Mardi Gras is on! Er. Sorta...

I had some lovely purple variegated yarn that I really wanted to do something a bit "flashy" with...  Not just my normal "plain vanilla" socks, I wanted them to be, well, different. 

I kept working on an idea, and the dial tone continued...  Then I was reading about, of all things, problems of New Orleans with the beads clogging the sewer.  Why this clicked, I don't know.  But I have had some friends give me beads, while not Mardi Gras, per se, they were the same color palette, and so my little creative grey cell was buzzing with, yeah, have those, have purple sock yarn... Now what?

So I started thinking, I will make the cuff, that I normally turn down, in feather and fan, and then put an accent of the same down the foot... But what about the beads?

Well, as they were necklaces, I didn't want to cut them, if I didn't have to... Gold, green, purple.  3 per sock...  Then I came up with the idea, how about adding them to the "holes" in the fan?  So, I commence to knit. 

I put the project away more than once trying to figure out how to do what I wanted, so the beads would be draped, more or less evenly around my ankle.  Hmmm.

Then came this year's goal of actually finishing things I have started... So I pulled out this sock and worked on it.  On the cuff, the feather and fan pattern came out evenly with four designs, so, I just needed to divide the number of beads by 4. 

Whereupon, I did something I should NEVER EVER do.  I was very tired, but I wanted to get the design figured out, so I could get a jump on it the next day.  I started counting beads.  And counting.  They didn't divide by 4!  Crapola!  Snarl... 

Husband, bless him, looked at what I was doing, and timidly said, could I make a suggestion?  (I am so less than pleasant when I am tired...  Sigh...)  I looked up bleary eyed, and said, if it will help me with the math, sure... 

He took one of the necklaces, held it up, pinched in two fingers, so that the two sides ran parallel, and said, here's half.  Then he pinched the bottom, folded it up to the top, and said, here's quarters.

I didn't know whether to laugh, or scream...  I did thank him profusely, as I had been working on counting and marking and such, and was nearly to the point of cutting the necklaces, which I didn't want.  (I think I did laugh, eventually...)

So, after a So Obvious I Totally Missed It moment, I was able to start on it the next day with a lot less snarl and brain farts...

I ended up using a feather and fan with 6 "holes", so I put each necklace in two of the holes, in and out, and then the next, and the next, all the way around.  This gave them a bit of drape, and they each had a different spot, so they were all visible.

I had to do a bit of screwy knitting, I don't know if there would have been an easier way to do it, I had to turn my knitting once or twice, so I was knitting on the back, with the beads... It worked, but if I would ever make a pattern for this, I think I might conference with  some one, so I would see if it was another  "I made too much work", or if it was a 'normal' way to solve the problem. 

Let's just say, my knitting teacher would see some of the solutions I came up with, she wouldn't say a word, if it worked.  But more than once, she'd shake her head, and change the subject...

So, I ended up with some jazzed up socks, probably a bit more tinkery than I had intended, but they look nice, and who knows, I might just make some beignets, or po' boys, and wear my socks for Mardi Gras next year. 

Or, I might just laissez les bon temps rouler, because I finished them!!!

Math and Chocolate.

I have been bugging quizzing Husband on how to figure things out for the trailer.  I have to limit the trailer to 1800 pounds (or less), for several reasons, not the least of which is that I want to be able to use my small vehicle to carry it.

"You need to figure out how much the plywood will weigh."  He then explained how.  This would have been great, except for the fact he told me right as I was falling asleep, having also been sleeping badly, so I am more than a bit rummy of late.

Soooo, this morning I asked him to explain it again.

He did.

I didn't get it.

I told him what I was going to do, and he told me I was over thinking it.  Gee, like that is a surprise...  (Considering that about a week or so ago,  I was trying to figure out how to plant my garden with the square foot method, and the garden plots are round...  I even came up with A=πr2, driving myself nuts for a bit, until I figured out I didn't really need to worry about the "extra space".) He explained the concept again, and I told him that I was still clueless.

He worked, and talked, and saw my blank expression.  Finally, he looked at the bag of chocolate squares he'd bought me for Valentine's Day, and had given to me a bit early, and took them out.  He methodically laid them out in a rectangle, and yet again, re-explained the concept.  I repeated what he said, then he gave me another simple example, I figured it out, and he seemed pleased. (I now think I should be able to figure out the rest, as soon as I get the sketches finished.)

I then told him that he was going to have to figure the round upper part of the trailer, I was having a hard enough time with the square parts.

He said he could show me how.

I shuddered, and said no, he could figure it out, I wanted to get the weight correct.  He chuckled, and then commented, "Well, even if you don't build this trailer, at least you are learning something."

Chocolate as math.  If this had been available when I was going to school, I might have become a math major!