A letter to a witch

Dear Bellatrix,

Yes, you are the Dark Lord's most fervent supporter. And yes, you tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom into insanity. I should have known you would do the same to me.

It started with such infatuation. From the very moment I saw your pattern, I knew I had to have you. I sought out yarn with high and demanding expectations, and when I finally found the perfect duets, I wasted no time in bringing you to me. And of course, I wasted no time in casting on. From the moment the yarn arrived, it was pure infatuation. Just you and me.

But you know that infatuation never lasts. First I found you snuggling with my cat. My cat, Bella! And then I discovered how difficult it is to love a crazed Death Eater. You could not allow the knitting to be easy, could you? Was it so important to be your disruptive self that you would interrupt your own creation?

Then we had the cooling off period. I know you hated to be set aside, but I needed to breathe, Bella! I needed some space away from your insanity. A month apart, and I thought I could face you again.

But then when I returned, Bella, you were not forgiving. So vengeful are you! Even after you were completed, you were nasty to me. You came after me by trying to strangulate my legs! You forced me to undo the bindoff, and redo it, looser, less dangerous. And even that, you thwarted. The new, looser bindoff took the last of the yarn alloted that sock. Even after I unravelled a row! And thus another month passed by.


Have we finally reached an agreement, Bella? A truce? An understanding? Dare I hope, a rekindling, even? You are as beautiful as ever, and your dark energy brings a new flavour to life. Will I be wearing you, Bella, all the way to St. Mungos?

Yours always,
Knitika

Knitting update

First of all, Bella. Bella is not hibernating, but she needed a little time off. There were two issues.

Issue #1. I've never done knee-socks before and I wasn't entirely happy with the cuff. Not quite sure how to fix it, I backed off for a little while.
Look, up near the cuff... there's pooling! When I increased, I got pooling. I'm not a fan of pooling.

Issue #2. The unthinkable happened. I've composed funny short films (in my head) about this scenario. It's not so funny in real life. My neatly balled duets yarn fell out of the knitting bag and I kept walking. By the time I noticed, the ball was no longer a ball. It was not even a nice long line of yarn, it was a mess. I'm knitting from both ends of this ball, and it's very complicated to sort out. I'm afraid I just tossed the mess aside to deal with when I have, oh, more than 2 seconds of spare time. Which will be, uhm, some time in 2010?

Next up, the candle flame shawl. Princess Anne let me have the needles back. I cast on last Friday night, and at this point I have 8" complete. The goal is 70". Let's say I can knit 10 inches on this a week, this will take another 6 weeks to finish. That puts me way too close to Christmas, and no time for anything else! School, work, that's all got to go.

Puppy love

It may seem like I am sweet on Bella, but let me tell you. I am not the only one.

magic heel

Aha! I have success! Last night I executed my first ever forethought heel with a magic cast on. This means I have live stitches on the heel, plus live stitches on the tube of the leg, ready to knit when I finish grafting the heel.



I will attempt more picture plus a better explanation later. That is, if the pics are good, I will try to explain. Trying to explain to Ember already failed miserably.

Quality time with Bella

Ah, me and Bella. We don't get much time together, but what we do get, we make it count. Stolen moments on break at work, together in the passenger seat of the car, late at night listening to a CD by lamplight.

Bellatrixies

It is a strange but true fact that we humans have the capability to forget pain. Take the classic, obvious example... I have not 1 but 2 kids. The same principle is at work with regards to my Crystal Palace bamboo size 2 circulars. If I did not forget how painful they are to use, I would never ever actually use them. It happened again, just last night, that I used them. I first swatched with my Knit Picks size 2, which are a robust 3.0mm, just like the Addi Turbo size 2 circulars. It was just minutely over size. I just wanted a plain size 2, or 2.75mm. My bamboo circular is the only circular I have in the 2.75 size, so I cast on with them.

Ow ow ow ow ow. I am a very tight knitter, and on the bamboo, my tight stitches stick. A lot. And the transition from cable to needle is very clunky, and requires a great deal of pushing, tugging, and wrestling. I struggled with this all last evening and again today, working until my left thumb and finger were raw and near bleeding. At that point, I gave up and switched needle mid-project. I couldn't take it anymore. I switched to the Knitpicks, which meant going up a whole .25mm. Wow, what a difference! The stitches just sliiiiide onto the needles with no trouble whatsoever.

I may have to throw out the Crystal Palace needle, I don't know that I ever want to make that mistake again.

Now let me take this opportunity to introduce... Bellatrix.



Bellatrix made from Skinny Duet Sock Yarn in the colourway Wicked. A match made in creepy dark corners, I tell you.

duets

I'm not quite sure how this yarn got here. I think it was one of those spasms of my sore elbow. I think I'm just browsing, but oops, click, click, bought some yarn? Oh well, the colours are fabulous so I won't send it back or anything. I'll just have to cast on, I guess.