Chapter 2: Patwoman Makes Some Progress And Is Encouraged

I'm feeling a little better about this week, Gentle Reader. I have to say, I was getting pretty worried about my progress.

BUT...

I whipped out the measuring tool and I am within 6 inches of finishing the border to M's afghan. Whoo-hoo! Of course, it still needs to be sewn on and blocked, but I can't think about that without going crazy those are mere details.

I also bought all the yarn and cast on to R's afghan this week. R's afghan also requires quite a bit of charting. I'm using one chart for the whole center of his afghan, another chart for the side panels, and yet another for the top and bottom. Those charts were all created by other people. And they are all different gauges and sizes. So all of those had to be re-charted to match gauge.

Why can't I do anything the way it's written? I don't know. That's just one of those little idiosyncrasies everyone loves about me.

Oh, and since I can't be working on M's present when she is over here, or R's present when he is around, I also cast on for something for B. This is my first opportunity to use Starbella.

Remember, I saw this yarn back in July?

This yarn is very simple to use, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass until you get the hang of it. Basically, you're not wrapping the yarn the way you would wrap ordinary yarn. Instead, you're going through it. Once you get the hang of doing it, it goes really fast.

Here's a Handy Patwoman Tip: Don't use this yarn on slippery aluminum needles. That way lies madness. Sure, you go super fast, but when you've knitted the first ten inches of this thing, the last thing you want is to put the work down to go refill your cola glass and then come back to all the stitches somehow sliding off the damn needle. Because, guess what? They are not going back on easily, bucko.


After that, I switched to wooden needles. And I know you're thinking, But Patwoman, you hate wooden needles. But you know what I hate worse? Having to start over because all the stitches slid off the damn needle.

This color is called Canyon Sunrise. It's blues and greens and really looks quite striking in this ruffly scarf. The scarf is, by the way, the free "pattern" from the Premier Yarn's website. I put that in quotes because it really isn't a pattern. Cast on 8 stitches, knit until you run out of yarn.

I have to say this is going much faster on the wooden needles. Not the knitting, of course. That goes way slower than metal needles. But the not stopping to put stitches back on the needle and the not having to start over again--that's the faster part.

This week will be tricky for the knitting. I did hire two more employees at the store, so that's a plus in my "time" column. But, Thanksgiving is Thursday (WTF? THIS THURSDAY?) so there are a ton of things that need to be done around the house for that--including the grocery shopping. Then again, since Thursday is Thanksgiving, I will presumably have some time to knit in the evening if I can figure out a way to do it without anyone noticing.

Still, I feel good about it. I think I might actually finish at least R & M's gifts. And then... No more afghans. Not for a while, at least.