Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Sole Searching

I have a pet peeve. Really, it is so stupid but it annoys me to no end. Most of the knit blogging world seems to accept the word knitted as the past tense of knit. "Last night I knitted the toe and finished my socks." The primary simple past tense of knit is, however, knit. "Last night I knit the toe and finished my socks." And though knitted is acceptable (it is the secondary example and probably has been added due to overwhelming misuse,) I will always prefer knit. As this is a personal preference, I have kept my mouth shut. Until now.

Recently I saw a post where the knitter stated she had casted on and knitted x number of rows. This I could not take lying down. Knitted and casted! I immediately Googled irregular verbs past tenses and while Merriam-Webster shows knit and knitted as acceptable (and this site confirms that indeed the past tense of knit is knit) there is no such leniency for cast. The past tense of cast is cast. Always. So cast on, knit away and bind off to your hearts content. Just do me a favor. Tomorrow, when you show me your wonderful work, please don't tell me how you casted, knitted and then successfully binded off. Please.
< /rant >

Progress report...

The Felted Clogs
A pretty easy little knit, if you read the instructions and pay attention to what you are doing. I messed up a few times but found that typing up the sole section in just my size and using a highlighter for the top section helped tremendously. Even adding the second sole wasn't so bad. In fact I was so proud of myself that I blithely went upon my seaming way and wasn't paying attention that I seamed the inner sole to the inside of the shoe instead of the outside leaving a nice little ridge which would have proven downright UNcomfortable. So I opened them back up and re-seamed them.

The Felted Clogs are now ready to be felted. All I need is a pair of jeans to speed up the agitation process. And that may be more difficult than all the knitting. You think I'm kidding? I have no jeans nor do I know anyone with jeans. It's the lifestyle, what can I say. I have met a few women who wear denim skirts, including my new roommate. I just need her permission borrow said skirt and place it into a hot water wash cycle. Here's hoping!

finished clogs

see the soles

Jerusalem Jaywalkers
I thought I had finished up a sock and was ready to cast on the second. Alas, the sock was a wee bit short, even for the tiny toed High-Jinx Junky. As I posted on Friday, I spent Shabbos in Boro Park. Lucky for me, one of my hosts has small feet. Again, not as small as H-J J but almost (size 35, they might as well be for doll's!) Because of the tight fit and my disastrous First Socks, I have been a nervous wreck about these fitting. But M was able to get them on no problem and so I continued on getting in some KIP on the NY Subway and the bus back to Passaic. In fact I did so well that by Sunday evening I was doing a Kitchener stitch to close this baby up. And then, and only then, did I pull out the tape measure and find that they were 1" too short. It was only my miscalculations in foot length that proved to be my undoing. So I opened them back up and ripped back to before the toe decreases.

Jerusalem Jaywalkers 1" before toe decreases

Now I am working on that last inch. Shouldn't take long. And, I have found another volunteer to try them on for me. B is local and a friend of H-J J. Her toes may not be as dainty, but they are close. Once I confirm that all is well I'll work the toe decreases and sigh a big sigh of relief.

Then, of course, I get to cast on the second sock.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

yeah, that "knitted" thing really bugs me too -- glad to see you're on top of the situation. Love that cable scarf, too.
Knit away,
channah k.