Sunday, February 11, 2018

Lizzie came home last night. Rachel phoned. She is suffering quite a bit of pain, but I think all is well. I worried yesterday because in my now quite distant past, appendicitis was a difficult thing to diagnose. I’m pretty sure my appendix was taken out unnecessarily, in wartime Detroit. And, indeed, doctors told Lizzie and Rachel that they could only be about 70% sure, with a woman – the pain could turn out to be gynaecological. But I gather they were satisfied, once they had actually retrieved the appendix and had a look at it.

This modern practice of doctors actually telling patients the truth is much to be welcomed.

And—rugby! It has been a while since I have seen so exciting a match. Knitlass, I hope you’re still here, or have come back for the occasion. Scotland won! Greig Laidlaw is back! The Calcutta Cup, a fortnight hence, is not absolutely out of the question.

I’ve knit another pattern repeat in the centre of the baby shawl. Cardboard is beginning to show through the fifth ball of yarn. Perhaps when it finally expires I’ll count the remaining stitches on each side – I am consuming one stitch from the adjacent borders at the end of each row – and get some idea of how far I have progressed. I am sure I won’t need the eighth ball – possibly not even the seventh.

I am most encouraged by comments yesterday about Anna Maltz. Perhaps my purchase wasn’t absolutely absurd. The book should be here within a few days. I’ll let you know.


The new IK, as I’m sure you know, has a section called Moto Knits. I happened to flip through the fall-winter ’16 Amirisu the other day (the only one I've got),  and saw again their sensational "Harley" vest: tightly knit, perfectly simple, with a diagonal zipper up to the left shoulder. If there’s one thing I’d like to do more than another, it would be to take Franklin’s class on closures. I can’t do zippers.

5 comments:

  1. I do insert zippers, but there is no shame in paying someone else to do it. If it isn't fun, why bother. I keep forgetting I wanted to ask you to explain about winding the yarn up on a cardboard tube. Sounds like a good solution for lace weight.

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    1. toilet roll tubes are good although I prefer to wind mine onto those expanded polystyrene balls.

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  2. Yes! Yes! A great win for Scotland - tenacity won out (phew) although it was all a bit too close for comfort. Let's hope that the Calcutta cup produces a similar outcome (Scotland win).

    Glad Lizzie is well and home. My mum had her appendix removed 20 years ago and took quite a while to get over it (although not key hole surgery because the appendix had perforated by the time they operated).

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  3. When I first started knitting I didn't know what was hard and what was easy, so I just did everything. This resulted in a few disasters but also a few successes, the latter of which includes putting in a zipper. Thanks for mentioning the Anna Maltz book. It looks tempting!

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  4. Anonymous9:08 PM

    I find Anna Maltz' enthusiams infectious although I have not knit any of her patterns yet.
    If I were to knit something requiring a zipper I would definitely find someone to put it in.
    Best wishes for a smooth recovery for Lizzie.
    Have a good week!
    LisaRR

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