I'm sure you're tired of reading about it, but the "beginner" Forever Tweed sweater has been a real challenge. After ripping it back three or four times, trying various fixes that didn't work, and also going to the LYS where no one could help me, I gave up and took it to a help night at a large, not-so-local LYS.
This was the best thing I could have done, as I proved to myself, It's Not Me. The shop owner discovered that the math didn't work as written. I got nervous when she started talking square roots and geometry of triangles for raglan sweaters, and I couldn't follow that enough to rewrite it here for you, but the short answer is that if the gauge is 4"= 20 rows (5 rows an inch), and if you are to knit 8" down from the collar according to the schematic, that would be 40 rows. But the directions say, "Rep Inc rnd every other rnd 15 times..." which totals only 31 rows. Maybe you all would have figured that one out on your own, or made up your own directions, but a math person I am not. My gauge is a little different with the Rowan yarn, so I have approximately 45 rows, and I'm closer to 9", as she figured out with her geometry. No matter. Once I knit through the revised directions and tried on the sweater, it fit well enough that I could proceed to the separation of the armholes.
I dearly hope this is the worst of it, and this project will now begin to fly off the needles. Otherwise, I'll be taking the FO photos for this wool sweater in 80 degree weather, as I did last May. :)
It's been a really rough week around these parts, and to be honest, I am worn out. In addition to a promising job hope that fizzled out faster than a Fourth-of-July sparkler (after a whole lot of work), our beloved Rainy had a mild seizure last Sunday night.
I am OK and I just want to take a nap!
We took her to the emergency vet (Thank God for emergency hospitals for animals!!). Her blood work & blood pressure looked pretty good, so we took her home with us for the night and had her stay in our room to keep an eye on her. On Monday I took her to the regular vet for X-rays, more blood tests, and we should know something tomorrow (Friday). We may need to do an ultrasound or MRI.
The veterinarians don't know for sure what happened, but possibilities are a dormant virus, a blood clot, epilepsy, or a one time thing. I'm not even going to "lesion on the brain." I was fortunate that about a month ago, I was talking to a woman in a vet waiting room and she had told me about her cat's seizure -- because of that I knew what happened and what to do and felt at least a bit prepared. I don't leave Rainy alone for more than a couple hours at a time right now, and every little noise sends me running to make sure she's OK. If you all have any stories or advice or experience with this, I'd be so grateful if you could send me an email and let me know. My email is scarlett22770 at yahoo dot com.
I wish you a happy weekend, dry basements (lots of Rain predicted here; our girl is up to something!), and lots of stressfree knitting and reading.
When I furrow my eyebrows out the window, watch out! Storms are on the way.
Dear Rainy ~ Feel better! We'll all be sending good thoughts your way. Love, Bridget, Jetsam, and Pip.
Posted by: Bridget | March 10, 2011 at 10:30 PM
Poor Rainy, I hope she is feeling better now? She looks so regal sitting on her Cat-mahal!!!
It is nice to know that it wasn't you, but the pattern!!!
Posted by: 2paw | March 10, 2011 at 11:13 PM
Feel better, Rainy! Sounds like you deserve a series break this weekend. Not at all surprised to hear that it was the pattern--not you! Thank goodness for geometry-ready helpers :)
Posted by: Sarah | March 11, 2011 at 08:52 AM
Poor kitty! I hope the tests come back OK and she's doing better. I also hope your basement stays dry. The sweater is looking great!
Posted by: Jodi | March 11, 2011 at 06:43 PM
My heart goes out to you -- hope Rainy is feeling better! Seizures are frightening, and it sounds like your vet is taking the right approach to screen for other conditions that could be causing them. Often they don't find anything, but if she has more than one seizure, they may diagnose "seizure disorder". This is usually controllable with medications (the newer meds have far fewer side effects). It's also common (and considered diagnostic) for the person or animal to feel very sleepy and need to take a nap afterward. We had a tortie cat for 21 years -- they have a lot of personality!
Posted by: Julia G | March 12, 2011 at 03:52 PM
Poor little Rainy. I hope the vets find the cause of the problem and can make her better soon.
So sorry about the job fizzle- hang in there! You have a lot of talent to offer and will land the right job in time.
Glad you have been steered on the right track with your sweater. It is so frustrating when patterns have errors. Thank goodness for helpful math-savvy knitting friends.
Posted by: Kristen | March 13, 2011 at 08:26 AM
I'm glad to hear that Rainy has been fine, and I hope that keeps up! I can't believe how complicated your knitting problem was -- who knew you needed geometry for knitting!? Although I guess it makes sense, now that I think about it ... I hope this week is a good one for you.
Posted by: Dorothy W. | March 13, 2011 at 08:51 PM
Oh poor little Rainy - and poor you!!!! I hope the test results came back very very good. Please email if you need to talk, vent, or if there is anything at all I can do!!
Posted by: Karen | March 15, 2011 at 10:58 AM
Glad to hear Rainy's scan came back okay. One of ours had a seizure that was a one time thing. Never did find out what caused it, either.
Posted by: Pretreatment | March 31, 2011 at 04:28 AM