Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Endless Pi and an Apology

Yes, this is what you think it is. Endless Pi. I don't remember being this dense before, but it has finally happened. My elevator didn't reach the top floor. My lights were on, but no one was home. My choo-choo train wasn't on the tracks. And any other sayings you can dream up.


Let me 'splain, Lucy. I finished the beautiful "Gull Stitch" portion of the shawl. Now to choose a border. EZ calls for either a crocheted border (that would have been completed in one day, most likely) or a "knitted on" border. Now, being the big headed sophisticated knitter that I pretend to be, I chose the knitted on. Knitting on a border means that you are working sideways around your shawl, just catching a stitch at a time and knitting it to the border you choose. So you knit away from the shawl, then knit back. And when you knit back, you catch one, just one stitch of the shawl on your needles along with the last knitted border stitch. That attaches the border to the edge of your shawl. With me so far? Well, Miss Fancy-Pants here chose a beautiful scalloped border, as you know.

Very pretty. Each scallop takes 16 stitches to complete. "No problem", says I. Famous last words. Here 1/2 month later, I am still working on this border. AND, I miscalulated. I had done math. BAD idea. At the end of the gull stitch section, where I was working on 574 stitches around, I had increased two stitches and then divided 576 by 16 to get 36. OK. I thought 36 repeats are do-able. Do you see my mistake yet? Never once did it cross my mind that for each of the 576 stitches I would have to knit TWO rows of the scalloped border. One row away from the shawl, and one row back, catching just one stitch of the shawl. So instead of 36 repeats, I would really be doing ...oh help me...more math.....36+36=SEVENTY-TWO!!!!!!!!!!!

So, here I am, knitting endless pi, shaking my head and wondering where my math teacher went wrong with me. Sorry, Mrs. Stewart. You tried.

7 comments:

Jenni said...

My simple garter stitch border took forever too! It was worth it though. I loved it and it is so stretchy. But it used at least 250 yards!

Dharmafey said...

Yeah, but it's beautiful

tina said...

Now Now Now.............. it's okay, it really and truly is. It will be done. It is gorgeous and like childbirth, you will forget how horrible it was to go through. More than likely. Sort of.

And about the math stuff, follow my lead, never do math for any reason. It only ends up making you feel stupid in the end. I hate that.

Susan Luni said...

EZ herself didn't like crocheted borders. She knew how to do them, but much preferred knitted-on. So you are staying true to the original, even if it does take longer.
It will look fabulous.

Taueret said...

but it's beautiful!!

suzenbeez said...

Mrs. Stewart... Mrs. Stewart? Would that be my mom who failed in conveying the importance of numbers to you Renee?? ;)

Renée said...

The very same lady, suzenbeez! You know, it was very special having my 2nd grade teacher live two doors down from me. I loved that! I only remember having one negative comment on my report card from her, and it was for talking too much. (To Kenny McNutt!)I still chatter too much! lol