Forgive This Ranting and Raving

So no knitting, not until three years from now when I will potentially hold a Masters degree and get my life back. And no relaxing either, as the fuckers who live above me have taken to jumping rope in the apartment. I suppose it wasn't enough for them to play basketball inside the house, and I guess that after they got in trouble for that they decided something as simple and 1950s as jumping rope would be better received. Wait, that assumes thought. I don't think they actually have brains, as I have only heard them scream and grunt so far, in the two years I've lived here, below the worst fucking neighbors ever. If their mother was ever home, maybe she'd do something about it. Maybe she wouldn't. As of this moment, while the light fixture in my living room is shaking so badly that I almost pray the ceiling would give way so that at least the fuckers would fall through and break their legs and not be able to jump rope anymore, I seriously doubt that the bitchasscuntfucker mother would do anything to stop them anyway. She never ever has, so why ruin her perfect record? Huh? You're supposed to parent your children? Oh, and you're supposed to stay home at night so that your children don't jump rope inside an APARTMENT BUILDING WHERE YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY RESIDENT? Huh? Really? Ok, so maybe I'm a little stressed out about working and schooling and not sleeping and feeling sick and not being able to concentrate and that eye twitch is coming back again, and I have to memorize the fucking Presidents for a grad school class and hello, did I mention that I'm 27? And that memorizing lists was so fourth grade, which was, like, ages ago? And its really hard to read stuff when you are SERIOUSLY THINKING THAT THE CEILING WILL FALL ON YOU AT ANY MOMENT and did I mention that I don't sleep anymore? Because I don't sleep anymore. In fact, tonight I am going to drug myself with Benadryl to make sure that I sleep just a little. Just enough to get me through the weekend, so that I can continue memorizing the fucking presidents. In order by election year. In fact, I don't see any positives at all, in this moment, which frightens me. My job is currently sapping the lifeforce of my soul through mindnumbing tasks, school work is overwhelming me, and for some reason, every time I wash the fucking dishes, its like they multipy by the thousands. I need to sleep but I can't because my home is LITERALLY SHAKING. And I'm too tired to even cry. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Ice Dancing

I don't know about your Brooklyn, but my Brooklyn is one big ice cube. As in, sheets of ice. Icy ice. Lots of it. Its like these jerks don't know there are city laws that require property owners to clear the sidewalks in front of their property within a certain time of snowfall. I hope every house I slipped in front of today gets a big fat ticket. Make that two tickets. Big ones.

But this makes me happy:



Look! Its two full pattern repeats! And it looks so nice and pretty! And look! Its on my foot! I didn't do schoolwork last night, and instead took some relaxation time to work on the sock.



You can still see that strange part on the yellow side of the toe. Once I finish the sock and can turn it inside out, I'll be fixing that. I'm starting to get nervous about the second sock. I am not sure I want to knit second socks. That seems really intimidating and overwhelming to me right now. Of course, I want a pair of socks and not just one of each style. But to actually have to go through this twice? That's something to consider, especially given my time availability these days. Maybe after I finish this pair and my Jaywalkers, its time to consider stockinette socks only, and none of this lace or patterned stuff. But, that's part of the fun - getting to knit lace in such a small, controlled environment. Hmmm. Something to think about.

104

It looks like I missed my 100th post. So, let this, my 104th post, be a celebration of all the times I actually wrote something!

Goals for the next 100 (or, 96):

• Write more often. At least 2x a week. That seems like a good goal.
  
• Post more pictures. Even if I can't get to knitting and progress photos, there must be something I could show.
• Use my voice!

While we're on numbers, I was charged 50 cents for a banana today. 50 cents! Is anyone out there as outraged as I am over this price? Typically, bananas go for about 25 cents. Occasionally I've bought them for 30 cents. But 50? As in two for a dollar? That's like robbery. Seriously. I actually walked out of the first place, because I decided that I would not pay that much for one stinking banana. It didn't even look that good. But then, I really wanted a banana. And the next place I went into also charged the same amount. So I decided that today I would do it, but never again.



Now, the banana is an issue for me today because I'm hungry. I am hungry like I haven't eaten in weeks. Hungry like Nicole Ritchie must be, if her nerves even work properly anymore. Its the gym-in-the-morning thing. Yesterday I was starving all day, too. And I needed to feed my hunger with good food, and not with crap, or what's the freaking point in waking up at 5AM? It worked well today, too. Last night I was able to start a paper and read two chapters for school. I went to bed at around 10 PM, and then did it all over again this morning. Tonight I'll do more reading and maybe work on my skirt. I think this might work for me!

Sleep. Sleep, little sleeper...

Today I got up at 5:00 AM to go to the gym. Say wha? You heard me right. I got up at 5 AM to go to the gym. I realized that I need my evenings for schoolwork, and I am unwilling to give up my gym obsession, so mornings it is.

Observations on waking at 5AM:

• Its dark. Really dark. It seems like its darker than nighttime dark.
• Its lonely. Nothing is open. And I'm talking about a ten-minute walk along a stretch of Fulton Street in Brooklyn. I think that one dirtydeli was open and that's it.
  
• I saw 2 people. Strangely, they were both fat women and they were both wearing large down coats with the hood up. I did see a third person leaving my gym, but I don't count that person, as they're crazy earlygymgoer like me.
  
• I saw 1 bus along the entire walk. Remember folks, this is Fulton Street. One bus. Typically there's one bus every 10 feet on Fulton.
  
• Its hard to get up. But, thankfully, that's the hardest part. Once I was actually out of bed, the rest wasn't too bad. I had arranged my clothing the night before, so I grabbed my sneaks and my sports bra from the pile and left the bedroom so as not to wake my true love, and once I got out, it was easy. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, got dressed and left.
  
• I like the gym in the morning. Its quiet. The gum-chewers as still asleep. And you know that the people there at that hour are as serious (read: obsessed) as me, not like the idiots who show up at 7 PM with makeup on and prance around, who are there to see and be seen.
  
• And so I ran. I had to do a longer warmup than usual to get my legs working, but my run was just as good as it is in the evenings. And now I have the whole night free, though I'm not sure how long that'll be given I woke up at 5 freaking AM.
  
• The nicest part was walking home. Its like my street came alive in the time I ran 3.5 miles. That was cool.

And now here I am. Its work-time, and I've already done my run. That's good. I feel good.

In knitting news, I am one and a half repeats into the Elfine sock, and I love the pattern. I love Magic Loop. Seriously. And I love the colors I chose for the sock. I just wish I had more time to work on it. I realized that I haven't finished a project in a while, and that's kinda bugging me. I think this weekend I'm going to make an effort to finish the purple blankie shawl that you may remember from the fall. Oh, and I also started a skirt last weekend that I'll likely finish this weekend. Its cute. Purple corduroy. Yum.

What's This?

I had a decent time in Florida. The conference was super boring - there was really no reason at all for me to sit there and watch as all the lawyers walked right past my exhibit table. I think I gave out five brochures. That's it. But, I had lots of time to do some knitting and school reading, and each day I read three newspapers. I love reading many newspapers a day, and if I ever have the time to do so again, I will relish the opportunity.

I started my Jaywalkers while I was down there. I'm sure that by now, no link is required for this pattern.



I think its looking pretty good. I love how easy the pattern is, and how cool it looks knitted up. I fear that the sock will be too big for me - I didn't have my gauge thingy with me (I always forget something, don't you?) and I've got an extra stitch or so per inch. I think that if they are really too big, I can always gift them to my mama. She'd love them, I'm sure.



Just another gratuitous shot.

And since I'm now going sock-crazy, I started another pair this weekend in between nesting at home. These are worth linking to, as they are super cool. They're the Elfine's Socks
(that's a PDF to the pattern, so watch out) and they are knit toe-up. I have been wanting to try that method, and thought that the pattern was so beautiful. It took me about four or five starts with the figure-8 cast on before finally getting it to work, and I'm now one full 16-row lace repeat into the instep. The pic below is when I had just finished the toe.



You can see at the tip of the toe, on the yellow side, the larger stitches. When I'm all done, I think I'm going to need to open up that area and tighten those stitches. I guess I still have some learning to do on that cast-on!

Yay! Socks!

Getting Ready

No, not for that. No kniitting olympics for me, as I'll be traveling for work next week and have this pesky grad school thing interfering with life and my running, so I think I've got enough pressure thankyouverymuch.

But seriously. I have a lot going on right now and its starting to feel overwhelming. And I'm not even an official third of the way in to the first semester of the MPA and we're talking three years if I do this degree part-time. I'm tired. Bone tired. So tired that all week I couldn't for the life of me remember what day it was. I've got a zillion pages of reading to do a night, though I made a deal with myself to start skimming, because it can't all be that important and as long as I can debate major themes/topics, I see no need to kill myself with the teensy weensy details. I think this will work to my benefit, as I deal very strongly in my own perception of situations, and knowing that I'm getting it done is what I need to focus on, rather than Reading Every Word For Knowledge. There'll be time for that when I study for the final. Its just this one class... but anyway.

The good news is that I'll be in Florida next week for a conference. At the Ritz, that's right. Sure, I won't have time to go outside but at least I'll be there! And that means two 3-hour plane rides for school reading and knitting, and also manning a conference exhibit table for 3 days with loads o'time for school reading and knitting. It also means Ritz room service and awesome bedding. So, I guess in my own version of the Knitting Olympics, I want to knit the Jaywalkers while I'm there. Or at least one. I'm also going to bring that yarn I got for Knit Picks ages ago to begin a lace stole. The pattern, also from Knit Picks, and missing from their site, is beautiful. I plan to use that as a diversion from the socks if necessary.

Speaking of that yarn, I'm using my brand new swift to wind it up, but I'm finding that I really want a ball winder. Its just too freaking hard to wind 440 yarns of laceweight yarn by hand. I already got a knot and had to break/retie the yarn once. No good. I think today at lunch I'm going to trek over to the Yarn Connection on Madison and see if they have one. I also need the needles for it...

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.