checking in

I had the flu last week and spent a lot of time in bed. I kept thinking I should use the down time to knit, but I couldn’t muster the will to work on any projects. I just sat around all week with idle hands. I did a little work this weekend (but very little). I worked the foot of my sassy stripes sock up to the start of the toe and I swatched out the Soft Lux for Cressida. After my recent spate of gauge disasters I did a real swatch this time — the whole four inch square. Two of them in fact!* I swatched out with the 7’s and it was too tight, so I went up to 8’s and they worked out. That is perfect because it turns out I only have a short pair of size 7 straights, for knitting dishcloths. There is no way I could knit a shrug on 6” needles!

Counting my stitches is still a pain in the ass! I don’t know why I have so much trouble with it. It seems I come up with a different number every time. This yarn was particularly bad because it is sort of thick & thin and it has the metallic thread running through that isn’t visible in every stitch. It threw me off. Knitpicks makes a gauge ruler with a magnifying strip that I’m thinking about getting. That, or maybe I will just buy a magnifying glass at Staples. Something has got to give. I read somewhere about knitting along a contrasting color of thread in your swatch so it will be easier to count the stitches, but (a) I always forget and (b) I’m worried that will somehow mess up my tension. It would really be best if I could just learn how to count stitches like a big girl.

* I actually knit one long swatch, with a purl row in the middle to mark where I switched needle sizes. I’m sure in ideal-swatch world you are supposed to start over completely, but that isn’t happening. I’m also going to unravel the swatch and use the yarn for my project. I know in ideal-swatch world you are supposed to save it and wash it and block it and stuff, but that isn’t happening either. Breaking my poor swatching habits is just going to have to be a gradual process.