Relief…

The update on the tests: Organic Chem was ok until I got to the naming portion. I knew that would be my downfall going into it, and I was right. I need to figure out how the whole chaining carbons works and how I count the chain. Ok, I know how it works – but sometimes it is a branch and some times it isn’t. So I need to know when it is 2,4-dimethylbutane and when it is 2,4-dimethyloctane. Or something like that. (I’m just making those up as I go along.) The Trig test rocked, as it flowed a lot like the review she gave us last week. I did make a mountain out of a molehill on one problem, and for the life of me could not work it out. It went something like sin(7a+3 degrees)=cos(a-4 degrees) and I was rambling around in the wrong direction. I started working it out when I was thinking about the fact that sin(60)=cos(90-60) and it should have lead me to sin+cos=90 for the problem above. (Again, I’m making up the numbers, so I don’t even know if that works out.) Unfortunately, I didn’t make it all the way through to that. Doh! Just dropping the sin and cos and adding 7a+3+a-4=90 would have allowed me to solve for a. Oops. Oh well, that was the only one that stumped me, so hopefully I will have an A on the test. As for the chem test, I just kept reminding myself that he drops the lowest grade.

My garter stitch photo from Monday was the beginning of the body portion of the sweater I am knitting, which is the Cottage Creations Babies and Bears for Grown-Ups sweater. The problem is that the pattern only gives gauge for the stockingette stitch portion of the sleeve. It doesn’t give a gauge for the garter stitch portion. Next problem is that I didn’t knit to gauge on the sleeve – it was supposed to be 4 stitches per inch, and I knit it at 4.5 stitches per inch. I liked the fabric better. The sleeve is big as it is, and if I had knit it to gauge it would have been *huge*. It is an oversized sweater pattern, and I picked it for the roomy sleeves, but I don’t need them to be that roomy. You can tell it was designed by someone in Iowa, who probably needs a few more layers than I wear down here in Texas.

The main body of the sweater is like a big mitered square, so the length of the body is sideways garter stitch. I was afraid it would stretch too much, since I am using (and loving!) the Brooks Farm 4-Play yarn, which is a 50/50 merino wool/silk blend.

I’m going to be frogging part of the sleeve back because I had a few inches of pooling, right where the sleeve reached the right length for the repeats to line up too much. It is at the elbow and probably not a big deal to anyone but me, but the sweater moves fast as it is knit in the round, and I find the pooling irritating. Why bother finishing something that bugs you? So frogging is the way to go, and then it will be the way that I want it after I alternate the balls of yarn. When I get back to the garter stitch portion of the body, I’ll just stick to the size 7 needles.

The perk of the sweater’s construction is that you knit one half, then you knit the other half, and then you graft them together. When I get to the “end” of the first half, I put all of the live stitches onto waste yarn so I can try it on then and make sure it fits. If I need to increase the size some, I can just put it back on the needles and knit a few more rows. In other words, this is probably the best pattern for me to get over my sweater phobias!

On a side note, I owe a lot of people e-mails right now. However, Mike is out of town, I have a zillion things to do, I didn’t get enough sleep this week with the test stress, and – most importantly! – I have some tasks I need to take care of for the photography business. Now. Right away. Elaine is waiting on me, and I hate to leave her waiting. So in addition to reading my Organic Chem book tonight and cleaning the kitchen, I’ll be reading and reviewing things for Fresh Photography. I honestly (really! seriously!) can’t tell you how happy that makes me. It just feels good to have the first tests over and done with – now I know what to expect for the next ones. So if you are waiting for e-mail from me (Julia, I owe you about 10 by now!), I promise – SOON. But not tonight.