350

Three hundred fifty. 

Three. Hundred. Fifty...  Stitches. In the project I frogged and re-started. 

First off, the Secret Project is on the blocking boards, and tomorrow, I'll have Hubby help me with the linings. He also helps block for me sometimes, and is a great hand-winder accessory when I don't want to drag out my swift and ballwinder. There's a benefit to growing up with sisters who knit. 

And then I had to decide what would be next. I found my socks - which will be my "carry along and knit while you wait" project. It's amazing how many socks you can knit using this method. They're my 8x8 pair: it's a very wide rib and it looks pretty interesting with this yarn, which is a Lorna's Laces that's quite old. I started a pair with these and frogged them for some reason. 

It was interesting switching from size 3 needles to the 1.5 - you'd think I went from timbers to toothpicks, and both are kind of small, aren't they? 

I'm enjoying working with Lorna's Laces. I love the feel of the yarn. Though the socks are a bit smallish for me at 64 stitches. I've been liking 68 stitches; 72 is really too big. But maybe with the ribbing, the 64 won't be too small. We shall see. I'm going to do the regular heel flap on these. 

My next pair will be a broken rib, with a Strong heel. I've done one like that already, in grey variegated, but I want to use some of my stash - I might have a solid blue that would look good with that pattern. 

The Knitting...

The secret of casting on 350 stitches with neither too little or too much yarn on the left-hand? 

I wish I knew. 

I always end up either having to re-do the cast on (oh, that's fun!) or doing the opposite and having a lot more yarn (like a couple feet more) but I'm so relieved at not running out that I don't want to do it a 3rd time!

So I ended up choosing the "Long Sands" Tee that I had started last summer - I think. Because I lost my notes and I had no idea where I'd put them. So I wasn't sure which row I was on, but I knew I was in the middle of the lace bit. 

I frogged it. I wasn't happy, but I really wanted to finish this the first time around. It got set aside for a couple other projects, and my notes, which I thought I had clipped to the board, were nowhere to be found. 

This time, I jotted the details in my knitting notebook. I need to remember to do that, or put stuff in a binder so that it doesn't get separated from the project. 

The yarn is Quince & Co. linen and it's a beautiful silvery-grey color called "Moon." 

I didn't realize that there were dropped stitches in the lace pattern. I'm not a fan of dropped stitches, but there you have it, and I'm just going to have to suck that up, right? 

Linen, as my friend Sonda used to say, can be a bit rough on the hands; there's no give and it's not easy to maintain a decent tension on the fabric. And once you get it done, you have to wash your project at least 3 times. That gets the stiffness out of it and makes the fabric easier to wear. 

If you think about it, linen is the oldest and most sturdy fabric. Found in the ancient tombs. So if I can ever get that thing done, it will certainly outlive me!

The lace pattern required a bit of fiddling and I think I may have done something one-stitch-off, but I will live with it. I'm not pulling that out. I put simple yarn stitch markers between each pattern repeat, just so I could keep track. It's a 12-row repeat, so we'll see if I mucked it up too much. It reminds me of when I used to get permanent waves: the "papers" that they used! Here's what I ended up doing, and I must say it was pretty colorful! I'll take them out on the odd rows where there's no lace going on. 

So, knitting hack: If you don't have stitch markers (or you don't have enough), then use some lighter weight yarn. Just make a loop and tie a knot. That works a treat for markers and if you have yarn leftover from other projects, that's a great way to use it up. 

There are reports out there that say you shouldn't put your yarn scraps out for birds, because they get tangled in the material, and often, the yarn doesn't biodegrade, so it just sticks around, much like soda straws and other things we don't need hanging around in nature. 

Vax'd Again...

So today I got my 4th Covid shot (a/k/a the second booster). I spoke to my primary care doctor and she said that if I was going to get any vaccines, I should keep up with the Covid ones and get the shingles shot (actually 2 jabs), which I am doing. 

I don't even have a sore arm, but one never knows. Several folks have reported "sick as a dog," to "just kind of tired," to "what was the license plate of that bus that hit me." 

I haven't had a reaction to ANY of the shots, except for a bit of a headache from one. Fingers crossed that I can embark tomorrow on the finishing of the Secret Project, and continuing round and round with the Long Sands. 

The folks at the pharmacy consolidated all my vax records onto one card, so it makes it easier. And I like the bandages: they shoot right through this thing, and it's one of the few that doesn't make me itch. 

Random Picture...

When one makes drop biscuits with vegan butter, they're automatically rendered non-vegan when you add smoked Provolone. Along with some herbs to add a bit more zing. 

Kid #2, the vegan, gave me vegan butter, which was supposed to an addition to potatoes which I'd already made. Slight miscommunication there... So I decided to use it for drop biscuits. But then I considered that they needed cheese. Just because. So they're vegan-non-vegan... 

It's a simple recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, just flour, salt, a bit of sugar, baking powder, butter, and milk. So I guess they weren't anywhere near vegan in the first place. You put the dry ingredients in a bowl, then cut in the butter. Add the milk all at once and stir just to combine and then drop 'em on a baking sheet (or two...). Of course, you can Google the recipe. It's worth a shot for a quick treat to add to dinner. They bake up in about 12 minutes. 

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