My new employee has arrived. So far, she has fetched things and coiled cable. I haven't thrown the cable yet, so I cannot tell if it was done properly. Still, I have some reservations about her abilities. I plan to give her a chance, as I should, since her position is considered on par with an internship. I've been spoiled by having a highly trained, super cool board op for the start of the season. So, I'm working on making work for the new employee to secretly, or not so secretly, test her skills.
I've finished knitting the back of the Jaeger silk v-neck. The pattern was poorly written, in a stereotypical european way. That is not to say that european knitwear designers are bad, but that they assume a level of knitting skill or sophistication that is not assumed in american patterns. Basically, I needed a diagram for a tricky decrease, which I and my veteran knitter roommate couldn't puzzle out. Eventually I got it, and I'm glad that the decrease is only used a few times in the pattern. It does make me less likely to make any of the other sweaters in the book. I love the drape of the fabric, so I might forget and make one of the other projects in a year or so. There is a lovely cardigan in the book.
I had a chat with my mother today about sizing in knitting patterns. I was looking at a very charming book of rewritten vintage patterns, none of which came large enough to fit my bust size. Did women in the past only have small breasts?! If I were a savvy knitter, I sould adapt the patterns to fit, but with so many lacy and otherwise complicated patterns, I had to conclude that it wasn't worth the effort. I find that to be the case with a lot of the european pattern houses and often with Vogue. They sometimes omit larger sizes from a pattern that are available in the manufacturer's pattern.
I broke down and bought glassware for the apartment. I'm tired of drinking out of red plastic tumblers like I still live in the dorms. How did all of our glasses disappear? So Travis and Lisa and I broke them in on a bottle of four dollar wine. It was kind of like a classier version of Boone's Farm. None of that kid's stuff for us! I happened across a $1 sale on cobalt glass at Pier One and may return soon for more tumblers. They seem the most likely to disappear, and how many martini glasses do we need?
I'm still working on the pair of merino socks for my grandmother. So, they'll be a belated birthday present. After that, I've another pair to finish for my mom's birthday. I was overly ambitious in my yarn packing, but it's hard to predict what I'll want to work on. I've decided to stash the Peace Fleece cardigan kit that I bought. I don't want a million projects going at once. Also, I'm not sure that I'll want to work on a big worsted weight sweater in the august heat. Maybe when I'm spending more time sitting and waiting in tech, I'll be able to knit more. I did some turbo knitting while teching my last show.