A Question or two

Why do they call them 'terrible twos' when they can start at 16 months?

And what is it about toddler tantrums that makes old ladies congregate and tut?

Mismatched socks

I swear, I've knit the same pair of socks about 3 times...

Basic stocking stitch cuff-down in self patterning yarn. A Christmas present for my Mum. Nothing difficult, just a nice easy sock for knitting on the train. Or so I thought...

- Start sock 1. Get to heel. Heel flap. Don't like it. Frog it. Redo it. Finish sock 1. Still not entirely happy with heel.

- Start sock 2. Get to heel. Heel flap. Make a mess. Frog it. Attempt short row heel. It miraculously works. Finish sock.

- Return to sock 1. Frog it. Restart using short row heel.

- And we won't discuss the kitchener issues.

... and that's where I am at the moment. And I'm sure when I finish the heel, I'll decide that, now that I have practice, the heel on sock 2 looks better than the heel on sock 1 so I'll have to go back and re-do sock 1 again.

*sigh*

And I thought I'd get these finished quickly so that I could start on knitting something for my Dad.

Belgium bound...

We're moving to Brussels.

It's a terrifying thought, but also very exciting. I move in December (and then, all going to plan, promptly come home for Christmas) and the rest of the clan will come out in January.

It's a great job, and a lovely new city.

Only two things remain to be done (well, not really, but you get the idea...)

- Convince my parents that they will get to see plenty of their granddaughter (I'm not sure they're hugely bothered about me going, it's Little Whirlwind they're worried about)
- Find out where to buy yarn in Brussels...

and apparently reduce my excesive use of brackets...

The 20 hour day

I swear, someone has to have taken at least 3 or 4 hours off the standard day recently. Otherwise, I just can't explain how I'm getting so little done.

The Little Whirlwind is now 15 months old, and walking. So she's clearly taking up lots and lots of time. But then the little cuddles and kisses make up for that. As does her hugely expanding vocabulary - interestingly, every animal appears to say 'quack'. Her little friend apparently thinks every animal says 'moo'.

But I still can't figure out where the time is going. I haven't written anything in months. The house is a disaster and I'm lucky if I manage to cook one proper meal a week.

But somehow, in all the chaos, I'm managing to make great progress on Rogue. I put most of the progress down to Aileen and the This is Knit Sweater Help class. I mean, she even managed to convince me to try steeking...

New skills learnt just by doing Rogue:
- spit splicing
- new cables
- double increases
- and, hopefully, by the time I'm finished - steeking

And that's before I even finish the body.

Hmm... perhaps I've figured out where those extra 4 hours a day have been going....

Under Pressure

I like deadlines. And not even in the Douglas Adams way of appreciating the whooshing noise as they go by. I work well to deadlines. This has been useful in previous jobs where deadlines were set completely in stone - well, if you are organising something for someone coming into town, it kind of does need to be organised before they arrive. I write well to deadlines. I even prefer to clean my house to deadline, which is why my parents get invited to dinner every month or so.

But...

I don't knit to deadline. I don't even knit well under pressure. My stitches get tighter, my knitting gets slower and I make more mistakes.

Which is why the end of the Ravelympics are approaching and I have yet to complete a single event.

It seems that, having taken up knitting for relaxation purposes, I can't quite convince either my brain or my body to do it at anything other than a gentle ramble.

Do you think I should start on my holiday knitting now...?

Mods or mistakes?

I'm currently working on Helena from Knitty. I've loved doing this pattern, but there have been a few parts that I have changed, and I can forsee at least one other change that may have to made so that I can finish it and be happy to see it worn.

I accidentally used 3.5mm needles instead of 3mm for the sections that required smaller needles. I could blame the fact that I have a husband who likes to watch TV in the dark, or that I was too excited to get on to the next section. Whatever the reason, it worked, I like it, and I decided not to change it.


I picked up extra stitches under the arms when I was starting the sleeves. I did this semi-intentionally. I felt there might be gaps otherwise. And, I was concentrating so hard on the actual picking up of the stitches that I didn't start counting until I was doing the second section of pick-ups.

And, finally (for the moment, the cardigan is, as yet, unfinished, after all) I did shorter 'skirt' section. Just 4 repeats instead of the 6 (or 7?) specified in the pattern.

The purpose of all this rambling is this... I consider these 'mistakes' - mostly. I have done things that could conceivably be considered 'wrong'. After all, I didn't follow the pattern. But I know some people would call them mods.

Are they only mistakes if you didn't consciously choose to do them at the time? Do they become modifications if, after making the mistake, you decide to keep them? Are they mistakes if you don't know what you did, but modifications if you can identify the change you made?

Does it actually matter and is it all just a matter of the way you approach you knitting and your pattern?

Starting... finally

I'm Viola. I live in a small town with my husband and daughter. I write, I knit, and I try my best to be half-decent mother. I'm at various stages of learning about all three things...

I write fiction - mainly historical, but with the occasional contemporary short story. I've been writing as long as I can remember. One day I'll actually be happy enough with something to submit it.

I started knitting (again) about 3 years ago. I enjoy challenges. Nearly everything I knit is a challenge!!

I've been a mother for a year. It's the hardest thing I have ever done. And the best thing. Medalklector (my husband) is a great father. But the learning curve is steep!

We shall see how often I manage to update this....


And my current status is:
Nibs: No writing at the moment. Many ideas, haven't quite got them on to paper yet
Needles: Helena from Knitty is nearly finished. There are many other things languishing on the needles
Nappies: Recently, there have been many, and they are unpleasant. But our sick little girl is getting slowly better. She was well enough this evening to decide it was more fun to play than sleep.