When You Hot, You Hot!

And we hot!  108 F/42.2 C!  Ay, chihuahua!  94 F/34.4 C at ten o’clock at night, and 82 F/ 28 C at two o’clock in the morning, for crying out loud!  Thank goodness our highs are cooling back down into the 90’s again.  It’s after midnight, and I alerted just now on something odd about the soundscape.  It took me a minute to figure out what had caught my attention —  the AC had turned itself off.  That meant the AC had finally gotten the interior temp cooled down and stabilized at 80 F/26.6 C again.  Ye gods and little fishes!

In the knitting news, I was buzzing along on this shawl which I’m calling “Trio Sonata” but it was just too long for its wide.  Even though I was into the second 440 yard skein on US 6/4.0 mm needles, which makes a nice fabric, this evening I frogged that sucker. Ripped it completely out and started over.

The original pattern had a net increase of one stitch every two rows, which produces a long crescent shape that gradually widens, which is OK if you’re into the narrow,  drapey scarf thing.  But it’s too Isadora Duncan for my tastes.  Still, I liked the look of the (kfb x 3, ssk) border on one edge (top picture above) and the (yo, k2tog, p1, ssk) eyelet border on the other (bottom picture above), so I kept those elements when I rewrote the pattern and adjusted the numbers to a net increase of two stitches every two rows.  In order to do that, I threw in a kfb before the yo, k2tog, p1, ssk, which gives the interesting effect of making that bar between the eyelets longer and makes it look like a triple crochet stitch.

The original pattern had the fiddly bits worked over the last five stitches in each row, but just to make life easier and have both borders worked over the same number of stitches  (knit until 6 sts remain . . .)  I added a p1 before the ssk on the kfb x 3 border.  It’s still a crescent shape, but it gets wider quicker.  And, except for the last six stitches on each row, it’s all garter stitch.

The first four rows set up the pattern, but after that, you just repeat the same two rows over and over.  Here’s how it works:
…………………………………….+1   +1    -1           -1 = net gain of 0
Row 5: k until 6 stitches remain, kfb, yo, k2tog, p1, ssk
……………………………………….+3             -1 = net gain of 2
Row 6: k until 6 stitches remain, (kfb x3), p1, ssk

The +’s are increases, the -‘s are decreases, and because the net increase is only on one side of the work  and you’ve got two decreases in a row on the other side, the work curves toward the increases and forms a crescent shape.

I’m using my ChiaoGoo Red Lace 32-inch circulars in a US 6/4.0 mm and Malabrigo sock yarn.  For those who are not familiar with this brand of knitting needles,  the connecting cord has complete amnesia.  The cord is coiled in the package when you get it, but when you take it out of the package, if you hold it up by one needle, the connecting cord will hang down perfectly straight.  If sproingy plastic connecting cords drive you crazy, you need to try the ChiaoGoo’s.  They do make wooden needles, but I prefer their stainless steel points.  They also have two shapes of point.  If you do a lot of lace work, you want the Red Lace point, as it has a longer taper than the standard point.  The longer taper gives you more room to work  multiple stitches at a time.  Their stainless steel sock sets of DPNs are outstanding, and come in a nifty zippered cloth case.  They also have interchangeable sets.

That’s all I got, folks.  позже.