Angelarae Knits

Steam

I think the heat is getting to me.  I spent a good three hours, total, in my car today.  The A.C. is broken. not working.  The digital readout on my car thermometer said 100 degrees and, like I said, I think the heat is getting to me.  I will have tremendous flashes of genious.  A fabulous idea will come to me, but quickly evaporate from my memory, faster than the steam rising from the pavement. I would share them with you, but....they're gone.

I started to scold William about adding sugar to his tea.  He left the sugar out and I knew why.  I called him into the kitchen and, somehow, between the time I called his name and the time he walked into it, I had forgotten why I yelled in the first place.  I stood by the sink and struggled to remember as he stood there waiting.

Earlier in the day, I thought about a trip to a shop to buy a lariat.  I thought I'd have to drive across town.  Then, a distraction caused me to completely lose that information.  I could only remember that I was thinking I'd have to drive across town, or was it that I'd  have to shop around to find it.  Finally, it did come to me. But it took a while. 

I think possibly, my brain is slightly cooked.  That would explain alot.

Much Better

I finally went with the Afterthought Heel from SKS (p. 71) and I am happy with it.  Any suggestions for
the little gaps? (click on pic to enlarge). 

More On The Heel

 Well folks, looks like short row heels are my Achilles Heel…pun intended. Seriously, I tried this pictured tutorial for the short row heel, and ended up with holes all along the decreases. It really bothers me that something that seems to be a common technique amongst many knitters is kicking my arse so badly. I am now working on the afterthought heel from SKS, suggested by Shannon. It seems to be working so. far. Apparently, I can handle provisional cast-on and knitting out of thin air, better than I can simple increases and decreases. My friend Ann, has given me some fabulously simple instructions for a short row heel, which I shall endeavor to screw up as soon as this heel becomes a disaster. I’ll be sure to post some picks when this happens. ;-> 

Cool Sock, Sucky Heel

I consider this bad luck, by the way, posting an unfinished project dooms it to incompletion.  I love this feather and fan pattern. I adapted it from Wendy Knits and a couple other similar patterns.  They all call for 72 stitches.  The only heel I feel will look delicate enough is the short row heel.  The heel flap seems too bulky.  So, I looked at Sensational Knitted Socks, since she does such a great job of dividing directions for different parts of the sock.  Her short row heel has 'wrap stitch' directions.  They include yf (yarn forward) and yb (yarn back).  These are supposed to create increases.  I did not realize this.  When I read yarn forward, I bring the yarn to the front, then knit(slip, purl) the next stitch.  Same for yarn back.  Her instructions said 'yf, slip next stitch, yb (wrapped stitch) and slip wrapped stitch back to left needle, turn work...'  Well, the yf and yb are supposed to be done over the needle creating a yarnover before and a yarnover after each slipped stitch.   That's why I ended up with less than half the stitches I was supposed to after I worked the reverse part of the short row heel. (Duh, Ang...decreases but no increases?)  Not a problem with her instructions, just with my understanding of yf and yb.   Poor Shannon wracked her brains trying to understand my frustrated, rambling emails.  She sent me this link (now on my sidebar) which solved all misunderstandings.  Thank you Shannon.  See how bad this looks?  Feather and Fan is perfect for this yarn, I think.