Who knew tying shoes was so rare?

I tied my shoe today. Normally, one wouldn't think this was noteworthy, however I can say that I don't think I've tied a shoe in several months. Seriously. Ok, there was the one time in Ohio when I tied Raymond's shoe because he was having trouble with his back and couldn't bend down. I wear my sneakers every day - I take them off without untying them, then put them on without untying them. But today, for some reason, one shoe came untied, so I tied it. I know what you're thinking.... what a weirdo.


Meantime, I've started the Heather Hoodie Vest from Knitscene ( http://www.knitscene.com/issue/Fall-2009/heather-hoodie-vest.asp ) and it was quite the event last night at the knit-in as I was whining and complaining about having to do a guage swatch. I did one and my guage was spot on. I was so excited. Until Robin said, "You really should block it before you measure it." Ugh. More whining and complaining. [Mind you, for some reason I was blocking out the fact that my top down cardigan came out larger than I expected even though my (unblocked) gauge swatch was perfect. After I blocked it, I measured and was a half stitch off! Which is a lot.]


So, off I went to the back room, soaked the swatch, gently squeezed it out and proceeded to measure it every 5 minutes even though it wasn't dry. Sure enough, the guage changed. It was 3.5 sts/inch before blocking. After blocking, while still wet, it was 3.25 or 3 depending where I measured. It was pretty clear that some adjusting was needed. Rather than change needle size, Nancy helped me figure out that I could knit the next smaller size (and Elizabeth pointed out that I should knit to the length of the larger size) but still get the size I wanted. [This morning, once it was dry, the gauge was 3.25 inches and thus proving Robin's point. Thanks Robin!]



And take a look at my One Button Wonder:



I started this on Sunday and finished it Wednesday afternoon! It is made with the Big Softie super bulky yarn. LOVE. IT. So soft and comfortable. The patterns in the Sirdar Big Softie books are great and really simple - geared toward beginners. Talk about a quick knit.

I'm off to work on the new class schedule! Stay tuned....