On the third Monday of the month a group of enthusiastic knitters meet in the Resource Room at the Duxbury Free Library. From 6:00 - 8:00 you can find knitters of various skill levels with yarn between their fingers. We would love you to join us. If you can't, follow us here!

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Be Sure Before You Do The Happy Dance

Here it is October . . . and yes I am still working on my Counterpane Masterpiece. I finished the 15 squares the pattern called for and I did a little happy dance around the house. Then I got the pattern out and started to lay them out according to the schematic so I could start sewing them together.

Well . . . . let's just say I never should have done the happy dance . . . not yet anyways. It just wasn't piecing together right. Since I work in a library, I thought it would be a good idea to read the directions a little better. 

I almost had a melt down . . . after the paragraph telling me how many squares to make . . . is a paragraph about large triangles. Large triangles???

It seems that I also need 4 large triangles . . .  made by sewing two triangles together. I also need 4 'loose' triangles for the corners. I also need 2 triangles to sew to the modified triangles I made for the left and right neck edges.



After I moaned out loud "You've got to be kidding me" . . . I sat down to start making . . . yes, MORE TRIANGLES.



So I made . . . yes . . . more triangles . . . and turned them into large triangles . . . and I blocked them. Then I started to lay them out according to the schematic . . . again.


At this point I began to think that perhaps I was missing a few brain cells. I even went on Ravelry and looked up the pattern again hoping that someone else made it that had more brain cells than me . . . and there would be a 'oh, that's how you do it' epiphany. There wasn't. 




No matter what I did, I didn't seem to have enough triangles. See the triangle 'holes' on the right edge and again on the left edge? Hmm . . . it's the exact size as one of the large triangles. But the pattern said to make 2 for the back . . . which I did . . . but they are up at the top of the neck.






It now seemed time to try and use the few brain cells I have, so I got out pen, paper and a calculator . . . and I totaled up how many triangles I've made. I'm suppose to make 78 . . . I have made 74. Using the detective skills I've acquired through watching many episodes of Law and Order and Blue Bloods . . . I realize there is a mistake/misprint in the pattern.  If I make 4 more triangles and turn them into 2 large triangles . . . which will precisely fit into the two holes on the side . . . I will have 4 large triangles for the back - not 2 called for in the pattern - and a total of 78 triangles . . . which the pattern calls for. That's a lot of thinking and math for me. 

Okay . . . 4 more triangles. I am SO tired of triangles.

If my husband suggests a trip to Bermuda . . . I may go screaming from the room . . . . . I'm sure we'd end up in . . . you guessed it . . .

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.






Thursday, October 6, 2016

Getting Squared Away

I blocked another bunch of squares for my Counterpane Masterpiece. I knew I was getting close to the 15 squares I needed, so I did another count as I took them off my blocking board . . . because the last thing on earth that I want to do is make extra triangles!!! 

Then I counted again. 

Woohoo!!!!!

I need 15 . . . I have 13 done and blocked . . . 4 triangles done and ready to be sewn together . . . which leaves . . . one square, or 4 triangles, left! (And yes, I was so excited to be that close to finishing them . . . that I counted again!)

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm looking forward to knitting something other than triangles . . . and a long weekend to do it in!!

Of course the squares still have to all be sewn together . . . 


Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.