brainylady

Brrr, it's cold in here...

...there must be some Clovers in the atmosphere. Yes, I'm doing cheers to keep warm. It's 10 degrees here (that's 50 Yankee degrees), and let me first say that I know that's not very cold in the grand scheme of things, BUT those of you who are in colder places right now probably have heating. It's probably not 10 degrees in your apartment. It was the same yesterday. Bill and I ventured out -- with long johns under our pants -- to Grandma Nitti's (a restaurant where lots of foreigners go for Western food) and had enchiladas. We cleaned the house in the afternoon, which is what everyone in the city was doing, in order to begin the new year free of last year's clutter. In the evening we went to see The Last Samurai, which I totally enjoyed. The streets were nearly empty, which is very strange. Same thing today. Most people are with family out of town or are staying in, eating and playing mah jongg. Every now and then, someone sets off firecrackers. (It sounded like a warzone out there last night!)

I knitted a bit yesterday on my Koigu sock, and I think I'm at the point of working the heel. Here's a photo, where the colours have been highly manipulated but still aren't quite right:



I'm using the basic short-row toe-up pattern, but I'm totally wary about the heel/instep. Even though various people have assured me that socks made from this pattern do fit around the bend of one's foot, I have trouble accepting this. OK, here's a visual tutorial of my fears:



I can accept that the sock (at 72 stitches) does and will fit well around the orange circumfrences. It's the red circumfrences that worry me. Look at how much farther it is around the red lines than the orange lines! It just seems wrong to me! I'm a bit paranoid because I knit a toe-up Confetti sock in the fall (while I was at the Crotch, actually) and even though the foot fit, it was like a sausage casing around the bend of my foot. I'm considering increasing a few stitches on the instep; does anyone do that with toe-up short-row-heel socks?

I loved everyone's comments over the past couple of days about Chinese stuff. Thanks so much! And best wishes for the Year of the Monkey! Xin Nian Kwai-le! Gongxi Fatsai!