So, I went in for help to my LYS, Borealis Yarns, on Thursday to solve two problems, and ended up solving three. Abby is responsible for the first two, and I claim all responsibility for the last one.
1) The Kitty Pi bed wouldn't felt properly; the sides in particular were floppy. Recommendation: Get the bed wet again; rub Fels Naptha, a lye-based laundry soap, into the recaltruant parts; and run through another cycle on the washing machine. I've just purchased the soap, and will experiment tonight.
2) While felting the Kitty Pi bed, in the cold and relatively dark basement, with the distraction of trying to figure out the washing cycles, I tried to knit a bit more of the ribbing on the DNA scarf. Unfortunately, I stuck a big ol' row of purls in a knit row, in the first row, and ended up knitting about 7 more rows without realizing it. Ugh, it looked horrid. I went in for help in ripping back, but instead Abby taught me a much more excellent technique. First, put a DPN or a cable needle below just the section with the mistake (in this case, just below the four purls). Then, take the stitches above off the needle, and ladder down to the DPN (Eeeee!). Put the stitches from the DPN on the knitting needle, and work in pattern using the "ladder rung" for each row. This is like doing short rows, so you either need to alternate working right and left, turn the piece, or keep slipping the stitches back to the stationary needle. Abby did the lower rows, since they have a shorter "rung" and are harder to do, and I did the last two. It went okay except for the last stitch, between the knit and purl ribbing, which Abby had to correct. I think I'll be able to do it correctly next time, though. (I should have gotten pictures, but I thought I would just be learning how to rip back easily. Oh well.)
3) I've been on this quixotic quest to match the teal in the Schaefer Anne "jewel tone" colorway that I purchased, or at least do something more original than purple, which would just be copying other people. I was checking out the current crop of Schaefer Anne and fell in love with a new colorway, that I think will suit me much better. More on this in a later post, since it involves much love and betrayal (of yarn, that is) and requires many pictures.
Sadly, the reward for all of this help was two customers oohing and ahhing over the kitty bed. They wanted to do a felted bag, so I directed them to the Noro Kureyon and the booga bag / SnB Never Spring armwarmer patterns. "But where is the yarn you used to make this?" "Um, no, you really don't want this for a bag, much too thick and heavy... ooh, look at the pretty colors in this Kureyon!" Well, it is too thick.
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