Bird of the Summer

WOW.  It's been a long time since I've posted or blogged, sorry.  It's been a long time since I've knit, or made any progress on knitting.  My wrist has been achey and despite promising to share a table at a convention in November, I haven't really done much... at all.  That's made me a little bummed out.

But I have been going to knitting group (Tuesday nights at the Books A Million in Concord!) and so have had some itty bitty progress.  

I finished Dan's socks today.  They fit well everywhere but the front of his ankle (opposite the heel)  His foot is just so big there! I don't really know what to do - just some more experiments, I guess. But he is happy so that's a win, I guess.

I've also finished the second quarter of my afghan.  This afghan has been such a good project.  I'm kind of sad that when it's done it's just going to go into my hope chest, but I made a promise to myself so I'm going to keep it! Blerg!

That's all.  I've been working hard and watching "Friends" in my new apartment, and not really accomplishing much of anything.  A few weeks ago we hiked, but not a big mountain.  My ankle is still recovering - can you believe that? Six months and still at 99%... depressing stuff.

Hope all is well! It's hard for me to read other people's blogs, because I just feel bad about not knitting, and I get more gloomy, so I hope everyone forgives me!

Playing Chicken

So... this was originally supposed to be posted 2 WEEKS AGO... but for some reason I messed up and it didn't.  I haven't worked on the shawl since, and still need help :(

I haven't played chicken since the seventh grade, and even then I didn't really play, just watched two kids kick each other on the monkey bars. I just didn't see the point in fighting with someone for some arbitrary title of more stubborn.

But, here I am, right at the end of my shawl.  This is a point where I should be knitting furiously, excited to see what it will look like when I'm done.



Instead... I feel like I'm racing against myself.  This is all the yarn I have left!



This sucks.  I just know, deep down, that I'm going to run out.  It just depends on when.  I started out with supposedly more than enough...

So, I have three options:
1.) Knit until I run out, then finish the shawl with a contrasting color.  This is not really an optin because I don't want to do it :/
2.) Knit until I run out, figure out that limit, and then frog back a few repeats of the main lace pattern and make the shawl a little shorter.
3.) Frog back a few repeats of the center lace pattern now, and just hope that I picked enough yarn.

there is another option, I guess,  which would be to frog the entire thing back and knit something else... but I don't really want to do that.

So... what should I do? 

Hopefully I make a decision one way or another... Or it'll be like that sweater that has been neatly folded on my desk for like six months...

Biking on Plum Island

Saturday Dan and I biked up and down the Plum Island Turnpike! We though the weather was going to be bad, but it wasn't too horrible.  I managed to take some gorgeous pictures on my new phone... man.  I think it might be better than my camera!

More pictures of my boyfriend's foot

Dan picked out new yarn for new socks, after I stole his yarn for my dream socks.  I've been slowly plugging along with these during my commute, and at quiet times after work.  I can't believe I'm on the foot! That's when I realized that it's been too long since I blogged, so here I am... Giving you an update on the few stitches per day that I've been doing.

Being sick blows! (A Whiny Post)

So, I've been putting extra hours in at work.  And I work an hour from home.  So, assume I work a 10-hour day, plus two hours of commuting each way.  Then, of course, I need around 8 hours of sleep.  And an hour to get up in the morning and get ready for work (Shower, put on makeup, dress myself, pack a lunch).  What does that give me?

Three hours.  Three hours of free time.  I was griping to a coworker about this, and she said "It does seem like that sometimes, doesn't it?" 

... WHAT? Lady, it is that.  Those are the numbers.  I have 3 hours a day of "leisure time," and if I want more, I either have to work less or sleep less.

So, needless to say, I've been running myself ragged between stress and not sleeping (because, there's fun stuff to do guys!) and not really eating too well, either, and it finally all came to a head Saturday when I spent the entire day vomiting whatever went into my stomach because I had messed up my sleep schedule and made risky food choices.

I spent Sunday sleeping and trying to eat small amounts of food because the vomiting had been replaced with terrible hunger pains. I couldn't straighten my body to walk to the bathroom or even lie flat on my back, or else the cramps were so bad I would cry.

Today, I am sitting home on the couch.  I don't really have any more pain, but my brain is so dead that I'm not comfortable going to my job... because I'm working on a lot of really important (to me) things and I'm afraid of making a mistake.

Anyway, there's no point to this post other than me whining.  Sorry about that.  I think that when I started writing it, I meant to give an excuse of why I haven't been around... but all the words just started pouring out.

Things will get better soon.  Dan and I are looking for apartments that are closer to work.  I'm going to finish these projects and they will be replaced with other, less stressful projects. 

And I'm never, ever, ever going to eat a sandwich that I found in the back seat of my car again.

I Found the Rainbow!

It's on the heels! I finished the heels Tuesday, and I really like them.  They're my favorite part of the socks, actually... so much my favorite that I'm taking out the whole socks.

Yep, I'm ripping them all out and making these socks.  They're the perfect way to knit this yarn.  And it'll be a fun challenge.

But... I have to finish Dan's socks.  I pulled out all my sock yarns and gave him the pick.  He picked a really boring black and white.

Boys are weird.

Also, I have to share this.  This is where I took that picture above...

At 4 AM.  This is great advertising for my lamp that Dan bought me, haha!

Muddy Rainbow Socks

I'm making progress! Carpooling two hours each day is great, especially when you make the other person drive.  I'm making nice progress on my Haruni shawl, too!

Anyway, I put them on Dan and I'm about an inch from starting the heel flap.  Which is good, because I'm really into a new book... and I can't read an knit too intense stuff.  I can do stockinette or garter stitch fine, but anything that involves thinking just doesn't work for me.

I'm disliking the yarn more and more the more it knits up.  It pools, which is ok, but from a distance it just looks brown to me.

It makes me philosophical: every stitch is special and unique, but when all this specialness and uniqueness is put in one place the combined specialness and uniqueness just makes some ugly socks.  Okay, maybe not ugly... maybe just... a little... different...

Also, I've stitched hair into it.  #$&!%...