Monday, February 12, 2007

The increases on the Central Park Hoodie sleeves are done. I've got perhaps another 2" to knit before I start the sleeve caps.

I'm thinking about the next sweater. I think I'm going to start the Grecian pullover, since the yarn came for it. I'm still on the fence about sizing, though. I bought enough (and an extra ball) for the 46" size, but I'm seriously considering the 42" size...it's supposed to be a fairly close-fitting garment and I suspect it would stretch enough to fit properly over the bust. (I'm something like 43 1/2" at the biggest point) The only issue is the sleeves...I do NOT have small arms and the sleeves on the 42" size might look uncomfortably tight. I wonder if the sleeve cap shape and size is all that different between those sleeves and the next size up? Because I could do the 42" body, then, and the 46" sleeves, and have a nice compromise for my "I'd like people to be able to see that I have a bust and a waist while I'm wearing this" and "but I have sort of fat arms."

I don't know. I'm still thinking.

I am oddly tired today. I suppose it's partly because I was in my office a lot this weekend and didn't get a lot of downtime. It's also sort of chilly and rainy and all hell's supposed to break loose this afternoon (thunderstorms, then the temperature drop something like 30 degrees overnight).

And from the It's Always Something files: my garage door opener broke yesterday. I think the motor burned out or something - the door opened but then I couldn't close it. I knew the remote was working because I heard the thing trying to switch over but the motor just kind of growled.

The good news is, my garage door stuck open (I have a detached garage with no other entrance/exit), and by fighting with the thing a little bit, I was able to decouple the door from the opener, so I can at least push it open and closed (it's a lightweight aluminium door).

But the bad news is:

a. I have to open and close the door by hand. Which is kind of a drag when the weather's bad because I have to do it out in the rain or snow or whatever.

b. I'm going to have to get someone out to look at the thing (standard frustration with workers in this town: "We will come either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, sometime between eight and noon or one and four, except if Wednesday is a new moon and then it will be between four and six. Please be at home during those times.")

c. It will cost money to fix. I really don't know how much a new garage door opener costs - if it's likle $200, that's fine, but if it's $800 or more...well, my whole dang garage isn't worth $800, I think.

(And please don't e-mail me assuring me how easy it is to install one myself. I'm sure it is. But I am on campus from 7 am until 5 pm some days and the thought of spending maybe 3 hours of my life - I am NOT handy - trying to install one of these things alone just doesn't appeal. And yeah, there's someone I could ask for help, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready to be beholden to him in that way yet. And I'm not sure his handy-ness extends to garage door openers)

I don't know. I will probably eventually break down and get a new one even if it is fairly expensive - it's one of those little quality-of-life issues for me...I KNOW I can survive without a garage door opener, people did for years and years and lots of people still do. But there's just something about being out in the rain at 7 am when it's still dark out (and it will be dark even longer into the year this year thanks to the foolish extension of Daylight Saving Time) and getting my hands dirty from pusing and pulling on the garage door that...well, it's just one of those things that I generally fit into the category of "being pecked to death by ducks."

3 comments:

Jennifer said...

I am there with you on the daylight savings thing. I hate the idea of extending it. What is the point? Plus - we have gotten an e-mail from our university about the havoc that will ensue because no computers are prepared to make the time change that early. And I doubt that it will save any energy - most places blaze with light 24 hours a day - regardless if people are working there or not. I mean, who sits in their office with the lights off (well, I did when I had an office with a window).

TChem said...

I have quite broad shoulders relative to the rest of my body, and I've knit at least one sweater where I knit a smaller size on the bottom and one size larger on the top (to make things even more complicated, I think I did the smaller sized armscye).

It worked well enough that I'd definitely do it again if I thought it was needed. So long as you keep it consistent, it should work fine.

Anonymous said...

DON'T attempt to fix it yourself. My husband fixed ours once and it never worked correctly (door would open and close several times each time you pushed the darn remote). I was thrilled when a lightening strike fried it (we think) and we called a professional. Well worth the money, it's a finicky job.

-- Grace in MA