Like how the toes are perpendicular to where they are supposed to be when the heel is pointing down? And how if the toes are on where they should be, then the ankle would be pointing off at a 90 degree angle of where it should be? Sweet.
So I took an extra needle and put it through all the stitches on the row before I started the short row heel,
then frogged back to the starting point. I was only off by one row on the three stitches at the end, I couldn't believe it. Usually when I have to rip back and I make myself a safety, I end up with several stitches in the middle of the row and a few on each end that are in the row below the one I was trying to pick up. Seriously, this was like a miracle for me. Here's what it looked like after I ripped back and picked up those end stitches so I wouldn't have to tell you about my apparent deficiency in figuring out which row a stitch is on:
And then I knit the short-row heel again.
Which really means that I knit two short-row heels and about six inches on two socks in about eight hours. Not bad. People are always asking me how long it would take to knit such-and-such, and I never know what to say. Should I answer in the shortest-possible time frame? Like, if I were knitting constantly for so many hours, how many hours would it take? Or should I give them a reasonable estimate, including the weeks when I put it in the closet because we had company coming and then started on something else because I forgot where I put the first object? Technically, I've been working on the Checks and Charms set for several months, but I haven't actually worked on it for several months, either. It's all about perspective.
I suppose I could get all spiritual on them and explain that the set backs are all part of the process, and the longer it takes me to knit something, the better it is because I love the act of making something beautiful. I guess I could explain that ripping back that heel and undoing hours of work didn't bother me at all, because I could do it over again. Also because it would have been utterly useless to leave it as is. I want to take the time and make something that I really like when I'm finished. It's about the act of knitting for me, but I hate talking like that. I feel like a Buddhist talking like that. And I don't want to sound pretentious. So what do I tell them?
"A few weeks."
3 comments:
Just, say, eh, not that long. It really is all relative.
If you're talking to me, just tell me it will take me a lifetime. Beacause, in all reality, it will.
You could go with being "mysterious" it will take as long as it takes...*pause* wait for it..they will undoubtedly respond "oh, ok then"
Post a Comment