Circular thinking

For starters, items in need of clarification brought to my attention...

Yesterday when I wrote "I guess that beats being turned into a sad bastard in someone's creative writing assignment," I was referring to how my coffee shop observer saw me, not how I view myself (at least not most of the time). She didn't use those exact words, but I was definitely being written as a pathetic character. I was also making a a context-free reference to "sad bastard music", which is how Jack Black's High Fidelity character described Belle & Sebastian's "Seymour Stein" playing in the record store. I like to drop allusions like that in my writing from time to time. Anybody besides (presumably) Noel and Donna pick up on the title of yesterday's post? (The kicker is I've never heard that album.)

As for my second ribbed hat, the problem was having an extra stitch in the middle of a row. I found out that knitting two together in the middle of a pattern leads to more serious problems instead of fixing it. I've not done anything with the hat since. This weekend I'll take a final stab at saving it rather than rip it all out. There's something that would make me sad.

I'm still going forward with my plans to move. The delay is finding the time to get my apartment packed so that I can then approach my landlord about the possibility of breaking the lease. I've identified two places where I'd like to live. Hopefully one will have an opening when I'm ready. And yes, my neighbors are dreadful. It's bad when you can't feel comfortable at home. I appreciate the sympathy.

All right, does that clear up everything?

I've been feeling the itch to knit something with circular needles for the first time. I popped in the Knitting Made Easy CD-ROM and thought I understood what I needed to do. Kristin's Jazzy Coffee Cup Cozy seemed to be an appropriate first project for knitting in the round. After casting on the stitches, I was confused. What do I do next? How am I supposed to get all of these stitches around this long cable? And how do I keep the cable from curling up a couple times?

I knitted a row but didn't do it properly. I reexamined the instructions for knitting on circular needles. Before I cast on again I tried to stretch out the curves in the cable. I hadn't eliminated the loops, but I thought I might be able to get something done with them. I cast on again. I remained confused, not to mention aggravated with the cable still curling up. I put my right foot in the middle of the cable--I also tried my knee--in an attempt to get the semblance of a gentle half loop from needle tip to needle tip. That wasn't working.

It also dawned on me that the cable was much too long. Time to check with Kristin. Turns out the cozy has to be knitted with two pairs of circular needles, something which she thought was too advanced for me at this time. Agreed. She also told me that running warm water over the cable can soften it up for shaping it into something usable. I have a lot to learn.

Kristin suggested a baby blanket for my first experience with circs. She sent me the pattern link and answered my other questions, so hopefully I'm all set if I want to begin it this weekend. Whether I do or not, I have plenty to keep me busy. I'd like to finish Jennifer's scarf and, if I can save it, my second ribbed hat.

Tomorrow brings the last basketball game of the season for work, meaning weekends should open up for apartment packing and more knitting. Sounds like a good thing to me.