Starting now I bat a thousand
May 19, 2011 § Leave a comment
Well, it looks like I’m starting to get my mojo back.
I’m sure everybody’s had that phase where all their knitting motivation was being sucked down into a black hole, and where their knitting progress was taking similar dark and dingy roads into nowheresville.
It’s the time where you open your stash cupboards and discover that despite several kilos of yarn lurking behind the harmless wooden façade, you have a big pile of nothing to knit.
Then you look through your pattern books and Ravelry and discover that every pattern in the world is too something: too fussy, too boring, too big, too small, too frumpy, too modern, too intricate, too plain, too triangular, too this-doesn’t-go-with-any-yarn-I-have or worst, too I-have-a-yarn-that-would-go-with-that-but-I-really-don’t-want-to-waste-it-on-that-because-it’s-not-the-perfectest-pattern-I-have-ever-seen-in-my-life.
And so I cast on a sock or two and trudged through my super-secret project – which was technically fun, but to someone who’s usually so meticulous about keeping their Ravelry project page updated, it’s just plain depressing to do so much work without being able to share it. (Because, well, that’s sort of the definition of super-secret.)
But then I finished the SSP on Tuesday morning and went to the pub with Saskia on Tuesday night, and since I didn’t have any pub knitting (because ugggggh, socks), I cast on Multnomah with my ocean-colored handdyed sock yarn. Which was technically not the best idea, because knitting with dark yarn and dark needles in a dark pub produced garter stitch that was positively riddled with mistakes, but on the other hand, I feel like this yarn must have magic properties. No, really.
Magic. I’m almost done with what has to be the most entertaining garter stitch portion of a shawl in the history of the universe – I’m so charmed by the colors emerging and mingling and I know I’m blowing my own horn to the point where everyone around me (including myself) is starting to turn deaf, but, but… it’s just gorgeous. I’m in love. I have no idea how I did it, except that I dumped a lot (and I mean a LOT) of color on that poor skein of sock yarn, and that the amount of time it spent in the microwave would’ve probably roasted a whole turkey. (Well, almost.) And I can barely wait to start the feather-and-fan section.
So here I am, chilling on my floor since the SSP is currently occupying the sunny spot on my bed, ogling my pretty handdyed, and considering reprising this morning’s Best Breakfast Ever.
(SpongeBob Squarepants bowl? check. Delicious oatmeal? check. Enough fruit to cover the whole bowl of delicious oatmeal, plus some chocolate? oh, you bet!)
Roadhouse Blues
October 21, 2010 § 2 Comments
This week isn’t particularly better than the last one. Some things have improved from last week; however, other things have emerged that make me want to bang my head against the nearest available surface.
At least Andi has the early shift at Starbucks this week, so there’s a friendly face and a free extra espresso shot in the morning. I love Andi. He is my coffee god.
Also, after last week and my embarrassing whiny outburst, I’ve decided to channel my whininess into creative processes. I bet you all have a fairly good idea of what that might be. A hint: It’s not cleaning my desk, although that is long overdue, but that would mean untangling at least three skeins of sock yarn from each other. Do not want.
Instead, because today was a crappy day, I made focaccia. I always try to make some kind of yeast dough when I’m impatient and easily irritated, because it doesn’t work without letting it rest. It’s a valuable lesson. Also, I love that warm, yeasty, herb-y smell that reminds me of summer and the beach.
And then I knit a hat. A whole hat. In a day. I’m three quarters done with my Brambles scarf, so I figured I’d make the hat before finishing it. It’s not that I have project ADD, (alright, I do have project ADD. In fact I’m two seconds away from starting an experimental Norwegian-inspired, merino-lined Alpaca hat for my father. Or… something.) – point being, I wanted to see how much yarn I’d have left over from the hat, so I could see whether or not I could make tassels for the scarf. The yarn I have is from two different lots, since I bought them almost a year apart, but the lots are reasonably close.
Which, it turns out, was a blessing, because my tassel plan kind of backfired: I actually had to use some of the scarf yarn for the last five rows or so of the hat. Oops.
Still, a cute, warm, orange hat in a day. And no tassels for the scarf.
It’s funny, the color is incredibly hard to photograph. I played around with the settings and the lighting just now, and out of ten different photos, there’s not two that capture the shade of the yarn alike. The closest I’ve come to reality is this photo of the scarf from last week or so:
I have no idea why I never got around to posting this before. Incidentally, it was taken the same day I took the new header photo. (Opinions on that, by the way? Good? Bad? Meh?)
Speaking of things I haven’t gotten around to showing off – the new hair! (Recognize the cardi? I knit that!)
So, yeah. Seeing as there isn’t a demo this week to unhinge the entire public transportation system, there’s a pretty good chance I’m gonna pay the Strickcafé an overdue visit. Then Supernatural and cooking with Christian. Even if this week sucked, there’s still the weekend to look forward to. Nice job I did there on putting together my week.
Drop drop drop
March 31, 2009 § 4 Comments
I am so tired.
I slept five hours between nine and 2.30, but I started waking up every half hour after 12. Which, surprisingly enough, left me less than well-rested. I’m guessing it’s the bright daylight blazing through my windows (it really was a beautiful day), or the approximately two liters of coffee I’d had before.
Oh, coffee.
My big problem with coffee is that I like it a lot. So much that, in fact, I bought a nice big mug to have my coffee in. A normal coffee mug holds about 300ml. Mine holds 6oo. Which means that with only two mugs, I drink over a liter of coffee and barely notice that fact. I had a lot of coffee last night, and another two today during the day. It’s a lot of caffeine. Granted, I put a lot of milk in there, but still… that’s like 3 liters of coffee in less than 24 hours. Glorious brown elixir of life or not – that’s a LOT of coffee.
Plus, you know, fake Bailey’s with Saskia tonight, just a bit, and I’m still woozy. Drinking the second half in the steaming hot bathtub was probably a mistake, but also delicious.
So. As a result of too little sleep, coming down from my caffeine high, and a brilliant hot bath in the middle of the night, my whole body is heavier than a stone. Which is nice. I felt ready to drop all day, but now I’m just deliciously relaxed to boot.
And yet somehow between all of the coffee drinking and grocery shopping and sleeping badly, I managed to finish the first Roomie sock and work my way down most of the shaft of the second one. It’s still fun – but nowhere near as crack-like as the first one. I’m still waiting for a huge onset of SSS though.