Working on Socks...

Ugh. So I'm still working on that shawl. I'm not sure I want to post pictures of it because it just depresses me that it's not done yet. With knitting there is usually a sense of relieved accomplishment as you do another row and get ever closer to the end. I'm not even halfway through the edging on the shawl and because of this I'm ignoring it which means it doesn't get done. Cruel cycle! Where is the army of knitting gnomes who work on my projects in my sleep? (And where are their cousins, the cleaning gnomes?)

Now socks? Socks are beautiful. Still a bit of a pain, but they progress so quickly.

See the progress? It's like it's knitting itself and I'm more than halfway done! (Shh... these were suppose to be done before Mei-Mei's birthday, but being winter socks they don't need to be done before winter comes... right?) I really enjoy the braid. Eventually I'll make the same socks for myself in purple.

To the right, you see that crazy ball of fun? I don't even know why the chartreuse and turquoise blue make me so happy. I got the Zauberball at my favorite yarn store, The Needle Lady. Alpha and I went camping for our anniversary (5 years represented by 5 days... and we didn't kill each other!) We stopped in Charlottesville on our way home. It was good. I call these my Appalachian socks partly because they reminded me of the view and partly to commemorate wonderful trip. Hopefully these will be done before the next anniversary. I have over half a year left... it shouldn't be hard.

P.S. I know I need to work on the shawl. I love the fiber. I love the design. I love it all except how long it takes to do the edging. I don't have enough down time at my job/church to work on it consistently. YAY! I love kids. Love them, love them, lovethem, luvdem.  

Why can't I have four hands? Then I could use two to exclusive work on knitting. Missed opportunity by evolution and/or God in my opinion.

What have I been doing lately?

Well, I'll let you in on a secret. Last year I bought some fiber. It remained stashed until just before the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival because well, I was busy. The reason my fiber was pulled out of the stash and put to use was manifold and complex.

1) I got a new job and had to convince the little 4-year-old that I was cool. 'Cause you know, Spinning is super cool.

2) I've spent forever on the lace edging of the shawl and want to scream when I go near it. That would result in odd looks and kids ushered hurriedly away. Not a good thing when I am a nanny. So it lies in the bottom of my bag and I hope that some knitting gremlins will finish it someday.

3) I needed to justify the purchase of MORE fiber by using some of the fiber I already have. Alpha is always watching... Not really, but since I am in charge of the budget, it's so much easier to explain to myself that I am already using stuff, so I deserve MORE!

And all of these reasons coalesced into 560 yards of 2-ply yarn. Now I need to find a project for it.

Do you know what's depressing?

This... This is depressing.

This means that it's been 5 months since I started the shawl... I don't want to work on anything else. (Although I have now because I have PTSD from Wednesday.) That also means I've frogged it every single month. You know, I don't even know how many times I've had to restart the stupid thing. I thought it was only 4, but then it could be in the upper bajillions.

Now I am working on a cabled wrap. It's a glorified scarf really. I had to lay out the pattern myself and draw it 6 times. I wonder how many times I'll have to frog it. It's already been frogged a couple times because I've had to figure out the gauge.

Tip: Don't take off the labels of your yarn. It has REALLY important information like the correct needle size and washing instructions. In the case of fancy yarn... it has colorway and dye lots. Those can be really important... as I have learned.


P.S.- I've just noticed a pattern... I am a perfectionist. I need to work on that if I am ever to get to a finished object (FO).

Upon which day I decided to become a dog hater...

It’s a no good, terrible, awful, very bad day, but I don’t really want to move to Australia.

So, I have been trying to make Galia Lael’s Oceanspray. I bought the yarn for it last year around thanksgiving at the Wool Lady. It took a while to decide what project it would become, but I loved the simple layout of the shawl.

I had to frog and recast the project three times. I had a problem with dropping stitches (or having little people pull at the needles). I decided this time to use a life-line... but it wasn’t in yet (I don’t much see the point if I haven’t reach the complicated part of the shawl). I’ve become a minor master of dropped stitches. I have learned to fix them.

Today, I decided to take a small human out for a walk. (It’s part of my job as a nanny you know.) When I came back, my employer was distressed and hoped that I wouldn’t leave. She told me that her dog, Wolfie (as in Wolf-ALL-the-plastic-things-down) had got into my knitting. The dog pulled out the needles, chewed up the $3.00 needle protector that I bought to prevent dropped stitches, and then ate the SIDE of the project. She didn’t eat a hole in the top, which while tragic, wouldn’t have been desperate. She ATE THE WHOLE SIDE. I have 3 inches to 3 feet of useless laceweight ribbons covered in dog slobber.

That was the beginning of the day. Less than a minute after this terrible, tragic and ultimately dehumanizing event (the dog is not allowed near me for fear of its life), Alpha called to say that the car was towed.

Our community has few parking spots. In the year 2005, there was such a dearth of spots that a meeting was assembled and it was decided to hand out passes. Those unfortunates who did not have passes in the parking lot after 11 would be towed. This has cleared space in the parking lot, but the streets for ¼ mile around our community are bumper-to-bumper.

We actually do have a pass. Unfortunately, laws in this state prohibit anything to ‘obstruct vision of the road” so if you have something dangling off your rear-view mirror the cops can pull you over. Alpha didn’t believe me when I said this was the case, but while I am happy to be proven right on the law, I am not happy that we had to take the pass off, forget it, then get towed.

So, project et and car towed, that is already a bad day. It gets worse.

I lost my license. Can’t get the car without a license. Alpha lost his. He found a university card. The impound lot won’t take check, or credit and it appears that our pin doesn’t work. Not even at the bank atm.

At this point, I am done with the day. I send Alpha off to get cash from the bank with his passport. Guess what happens on the way to the bank?
An accident. And a 17-year-old who thinks that you need to get into the left lane to make a right turn and that’s it’s Alpha’s fault for not seeing the turning signal. (Not saying that there isn’t some fault there... but it isn’t ONLY the other driver’s fault when you don’t use common sense.) It’s only a fender bender and no real damage to either car, but the police are called by the stupid teen (because Alpha and Dad won’t sign a paper claiming all fault). Alpha gets a ticket for not having his license.

So, checking our bank balance after renewing my license, I see that funds are mysteriously disappearing. It appears that my account is still linked to Momar’s and when she accidentally overdrafted over the weekend, the bank munched the remainder out of my account.

I burned myself making pizza and I didn’t get the e-mail asking me to come into work tonight.

But to end on a good note: My employer will pay for the yarn. There’s a yarn store that’s holding onto a skein of Plymouth Baby Alpaca for me. We got our car back. I didn’t have to deal with the cop. Renewed my license and we have money in the bank. Also there was ice cream to be had.


Lots and Lots of Ice Cream.

I still hate dogs though.