that fits…

Up to now i have finished 4 pairs of socks. The first fit me mostly, but are perhaps a bit too short. The second fit me in length, but are loose in the leg and could honestly be a bit tighter in the foot as well. This third went to SOP, because they were too big for me and the fourth went to SOP because they were intended for him.

I have also started two other pairs of socks for me. One i ripped out for being too big, then ripped out again for being too small (and this was a measure and calculate pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks). It is currently living in a ball state. The second is the fine example you see above. The jaywalker.

I am on gauge, and yet it is too big around and WAY too big in the heel. Let’s not talk about the length. I was using the toe-up pattern, and that might be the problem. The toe-up pattern says it is based on the “you’re putting me on” heel sock, and yet the numbers vary greatly from those in that pattern. But honestly, at this point can i really believe it is the pattern?

Anyone have any ideas? I do the measurements, but i like my socks snug. I do have a wider ball of the foot, but a high arch. SOP also would mention that i have ‘muscular’ feet, but i am not sure that makes a difference in this case…

on my ears. Or, i finally got sop’s cold. Or, he is to blame for my misery and he better make me some hot soup tonight!

Can i go home now?

two of my absolute most favorite things are driving through town and shopping. really. well, standing in line is up there, too, but it really is at best a distant third.

logically then i had a fantastic day, as i had the opportunity to do not just my two favorite things, but the third as well. If someone would have tried to run me off the road while flipping me off, well, the day would have been pretty darn close to perfect.

IF YOUR INITIALS ARE S.O.P. YOU MAY CONSIDER YOURSELF EXCUSED AT THIS POINT. THAT’S RIGHT. LEAVE. NOW. YOUR EYES ARE NOT WANTED HERE.

i had the day off, and spent the morning seperating threads. the present that sop doesn’t know about is a kumihimo neckband for him to put his wedding ring on. So, getting ready for a trial run, i took embridery thread and started seperating and then loading into the kumihimo plate (traditional kumihimo is done on a marudai, but i’m just getting a feel for this, and do not know how much i’ll be doing it in the future, and so i opted for the plate and disk method). After an hour of seperating threads and starting my first braid, i realized that i needed bobbins to hold the loose ends - and quickly. If i didn’t, i was never going to get to this:

no more tangles instruction

and most certainly not to this:

mmm… twirls

Time to hit the road, as they say. Get the ball rolling, stop dragging my a**, you know what i mean.

Thirty minutes (10 minutes looking, 20 minutes standing in a four-person line) after entering michael’s, i emerged with these:

10% more plastic goodness

Since one really cannot have enough of driving in holiday traffic, i decided to do more of these fine activities while i was out. After a short stop to the Library, i headed through town, buying the last gifts on my list and a candle ring to get some greenery in the house, dropping some things off for good will, not recycling cardboard due to the overflowingness of the recepticles and posting a sign for some items i’m selling at REI. But i have to say, i love Steve Hagen’s audio book “Buddhism Plain and Simple”. I’m an addict of Pema Choedron’s, but i don’t always quite know what she’s saying. When i finish listening to this book, i just might.

Zen state aside.

I got home and pulled out the bobbins, wrapped the first thread around its bobbin securely,let it go and watched it unravel to the floor. Hmm… it seems that these bobbins MAY hold an entire skein of embroidery thread, but only if you don’t seperate the threads out. Thank goodness i waited the 20 minutes in line for these. I grabbed one of the boxes that didn’t make it in the recycling bin and voila:

today’s apad

Now, with the kumihimo fiasco well hidden and sop coming home with FOOD, i can sit by the candle ring and enjoy the smell of pine blended with one of my favorite scented candles:

nothing says holidays like tangy pear

Enjoy your weekend!

my desk

i’ve been lame lately, as the above shot shows. honestly, i am really tired and just want the office / darkroom to be done so that we can put stuff away and have a clean house again. I swear, some days i am tempted to leave the doors unlocked so that someone could come in and just steal everything and make it go away. Anyone know of a custom theft program that will leave just the things i say i absolutely want? And if i do not absolutely want the others, why do i think i need to keep them?

i’ve stopped taking my vitamins. i am hoping to get sick so i can stay home for a week. I think i’ll start walking the dog while my hair is wet, too.

i don’t know if it is the whole work issue, or the remodelling issue, or the dryer, or the tub, or the dishwasher… but i feel like the dregs in the coffee pot that’s been on for 3 days. I am tired and uninspired.

And yet, the work thing has worked itself out, and not at all as i thought it would. On the eve of my accepting another job, my boss gave notice. The night before i knew for certain, i suspected and was panicked. I feared, due to some things that had been said in my interview, that he might be going to the same place as i was. It was this fear that kept me from signing while trying to find out the facts. But he went someplace else (well, actually will be going someplace else) and i talked to the dean about the role of web and database development in the College and am staying. What have i learned from him over the past 4 years? Mainly that when someone repeatedly tells you that you are a bad person, there is a chance they may be wrong. I let him convince me for almost 4 years, but i finally realized that the only thing wrong was his expecting me to always agree with him. Having my own opinion does not make me a bad person.

Now we are in the process of restructuring, getting rid of all the things my boss took on just because he didn’t want anyone else to do them. Of course, he never got around to doing many of them at all as a result, but hey, at least he was in control. The restructure is both exciting and daunting. I think we can do great things. But i am exhausted.

The office / darkroom remodel, with its many floor-levelings, is almost to the point where we get to add cabinets. The walls are painted, the flooring is in, i’ve started painting baseboard and door frame and soon will paint the window frames and door. It will be so cool! But i am exhausted.

The tub and dishwasher are unclogged, the dryer unfixed. After three weeks, and multiple replacement parts, we decided to call a pro. If my clothes rack held more than half a load of laundry, i wouldn’t care so much. But it doesn’t, and i am exhausted.

I have knit, and yet am unmotivated and unfocused to knit. I want to shoot, but all my daylight hours are taken. Once we get the office done and i can put things away, i know i’ll have room to do some still-lifes indoors, but for now i am just exhausted.

What i really want is some MAGIC. Yes, the kind that comes in all upper-case letters. The kind that makes me want get out there and DO things. The kind you have to make yourself