I think it’s a shawl

So this morning I got up and trucked myself down to Toronto Western Hospital for a 30 minute eye doctor appointment. (Actually, Joe trucked me, since I discovered that the front wheel of my bike is suddenly on backwards.) The 30 minute appointment turned into a 3 hour one, during which I was ritually blinded with the accursed drops of doom not just once (oh no…we wouldn’t want it to wear off…) but twice. Here I am, blind and pissed off (Note to any ophthalmologists reading the blog: I am aware that the drops are for the greater good. I understand that I have been blinded out of the doctors love and concern for my eyes and that it only seems that they are mean spirited and difficult) and hoping that I am writing coherently, but with no way to see the words I’m typing…I can’t be sure. (Please forgive any typos that exceed my normal level of typos).

Since it was three hours of waiting, I knit. I knit on my vacation knitting, The Lotus Blossom shawl. (Don’t ask what yarn. I can’t read the stinking label.) It looks like this:

Blur

The woman sitting next to me (also ritually blinded) said “That’s a pretty colour. ” Then, squinting at it…”What is it?”

“Well” I replied, “before the drops….it was a shawl”.

“Oh” the lady said (somewhat surprised) “How can you see what you’re doing?”

“I can’t.”

“But you’re knitting anyway?”

“Yes.”

“So…If it *was* a shawl….what is it now?”

Good question lady. I guess I’ll find out later when my vision clears and I can divine the damage I’ve done in the last 6 rows where I couldn’t see the chart or the knitting at all. I’m not sure what it says about me that in order to not just sit there bored, I’m willing to knit something so badly that I’ll have to have a total frog and do-over this evening.

For the rest of today (since interpreting which of my vacation pictures to post represents a technical difficulty in my ritually blinded state) I was going to write about my new Artfibers Siam and how I was going to knit it into Annie Modesitt’s Silk Corset, despite the difficulties the change in gauge represents. I had the yarn, the pattern and a pretty clever post written when I looked at Claudia’s entry for the day. Turns out that Claudia and I are channelling each other in a way that would really scare the crap out if me if I didn’t like Claudia as much as I do, as well as seeing the immediate benefit of her being a little ahead of me…so she can take some of the heat on this little experiment. Therefore, go read her post, but substitute this colour.

Chai

(Just imagine mine sort of blurry….and Claudia? Send me those pattern notes…will ya?)

40 thoughts on “I think it’s a shawl

  1. Gee Steph, I can’t wait until you can see… I wanna good look at that shawl! Y’know, it’s a good thing you waited until school started to get your eyes dilated, ‘cuz in this state there’s no way you can spot a hair tie.

  2. Oh, the cursed drops! I’ve been putting off my visit to the ophthalmologist for a year or three, even though I know it’d be high time to check the pressure thingie (which I don’t know the English name of).
    I want to make the Silk Corset too! But I’m waiting to lose another 40 or so kilos before I start. :-b

  3. I figure everyone else might be too compassionate to comment on the picture of the shawl (just in case it wasn’t on purpose), but I’m apparently a bitch, so here goes…
    Love how you managed to imitate your view of it for us so we can truly know how blurry your world is right now. Gorgeous colour.

  4. You have my complete and absolute empathy – a few weeks ago I was in the eye hospital, received the same eye drops of doom, eye drops that didn’t work at first so, hey, we’ll put a few more in since you don’t really _need_ to see for the next few hours, do you? Oh, you cycled here? Shame. But despite all this, I knit. I knit to stave off the boredom and I knit to relax while the world was becoming as blurred as my ethics in a wool sale. Problem was, I took along a project where you really really really need to be able to read the chart in order to do it. Am I knit-addicted if I’m willing to knit row after row that I know I’m going to rip out, just so I can? Don’t answer that 😉
    Heidi
    (Yup, the one who had the wool sent to her for a toe-cast cover)

  5. Ooooooooo! I *like* the corset! I’ll be keeping a close eye on how it goes for you. I won’t start checking for progress just yet, though. It’ll be a day or two before you get your sight back! I feel for you. And believe me. I would have kept knitting the lotus blossom too…:)

  6. I’m sure I’ll frighten everyone to death when I mention I once drove back to my office after the administration of said drops……..Across a crowded college campus, where NOT adding a new student hood ornament to ones vehicle each day is a major feat!!
    What was I thinking????? Or not!
    Must be eye exam week….my bad news, delivered yesterday (no drops), is I need bifocals!!!!

  7. Apparently there are ‘antidote’ drops that they can give you to undo the blurriness after the exam, but every time I ask about them, the eye doctor always gives me huge warnings like, “But I never like giving these to patients because they can cause infertility and cancer and blindness and premature menopause and paralysis, and the other drops will wear off in a few hours anyway so why bother, but if you really, REALLY want to destroy your life I’ll give you the drops, but only if you’re absolutely sure that you want to take them against medical advice. I shall leave it to your conscience and tell my nurse to refuse if you ask for them anyway.” Or something like that. No pressure.

  8. I like the corset. Only it’s not really a corset, more like a corset cover. Thanks to you and Claudia, too, I can find out what I’m in for before actually being in for it. Go, blind woman!

  9. I, too, would like to know what that blurry red yarn is. Didn’t you knit that pattern in alpaca dental floss once?
    I’m kind of perversely pleased about the thought of you and Claudia working out how to make a pattern SMALLER. I’m one of that crowd that frequently gets frustrated by so-called Large sizes that are nothing of the sort.

  10. Oooh, I hate the drops – evil, evil doctors. The second Lotus Blossom looks wonderful – I love the color! You and Claudia are hilarious. What are the chances? It’s really kind of scary that you two are so totally in sinc.

  11. You know what’s REALLY fun? Not just knitting, but weaving in ends after eye SURGERY. If you ever decide to try that, take my advice and don’t cut ANYTHING until you can see. It’s best for everyone involved. I think I’m about to be stung by that corset bug too, dang! Definitely gonna wait to see how y’all’s turns out though!

  12. Man, just when I’d been trying to stay away from the Artfibers website…
    You’re knitting something in red? Go, you! 🙂

  13. Hmmm… I bought some Siam for a shawl, but maybe I’ll do the corset. Some of our Peninsula Knitters (San Francisco area) have been doing the corset. There have been more than a few rants and more than a bit of frogging reported.
    My optometrist appointment is next week. I think I’ll take a garter-stitch scarf.

  14. I love that corset pattern and have been eyeing it for a while now. I also tried to do lace at my last eye doctor’s appointment. Black lace. Thank goodness I had just put in a lifeline because I ended up dropping several stitches and had to rip back.

  15. I just started the corset top a few days ago, and I LOVE knitting it. The construction is clever and I like how it comes together. However, and this is the same warning I gave Claudia, be careful about the sizing. Unless I’m missing something important, the number of stitches around at the bust for the smallest size at the given gauge (and of course this will be magnified if you do it at a smaller gauge), gives only 27″, not 35″ (and the discrepancy continues through all the sizes). I’m knitting the smallest size and got halfway through it before I did the math to figure that out, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be ripping and starting over (after I try it on to make sure, of course).

  16. I know exactly what you mean about those drops–last time I had them, I had to drive home afterward–in rush hour–in the dark–in the pouring rain. All the oncoming headlights had halos, and so did every single, blurry raindrop on my windshield. I consider myself lucky that I made it home in one piece. But still–I’ll take those drops over the after-effects of Novocaine from the dentist any day!

  17. the morning glories, did i tell you how beautiful they are? i’m always exhausted when someone sees me knitting in public; specially some place like a doctors waiting room and says ” i wouldn’t have the patience to do that” well…what? how can anyone have the patience to sit and DO nothing, eye sight working or not. that’s why i knit washcloths, even in the movies.
    marie in florida

  18. Funny but I’ve never been given the dreaded drops… I don’t know why – luck or incompetent ophthalmologist? Anyhow, too bad for you, although I do admire your commitment to your craft while under the influence!
    Love the idea of the corset but I am also shy of the 35″ minimum – measuring in at a boyish 31″ with sports bra. Please keep us posted on the downsizing of this cool pattern.
    Last, and not least, I have to shout out a big THANKS for your shawl blocking instructions. I followed them today with very good results, having finally finished Cozy… I was “wearing” it unblocked but love it so much more blocked. It is also in Tussah silk… great stuff, although mine has a slight scent and I’m wondering if that is normal? Anyone know?

  19. I got the drops a week ago. No fun! That’s pretty crazy about the unintentional knit-along. Hope it goes well for ya 🙂

  20. Don’t they have the UNdialate drops in Canada? I hate getting my eyes dialated, but at least my eye doctor uses the undialate drop after the exam to restore your vision – at least in part. The drops that I hate are the ones that stain your eyeballs yellow. Makes you look like the demon seed. I also don’t like that my eye doctor disapproves of my green tinted contact lenses. Honestly, I don’t care about his opinion. I get lots of compliments on the color of my eyes, and I like that!

  21. Lord, I hate the drops. Although it does give a nice Impressionist quality to one’s world view, it wrecks havoc with actually DOING anything. I knit in the ear doctor’s office today, but attempted nothing so daring as Lace While Blinded. The bravest I could be was to attempt knitting stockinette and reading a magazine at the same time.

  22. Did any one else hear that the man who owned the Koigu yarn company died late last year or early this year and that his family is thinking of just folding the company, because no one else knows the business like he did? How sad. Apparently Koigu orders are very hard to get filled these days.

  23. Stephanie — I’m working on my THIRD (and final) attempt at the Corset Top. I’m very small busted (like a 34″ bust) but decided to make the second to the smallest size (for a 38″ bust)since I’d read that it runs small. Let me tell you, when I got to the armholes on attempt number two, I could barely get my arms through it. I’m a size 4 and I do NOT recommend sizing the pattern any smaller than it already is. I agree with the previous poster that this top is not accurately calculated for the bust sizes given on the pattern. I’ve tried attempt number three on (with a different bind off and cast on at the armholes) and it will fit me just right (and plenty snug like a corset should be). Check out my blog if you want to see pics of attempts two and three of the top as well as pics of me (for sizing reference) before you start.

  24. My friend’s Mum, who is legally blind and grew up in England going to blind school,knits like you wouldn’t believe!
    Li

  25. I met a completely blind knitter last week while I was sat knitting on a bridge in town. She came and sat by me, with her guide dog, and told me that she knits arans and fairisle from braile patterns. She HEARD me knitting (on small needles, on a crowded bridge) and that’s why she came over. From feeling my knitting she correctly guessed the needle size and the tension of my piece but she couldn’t guess the yarn. It was hemp so I told her all about the new yarns that are out in the world now and how I go on the internet to find out about them and she told me all about knitting blind. It was an amazing encounter and I thought it might cheer you to hear about it. LOve Helen x

  26. I was winding a skein into a ball at the optician’s office yesterday, and another waiting lady said, “I never could do that. What are you making anyway?” I said, “I’m just winding a ball so that I can knit with it.” She said, “I thought you were crocheting.” My first thought was, good thing she’s at the eye doctors and no wonder she couldn’t learn!

  27. I call them the “Eyedrops of Doom” I hate them. And I will fight with the eye doctor every time to convince him that I *really* don’t need them. Of course he *has* to remind me of my left eye “condition”. It’s not a “condition” I’m legally blind in it. I hate when they play dirty.

  28. Hi, there! I found your blog via Jena in Massachusetts. I’m a new knitter, so I’m loving reading your witty knitting tales! 🙂
    My grandmother was blind for many years and knit the most beautiful sweaters. I’m hoping I can do half as good fully sighted!

  29. Willing to knit something so badly that will have to rip and re-do rather than do nothing? Perfectly normal. Carry on.

  30. I am so excited that you’re about to embark on the Modessit corset! And with yarn from my all-time favorite store. I, too, am about to start the corset, but in Rowan calmer (which will also entail a bit of fiddling for guage). I’m especially enamored of your color choice; I’m going with an equally subtle ecru base (“calm” in the calmer) trimmed with a very pale, multi-hued, pearly silk that drifts from shell-pink to heather-y blue to bone.
    Please do keep us posted on the corset!

  31. I am sure you will have no trouble with the corset. Someone as talented as you should never be worried about not being able to knit anything. I had no idea what I was doing when I decided to try it, and mine came out looking like it should. You were the one who made me feel I could knit socks. And then I went on with that corset, and now I am doing the Rogue. I don’t see how you could ever doubt what you can do.
    🙂

  32. What? You’re not going to challenge Claudia and try to beat her to the finish line? I have to admit…. that would be rather fun to watch… just a suggestion, you know. ; )

  33. OK, NOW FOR THE REAL STUFF. I NEED ANSWERS. I AM BLIND IN MY RIGHT EYE DUE TO THREE SURGERIES AND DETACHED RETINA. I AM TOLD I HAVE THE HORRIBLE DRUSIENS, THOUGHT THEY WERE BAD PEOPLE IN EUROPE TIL I FOUND OUT THEY WEREN’T TALKING ABOUT DRUIDS, IN MY RIGHT EYE. NOW FOR THE BIG STUFF. SHOULD I LEARN BRAILLE AND SEE ABOUT A SEEING EYE CAT? MY RIGHT EYE IS FAIR RIGHT NOW BUT I KNOW IT’S MOMENT IS COMING. ANY INSIGHT, LOL, FROM YOU ON THIS.JAMEE

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