Comment Lingers on and another baby blanket

Comment by Norah Gaughin

Comment refuses to be done.  I am sick of it.  If I didn't want to wear it so badly (next summer, of course by now), I would toss it.  (It was frogged out of the uber-expensive Berroco Bonsai because that yarn sucks and is way too heavy for a summer top.)  I reknit using Caron Spa (hey, I was broke after the damn Bonsai) in taupe color.  After a shitload of assembling various smaller pieces, and edging miles of surfaces, I washed it and lightly blocked it (too much acrylic to apply heat to it) and hung it up to finish drying hoping that gravity would make the stupid garter stitch border lay down and play nice.  (It still flips up at the front point despite frogging it and picking up the stitches around the point with a larger needle.)  But a more aggregious problem has reared its head:  the armholes are too long -- the entire side of my bra is showing, you can practically read the label.

Theory:  cheap yarn is stretching from the weight of the long heavy front apron and pulling the whole thing down, or cheap yarn row gauge has bit me in the ass.  Checked the pattern, it is knit by the vertical inch, so I should have gotten my 8" armhole, instead of my 11" armhole.  Also, the armhole was showing a little too much of my armpit roll, so the armhole shaping needed tweaking.

What to do?  This thing took several evenings in front of the television to assemble together and add edging.  I carefully pulled out the neck and armhole edging, then undid the side seams just enough to be able to get to the armhole bindoffs.  Unravelled from the top the front and back separately, and am presently reknitting, adding 3" before binding off for the armhole, and doing the armhole shaping decreases every other row instead of every row in the hopes that it will better hide the aforementioned armpit rolls.  Time will tell.  I'll probably end up with armholes sized to fit a 5-year old.  Sigh.



Diagonal Baby Blanket

While I was cooling off from hating Comment, I dashed off another Diagonal baby blanket for fertile friends.

Laced Leaves

 Finally finished Laced Leaves using the Berroco Bonsai that I originally invested in bought for Comment. It took forever to sew on 8 buttons with backers (clear plastic on the wrong side). It's a little snug, but that also stretches out the lace and it's really pretty. Only drawback is the buttons. I upsized them to 1/2", but that's still not enough, they're popping out. Sigh.  Maybe I'll pretend I want to wear it unbuttoned at the bottom.  Or pin the darn thing closed, lol.

 

Catching Up

Whew, I thought I'd get back in the groove of posting once my boys were back in school, but no such luck! Here are some finished projects that I never got around to blogging about.

Princess Squares Blanket (for a Prince!)

Princess Squares Blanket was knit for a neighbor with a new baby boy, using ALL STASH yarn!   Yay!  And that is why the color pattern is not, um, uniform, because I ran out of the old discontinued cotton-ease baby blue color.  It's a design feature.  All the latest babys are rocking it.  Lol.  The pattern was published in Vogue Knitting Fall 2010.

Another Summerbelle

Another hockey mom who works for a bank in Dallas as their PR director asked if I would knit something for a charity auction they were holding.  So, I did some stash-diving and came up with enough of this yellow Plymouth Jeannee cotton yarn to make a Summerbelle in the 1-2 year old size range.  This is an absolutely lousy picture, it was a cloudy day and I had to drop it in the mail that day so I rushed.

Penguin Hat

In that same envelope went this penguin hat for her son.  The short version of the story is, the dad was transferred to OKC with his company, but their Dallas house hadn't sold, so the son and Dad moved to OKC while the mom stayed in Dallas waiting for the house to sell.  Then, the Dad gets offered an even better job in Dallas, and now the family is all under the same roof again.  The son is now playing for the Dallas Penguins, so I made this for him out of stash yarns in the Dallas Penguin team colors.  Those are iron-on letters from Hancock's.

I still have three other projects going, the Giraffe Jacket, which is getting ready for it's separating zipper, and the Laced Leaves cardigan, which is going to get it's buttons, and the aforementioned Comment top, which is being reknit in Caron Spa, a bamboo/acrylic blend, and is now out of season.  :(

Comment Continues to Confound

Came to a skidding halt again on Comment by Nora Gaughan (Berroco Vol. 6). (The previous halt was due to the old nemesis, Gauge.) The yarn, Berroco Bonsai, actually arrived mid-July, but I was wrapped up in other stuff and couldn't get to it. Now, I'm in a hurry to finish it because it's a summer tank and it's still warm and I could get one wearing out of it before Fall and, oh yeah, I'm chomping at the bit to start Fall stuff, but I can't. I hate it. I like the pattern, it looks cool and breezy, but the yarn is anything but cool and breezy.



It's 97% bamboo and 3% nylon which you think would be nice and cool, but it's a tape yarn and it just doesn't feel like a summer yarn, it feels heavy and potentially sweat-inducing. This is a pic of the finished fabric before I rip it out (dammit). This yarn was a splurge, so tossing it back into the stash is not an option, financial guilt demands it be used and used now.



Enter Laced Leaves. I think the openwork will be beautiful in the gold Bonsai. I might be griping in a week about how heavy the Bonsai makes the ribbing. And yes, I feel like I have the attention span of a gnat. Because I'm starting on this instead of driving to the LYS for a linen/cotton blend to make Comment with. I'm bad. Very bad.

Fall is in the air!

Well, you can tell by my scarce posts that I have busy with the kids this summer. Today was the start of the school year, and I think we're all excited to get back into the routine. Some of us more than others. ;) I can see bare branches at the top of the cottonwood trees behind my house, they are always the first to lose their leaves. And, my yard is littered with leaves, but my Sycamores constantly drop leaves and bark, so that's not exactly an indicator. I have one more summer top to finish, then it may be time to move on to summer knitting!

Finally finished the #10 Lace Dress from Knit Simple Magazine:






I ended up starting on #4's, then switching to #5's on the two middle charts, to #6's on the 4th chart, and to #7's on the stockinette. I also worked two sizes because I wanted it for a tunic and it flared out huge in my size. I made the smallest size up to the stockinette, then switched to the 38" bust by increasing every RS row until I had the recommended stitches.

I really like it, I'm just scared to wear it because it's a nightmare to block now that it's assembled! Ha.

Crop Sleeve Raglan

I'm still working on the lace dress, but here is a pic of a finished sweater, it's the #9 Crop Sleeve Raglan by Gayle Bunn from Knit N' Style magazine, August 2005.

#10 Lace Dress Continues to Confound

I have been knitting and frogging and knitting and frogging #10 Lace Dress
by Sandi Prosser from Knit Simple Magazine, Spring/Summer 2010. What is the problem, you might ask? Gauge, that old gotcha. You wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal on an A-line dress, but boy has it caused some serious frayed yarn. You see, my substitute yarn, Universal Yarns Summer Linen that I purchased from Herrschner's, is giving me some funky gauge problems. In stockinette, I get the 21st/4" gauge on #7s. But on Chart #1's horseshoe lace, I ended up with a tent. I figured out that the tent-edness (to coin a word) had two contributing factors: gauge and the size I chose. I had to use #4's to get the 22st/4" gauge listed for the lace pattern, but the bottom width for my usual size was still too much. So, I changed to the smallest size on #4 needles, and I was happy with the bottom hem width. No problem, I'll just figure out how to change needles or add increases after I get to the waist, which is evidently not going to be anytime soon. However, after I finished Chart #1 (2-1/2 repeats) and Chart #2 (5-3/4 repeats), I did a sanity check and held it up to make sure it was going to fit. It did not. Chart #2's gauge ended up being 24sts/4". So, I ripped back to the start of Chart #2, and changed to #5's, which is working nicely. At this rate, I shall have to change to #6's for Chart #3, and #7's for Chart #4, which would leave me just peachy for the stockinette bodice at 21st/4" on #7s. I knew this dress would take awhile, but it's killing my summer knitting and I have yarn on the way for another summer top.

Ah, the stress of incoming yarn!

CeCe and Leaf Yoke Tank

I am so behind in posts, that I am just going to post pictures of the two sweaters that I've finished, CeCe by ChicKnits, and Leaf Yoke Tank from Knit.1 magazine, Spring/Summer 2009.

Leaf Yoke Tank was knit in Pegasus, a yarn I bought from Elann. It's okay, but it arrived darker than what it looked like in the picture. All in all, nice yarn, not something I would have picked had I seen it in person. I'm a little unhappy with the hem, it's folded over and sewn in place, kinda bulky around the hips and takes forever to dry. Tip: when the pattern tells you to mark the row where the hem will be attached, run a lifeline through those stitches so that they're easier to find when you're working on the wrong side.



CeCe will probably be worn to a frazzle, it's loose, comfy, and the yarn, I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby, is very soft and cuddly, although it does pill a bit.



I am now working on a tank/tunic/dress thing that I'm adapting, having trouble meeting both the stockinette gauge and the lace gauge with my chosen yarn. It's called #10 Lace Dress from Knit Simple magazine Spring/Summer 2010.

Henley Tank

In another fit of stash reduction (amazing how motivating cleaning out closets to renovate is), I made this Henley Tank (scroll halfway down) from Interweave Knits Summer 2009 completely out of leftovers from other projects.



The pink is Tahki Cotton Classic, white is Plymouth Jeannee, green is Knitpicks Shine and the blue is Omega Sinfonia! The waffle weave pattern was easy to memorize, and I like the placket construction.




The only changes I made were to lengthen it 1", increase armhole depth 1" to allow layering, and I used a crochet hook to continue the blue accent yarn around the top corners of the neckline because it bugged me leaving 1" of pink space.

Striped Diagonal Baby Blanket

Don't you hate it when the best-laid plains go awry? I needed a baby gift, had some nice cotton yarn in the stash, and, according to this pattern, I should have had enough to make it. Wrong. I only had half. So, I went stash diving and found two more colors to use and bought another skein of the white. The result is a little bi-polar, but I'm pretending it's some sort of post-modernistic expression. blah blah.

I'm a semi-finalist in the Michael's/Lion Brand Contest!

Just one problem: I don't have it anymore, I made this for my father, who passed away. I'll have to call my stepmom and see if she still has it!

UPDATE: Drove to Tulsa Saturday and got the blanket (and had a nice visit with D') and spent $70 to send it UPS insured to arrive by Thursday. Woo hoo!

UPDATE: Received blanket back in the mail from Lion Brand 7/12/2010 with no explanation as to who won the contest or how I placed. Really, really, weird.

Several FOs

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted in over a month! I have several finished objects to report. The one I am most proud of is Summerbelle, a pattern I have for sale on Ravelry and on my website.

I received a birth notice from a couple that we see only occasionally, but they are friends of family and we have helped them buy and sell their last two houses. I had completely forgotten that she was expecting. I searched and searched for something "girlie" to knit her, and couldn't find a pattern that matched what I envisioned. So, I made one. It took an Excel spreadsheet to calculate the decrease placements, so it was both an intellectual exercise and the chance to knit something pink and lacy, which doesn't happen often for a mother of two boys.



In between and among other projects, I knit another February sweater (aka Best Baby Sweater aka Sweater on Two Needles), this time in apple green Patons Silk Bamboo.
I make several modifications to mine:
1. Move buttonholes to 2 sts from edge (see my other version, “Baby Sweater on Two Needles”, to see why).
2. Used YO increases on first two increase rows to create eyelets: K4, K1, YO, K2, YO rep from * to * until 4 sts remain, K4.

3. Added matching eyelets on cuffs and hem: K 4 rows, eyelet row: K2, YO, K2tog, K1 rep from * to , end K3, K 3 rows, BO.
4. Lengthened sleeves: after the additional sts CO at underarm, work 9 pattern repeats then start cuffs.
Note: body length is usually 9 pattern repeats from underarm join.




Now, February Sweater needed a matching hat to complete the outfit. This time, instead of making my favorite Petal Hat, which I have rewritten for working in the round and make often for quick baby gifts for people I don't know as well, I decided that February Sweater needed a matching hat. So, I just took my Petal Hat pattern and substituted the February stitch pattern. Simple, right? Of course not. February Sweater is worked top down, Petal Hat worked bottom up. The pattern is just YOs and decreases, should be simple to reverse, right? Nope. No matter how I worked it, it did not match.
So, I designed another hat, top down, using the stitch pattern from February. The bindoff was a problem, I couldn't make it stretchy enough, then I remembered bookmarking Jeny's Suprisingly Stretchy Bindoff. Works wonderfully! I didn't want to worry about copyright infringement, so instead of publishing this hat pattern, I just posted the directions for the hat here and on Ravelry:



A Cap For February
(You have to own a copy of the February sweater pattern for the lace pattern.)

US #6 dpns or circs
US #4 dpns or circs

CO 3 sts. Join to knit in the round, Knit into the front and back (Kfb) of each stitch. 6sts.
Purl one round.
Kfb one round. 12 sts.
P one round.
(K1, YO) repeat inside brackets one round. 24 sts.
P one round.
Kfb one round. 48 sts.
P one round.
K3, YO, (K2, YO) repeat inside brackets to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1, YO. 70 sts. (make sure you have 70 stitches here, make any adjustments on last 3 sts of this round.)
Begin Row 1 of Gull Wing stitch pattern as described in the February Sweater Pattern.
Do 8 total repeats of the stitch pattern.
CHANGE TO SIZE US#4 NEEDLES.
Do 2 more repeats of the stitch pattern.
P one row.
K one row.
P one row.
(K1, YO, K2tog) one round, end K1.
P one row.
K one row.
P one row.
Bind off using Jeny's Suprisingly Stretchy Bindoff, modified by only using knit stitches (no purls).

Giraffe Jacket is languishing for want of a zipper, which isn't much fun to sew in. I started a baby blanket instead. My friends are reproducing at an alarming rate.

FO: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan

Well, in spite of the crazy spin that my life has taken recently, I've managed to finish a baby gift, the Little Coffee Bean Cardigan. It's a baby gift for a friend who just had her fourth boy (God help her). I used stash leftovers, Vanna's Choice in chocolate and linen. The buttons were even stash, found them in my mom's button jar. It was a quick and easy knit.
Made some modifications (of course):
1. Didn't do the eyelet increases at the raglan seams, just did regular paired increases for a boy's sweater.
2. Lengthened the sleeves to long sleeves: When sleeve measures 2-1/2” from armpit, dc one st each side of marker on every second round of the brown stripe until 24 stitches remain, continue until sleeve measures 6” from armpit.

I also used the jogless stripe method (which is why sleeve decreases must be on second round of color change, first round has the jog correction on the last stitch of the first round of the new color. There are several methods to do this, I wanted to hide the jog underneath the sleeve, so I knit the first round of the new color to the last stitch, then lifted the stitch below the last stitch onto the left needle and knit it together with the last stitch. It pulls the spiral up to look like the stripes are level.


Have decided that the debut of the Giraffe Jacket will have to wait until fall. I simply had zero time to work on it in the last month and everyone is now coming out with spring and summer patterns, so it will be ignored right now. The knitting is finished and it is washed and blocked. All it needs now are the zipper installed and the directions written up. Since this is Spring Break for my boys, I won't have the free time to do the write up until next week.

Now onto other knitting projects, I have on the needles the (Ravelry link) February Sweater or Best Baby Sweater or Sweater On Two Needles, whichever name you know. Have already knit this several times and it's a cute little girl gift for friends in Colorado expecting their first baby in May. Am using Patton's Silk Bamboo, it may be a little limp, but it will be soft for a baby.

The Whole World is Standing in Line to Stop My Knitting

Want me to do something for you? Get in freaking line!!!! I am positive that if I checked my horoscope, it would say, "no free time for you anytime soon, my dear." WTH?!

I am still managing to snatch 5 minutes here and there on my Giraffe Jacket, which would have been finished a month ago if my so-called life hadn't suddenly gone beserk. Drove to Fargo, ND for my son's hockey tournament for 5 days, and of course I'm thinking great chunks of knitting time in the car and at the hotel. Oh no, on the drive up the guys decided to wait and see the first period of the Canada hockey game, so we left after dark and the dome light "bugged the driver", and then when we got there the dry air freaked out my sinuses resulting in a constant splitting headache making it impossible to knit, then on drive home -- flu complete with alternating fever, chills, body aches, and complete fatigue. AAAAaaaah!

I am now well. But even if I do ignore chores or errands and sit down to knit, the Universe thinks, "Oh no, you don't!" and sends me an urgent phone call, sick child, broken household item, hockey practice, boy scout event, etc.

Calgon, take me away!!! (Two more travel hockey weekends and the season is done!!!!)

Lettuce Coat

I finished my Lettuce Coat last Thursday, but have been too busy to blog it (of course, I did find time to mark it finished in Ravelry, for some reason I am a slave to keeping Ravelry up to date). It is a very comfy coat, and fits like a coat, meaning that from a side view, it's a little bulky, but the front split opening adds a suggestion of slimness on the front view.


It's knit from the top down with a provisional cast on at the shoulders which is then used to knit the fronts until they all merge under the arm. I had never knit a sweater this way and it was enjoyable because it kept my attention, waiting to see what comes next. However, I still dislike wrassling a sweater around in my lap, especially when you knit the whole body and then pick up stitches for the sleeves. I was worried that the weight of the coat would elongate the stitches at the shoulder seam, but they are holding nicely. Also, there are no buttonholes to knit, you attach I-cord loops as you trim the fronts in I-cord. The wooden buttons really accent it, I think. I was supposed to carry the I-cord all the way down into the Brioche rib, but it made the lower corners curl, so I removed it. The brioche rib is reversible and doesn't curl, and it creates a nice selvedge chain that can stand on it's own.



Here's the side view I was talking about. A little bulky in the waist, but it's still flattering. And warm!


This is a closeup of the Malabrigo Red Java colorway, I love how the colors range between pink, rust, brown, red and all shades in between.

Okay, no more cheating, I have to finish my Giraffe Jacket before spring!

Dogs and Knitting

Does anyone else's dog think that your knitting bag is their personal pillow? Mine does this all the time. She's moved her bed closer to the bag to use it for a pillow!

Lettuce Coat Behaving So Far

The (Ravelry link) Lettuce Coat is coming along nicely, although I really should rename it since I'm using reds instead of the lettuce green yarn. It's top-down construction, so you provisionally cast on for the back, knit down to the armholes, put those stitches on a holder, unpick the provisional cast on and knit the two fronts down to the armholes, then join the whole mess. The fabric no longer feels quite so floppy and the color changes in this yarn are just beautiful (although I'm partial to reds and browns anyway). The brioche rib has slowed me down quite a bit, not because it's a hard stitch. The YO next to a slipped stitch tend to trade places on the cord, and it's a lot of tugging to get them back up on the needle to knit them. Secondly, I discovered after a few rows of brioche rib that one ball of yarn has more of the lighter colors in it and it was really obvious, so I dropped it after a few rows and am now blending two balls of yarn. There's more light streaks on the ribbing than anywhere else in the sweater, but I had already knit the fronts, back, joined them all together and done the waist shaping before I discovered it, so of course I won't go back, ha. Just another reason to not favor top-down construction. I know I am going to be really aggravated when I'm knitting on the sleeves, but I've never done a pattern where you knit the sleeves by picking up stitches, so I was interested in trying the technique. Six inches of brioche rib done, 9 more to go! lol

Lettuce Coat angst

I have cast on for the (Ravelry Link) Lettuce Coat from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. I scored the Malabrigo for it in the Red Java colorway (that I have admired for two years but could never afford) at a reasonable price at Webbs. I have only done about six rows, because I am uneasy. The gauge for this coat is 14 st / 4 in on #9 needles. Ball band says 16-20 st / 4 in on size 7-9 needles. I had to go up to a size 13 needle to get close to gauge. The holes are pretty big and I'm not sure that the fabric isn't too floppy for a coat. I swatched over and over, and I've stopped and measured gauge in several places and gone round and round. The problem is, I don't own a size 12 needle. Size 11 gives me 15st/in and size 13 gives me 13 st/in. Problem #2 is, there's a big jump in sizing, I'm a 39" bust, and the sizing is 40" or 43-1/2", which would be too big and bulky in this loose-spun yarn. So I'd rather fall short on gauge and get my size slightly larger than 40", rather than go down to an 11 and have to block the heck out of it. All I can hope for, I guess, is that this yarn will bloom after washing and fill in those big loop holes a bit. It is loosely spun, so should bloom. I know, I know, I should have washed the swatch.

Checked on Ravelry, everyone else used size 9 needles for their coats, and only one person mentioned having to block the heck out of it. So either they used the #9 and knit a larger size, or they have a very tight coat.

Checked on wiseneedle.com, they are saying it's 18 st / 4" on a #9, which makes me feel better using a #13 to get 14 st/ in.

Guess I'll blunder ahead and see what happens.

Zigzag Cowl

Here's a little (Ravelry link) Zigzag Cowl that I whipped out while sitting at the rink. I really meant for it to last longer so that I'd have something to do, but ending up enjoying the pattern and was anxious to see how it would look. It has a picot cast on, then at the end you bindoff and turn the picot over and sew in place. I tried to think of a way to bind it off and sew it in place at the same time, but eventually realized it would leave a harder seam than binding off loosely and then using the bindoff chain to stitch it in place. Yarn used is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, which is soft and warm but will felt in the blink of an eye. If I gift this I'll have to enclose care instructions.

I passed!

Woo hoo! Just received an e-mail confirmation that I passed Level 1 of TKGA's Master Hand Knitting course! Yeeeeeha!!

Second Time's a Charm

Just dropped my TKGA Master Hand Knitting Level I resubmission in the mail. I dropped it in quickly before I could second-guess myself, like ripping off a band-aid. I didn't even watch the door close.

Hopefully, this is what they are looking for and I'll be done! I purposely haven't marked it as a finished project in Ravelry because I don't want to jinx it.

When I was at the Gourmet Yarn Company the other day, Margaret asked me if I had finished it yet, and I told her it was going to have to wait until after the holidays. She asked if I had signed up for Level II yet, and I told her no, our group had decided that this course had pretty much sucked all of the fun out of knitting. But now I find myself wondering about the second level. I know I could do it, but I don't think I would have ever finished the first level had it not been for our Thursday group that worked on it all together. Looking back now, our agonizing over the seed stitch swatch is pretty funny, but it was all serious business at the time. Level II on my own would be a lonely business, but I'm curious about it...

Christmas thoughts of my mother

Christmas is over, I finished most of my Christmas knitting, and for the things I simply ran out of time to do, I substituted another gift, so the stress is over. This Christmas was a bummer for me, not because I didn't enjoy watching my boys enjoy all the wonder of Christmas or because it's a lot of work, which I don't mind doing to make the holidays special. I really missed my mother this year.

I miss the anxiety and hard work and worrying and wondering involved in getting or making her a gift. I could have given her a stick of gum with a bow on it, and she would have exclaimed and fussed over it and admired it from all angles. She sewed and crafted, so she appreciated the time involved in making a homemade gift, but appreciated anything you gave her. She enjoyed a well-set 'fancy' table, and I make it a point to use her 'special' plates, silverware, crystal and linens for Christmas and Thanksgiving, even though it all has to washed by hand aferwards and the boys ask why don't we just eat at the kitchen table like always and why is the dining room only used twice a year.

Any new or unusual dish was first admired, then sampled, then discussed at length. A creative table centerpiece was a must, even though you eventually had to move it out of the way to make room for the food. She would cut the boy's ham into such small pieces that her own food was almost cold by the time she was finished. Yet, if the boys dropped food on the tablecloth or spilled their milk, she didn't bat an eye, she thought everything they did was wonderful.

My mom believed that anything worth doing was worth doing right, and a curtain fold that was misbehaving or a flower arrangement that had been whacked too many times with a whiffleball were very carefully set to right, even if it took hours and would be back in disarray on her next visit.

My mother absolutely hated the cold, yet she would have been sitting shivering right next to me at the boys' hockey games or any sport they chose to play.

My mother died from cancer when she was 64. She never got to retire, or see her grandchildren grow up. I never got to ask her a lot of things, because we never made it to the quiet time of life where you are no longer defined by jobs and children and home renovations and all the things you spend your early adult years chasing after. We never got to set down and talk about things, from her childhood, growing up, her parents, or anything. Towards the end she asked me if there was anything that I wanted to ask her, and I was so paralyzed from fear and exhausted from working full time, taking care of two small boys and driving back and forth to Norman to doctors and hospitals, that I just couldn't form a coherent thought. I should have asked her so many things, but I didn't.

Two days after she died, I was lying in bed about to drift off to sleep when I smelled her perfume. She was letting me know that she was alright. Sometimes I walk into my dining room and smell her perfume. I joke that she's just making sure that I'm taking care of her pretty things. I have a running list in my head of Things That I Should Have Done Differently while she was still alive. I know that if I were to show it to her, she would tell me that I did everything right and that I did the best that I could. As usual, I wouldn't believe her, but I'd feel better that she said it. I'll just have to ask her later.