Saturday, February 04, 2023

Not Joking

 Y'all thought I was joking, didn't you?  About it being cold at my work station.  You thought I was joking, but nope.  This is what my thermometer at my work station read when I got to work yesterday morning. 

Now, I know what you're thinking.  That's not that cold!  You're crazy!  But don't forget, we have to have a fan blowing on us to blow the fumes away.  Even though the temps aren't that low, it feels so much colder.  That's why we stay bundled up all day.  Heh, they had someone come up from the back to braze because we were so far behind, and shorthanded at that, and ... well, I can't repeat what she said or I'd lose my PG rating.  Let's just say, she was emphatic in expressing how cold she was. 

Speaking of, I really do think I made a mistake bringing all those hats and scarves to work Thursday.  All I wanted to do was to do something nice for my fellow brazers, but now I've got people from other departments coming up to me and requesting to "put in an order" for a free hat. 

My conundrum is that now I can't really say no, I'm not going to knit you a hat since I already gave so many away for free.  This isn't what I intended.  I mean, hat knitting is how I minister.  It's my cup of cool water.  I don't want it to become a drudgery.  At the same time, I don't want anyone to be left out, but we have to be realistic here.  I won't be able to knit a hat for everyone in the entire plant.  

As I was struggling with this, I opened my Bible app and the verse of the day seemed to have been chosen just for me. 


It reminded me that this is my gift to God, not my coworkers.  It's my way of showing HIS love to my fellow man.  What I've decided to do is, to to make sure everyone in the tubing department who wants a hat gets one, but that's where I have to draw the line.  After that, I'm going to be a bit more clandestine when I give things to the brazers.  I'm thinking I might knit up a bunch of cowls for us, too.  

They're going to have to wait, though, because I really need to finish these hats for my Seaman's Church Ministry.  I'm almost done with this one. 


I've got about an inch left in the body before I start the crown decreases, and then I'll have to finish this other hat.


Finally, about that box...there was one lonely little Calorimetry head band in the box.  It was the first thing that got claimed.  The thing is, the coworker who got it kept complaining that it felt too loose.  I asked her, "Can I see it back for a moment?"  

She gave it to me and I stretched it out flat.  Now, according to the pattern, the finished product should measure 24" from tip to tip.  The one I'd made was 22 1/2", and my friend still felt like it was too lose.  The way the headband is knit, the short row turns create natural button holes in the band.  We had to go to the sixth button hole before my friend felt the head band was snug enough.  

I wonder about people who write these kinds of things.  They must have gigantic heads.  Once I tried to knit a child sized watch cap, and the pattern called for a 120 stitch cast on in worsted weight.  One hundred and twenty stitches!  For a child sized hat!  That pattern writer must either have super tight gauge, or be knitting for elephants.  I don't even cast on that many for adult hats.  For a beanie, I cast on 80 or 88 stitches, and for a watch cap, it's either 92 or 96 stitches.  

Anyway, some other of my friend saw the Calorimetry and requested one.  One of them even tried to offer me money, to cover the cost of the yarn.  I tried to refuse, but she opened my hand and put the money into it.  A couple more of my friends gave me donations, which I also tried to refuse, unsuccessfully.  

It's only $5!  Take it!  

So, I somewhat reluctantly accepted their money, and somewhat less reluctantly, bought more yarn!


The jumbo stripes in the middle is for hats, and the rest I'm going to use for the Calorimetries.  While I was watching TV last night and today, I whipped out this one from yarn I already had in my stash.  


I don't know what the colorway is, because I lost the ball band long ago.  

One last thing, I've been studying French on my Duolingo app.  Well, a few weeks ago, I decided to start watching French movies on Prime.  Today's selection was a movie called Delicious.  It was really, really good.  It's about a chef who works for a nobleman.  At a party, he comes up with a new appetizer he calls The Delicious.  It's made with truffles and potatoes.  Well, he gets fired, because the nobility considers potatoes as only fit for pigs. 

That's all I'm going to tell you....

It has English subtitles available, so you can watch it even if you don't speak French. And I highly recommend that you do.  

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