purl-handled revolver

[freckles_and_doubt]

In the latest installment of the Horrid Revelations Of A Knitting Idiot: success! Have achieved actual purling, and the space-time continuum seems largely unaffected. I'm rather relieved. It transpires that (a) it's really important whether the wool is at the front or back of the needles, and (b) I was holding the needle upside down. (No, really. I get the difference between the pointy end and the blunt end, but it took a while for it to permeate that the knitted bit should be pointing right, not left. It all makes much more sense now. Zen levels are rising). I've managed to knit four rows that, while not things of amazing beauty or uniformity, are lacking in crossed stitches and random snarling, and begin to show vague hints of a possible gesture at a sort of an emerging pattern. All four rows have been marked by a triumphant shriek of glee as I reach the end of the row at the same time as the pattern does. This is achieved only by dint of crossing my eyes and counting stitches aloud. I fear my status of Knitting Idiot is not going to improve any time soon. Still, having fun.

I'd post a pic of my four rows, of which I am inordinately proud, except I promised that this will never be a knitting blog, and stv might growl at me if I renege.

In other news, Sid the Sinus Headache is still present, hanging out in my skull playing poker in the back room with the Mucus Boys. Grumpy. I shall revenge myself on the world in general by wandering around my invigilation this afternoon snuffling unexpectedly at students. That'll teach 'em.

p.s. I knew this knitting stuff broke the laws of physics. Can anyone tell me why, after solemnly casting on 41 stitches, at the end of four rows I have 44? Or is that supposed to happen?

Last Night I Dreamed: a rather interesting Halloween party, with square dancing, held on the premises of Rhieinwen's romance bookshop. (What are you doing popping up so frequently in my dreams lately, Rhieinwen? Not that it isn't nice to see you, but it seems a bit appropos of nothing). Later I was the frantic director of a live, real-time production of The Lord of the Rings, with the actual cast in the actual landscape. There was much running around trying to stop Aragorn and various hobbits from wilfully diverging from the plot.

Comments

[wolverine-nun.livejournal.com]

re increasing number of stitches
My guess would be that you accidentally did "yo" which mean "yarn over", or at least a variation on it. To increase stitches you can do a variety of things, which usually means some variation of knitting twice into one stitch - different variations result in different looks to the finished product. There's an easier way, though, which leaves a little hole, which basically means you just wrap the wool around the needle, creating a new "stitch" not connected to anything below it, but capable of being knitted onto iin the next row.

My guess would be that, as you changed from a knit stitch to a purl stitch (if you did such a thing in your pattern), and passed the wool from the front to the back, or vice versa, you accidentally wrapped it about the needle, creating a new stitch. Sound plausible?

Extra stitches

[first-fallen.livejournal.com]

You have either:

knitted twice into the same stitch (ie, knitted through the back loop and the front loop)

or, more likely reading your above wool-in-front-or-behind saga, made an extra stitch by putting the wool behind (as in when you do a normal knit stitch) but then done a purl stitch (ie bringing the wool over the needle before you purled your new stitch). this is called "yarn fwd" in pattern terms. or you had the wool at the front (like when you do a purl stitch) and then knitted like normal. if you had done either of these, you would have a little hole in the fabric, like an eyelet. check for these.

[(Anonymous)]

It depends on what you mean by "supposed to happen". On the one hand, unless you're bravely attempting a complex lace pattern and/or a shaped garment, no, each row is supposed to contain the same number of stitches as the one before.

But on the other, it is in the very finest tradition of learning to knit that you should find your stitch counts don't stay put. Frankly I'd be concerned if it weren't so. So yes, it is supposed to happen. (As for how it happens, your esteemed earlier correspondents - in particular wolverine_nun - have the right of it.)

scroob

[(Anonymous)]

and ps... there's always the option of starting a second blog for showing off the knitting. Some of us are *dying* to see it. And purl-handled revolver would be such a very excellent name for the thing.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Ooo, er. Google-whack. This means that I really do have to start the blog. Sigh. In my copious free time.

Have set it up on blogger, but no guarantees as to when I post anything on it. My pile of marking is somewhat obscene.

There I go, seduced by a catchy name. Words. So my downfall.

[(Anonymous)]

Would love to see pics!
everymoment

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Knitting is actually implicated in the laws of physics. Space-time, string theory tells us, is in fact constructed of n-dimensional strands woven together, hence the possibility that your knitting may in fact warp the fabric – not just of the yarn t– but of the aforementioned space-time. By sympathetic wossinames. In short, you may accidentally knit a tardis not a jersey.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

This just made my day. The merest trace of a possibility that I might someday accidentally knit a Tardis will keep me buoyed and dedicated through all sorts of knitting reversals which might otherwise cause me to quit. Although I think a knitted version of the Doctor is moving rather too far into the realms of knitted fetish porn.

Knitted Tardis

[first-fallen.livejournal.com]

A quick Googling results in:

http://community.livejournal.com/crafty_tardis/10715.html
(pattern here: http://community.livejournal.com/crafty_tardis/11432.html)

another pattern:
http://www.entropyhouse.com/penwiper/who/knittardis.html

The pattern on the first one seems easy enough. You should totally do it.

Re: Knitted Tardis

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

I refuse to set out to knit a Tardis. That's just silly. If the laws of quantum entanglement dictate that I accidentally do so, that's fine. On the other hand, I really need a Dalek cookie cutter. Really.

Cookie cutters

[first-fallen.livejournal.com]

You can get Ze German to make one (after he makes my Fernando cookie-cutter).

Re: Cookie cutters

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Even better! I have dispatched my Seekrit Agents, namely my mother, to find the cookie kit with Dalek cutter currently available in UK supermarkets and procure me several. Dalek cookies for Christmas. It's almost enough to reconcile me to the stupid season.

[(Anonymous)]

There's a Dr Who group on Ravelry...

[wolverine-nun.livejournal.com]

You are *so* not Anonymous

[(Anonymous)]

Heee!

[wolverine-nun.livejournal.com]

I once saw a talk advertised called something like "A parametric analysis of a strand of knitting", and, yes, New Scientist has fascinating pictures of string theories involving bits of reality with different numbers of twists in odd directions. So watch out, extemp! The fate of the universe is in your hands!
No pressure ...

[(Anonymous)]

Knitted maths, anyone?
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061223/bob10.asp

scroob

[tngr-spacecadet.livejournal.com]

stitches lead mysterious lives of their own, maybe because of quantum. and that is all i am going to say on the topic.

Gleeful

[pumeza.livejournal.com]

This is so cool. I mean really, truly cool with little smiley faces and all. I love the picture of you knitting. And I didn't even have wine with my lunch. Any day now *I* will come to *you* for a lesson.

Re: Gleeful

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Don't hold your breath, it's going to take a while for me to progress beyond these four rows I keep frogging and re-knitting. There is faint, but discernible, improvement with each iteration. At current rate I should have a scarf by about 2015.

[(Anonymous)]

Wait--I've been in previous dreams? How have I missed those? I read your blog every day! (Well, every day that you post, that is.)

I'm bemused by the fact that your subconscious thinks I own a bookshop--or was it a bookshop full of MY books?! That would be a truly heady experience.

Anyway, lovely to see you, too! Happy Halloween!

Hugs, Dayle

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Well, there was that one a couple of weeks back where you ran me this incredible bath, with lavender bubble bath, in a Victorian bathroom... And, yes, there were a lot of your books in the bookshop. One of the dream segments involved you handing them out to a bemused young man in search of a good read. It was a cool bookshop, too, double-storey, with a balcony.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I have a Craftsman house, but an original clawfoot tub, and would love to draw you a bubble bath any time you want!

I'm feeling the urge to open a bookshop now... (There are no good used bookstores for fiction in the area, and it's driving me nuts.)

Hugs, Dayle