They sew. What do knitters do? They knit.
Being as I do both, guess what I did? LOL. And I re-discovered that I have a love - hate relationship with costuming. I love the final product, I love the actual 'making' of stuff, but boy, when it goes wrong, it make me want to tear my hair out.....
In the case of sewing, and armscye needed to be completely reworked (actually it was reworked 2x over) and I had to readjust several seams. And this is on a SIMPLE pattern that I already made (sans sleeves). Because apparently, when you add sleeves, it changes the WHOLE fricking geometry of the armscye and the back panels. Ugh. (I hate seam ripping, even basted stitches!)
And apparently, I have the same relationship with knitting. Apparently, I am incapable of looking at simple mathematical formulas and charts to discover the appropriate numbers I need to knit up a sock. You don't really need a pattern to knit up a pair of vanilla socks -- just the appropriate numbers for your foot, the stitch gauge for the yarn, and viola....finished sock! Geometry in all of its finest.
I frogged several inches of my sock project TWICE over because I was incapable of looking at a simple matrix to find out how many stitches I needed to actually knit.
When I actually did a small try-on, the toe of the sock was too big. Luckily, I didn't actually get any farther than 4" on the sock, so I ripped back two inches, which might not seem like a lot, but that's about 18 rows of stitches AND I'm knitting two at the same time, so ....well, let's just say it was doubly painful.
Why am I knitting up a pair of socks? Because I finally finished the "Viral Clap" shawl/scarf/stole, based off of Clapotis on Knitty.com. Named, because it's a viral pattern (i.e. almost all knitters seems to be doing it) and it's smaller than than the prescribed pattern, hence "clap" from "clapotis"
Yeah, I know why mathematicians knit. Because it involes a lot of fricking math & geometry. The socks are only one example.
For this project, because I didn't have the required yardage for the original pattern, I had to figure out patterns finished area & yardage per inch, then make adjustments based on my given yardage and make adjustments to the finished area. I actuallly got paranoid at one point, because I wasn't sure if my calculations were even correct to begin with! Luckily, they were and I had plenty of yardage to spare.
Yes, I've been doing a lot of math for knitting. Kinda like sewing, except even MORE SO, because with sewing, you have to take account funky body types, including mine that don't conform to standard "pattern measurements" off a "standard" body type. Hmph.
Anyways, here's the finished shawl/stole/scarf...whatever. It can be worn several ways.
Dude, and I'm not even FOND of math ...so says the girl who double-majored in math & CompSci in college....(Yeah, I'm all over theoretical calculus and mathematics to a certain extent. Geometry, not so much, except when it comes to pool & knitting. I really should have paid more attention in class.....Oh, and don't even ask me to figure out the tip amount for a waiter/waitress!
No comments:
Post a Comment