All In The Name Of Science

I fucked it up. I seriously fucked up the sock. I am so not happy about this. And its all because of you, dear blog, that I did this.

Let's set the stage. Its been over a month since I posted a picture. I haven't finished anything in a while, even though I'm so close on a number of items. Mike isn't home, so I knit while watching bad TV. I decide to model the sock for all the people out there that don't read my blog.



This is the sock post-fuckup, and I'm hiding the fuckup spot. Its also post-model, which is why (I think) it looks a little stretched out and weird. As you can see, I've turned the heel (I love saying that) and am now on the actual foot part, getting ready to do the toe.



This is the sock just minutes after the fuckup. You can also see what I was watching, for which I have no shame. Zero. What you may notice if you look at the actual sock is that it is a wee bit funny-looking at the front left. That's because when I tried the sock on the first time (not the time you see here, the second time) two stitches popped right off the freaking needle. I am not good at correcting mistakes, so I sort of fudged getting them back on the needle after they had dropped three rows down by the time I got the sock off my foot and into rescue mode. Oy. I busted out the crochet hook, I got out reference books, and I still goofed the whole thing up. All because I wanted to share a darned photo with blogland.

Eh. Whaddaya gonna do? Its my first one, admittedly my practice sock. But I'm still annoyed, because I kinda like it. I must say, the self-striping yarn has me running hot and cold. I get excited for a color change but when I see the sock as a whole it looks really busy to me.



Here's the heel. The heel looks small to me, but having never done this before I have no way of knowing if I am right or not. Any input? Anyone? Please? I followed the instructions to a T (well, minus forgetting to do the slipped stitches on the flap but that wouldn't make a huge difference for anything besides picking up for joining with the gusset again). It looks small, but when I tried on the sock, it felt ok.

Now I just wanna finish the things so that I can move on.



This is the last photo for now. And I'm only including it because, despite all the issues, I truly am proud of what I've done here. I'm amazed, really. I am making a SOCK. A sock that looks like other socks that I have purchased. As in, its not a tube sock, it has shape and style and even a little sass. And there you have it.

Again with the nophotos

I can't prove it, but I am making so much progress on the sock. I "turned the heel," as I have read about so many times, and it was a fascinating thing. I felt such a sense of accomplishment. I am. Making. A sock.

Of course, I fucked it up, but I was able to fudge it afterwards. I didn't slip the first stitch of the heel flap rows as suggested in the pattern because I skimmed over that part (I do this often). That made picking up the stitches later to rejoin with the gusset a little tricksie but not impossible. And, as this is my practice pair, I'm cool with it. Totally. For sure.

I even tried it on, after I finished those decreases before the straight foot part starts (are you with me?), and it seemed to fit. The heel seemed smaller than I would have thought, but as I've never actually touched a hand-knit sock before, I am not sure what it should look like or feel like. I'll try it on again and actually take a damned picture, as I've been promising to do for weeks now. I'm still interested in trying to make the second one toe-up, but I also got an order of yarn from Knitpicks, so I'm half tempted to just put this one aside after I finish sock #1 and move on to the Jaywalker socks. Especially since my skein of Trekking XXL is just not cooperating. The inside pull is getting all tangled on itself and I have to pull out chunks at a time and knit off the chunks instead of from the skein. its quite annoying. Has this happened to others? How do you deal with it? Its so freaking annoying, and makes the sock so much less portable.

On another note, I started graduate school this week. I have now had both of my classes, and I like them for very different reasons. I'll elaborate once I've had more classes, and more sleep, but I'm so thrilled. I feel really good about making the decision to go back to school, and as such, I am prepared to deal with the difficulties that go along with it.

Still Here

I feel like I've been writing a lot of those "I'm still here" posts lately. Sorry. I am committed to this blogging thing, I just haven't had the time or the energy to deal with it right now. How about a list?

• My first semester graduate school officially starts today, though my classes are on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I won't start until then. I'm so freaking excited, yet worried about just how I'm going to manage full time work, full time life, part time school, gym obsession, and time with my hopefully soon-to-be-future-husband. My therapist is suggesting that I see this as a time of abundance (good) rather than a time of overwhelmingness (bad). Is that a word?
  
• I just spent $175 on books, so I'll be working through my current projects for a while. No more yarn purchases for me!
  
• On the current projects note, I'm still slogging away at the blankie-shawl. I'm into the fourth skein of yarn, which according to the pattern I'm using means that I should be done by know. But I want the shawl to be a little longer, so I'm going to continue. I think that this skein shall be my last, though, because there are just too many stitches on the needles right now. Picture as soon as I can get around to it.
  
• Socks! I am sock crazy right now, even though I'm still on the goshdarned leg of the damned thing. As this is my test pair, I think that this weekend I am going to go into the heel shaping, etc, and see if I can actually pull this off. As per my initial idea, the match to the pair shall be tried toe-up. I'm liking the sock-knitting, though. So portable, and I'm so interested in seeing what pattern is coming up next on the Trekking yarn.
  
• Sock confession: before the big book purchase, I did happen to place an order for enough yarn for two pairs of socks, size 1 dpns and a hugeass size 1 circular to experiment with Magic Loop.
  

I guess that's it for my update. I know, posts sans pictures are boring. I know this. This weekend, I'll steal some computer time and post a billion photos.

More Shoes? Really?

Its true. I just can't stop buying shoes.



But aren't they so cute? They are pretty comfortable, too. I find that most of time, flats are harder to break in than heels, because there is more of an unnatural feeling to a flat shoe. I actually find heels more comfortable in many cases. But these shoes, boy are they cute. I had no trouble the first time wearing them, and today is number two. Just as cute with jeans as with a skirt. And for once, DSW actually paid off! I got them there for about $45, and Zappos (thanks for the picture!) is selling them for over $70. I'm surprised because oftentimes I find that DSW isn't less expensive than regular retailers.

I didn't sleep last night. Well, I sort of slept last night. Snorey McSnoresalot came home drunk last night, and he has a cold. The triple-threat of snore possibilities. The dude is sleeping like a log due to the alcohol, which increases snoring behavior, can't really breathe because of his cold, and is regularly prone to snoring. Guess where that left me? If you guess awake on the couch, you win a zillion dollars. After still staring a the ceiling praying that he would just shut the fuck up until 12:30, I left our bed. It wasn't much better on the couch, where I could still hear him. I feel alseep sometime after 1, and then woke up with a start at 3:40, when I decided that I could try going back to bed. He was still sawing away, but I managed to sleep until my alarm went off this morning at 6:40. Suffice to say that this little scrambled egg is NOT a happy camper today.

I have decided that I must learn the Magic Loop method. I've been trying to work on my sock, but I just can't stand knitting with those toothpick dpns. It really hurts my hands, and when I do it on the subway, I'm too fearful of poking my eye out. Any suggestions for Magic Loop tutorials? Or do I really need to buy the leaflet?

Doofus

I finished the baby blanket with a few days to spare. I soaked and then blocked it out, and boy oh boy did that work well. It washed up so nice and soft and smooth and drapey. And guess what? She loved it. And guess what else? I totally spaced out and didn't take a picture of it. Boo. I'm sure I'll get a photo of it wrapped around baby goodness, which will be way better than any photo I could have taken. But that still makes me a doofus. Especially since Mike got a tripod for X-Mas.

I am making a concerted effort to finish the green scarf. Its going well, and I should be fringe-ing by tomorrow. Pictures to be taken soon.

Happy New Year!

Resolved.

Sorry I have been completely MIA lately. Things haven't been so easy for me for the past several weeks, but I'm pleased to say that the negative forces in my life have been negotiated away and I am ready willing and able for a new start. The even better news is that I've actually found that new start and rather like it.

I've also gotten the crochet bug. I learned after learning how to knit, mainly to do some decorative edges and the like, but last winter actually made a scarf. Today, I started another crochet scarf. One pattern repeat in and I am so down with this - the pattern, from www.crochetme.com is amazing.

I have about 10 rows to go on the baby blanket, which works out great since we're leaving on Wednesday morning, after which I will officially be out of time. I think I may wash and block it there, as I won't see the recipient until Christmas Day. Whew.

Socks on hold, but they may be my travel piece, along with the crochet. Green scarfy is almost done.

More when I have the chance, but I'm still standing. And standing proud.

Its been some time

I realize that its been many moons since I've last posted. Time just gets away from me these days.

In that time, Mike celebrated his 30th birthday...



...and he was a real trooper. I'm so proud of him. He's made so many changes in his life in the time that I've known him and he deserves whatever goodness may come his way.

In other news, I'm still knitting though I am embarassed to show another progress shot of the baby blanket. I just want it done. I know I can finish it, its just that I keep forgetting to pick it up while I'm sitting on the couch.

And last night my sweetie took me to see Alvin Ailey at the CityCenter. What an amazing show. If any of you NYCers are in any way interested in modern dance, GO SEE ALVIN AILEY. Their run just started, so there's still time to buy a ticket. Its worth whatever you pay. I never wanted last nght to end - it was magical. And, we lucked out with an aisle seat with no seat in front of it for my 6'4" stud. What are the odds?