and of course he couldn't say... Why the heck do I try to be nice to him still???

Onto more positive things. I got a translation from the trainers last week... I must have left positive impression, to have them trust me with this... I gave them a very sensible price though, and if it turns out well both of us will be happy...
And I met with my Ravelry knitting friends. We had lunch which was great. And since Dinara said that she is going to met with a girl from Russia who might join us I asked if I can come along, she was happy to agree... All turned out great because I could give the cafe as the meeting place for the trainer to hand the translation over... So friday all turned out well.
On the knitting front, the cotton-linen version of the Butterfly dress seems to fly off my needles, I finished the lace edges, and the bodice of the front...