So... Do You Want the Good News First, or the Bad?

Yes, well, when it rains, it pours.  Good news?

Kauni Cardigan is complete.  Except for weaving in just a few ends and tacking down the steek facing thingys.  She is absolutely lovely!  On the board. 

The bad news?  Even with all the measuring and futzing and general sleeve anxiety, the sleeves are still about a repeat too long.  Grrr.  And rolling up a colorwork sleeve?  Not so attractive.  I'll have to rip them and re-knit the cuffs.  After Rhinebeck.  Because a note to all those Bingo players -- I'll wear this on Saturday if weather permits!  I bet there will be several, if not more than several, Kaunis at the blogger meet-up.

Details: Kauni Cardigan, by Ruth Sorenson.  I knit the largest size. 

• Needles:  Sizes 3US and 4US.
• Yarn:  Kauni Effektgarn, color EQ, ordered here.  Just email Uta; she is lovely, and her English is way better than my Danish...
• Time:  August 6, 2007 to October 9, 2007.
• Modifications:  I knit a garter box rather than corrugated ribbing at the sleeves, hem, and neck.  Let me just say, PITA!  Buttonholes were a particular challenge.  I found a great buttonhole tutorial for corrugated ribbing in my Art of Fair Isle Knitting book -- now you tell me!  Absolutely no help at all.  After ripping 4 times (because you have to get a row or two past the button hole to see if it's at all attractive...)  I settled on the following:  Cast off 4 in the alternating color; cable cast on 4 from the left needle in the same color; knit over the 4 in the other color.  While not exactly in pattern, it gives the impression of colorwork and alternating colors and if you're looking too closely at my buttonholes, then you're looking too closely at my chest and you need to step back a few!  We'll see if that gets any weird Google hits.
• How do I feel about this knit?  Loved knitting it.  With a passion.  To the exclusion of many other things.  Do I love the fit?  No.  As is the nature of the drop shoulder, it is a little saggy.  Perhaps when it gets more winterish outside, the fit will seem more like what I'm supposed to be wearing...  In fairness, my fit issues might be that I tried it on dampish with a tank top and no buttons.  Because it was like 90° here.  With the right turtle neck and with winter fitting clothes in mind, it might be perfect.  When it cools off appreciably here, I'll let you know.  It's down to 53° now... any idea about the weather next weekend in upstate New York?!

Speaking of Rhinebeck... I'm so excited to go.  I'm going with Bridgett and we'll be staying in Saugerties -- much shorter drive Monday morning to the Albany Airport.  Have fun in Poughkeepsie though -- maybe we can drive up there on Saturday night and party with you all.  I'll be looking for (in this order):  Roving, Roving, the yarn for 1 sweater for me, Roving, and ... oh, some roving.  Maybe some more yarn.  I don't know...

The bad news?  Well it's kind of a story... get a cup of coffee.  Two weekends ago, we got several prank/hang-up phone calls.  It was Friday night, I was working (we're open Friday nights now folks!  Partayy!) and Daughter called me -- she doesn't answer the phone unless she's sure of the identity of the caller.  The CallerID showed the name of a pretty good kid from 8th grade, but he kept hanging up.  It was freaking her out.  I told her to let it go to the answering machine.  The next call  was a different voice telling her to call this kid... well, she wasn't gonna do that!   

Next morning, I had to be somewhere with Dear Son, and soon  Dad was on my cell phone saying that he had gotten two more calls from this same number, both hang-ups!  He was honked off.  I told him to let it go to the machine... to stop picking up the phone and the calls would stop.  When I got home the message on the machine was as follows:  " (whispered by what sounds like Mom) just tell her it's you and for her to call you!"  and then, "Hithisis(boy's name)couldyouhave (Daughter)callme"click.  Just like that, all run together and fast and ... Oh my gosh! 

So she called him back, and ... you guessed it, she's going to his all-boys-school homecoming.  Turns out that the voice we didn't recognize the night before was his mom... ***grin***.  And of course all the hang-ups with Daughter  and with Dad were this poor guy chickening out.  And really, before you worry, he is a really nice kid, one of the few from that class.   And he is already an Eagle Scout (at 14!).  And he and Daughter had been buddies in 5th, 6th, and 7th, but the other kids had teased them for being friends, so there hadn't been much contact in 8th grade.  So.  How is this bad news?  The dance is the 21st of October.  Ahem.  Heavy Sigh. So, we've got dress, hair and make-up appointment, and accessories all set up -- it's up to Dad to execute.  Heavy sigh again.  You control freaks out there will commiserate with the knot in my stomach.

More Good and Bad in no particular order:

• Good for me to be on the board of our neighborhood association.  We should all participate in local governance.  Bad for me is that, while I am Treasurer and accomplish a number of neighborhood related tasks each month, the 60-ish men CEOs on the board keep asking me to "run things to ground" for them -- you know, niggling little tasks like ordering plaques for them to present to neighbors who win their committee awards and newsletter snafus. And they call me "Annie".  Which I choose on my blog, but I do not choose in this milieu -- it's a little pet-nameish...  Which is of course how they use it.  I politely replied that I'd let him run this little task to ground himself, thankyouverymuch, and that when he needed a check for the order, he could call me...
• Good that Dear Son can accomplish multiplication when there are two numbers in the top row and two numbers in the bottom with relative ease -- in his head, actually.  Bad that he doesn't read the directions which call for him to estimate these answers.  Which gets him an F on his Math test... for getting all of the problems correct.  Estimating would take several more steps than just writing down the exact answer and he can't be bothered.   Neither can his Math teacher be bothered to get her head out of her a@@ and see that his answers are correct and that he doesn't NEED to estimate that kind of problem and if she wants him to have to estimate which is actually a good skill to have that she'll have to present him with more difficult problems!  Holy crap!  No really, I get it... he needs to estimate.  Just not at this level, and he'll learn to estimate, but I think it's lazy of her not to notice that he's just gotten all of the problems mathematically correct ... she could talk to him about it, or give half credit or something!  The test just came home with giant red slashes all over it and a big F at the top.  Nice.
• Good that I'm learning all this new music for my Gaelic concert.  It is lovely, really lovely music.  Haunting in that Irish music kind of way and I love the harmonies.  Bad that I'm learning all this new music for this Gaelic concert.  Really.  'Cause Irish Gaelic has lots of sounds that I don't make in normal American speech, and I'm spitting all over my music, and For God's Sake there are way more syllables than notes in here, aren't there?!  It's stressing me out.

Comments

[debbie]

awwww, what a sweet, sweet, young love story! I love that they got together even through all the hang-up calls!

[Nicole]

The Kauni is beautiful!

[Jennifer]

Kauni is gorgeous! We want to see a modeled shot!

That poor boy. He must have been so nervous! Sorry it's so soon, but how cute is that story.

[Julie]

Oh I love the DD story with the shy young man - my girls have been there. And mom enjoy the moment - because later they won't want you helping with the dress, hair, accessories etc! have your checkbook ready!! Enjoy

[margene]

There you are again...so busy! I'm very envious you'll be at Rhinebeck and I will not. I'd love to see Kauni in person!

[Kim]

The swaeter is beautiful. I'm jealous! Sorry to hear about the math test. Can he retake now that he undstands the directions?

[Eileen]

I haven't been checking blogs for awhile, so I was delighted to read this. The sweater is great, and the boy story is even better. Too bad that you'll miss it, but Rhinebeck is a great excuse and there will be pictures!

[Kelly]

Kauni is beautiful! Hopefully I'll see it and you in Rhinebeck! I'm sure your daughter will be just fine. I can sympathize with the control issue. I'd feel the same way.

I agree with you that your son should have at least gotten half credit or been able to have a re-test!

[Pat K]

I feel bad for your son about the math test. One of my daughters knew how to read and spell when she started school but was told by the idiot teacher to write words the way they sounded to her. She kept spelling correctly (and I kept complaining) but the teacher insisted on her way. Finally the daughter turned in absolute gobbledygook one day in pure frustration and the teacher was estatic. Daughter gave up trying to spell correctly and it took years to recover from that one fool teacher. Hope your son keeps working at his own pace.

[scout]

Gosh but it's sooooooo beautiful! Could you like walk around with weights dangling from your arms to stretch them out a bit? ;)