(no subject)

[2eclipse]

we did a lot this weekend. it just felt like it blew by.
i went to work early and came home early on friday and slept because our main system was down and i couldn't do any work anyway. after about 2 hours of nap, ross and i went over to jory's to help with the finishing touches on jory's bedroom. i made the bed and filled the closets with their clothes again and went shopping with tawnya for new bed and bathroom stuffs. also got to talk a lot with lind and tawnya about the wedding and how everything went in romania.
saturday ross and i drove the 3 hours out to go visit his grandparents. his grandma has been ill and didn't have the energy to be bitchy. actually it was quite pleasant to be with both of them. we stopped and saw ross's parents briefly before coming home and myra gave me white pumpkins! i will have great fun carving them...but i think i still want an orange one. there's just something about orange pumpkins in the fall.
sunday i went to pueblo de fe again for work and actually got one of my interviews done and another 2 lined up! i came home and did a bit more schoolwork before ross and i headed over to jory's again for a bit of a thank you get together. apparently jory and simona were very happy with their new bedroom and very happy to be back home. it was really nice to see everyone.

i was kinda head-achy all weekend and i think most of it is from muscle strain. i've had some really bad cramps in my neck and upper back the past 4 days or so. they are quite tedious and wear me out. i did another interview in the afternoon yesterday and had dinner with ross...but pretty much went straight to bed afterward. the good news is that i feel well-rested today. the bad news is the cramps are still there. ben gay is my new best friend.

i would really like it if the last house episode were available for download. and if lime and violet and cast-on would come out with their new episodes. i'm spoiled i get cranky waiting more than a week.

i have STILL not finished my jaywalkers. in fact, i keep having problems with the pattern, even if it is merely a matter of understanding what is wanted! i have gone to ravelry with questions a total of 3 times now and feel completely lame that all these other people were able to understand the pattern and i am not. grumperina (the designer) numbers the needles and expects you to keep them straight. i have no idea how you tell which is which to even start the foot part of the pattern. hopefully once i "get it" enough to make one damn sock, i will be able to make many others without having to go get more help every time! worse yet, ravelry is down for upgrades this morning. i'm all for the upgrades really, and they have a very cute picture of bob, their boston terrier with lol message:i'm in ur servr upgrading ur ravelry! quite cute. but it's damned inconvenient when i haven't gotten the answer to my last question. ah well, i'm at work anyway and probably better off not checking ravelry. can't knit here anyway.

Comments

[frog-lady.livejournal.com]

What sort of problem are you having with your Jaywalkers? Have you knit socks before? The numbering is usually just a handy way of designating instep v. heel/sole stitches. I don't remember the details of the pattern (like the needle numbering), and I never got past the heel for various other reasons, but I could probably help...

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

ugh.
yes, i've knit 3 pairs of universal toe-ups. these are my first top-down socks in addition to the interest the pattern adds. also i've discovered that the way i knit on dpns is apparently wrong! what i do is when i get to the end of a needle, i grab the last two stitches from that needle and move to the next. i'm told this is very good for preventing laddering, but very bad for patterns like this one because the whole pattern winds up shifting on the needles. anyway i've gotten just past the heel to the place where the pattern starts up again and i have no idea which needle is number one. or how you determine WHICH of the 19 or 27 or however many stitches are supposed to be on needle 1 vs. the other 3 options. for example. the pattern told me to pick up 16 stitches for the second instep...but then is that needle supposed to have 19 or 27 stitches on it? and am i supposed to grab the stitches i'm lacking from the needle i'm about to knit, or the needle i've just knit?

[frog-lady.livejournal.com]

1. My second comment doesn't really apply, what with the way you shift stitches.

2. The pattern intends the needles to begin and end with increases, with a double-decrease in the middle of the needle. The heel is knit on needles 1 and 4.

3. Wait, have you picked up stitches before? Those 16 are extra stitches, because feet are taller just in front of the heel, and then they'll be decreased away. So you'll have knit across the top of the foot, then you'll take an empty needle (or something; I don't have empty needles, exactly, 'cause I knit socks on two circs) and pick up (16) stitches from the side of the heel flap and then knit all the existing stitches on the bottom of the heel. Then you pick up the 16 stitches on the other side of the heel flap, which brings you back to the instep stitches.

4. You're not knitting wrong! You just have to do a little extra translation.


Is this helpful?

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i have picked up stitches before and i don't think that is my problem. i will take a closer look at your instructions when i get home and am allowed to knit.

thanks so much for your help with this!

[frog-lady.livejournal.com]

(I'm assuming the universal toe-ups include a short-row or afterthought heel.)

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

the toe ups have a short row heel (i followed the directions from knitty's universal toe-ups....
what is an afterthought heel?

[frog-lady.livejournal.com]

An afterthought heel is when you knit a row or two with waste yarn, as a stripe where you expect to put the heel, and then you go back, remove the waste yarn, and knit the heel. I think it's supposed to be good for using contrast yarns and for if you often wear through the heels of your socks.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

wow. i have never heard of this. it sounds like a lot of risk of dropped stitches.

[frog-lady.livejournal.com]

It seems to work well for people. I prefer heels that I can try on as I knit, though.

[frog-lady.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the numbering doesn't really matter until you start the heel. You can (re)designate needle numbers when you need to start dividing the stitches...

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i'm afraid i don't understand what you mean here.

socks

[sunmother.livejournal.com]

Ohmgosh...it sounds more complicated than the Trinity. :)

Re: socks

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

actually the socks themselves i don't think are very complicated.....but the way the pattern is written is not for minds like mine. once i get this all figured out i'm going to have to make about 20 pair just to get the most out of the work i've put into this! besides they are neat looking.
and you get to see ME struggle with a pattern and feel less alone.:)