Do the math

I'm not very good at gauge conversions because I do them infrequently. I prefer to find yarn that meets the correct gauge for the pattern than adapt something. Yes, I know I could take steps to resolve the problem by knitting gauge swatches, but I can be stubborn.

Here's where I need your help. I've made the Seaman's Cap pattern plenty of times, but I've also tended to knit each one with the same type of yarn (Cascade 220). The problem is that the yarn I bought in Minnesota is different. It's still Cascade yarn, but it doesn't have the same gauge.

The pattern's gauge:

20 stitches and 26 rows = 4" in stockinette with US 7 needles.

Cascade 220's gauge:

18-20 stitches = 4" in stockinette with US 7-8 needles.

I've used US 7s to make the hats. (This means I'm using 20 stitches for US 7s, right?)

Cascade 128 Tweed's gauge:

3 1/2 stitches = 1" in stockinette with US 10s
3 stitches = 1" with US 10 1/2s.

If I understand this, I will use a half stitch more for each needle size I go down. So, if I drop down to US 7s--three needle sizes--will I be getting 5 stitches per inch and twenty stitches per 4"? That doesn't seem quite right since this yarn is classified as bulky whereas what I normally use is worsted weight.

As I write this I'm confusing myself more and more. Can you make heads or tails of it?

Scarfing it up

I guess the mere act of writing yesterday's entry helped decide what I'll be working on next. I'm going to make a scarf for the Red Scarf Project. I bought two skeins of Cascade 220 in a nice, rich red after comparing several shades at the LYS. I'm fond of this wool, especially in the hats I made last winter, and some of this purchase might end up turning into a hat for me if there's enough left over.

I haven't picked a scarf pattern yet. I might knit the Scrunchable Scarf, although the pattern is so simple I ought to be ashamed for even considering it. Then again, I'm not one to turn down mindless knitting.

I was considering making Henry, but now that I've looked more closely at the pattern, I'm going to have to pass. The yarn I've bought is too big for it. Of greater concern to me is that it calls for being knitted on US 2s and 3s. I don't mind using smaller needles but probably not on something as long as a scarf, especially one being knitted lengthwise. Mercy. I like how it looks, but with the kind of time commitment it calls for, I think I'd have to be selfish and keep the scarf for myself.

I've not chosen against knitting Clapotis. Rather, I need to decide on yarn and may go the Knit Picks route since this project appears to require a lot of it. I briefly--very briefly--flirted with the idea of trying Noro for the first time, but a check on price put the kibosh on that idea right away. With as much yarn as I'll need, it would cost more than I'm willing to drop.

This raises a question of knitting etiquette. Since the cost to make Clapotis is likely to be more than most of what I've knitted, would it be wise to ask my mom what color she would specifically want it to be in? I think I know what she likes and would prefer to surprise her, but on the other hand, the sane route would be to get a definitive answer from the recipient than deciding myself.

The future is now

Decisions, decisions. I'm market bag-ed out for the time being, so what to knit now?

Now would be the appropriate time to make something for the Red Scarf Project. I don't think I've done any charity knitting this year, so this would be a worthwhile endeavor to participate in again.

Of course, it's never too early start thinking of beginning to knit Christmas gifts. I think I'm going to back off on the amount of stuff I make for family this year, mainly because I don't know if it's wanted or appreciated. Plus, I've done scarves. I've done hats. I'm not doing gloves, at least not for that many people. Maybe for myself eventually.

I am entertaining the notion of knitting the ridiculously popular Clapotis for my mother, though. If I don't make it for her, I'll have no reason to ever attempt the project that Ravelers can't get enough of.

Without looking at anything I'm trying to conceive how one purls through the front and back. (For the moment I can't make a mental image of knitting through the back loop, and I had plenty of practice doing that.) I'd also have to look up ssk again because I don't think I'd been doing it right during my mixed success knitting socks last year and don't remember how to perform the technique.

Other than those readily solvable issues, the pattern looks easy enough to knit as long as I am able to keep my place in it. I'm sure a few of you reading have made it. Thoughts, suggestions, warnings?

Is there something else I should contemplate knitting next? (Despite my knitting resolution, don't bother suggesting a sweater, though. I absolutely will not be making one this year.)

Finishing moves

After kicking around some ideas and doing some exploring, I decided that the best way to bind off for the market bag was to use Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off. With 116 total stitches, it was tedious but appears to be effective.

After 49 stitches I broke the yarn and slipped the next nine onto a stitch holder. Since I was wondering how I'd connect the yarn without having the strand hanging down, I decided to do the sewn bind off through the stitches on the holder but not remove them from it (obviously). I bound off a few more and then reconnected the yarn.

Everything seemed to be going well until I got near the end. As you see above, there's a gap after the beginning/end of the round followed by what looks like an extra stitch or inadvertent yarn over. I'm not sure what the best way is to deal with it. I think it's too far away to treat it like something that could be knit together with the true last stitch. If I drop it from the needle, it'll just be hanging out there waiting to get snagged on something.

I'm thinking that my only solution is to drop it and figure out some way to weave the end over it and then in. Yes? No? Any clue what I did?

As for the handle, I think I'm going to try the linen stitch. It sounds like it won't stretch as much. Since I'm not planning on slinging this around my shoulder, that's a desirable handle quality.

I'll be returning to knitting flat, so the right side/wrong side business is important. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my first row will be a right side row, won't it?

I should point out that the picture at the top of this post is the right side. The garter stitch "border" came when I joined the new color and did the first row of garter stitch in the round by purling. That's what the directions said to do, although the directions were for something the same color. I don't know that it's a "mistake"--it looks OK--but I've since realized that I probably would have been fine if I'd knit the first row and purled the next.

Q & Q

The body of the market bag is finished, but now I'm stuck, stuck, stuck. It's time for a handle, and I'm completely and utterly confused.

Donna was kind enough to leave some instructions in the comments to yesterday's post, but I'm afraid that this help needs some major translation before it gets through my thick skull. Maybe it would be better handled via e-mail, but I figure the collective wisdom out there might crack the code that I can't.

-"Knit halfway round the last round of the top border, put 9 stitches on one side of the bag on a stitch holder, knit the other half to the last 9 stitches, put the first 6 on a holder."

And the questions begin... I assume that I'm not knitting those stitches on the stitch holder. If not, am I able to get around those first nine without making some weird, misshapen thing at that spot? And where it says knit, should that mean bind off? If so, what's a stretchier bind off, per the pattern's instructions?

-"Then I made I-cord from those last three stitches (fairly long -- probably too long -- remember braiding will shorten it by about a third)."

I-cord? Any idea on length? I don't feel like I have any clue to make a guess.

-"Put stitches on holder at the end, break yarn with nice long tail (at least 6 inches)."

So I need three stitch holders?

-"Attach yarn at second three stitches beside where you started the I-cord, do the same; then the same again for the last 3 stitches."

Here's where I'm totally mystified. Where am I attaching the yarn? If it's just stitches on a stitch holder, I don't understand where there's anything to attach to.

-"Braid the three I-cords together. Then graft them to the 9 live stitches on the other side."

Here's where my gender gets in the way. I've never braided anything. Tips? As for grafting...???

I will say that this part of the bag is a major reason why I considered not knitting it in the first place. There's a lot of stuff I haven't done before, which I don't see so much as a challenge but as something to run away from shrieking.

For those about to Ravelympic

OK, I need some help and the sooner, the better. I've been running around like the proverbial headless chicken, so I've neglected to find a project for Ravelympics. I think I know what I want to do, but I have a few too many questions to dive right in. Doing so would be like performing a belly flop from the high platform. So I need some answers before I commit.

I'm planning to knit the Everlasting Bagstopper. I know I've freaked out about the pattern before, but there are some things I'm still not sure about. I understand that the base is knit flat, but after picking up the stitches, how much do you knit in stockinette? The pattern jumps from picking up the stitches to the bag body.

If I'm not messing around with the ribbon handle--actually there's no if about it--how much more additional yarn should I plan to need for that part, and how long should it be?

Is it reasonable to think I can complete this during the Olympics?

I could have sworn I had more questions when I looked at this pattern earlier today, but maybe some of them were resolved in looking at comments addressing my initial irrationality.

Cable installation

A common thread through much of my knitting education is that something seems difficult or impossible and turns out to be not as hard as I expected. Cables were definitely imposing. Putting such embellishments on projects was for other knitters, not me. I can't do that. They look so complicated...but apparently they're not.

Oh, I'm having some trouble knitting off the cable needle, especially when it's held to the back of the work, but the fact that I've been able to do it at all is a victory. This is one of those techniques that I figured would be beyond anything I'm capable of doing (like, say, knitting a garment that fits or seaming something without looking like I was extremely intoxicated).

Finding a good spot for the cable needle so it isn't in the way can be a challenge, but if that's the worst I have to put up with, I think I can manage. I picked an easy dishcloth pattern, conveniently named "easy cabled dishcloth", and should have an FO in no time. It's going to be smallish, but the point in knitting this was to practice cables, not making something. (That's just a benefit on the side.)

Now for the questions... How can I make it easier to knit stitches on the cable needle? I have a very small, tight space in which to do this, particularly when the stitches are in back. I'm guessing that it shouldn't be this tough. Any recommendations for how to keep the cable needle out of the way?

Buy or sell?

So I've done a little research into market bags as a next project, and I've gotta say that I'm becoming less and less convinced. It may be my default mode of seeing something and determining I can't do it or that I'm thick after a long couple of days at the grindstone.

Take, for instance, the Everlasting Bagstopper. At first glance it seems easy enough to knit, but the questions come fast and furious. For instance, what's a wrong side row if you're knitting in garter stitch? Is it just whichever side you choose? This "turn the corner" business loses me. And, oh yeah, that seems like an awful lot of stitches to pick up, and where are they being picked up from in the first place?

But these questions have nothing on the bigger problems I foresee if I undertake this project. Handles? Sewing? DRAWSTRING?! That's enough to put the kibosh on it for me right there...except this wouldn't be unique to this market bag but all of them. (There's another option, but the directions for the handle makes my head hurt.)

I was joking yesterday with my comment about being intimidated once I looked at patterns, but I fear I know myself too well in matters such as these.

The ballband dishcloth

Sitting in the wind yesterday must have made me sick because I don't know how else I would have picked up a sore throat and started feeling lousy otherwise. My illness is your gain in that it means I'm going to write about knitting, something that has been infrequent lately.

I didn't want to work on the blanket, so I thought a dishcloth might be the answer. I decided that I would try Mason-Dixon Knitting's ballband dishcloth. I know, everyone has made one, but I haven't. And you know why? Because I can't figure out how they're knitted.

My previous course of attack has been simply not to bother trying. In other words, when in doubt, don't. But I'm not feeling well, so I can't feel any worse if I don't figure it out, right?

OK, I can't figure it out. Or I can't figure out what to do now that I've made it to row 4. Specifically, I don't understand this yarn forward and yarn back business. I've checked Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book and googled the terms, but I've yet to find a satisfactory explanation of what exactly I'm doing here. (I found something for yarn forward. Is this what I want to do?)

The other question is, am I supposed to rejoin color A regularly, or does it get carried somehow when I get to row 7? In row 3 I'm supposed to join color B and knit with it. When I get to row 7 it says nothing about rejoining, but I'm not sure how color A got there. The thought of lots of ends to weave in makes me feel sicker.

Is that clear? I'm sure enough of you have either made the pattern or have the book to explain what isn't exactly clicking in my brain. Keep in mind that I had to start over twice, once because I didn't leave enough of a tail and the second time because I realized I should have been starting with the contrasting color instead of the primary. What I'm saying is that if you think you're spelling it out too much, you're not. Trust me. Stupid mode is back and thriving.

Up, up, and away?

I need your advice. The week of Thanksgiving I will be flying--and boy will my arms be tired. *rim shot*

Sorry, that was too good to pass up.

Anyway, I'll be flying and likely having a lot of time to knit. I mean more than one might ordinarily have. Because there's nothing I enjoy more in life than having as many possible things being uncertain, I am taking a risk and flying standby. My sister-in-law works for an airline. One of her benefits is allowing family members to fly for reduced rates. The catch, of course, is that there is no guarantee of a seat. If the plane is full, I'm out of luck until there is a flight with an opening.

The price difference between this option and buying a ticket on another airline is significant enough that I'm willing to take the chance. If I have to wait awhile, no problem. You know how I feel about airports. Better yet, I can knit until my heart's content. I will be relaxed and look oh so wise.

Here's where I need your help. I know that knitting needles are permitted on planes, but what advice do you have for transporting knitting supplies? Do you carry on all of it or just what you'll need during the flight? Scissors? Have you had knitting-related problems with security? Is it better to have an aisle or window seat to maximize knitting space? (I'm guessing aisle is better, but maybe this is a counterintuitive scenario.) Is there anything I ought to know not covered in these questions?

To make this standby situation even more interesting, it is possible this option might get taken out of the mix. If my sister-in-law were to change employers between now and then, this cheaper standby route becomes unavailable to me. So, in an attempt to save a decent chunk of money, I could end up paying more.

And I claim not to be adventurous...