slow ride

When was the last time I posted a photo of anything? I know, it’s terrible. And I’ve been lazy about posting too. Sigh. I’ve just been trudging along with both Hemlock and Pomatomus. Pomatomus started going really slowly when I realized that by the time I finish, it will be too warm for wool socks (I barely keep shoes on my feet during the spring and summer months, let alone socks), so what’s the point? And Hemlock is just going slowly because it has approximately 4 bajillion stitches per round. Fortunately, though, since the “3 vs. 4 knit rounds” debacle, I haven’t had a single problem with it. I count the stitches after each repeat (happily the chart tells you how many stitches per repeat, so there’s absolutely no math involved), so if I’ve made a mistake, I can fix it right away—there’s just no way I could rip out even a single row of this blanket, it would be too disheartening, so I think it’s better to go slow and tackle any slip ups immediately. I think I have about 15 more rounds to go before I bind off. Then I have to find some place to pin this thing out. This is tricky, because we have 3 cats who think their fur adds a special something to towels, blankets, all articles of clothing, and sometimes dinner, and therefore they are required to lay on any and all soft, snuggly objects.

And since these projects are moving along sooo speedily, I’ve decided to start another one! Of course, that makes perfect sense! I want to make 3 (hopefully) summery tops for myself; the first will be the Lotus Blossom Tank in Valley Yarns Southwick (cotton/bamboo blend). The pattern calls for size 5 and 6 needles, and since—yes, let’s rehash this once again—I am always a tight knitter, I figured I’d be using 6s and 7s; so I knit up a gauge swatch on the 6s, and it’s too big! Bizarre. So I moved down to the 5s and started again. Now I realize that I should, of course, be doing the gauge swatch in the round, since knits + purls will certainly come out a different size than all knits. But I don’t care, I don’t have the time or energy to be knitting little tubes of fabric for no reason. Remind me I said this when I post here a month from now about my shirt being too small.

I came to a startling realization recently; in planning my gift knitting for the year, I completely forgot about 2 important “holidays”—Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Grrr. Of course, I don’t have to knit gifts for people all the time, so I may just skip it, but, for my Dad in particular, I’ve got a vague idea for a gift, which is rare and therefore means I should go for it. You know we love our steamed crabs and beer here in Bawlmer, hon (well, except for me; I’m a vegetarian. Steamed crabs are the only thing I miss. There’s just no substitute. Of course, I can still have the beer.), and Mom usually gets a bushel of crabs for Father’s Day, so I’m thinking a little bag to hold Dad’s crab mallet and knife would be cute—something with a crab on it, of course (although, I don’t have a pattern for any such thing, just a flight of fancy for now). Unfortunately, the Bay has really been over-crabbed in recent years, so harvests have dwindled and I think they may finally be getting enough of a clue to impose some restrictions—which means crabs could get very expensive this year, and we may end up not having them. The animal rights advocate in me appreciates—nothing should be steamed to death, little claws scraping the sides of the pot in a desperate bid to escape—but the knitting side of me thinks the absence of actual crabs would greatly detract from the value of my (as yet imaginary) gift.