Check-In Post - September 28th 2024

[badly_knitted]

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


This Week's Question: What piece of advice would you give someone interested in trying your favourite craft?


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Comments

[badly_knitted]

Bit late tonight because of Strictly, first week with voting, and so unfair! There were at least 8 couples I wanted to vote for but we only get 3 votes =(


Anyway, this afternoon I had planned to do some more work outside since it was dry and sunny, but I wasn't feeling up to it so instead I sewed up the arm warmers I finished knitting a few days ago. Then, while Strictly was on, I finished knitting the first of the purple arm warmers (28 rows), even cast that off, then started the second in the pair and did 10 rows. Not bad!

[spiralicious]

Sorry you weren't feeling up to the yard work.

Nicely done on the knitting!

[badly_knitted]

It's getting so cold here, being outside is less fun anyway.

Thanks!

[yarnofariadne]

Well done on the arm warmers!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[yarnofariadne]

Finished row 81/119 on the baby blanket!

[badly_knitted]

Only 38 to go, you can do it!

[spiralicious]

You are doing great!!

1/3 - card making

[spiralicious]

I am alive, promise.

I've been having trouble getting internet access.

I'm breaking this up into 3 comments so it's not overly long. I hope that is okay.

Mondays' card making with Lynne have pretty much continued as they had been. Her son usually joins us and making sure the cards are to Lynne's aesthetic make for a better session than trying to keep them at her current skill level. All of the cards have basically been layering coordinating papers with some stamping.

I am beginning to worry how long I can keep doing this though. Lynne's behavior is getting more "bratty" (I dislike using that word but could not come up with a better one) each week and at times she is getting down right aggressive. Two weeks ago there was actual screaming and this week she called me a "little bitch" for funsies and was quite proud of it. (Seriously, we were chatting about how my mom was doing. She said I must really appreciate my mom. I said that I do. Then Lynne said, "I bet you do, you little bitch." Not meanly, just very matter of factly and looked like a child who had gotten away with something.) I know she can't help it and honestly, I'm making it sound worse than it is, as most of the time things go fine, but those moments where they don't are bad. Thing have also been exacerbated in the last two weeks because in that time span, her dog passed away, one of her cats has either run away or passed away, we are not sure, she had her 86th birthday; her daughter, son in law, & their dog stayed for a week; then her sister, who is recovering from shoulder replacement surgery, stayed for a week with three of her dogs, with no break inbetween.

The week her sister was there was a fairly nice session. She made a card with us, instead of Lynne's son, and she's never made a card before. She was very pleased with what she made. It was fun to introduce something new to her. Lynne was also very happy to give her sister advice as we went along. Afterwards when we were alone, her sister even thanked me for being there for Lynne over the years, which was nice to hear.

The problem that session was when the housekeeper came to visit. She had heard of Honey Bear's passing and brought Lynne a very thoughtful gift of framed photos of Honey Bear. They were lovely. It was a wonderful gift, but maybe a bit soon after Honey Bear's death and Lynne was sobbing for several minutes, after the housekeeper forced her to open them in front of everyone. The housekeeper also cannot have a conversation with talking about politics, and this is what started Lynne's screaming. The housekeeper and Lynne share views points, no one is sure why Lynne was screaming, but it was hard to get her to stop.

I am also not sure what we are going to do about glue. The way Lynne applies it, always without fail, leaves a sticky spot on her workspace. She then finds the sticky spot upsetting. If I show her there is another way to apply the glue, no matter how, now matter my tone, no matter what, she starts screaming at me that she'll do it how she wants because she's a Virgo. I always tell her she can do it however she wants and sometimes she drops it and sometimes she just keeps on, even though no one is arguing with her and we have to find something else to get her attention.

This week was a bit rough because of multiple misunderstandings after the card making session. I was both designing and prepping the card we'll be making week after next and helping her son deal with the appliance repair place and chatting with Lynne about whatever treasures she found in the other room and wanted to show me. Multiple times, if her son moved abruptly or went in another room to talk on the phone with the repair place, Lynne would decide she was in trouble and go hide in a corner. It was nearly impossible to convince her no one was mad.

To make things more uncomfortable, her son hit on me multiple times, like the subtle testing the waters with plausible deniability kind. Just no.

Re: 1/3 - card making

[yarnofariadne]

It sounds like things have been really stressful and difficult with Lynne. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this.

Re: 1/3 - card making

[spiralicious]

Thank you

Re: 1/3 - card making

[badly_knitted]

Things sound very complicated and I applaud you for how well you've been managing. All those visitors though, and the loss of her poor dog and the missing cat, the insensitive housekeeper... That is guaranteed to cause problems. I feel bad for Lynne as well as for you, half the time she probably has no idea what's happening. And the son is stepping WAY over the line. If that keeps on you might have to take him aside and tell him that you see him as a friend, nothing more.

Re: 1/3 - card making

[spiralicious]

Thanks. It has been a difficult time, especially for Lynne. I'm never sure when she understands what's going on or how much and she knows she doesn't know which makes it that much worse for her. Yes, he is definitely stepping over the line. That is the plan. We didn't meet this week because of yet more emergencies, so I can't really give an update on how things are going on that front.

Re: 1/3 - card making

[badly_knitted]

Well, good luck for the next session and I hope everyone is in a better and more acceptable mood.

Re: 1/3 - card making

[spiralicious]

Thanks. My fingers are crossed.

2/3 - knitting

[spiralicious]

I've been doing a lot of knitting lately.

I'm still working on the wingspan shawl. While I was staying at my sister's, I had a bit of a marathon session working on it while binging the last season of Walker.

I haven't touched it since because I was finally able to get the workbook from the library I had been learning to knit from again. My goal was to get through section 2 of the book -manipulating stitches, increases & decreases, cables, and lace - before I turned it in. This was not meant to be as someone else had a hold on the book, so I didn't have as long as planned. I managed almost all the practice stitch swatches and photo copied the projects I couldn't get to in that section.

Before I turned the book back in, I also noticed that the quality of part 2 was much worse than part 1. The most glaring of which is nearly every pattern has had an issue, mostly typos, but also things like the way the pattern is written on the rib section of one scarf will not make a rib pattern or the Chevron swatch pattern only having 2 increases, but 5 decreases on each row, but you are supposed to have the same number of stitches in the end that you started with.

I can't remember everything I've done, but this week:

I finished the second half of a scalloped edged scarf. The two halves need to be grafted together, which I've never done before. This is also the pattern where I realized my size 9 needles are for some insane reason smaller than my size 8 needles.

I made a cable sampler.

I made 2 different lace swatches.

And I'm about 25 rows into an "eclectic cable" scarf.

Thinking ahead, I actually remembered that the yarn store closes for the month of October and bought ahead any yarn I need for anything upcoming that can't be gotten at the one stop shopping place, cable needles (which have been so much easier that using a regular double pointed needle), and they ordered a pair of size 9 needles for me. Which have come in and it's lovely they did that. I'm just a little salty still because the reason they don't stock them is because "no one likes straight needles and if you'd just used circular needles, you'd prefer them." I have used circular needles. I own them in several sizes and it is what I am currently using for the wingspan shawl. Forgive me for prefering straight needles on smaller projects. (It's also like the 4th time I've been told something like this in that last 2 months.)

Yes, I was polite and in no way snarky to the sales staff.

They have very nice yarn, I just always have a little bit of sticker shock when I get home and let myself process what I spent because it is about 3 times as expensive as the yarn I usually get at the one stop shopping place. If you shop on Fridays though, you get a free little baggie of stitch markers and a charm with your purchase, apparently.

I have also realized that knitting lace kills my hands a lot faster than other things, so I have learned to take breaks and swap between projects. Perhaps this is character growth.

I have also finally seen the knitting kit that my mother picked up for me in June! It's a DVD and all the supplies for making 3 projects, all of which will be 2 particular shades of green and silver. It also has all the little embellishments it wants you to use, like buttons, and all the tools - knitting needles, big sewing needle.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[yarnofariadne]

I'm sorry the sales staff have been so rude.

Well done on all your knitting! It sounds like you've been really busy.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[spiralicious]

Thanks. The bad part is I could tell she wasn't trying to be rude. I think she was actually attempting to be friendly and just... failed.

Thanks! Really have been. I'm slowing down a bit now for the sake of my fingers.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[badly_knitted]

That is a HUGE amount of knitting.

I hate when patterns have typos, such a nuisance, but hopefully you can figure out the projects. Well done for learning lacework and cables, and yes, a proper cable needle is much better than a double pointed needle.

The needle sizing... 9 is 3 3/4mm and 8 is 4mm. The higher the number, the thinner the needle, at least that's how it is with British needle sizes.

I think it's at least partly because most knitting patterns for sweaters and such these days are knitted in the round starting at the top, so everyone assumes circular needles are better. But some people prefer to knit with one needle tucked under their arm (I do) which is impossible with circular needles but I find gives me better control. And I agree that pairs of needles work better for small projects. It's personal preference, of course. If you have any thrift shops around, you might look in them and see if you can get knitting needles. Charity shops in England always have dozens.

Yes, lace (and cables) can be a strain on the hands. Taking breaks does help.

The knitting kit sounds great fun!

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[spiralicious]

It was, but now that the book is returned, I've slowed down a bit. I'm sure my hands & arms appreciate it.

Mostly, have been able to sit and figure out the problems and fix them. The 2 exceptions have been the Chevron swatch & the cable sampler. With the Chevron swatch, I spent several days trying to figure out what the pattern was meant to be & just couldn't get there. After I realized that as written there were only 2 increases, but 5 decreases on each row, despite needing to end with the same number of stitches as you started with, I gave up and found a different Chevron pattern that had a nearly identical end result and used the same number of stitches (pattern was drastically different) just so I would have a Chevron swatch. It was also meant to be practice for how to do the later scalloped scarf pattern.

With the cable sampler, I left the error in for now. It was a chart and while I can tell that one row has too many purl stitches for the circular cable pattern, I can't quite tell how many I need to switch to knit stitches. I'm going to go back and play with it after I get some other things done.

Everyone kept telling me a proper cable needle was a pointless purchase and it was just as easy with a double pointed needle, so I had put off buying some, but they had a lovely, inexpensive set when I was at the yarn shop. It has been SO MUCH easier with the cable needle.

Ah, US sizing is bigger the number, bigger the needle, with an 8 being 5mm & 9 being 5.5mm. The vast majority of my needles were bought from the thrift store and I have a needle gauge guide that is fairly accurate to US sizing, but I have been lazy in not checking the size on needles that are already labeled. Turns out the 9s I already had, while slightly smaller than the 8s I already had, they are not small enough to be 7s and are 8s by the needle gauge guide. I knew the needle sizes between US sizing and British sizing, were different, but I didn't realize it was that much.

That does make a lot of sense. I've also noticed that most learning to knit kits that show up around the holidays primarily include circular needles as well now. I always check the thrift shops first :) They tend to have the best stuff.

It seemed like a good idea :)

Thanks. Hopefully, I can get some other stuff done so I can play with it.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[badly_knitted]

Maybe you should look for a British needle gauge to add to your collection. Some of your needles might be British ones. There might also be some variation in size between older needles and newer more accurately sized ones.

I would ALWAYS recommend using a proper cable needle. They're not usually all that expensive, and being shorter than other needles, they don't get in the way.

Ooof, those are some serious typos. Glad you found another chevron pattern that actually worked for you.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[spiralicious]

That is a really good idea. I think there is also some variation in size between materials as well. Like the 9 needles that ended up not being 9s were both older (if I had to guess, I'd say they were made in the 60s or 70s), but they are also made of hard plastic of the time, which does shrink a little. My size 8 needles that I primarily use are new and bamboo, and I've noticed bamboo needles tend to be slightly big for their size, like they gauge the right size, but still bigger than an aluminum 8. I may have put too much thought into this.

I am loving the cable needle. I love that it's not as in my way. I like the little notches cut into it to keep the yarn from slipping off. Cable needles for life.

Those were 2 of the worse examples, but all 4 chapters of part 2 were riddled with typos in patterns and the regular text. It was such a a switch from part 1. It was like it hadn't been proofread or edited at all. I'm a little leery of getting it again to tackle part 3, but I also want to see it through to the end.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[badly_knitted]

I never got on with the old plastic needles, they tended to bend on break, so I went full on metal when I started buying needles. I think I'd probably kill bamboo needles because of how I hold my needles when knitting, lol!

Ooh, you've got notched ones? The ones I use most are totally straight, just short, but I got some more recently in a closing down sale that have a v shaped dip in the middle and those are good.

Sounds like no one bothered to proof read, or someone who didn't understand knitting did the proof-reading.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[spiralicious]

I have definitely been bending the plastic needles. My goal is to have at least my most commonly used sizes in metal. The original giant mass of miscellaneous needles from the thrift store my mom got me are a mix of types and so far almost all the ones I can buy new in person locally have been bamboo. They are definitely stronger than the plastic, but I've had issues with the points breaking off, which can be remedied by sharpening them with a fingernail file, but I've noticed once that tip breaks off, they dull really fast, not matter how well you sharpen them.

Very nice! My choices were a 3 pack of plastic straight ones or a 3 pack of straight wooden ones with tiny notches carved into them, beautifully dyed, and in 3 different sizes, for less money. I got the pretty ones with little notches.

That is definitely what it reads like.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[badly_knitted]

The original points on tghe bamboo needles are probably heat-treated for strength. I prefer metal because although the smaller ones might bend, I haven't broken any. I have bent some by accidentally sitting on them though. The larger sizes are all plastic because metal would be too heavy, but the thick plastic is hard to break.

Good choice!

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[spiralicious]

That would definitely make sense. I hadn't thought of bending a needle by sitting on it, but that would make the particular bend in the size 15 (10mm) I ended up with in a bulk batch of knitting needles from the thrift store make sense. With the number of things I have damaged by accidentally sitting on them, you'd think of have realized that before now.

Thanks.

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[badly_knitted]

It's not something I thought of until I accidentally sat on my knitting. That needle has never been the same...

Re: 2/3 - knitting

[spiralicious]

Ahh

3/3 everything else

[spiralicious]

This week was the monthly art book workshop. We did crayon relief pages on different kinds of tissue papers and rice paper. I am not sure what the tissue paper obsession is. The next 3 months, we will be assembling our books. The session left a bitter taste in my mouth though. One of the participants had their little sister with them (very little). The kid just wanted to sit with her sister, but because the class doesn't allow children to do the projects, they kicked her out and there was a lot of crying. I understand why the kid was kicked out, but I also couldn't help but wonder if the kid could've have been allowed to quitely do her own thing while we worked? She didn't want to do what we were doing. She just wanted to sit with her sister.

I've been practicing making pipe cleaner pumpkin/flowers. They are not going great, but book club liked the ones I gave them. I hope I can get enough supplies to give them to trick or treaters.

Sorry this was all so much.

Re: 3/3 everything else

[badly_knitted]

That's sad. Couldn't the kid have been given some paper and crayons and just allowed to draw?

I'd love to see a picture of your pipe-cleaner pumpkin flowers!

Re: 3/3 everything else

[spiralicious]

It really is. That was my thought, but I wasn't fast enough with the paper and, considering who was in charge, they probably would have kicked her out anyway. The whole thing was unnecessary.

If I can get more pipe cleaners, we'll see