I Hab A Code, So I Must Knit

[leahbobet]

I think I have stillnotbored's internet sinus infection. Or, more precisely, this meatpuppet is trying to have it, and I am as usual being the Mean Mom about things. Which is why I am here in my pajamas instead of at my phonology of foreign accent seminar, trying to root out this insurrectionary movement before it becomes a full-scale revolution and ruins my week. It's already down in my chest. If I can keep on the offensive here, this might be the Fastest Cold Ever.

(Good things we learned due to this, though? My favourite pho place delivers now. Heh heh heh nom nom.)

So I'm sitting home and knitting, as the concentration isn't at a sufficient place to read for classes. Since working beyond the threshold of your competence all the time as a learning strategy isn't just for writing! I'm working on these fingerless gloves. Have I ever done cables before? Knitted in the round before? Hell, am I even confident on my purl stitch? All this is For the Weak. *g*

I'm swearing a lot, but it's turning out.


(Pictures blurry due to Code)

When I was just doing the straight rows for scarves, I could turn my brain off and knit. Now that I'm operating at the edge of the competence with five $*&%#$ needles and finicky tiny stitches and counting stitches and rows? I'm using my brain.

I'm using my engineering brain.

Anyone who thinks knitting is a Dumb Girl's hobby is a fule.

Comments

[rosefox]

Give me Magic Loop knitting over DPNs any day. Makes working on small things in the round so much easier.

I've been thinking about making those fingerless gloves for going dancing: when the room is the right temperature, I can dance for hours without overheating but my hands get really cold. Let me know how they turn out.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Once I sorted out how to not get all the needles in each other's way I was fine. This is about half the size of the gauge I've knitted on previously, which is probably part of why I'm having learning curve issues here.

(And I hab a code and that's probably not helping.)

I will report back!

[gleefulfreak.livejournal.com]

Rock out the knitting!
DPNs plus cabling is a lot of needles to have to mess with. I did a pair of Fetching on DPNs and it was kind of crazy-making, since I cable rarely and I'm used to magic looping. But it gets easier. And they turned out quite nicely. I'll probably make more.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

So it's not just my general inexperience making me go ack ack what needle where ack!?

I actually have it mostly sorted out now -- it was just getting used to where to put things after the first bit. But that cable needle is still a pain in the ass.

[gleefulfreak.livejournal.com]

To be fair, some of my ack ack was due to DPN inexperience - as I said, i mostly do magic loops instead.

And yes, cabling is a pain in the ass. It's so pretty, but it's a huge pain in the ass.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Heh. So it is.

(Thankfully, I just hit that bit where you work like 18 rows of 4x1 rib. Ahhhh.)

[gleefulfreak.livejournal.com]

That's my favorite part. You've got a couple of cables done, so your work looks pretty, but you aren't actually messing around with anything until after you put in the waste yarn for the thumbhole.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

Just about all knitters are "ack what's going on?!" with DPNs. It goes a long way to explaining the magic loop love.

Good luck against the cold!

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Heh. I have them mostly sorted now. It just took practice.

Thanks!

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

I like DPNs. But I acknowledge that I'm a freak in many ways. ;)

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

Freak. ^_~

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

One day I will try Magic Loop. And maybe even two circs. But today is not that day. First I will try toes up socks on all the DPNs I already own. :P

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, toe-up! You crazy woman, you! ^_~ (I'm so thrifty^† that I insist on toe-up most of the time to get the maximum sock out of the yarn.)

^† Thrifty, not frugal. Frugal bad, thrifty good. Yes.

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the main reason I want to learn. :D

[chang3002.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't "I Hab A Code, So I Must Knit" be "I Hab A Code, So I Buss Ditt"?

Kintting is the new freebase. Word.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

I don't hab dat bad a code yet, clearly. ;)

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

Eee, it's looking great! And you've gotten the cables done! How do you feel about them? Not too hard, right?

There *is* a way to do cables without the cable needle, but maybe I'll save that link for you until you're feeling a little more confident. :) I haven't tried it yet. Well, I have, but it'd been a while since I looked at the pictures, so I only kind of half tried it and then went back to my cable needle. :)

That's such a pretty yarn. Do you pet it while you're knitting? :D

[froggie-spawn.livejournal.com]

Cabling without a cable needle rocks! For your future reference, this is the tutorial I used to learn:

http://www.grumperina.com/cables.htm

I am coordination-challenged, so the fewer the implements, the better!

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Woot -- thanks!

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Not too hard indeed. Just finicky and annoying. *g*

I pet it so much. :) One of the really cool things about taking this up is I'm starting to actually appreciate the difference between cotton and cashmere and merino and this and that and the other. It's soooo soft.