MISTAKE

My head is very sore (there was much wine imbibing at the Good Food Show today) and I feel like I’ve been banging it against a wall for the past half hour. I’ve been working on this damn Knot & Cable Jacket all evening and just when I thought I’d finally got it sussed, it starts making no sense. I’ve done the “ribbing” cables down at the bottom, and it’s time to start the cable crossing proper. But no matter what I do, Row 1 of the Right Front just doesn’t work. And why doesn’t it work? BECAUSE THE PATTERN IS WRONG. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I finally decided to add up the number of stitches to make sure it’s right. AND IT ISN’T. The line as written adds up to 70 stitches, and (as verified by the previous line) you’re supposed to have 68. The weird thing is it’s not listed in the official revisions, so I guess that means I’m the first to find it. And all it took was a raging headache and a calculator. HARRUMPH.

The Next Morning: Okay, I can think again. Here’s the actual error for the benefit of future Googlers:RIGHT FRONT

(after the first 15 rows)

Set up row (wrong side) Patt 0(4:8), [patt 16, m1] twice, patt 6, m1, patt 16, m1, patt 6. 64(68:72) sts.

(I’ve done that and have the correct number of stitches – 68.)

Change to 5mm (US 8) needles.
1st row Patt 6, [work 22 sts of 1st row of cable panel B, T2L] twice, patt 12(16:20).

That line’s the mistake. It adds up to 2 more stitches than you have on the needles. The “Patt 6” at the start should be “Patt 4”. That makes everything work correctly. The same line on the Left Front is correct as written.

I would’ve sent this in to the Debbie Bliss website, but they don’t have a frickin’ contact address that I can find. NOTHIN’. So I e-mailed the importer that I bought the book from; hopefully he can forward it on to them.

EQUALIZER

EQUALIZER! Oh my stars and *%&!ing garters! HARRY KEWELL, YOU BEAUTY! All I can say is, it’s about goddamn time. Now we just have to hold on for ten minutes…

Ten minutes later: Sweeeeeet. WE’RE THROUGH! But hey, that referee sucked, huh? And correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Simonic get THREE yellow cards?

Invitation

Any of you Sydney females want to score some free movie tickets? I just got invited by the Nielsen people to watch a preview screening of a new TV show next Monday night, and they give you two free tickets for going. I can invite “three other female friends between 16-64.” Yeah, the whole thing was a bit marketing-spammy, but I don’t have anything on that night and it’ll be good blogging fodder. (It’s sad that that’s my criteria for doing things, isn’t it?) Plus I’ve always wanted to have more influence in deciding what CRAP gets shown on TV. So if you’re free Monday the 26th and you want to join me, just drop me a line. (The screening’s at 6:30pm in the city.)

Update: They’ve changed the date. It’s now on July 3rd.

DietBlog

I’ve been quiet on the WW front lately, mostly because I put on a little bit two weeks ago (up to 79kg) and I haven’t done much to take it off. Last night I was due to get my Lifetime Membership, and I was a little depressed thinking that I was going to be over my Goal. Not much of a victory, huh? So I got ready to go to the meeting, and just before I left the house I stepped on the bathroom scales. It was under 78kg. “Huh! Maybe this isn’t going to suck after all!” I said to the cat. Half an hour later I weighed in officially… 77.5kg. That’s my lowest ever. How the heck did that happen? I had Una’s last weekend, for God’s sake! It’s inexplicable. (I have made one tiny change to my diet lately, but I’m not going to tell you about it til I confirm it’s having a positive effect.) Our leader Barbara was so happy for me, and she made me get up in front of everybody and tell them what I’d learned over the past year. I also got the “key” charm for my keyring and got my official LTM card (which gets me free meetings for life, as long as I stay under Goal). After the meeting I spotted Karen sitting in the back row, and impulsively I stopped to tell her how much she inspired me at my absolute rock bottom. I can only hope that I did the same for somebody else in the room last night!

And here’s something fun for those of you wondering what 22.5kg means in real size terms. I had the Snook take my measurements on April 10th last year, the day I started WW. I had him do them again last night:

Neck: lost 3.5cm (Off my neck? WHAT?)
Upper Arm: lost 6.5cm
Chest: lost 14cm (but my boobs haven’t deflated too much)
Waist: lost 20cm (That’s the biggie. I’ve now officially got an hourglass shape!)
Abdomen: lost 15cm (Curse my pot belly!)
Hips: lost 10cm
Upper Leg: lost 13cm
Calf: lost 4cm

(For confused Americans, 10cm is about equal to 4 inches.)

Ennis and Jack

Umm, I received a postcard at the shop today from Ennis and Jack. That’s right; the two gay sock monkey cowboys I stitched six months ago sent me a postcard. It’s a picture of them in a little house. And I don’t think it was Craig the winner, because he’s in the US and this was sent locally. So ‘fess up, who did it? I’m guessing Miss Fee, but I could be wrong. The handwriting looks so familiar…