Thankfulness

As I look over my life, there are more things I am thankful for than I could list here and not bore the hell out of everyone. However, there are 3 things that shine above all others.

• I am thankful for my husband. The last long-term relationship that I was in was very damaging to me in many ways. Being with a man like Shane has healed me. I will never forget the wrongs that were done to me by the X, but every day that passes the memories fade a little more. I am truly blessed to have a man who is all of the wonderful things that Shane is.
• I am thankful for my job. It’s amazing how having a shitty job can drain the life out of you. I am one who must love what she does, and I have finally found a career that I love and can see myself doing until retirement. I still have good days and bad days on the job, but at the end of the day, I deeply enjoy what I do.
• I am thankful that BB has the mother that he has. I don’t always agree with the things that she does or the decisions that she makes, but I know that she has the best interests of her children at heart, and that makes our relationship so much easier. She is not jealous of my presence in Shane and BB’s life. She is supportive of us as BB’s other family. We have a very cooperative and respectful relationship with her and that makes life so much easier for Shane and me. Being a stepparent is difficult enough without there being tension and stress between the divorced parents. I am thankful that there is no tension so that we can all concentrate on parenting BB.

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I am spending most of my free time working on the Secret of the Stole, so I may not be posting as much in the next week. I have to do about 60 rows a day in order to have it finished in time to wash and block it before 8 December. I’m still going at a good pace, so I feel confident I can finish in time. As of this morning, I have 1/3 of hint 5 left to finish. I hope to move onto hint 6 by this evening. Thank heavens for a few days off work, huh?

Burned myself out

You may have noticed that I have spectacularly failed at NaBloPoMo. I did really well for 15 days. At least, I posted something for 15 days straight, even if some of the material was a wee snooze-inducing. Then, I went out Friday night and by the time I got home, it was almost midnight and I didn't have it in me to rush through another drive-by post. Missing that one day wigged out my blogging mojo, so I've been taking an unscheduled break. Now that I have a long weekend ahead of me, I'm going to get back on schedule. Not an every-day-a-post schedule, but a few times a week.

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When I got home from work today I spent a little while on You Tube looking at Nickel Creek videos. It completely irks me that the iTunes on our desktop has all of my music on it, and not the laptop, because I can't listen to what I want on the laptop while I'm surfing. I was in the mood for Nickel Creek, but no access to my catalog. To remedy that problem somewhat, I surfed around You Tube. I found a few of the band's commercially produced videos, but mostly there were just crappy bootleg videos. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I was satisfied. I just love them. Very in awe. And the mandolin has to be one of my favorite instruments, which probably explains my otherwise inexplicable attraction to bluegrass (though I don't really like much country music). Anyway, check 'em out. They're fab.

Evening out with Dad

The concert I saw yesterday was Nickel Creek. They played at the old Liberty Hall theater in town. It's this really old theater that has standing-room-only on the first floor and seats in the balcony. Most of the time, they show independent and foreign movies there, with the occasional concert and party. Anyway, my dad had an extra ticket, so he called a few days ago and asked me to go with him. We had dinner first, then got in line at the theater (gotta love general admission tickets). We managed to find 6 seats together, which was good because we met my aunt Marylee and her date, as well as A and her husband. We all had a really good time. It was nice to have some time with Dad. I don't often get to chat with him by himself.



This was apparently their farewell tour. Kinda sad because they are an excellent band, and the show was amazing. If you like folk and bluegrass, you should check them out.

Drive-by post

Very quick WiP Wednesday post. I just got home from a concert and have a half hour to post this before Wednesday becomes Thursday (gotta keep up with NaBloPoMo, ya see).

First is Cozy:



Next is Candy:



And third is Secret of the Stole:



Still plugging along on all three. A long WiP post next week, I promise.

It's what's for dinner... er... breakfast

I'm super late with this blogstalking assignment from last week: What's for breakfast. I apologize profusely for my tardiness. I have a good excuse though. I eat breakfast when I get to work, and taking a picture of your breakfast before eating it is a little odd. I had to wait for a day when no one was around so I could snap a pic without having to explain myself.

Anyway, on to the vittles!


it occurs to me that you can see some of the useless crap on my desk in this picture (magic 8 ball, angel icon, NASCAR metal car full of mints in the shape of the number 48, Getting in Touch With Your Inner Bitch calendar). should have moved that stuff out of the way.

We have yogurt, onto which I sprinkle plain granola, a banana, and coffee, about 1/2 a pot, to be exact. The granola I eat is Bob's Red Mill. It is absolutely the best plain granola. Good crunch without being too hard on the teeth; good flavor without overpowering the flavor of the yogurt; not too sweet. Unfortunately, there is only one grocery store in town that stocks it and they don't always have it available.

Now, wasn't that worth the wait? No?

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This tree in our front yard is so amazing this year.



I had to really mess with the photo editing software to get the color just right. I don't remember it being so bright in past years, but then, I don't think I ever paid much attention to it before. Shane pointed out that it had changed colors overnight. Before he moved in a couple of years ago, the poor thing struggled to stay alive. He's trimmed it a few times over the last couple of years and now it's just gorgeous. Guess Mr. Tree is happy and is showing his gratitude.

It's colors like this that make me wish I dyed my own yarn. I would love to try to duplicate that color in yarn.

A long survey

It's Monday and I'm not feeling very creative today, so I found this meme on the Knittyboard. Enjoy.

1. Your name?
Beverly

2. First thing you wash in the shower?
hair

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
yes

4. Do you plan outfits?
If standing in front of the closet for 30 seconds before grabbing something and throwing it on is considered planning, then yes.

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now?
Not creative, that’s for sure.

6. What's the longest you've been with someone
6-1/2 years

7. Do you say aim or a-i-m?
I say neither as I don’t use it.

8. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?
I was having a dream this morning when the cat woke me up, but I don’t remember any of it.

9. What are your pets names?
Abbey

10. What are you craving right now?
Indian food

11. Do you floss?
Once in a while when I’m feeling guilty for not doing it.

12. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?
My grandma’s cooked cabbage. Yum.

13. Do you go tanning?
Quite the opposite—I pretty much stay out of the sun.

14. Who do you talk to most on instant messaging?
TechGirl

15. Would you dance to the taco song?
I have no idea what the taco song is.

16. Have you ever counted to 1,000?
Yes, when I can’t sleep. A better question would be, “Have you ever sung 1000 bottles of beer on the wall”? Now that’s some serious insomnia.

17. Where do you want to live?
Colorado

18. When did you graduate?
high school: 1992; college: 1998

19. Have you ever met a celebrity?
No, but I’ve been in the same room as a few at the Sundance Film Festival.

20. Do you like cottage cheese?
I sometimes have a craving for cottage cheese; a memory of eating it as a child and liking it. Then I buy some and have a bite, and remember that I don’t like it anymore and the craving is gone.

21. What are you listening to right now?
nothing

22. How many countries have you visited?
5: Canada, England, Germany, Austria, Greece

23. Are your parents strict?
Doesn’t matter anymore as I am an adult now.

24. Would you go sky diving?
yes

25. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?
Why not as long as he’s paying? I’m always up for a free meal.

26. Would you throw potatoes at him?
No. What would be the point? Would that make him a good president? Would it end the war? I don’t think so.

27. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?
There are some iridescent beads on the table next to me that I’m using in a lace shawl.

28. What is your house decorated as?
Um, it pretty much looks like a house. It’s not decorated as anything in particular. Just a house.

29. Do you rent movies often?
We get movies on demand every once in a while.

30. What was your first car?
’87 Chevy Nova

31. What's your natural hair color?
light brown

32. Can you count backwards from 74?..
Who can’t?

33. Who are you going to be with tonight?
Shane and The Blanket Whore

34. Brown or white eggs?
White, but only because they are cheaper. I prefer brown eggs for taste.

35. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
At this very moment, Colorado. Eventually, Italy.

36. Ever been on a train?
yes

37. Ever been in love?
yes

38. Do you have a cell-phone?
yes

39. Where do you work?
At the same company where my husband works.

40. Do you do your own laundry?
Yes, as well as the rest of the household’s laundry.

41. What is your best friend doing tomorrow?
I don’t know; she doesn’t live near me.

42. Who is your idol?
I don’t really have one. There is a person I consider a mentor, but I don’t idolize her.

43. Ever have cream puffs?
yes

44. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect?
yes

45. What was the last question you asked?
Why don’t you ever feed the cat? (to Shane as I filled the cat’s bowl for the thousandth time)

46. What was the last CD you bought?
the most recent one by Maroon 5

47. Boys or Girls?
girls

48. Is your hair curly?
It is wavy when I let it dry naturally.

49. Last time you cried?
can’t recall

50. Ever walked into a wall?
Uh, no.

51. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I’m already a grown-up. That ship has sailed.

52. Have you ever bought anything from Pac Sun?
no

53. What's your favorite food?
Indian food

54. Favorite time of the year?
spring

55. Favorite color?
I like almost all colors. It just depends on how they are used.

56. Where is your significant other?
playing Madden football in the next room

57. Do you have any tattoos?
no

58. The next person you'll hold hands with… will it mean anything?
Yes because it will either be Shane or BB.

59. Do you sleep with the TV on?
absolutely not; I’d be too interested in watching it.

60. Where was your default picture taken at?
At Sears last year. It’s part of the Christmas portraits we had made to give as Christmas gifts.

61. What's the last movie you watched?
Fever Pitch

62. Do you like your life right now?
yes

63. Who's your number one fan?
Shane

64. What is your favorite animal?
cats and dogs

65. Do you have good vision?
Lord no, I’m blind as a bat.

66. What's your favorite t.v. show?
The Office, Dexter, CSI, CSI: NY, Chuck

67. Can you hula hoop?
Once upon a time I could.

68. Could you ever forgive a cheater?
no

69. Do you have a job?
yes

70. Do you believe in God?
yes

71. What are you wearing?
One of Shane’s t-shirts and my favorite lounge pants.

72. Who's your best friend?
TechGirl

73. Have you ever crawled through a window?
yes

74. Can you handle the truth?
Yes, life is full of it.

75. What was the most recent thing you bought?
Sock yarn and lace yarn (I’m a bad, bad girl).

76. How often do you talk on the phone?
once a day

77. What color is your carpet?
light beige

78. Do you hate/dislike more than 3 people?
WAY more than that

79. Do you like bowling?
I hate any activity that breaks my nails every time I do it.

80. Are you sarcastic?
as a compulsion

81. Have you ever slapped someone?
No, but there are plenty of people I know who need to be slapped.

82. Do looks matter?
In this culture, yes.

83. Do you use chap stick?
another compulsion

84. Are you too forgiving?
no, just the right amount

85. Do you own something from Hot Topic?
No, I’m not a 15 year old girl.

86. Do you own a gun?
Shane does, much to my horror.

87. Have you made a prank phone call?
When I was a teenager, sure.

88. Have you ever been in a castle?
Yes, we visited Hever Castle in England—home of Anne Boleyn.

89. Do you like your hair?
No, but there’s not much I can do about that. It is what it is.

90. Do you like yourself?
yes

91. Are you emotional?
No, I’m usually quite the opposite.

92. Are you sick of doing this survey?
yes

93. When was the last time you talked on aim?
6 or 7 years ago

94. Did you meet anybody new today?
no

95. Whats the closest thing to you that’s red?
my laptop, my mouse, the chair I’m sitting in, the entertainment center—I have a lot of red in my house.

Why knit socks?

My sister asked me yesterday what was the appeal of sock knitting. She knits on occasion, but does not have the obsession that I have, and she has never knitted socks before. So, I tried to explain it to her.

I think sock knitting is so popular among knitters for several reasons.

1) It's the ultimate portable project. An in-progress pair of socks, needles, and yarn can be stuffed into even the smallest of purses and taken anywhere.

2) There is some amount of instant gratification with knitting socks. I'm not a very fast knitter, but I can finish one sock in a week and a half. That's possibly only 3 weeks for a pair. I know others can produce a pair in an even shorter amount of time.

3) Although some sock yarns are more expensive than others, one can still purchase a pair of socks' worth of yarn for cheaper than a sweater's worth. It is possible for sock knitting to be relatively inexpensive (as long as one does not amass an enormous sock yarn stash).

4) There are many sock yarns available that are hand painted and hand dyed. The variety of colors in the land of sock yarns makes experimenting with color pretty easy. I have a lot of colors that I really like, but would never wear as a sweater or shawl. I feel freer to work with brightly colored yarns and unusual color combinations because the finished product is small and not as visible as other pieces of clothing.

5) To go along with the ability to experiment with color is the possibility of stitch pattern experimentation. Socks are small, so one can try out different stitch patterns without committing to something as large as a sweater. Also, stitch patterns that might not be flattering in a sweater could work just fine in a sock (I'm thinking of some of the lacier stitch patterns).

6) For me, sock knitting is also appealing because of the small needles and thin yarn. I know that this is a drawback to some people, but I much prefer working with the smaller needles. Additionally,working with DPNs was painful to my hands after a while, but once I switched to magic loop, I no longer had that problem, and I could knit for longer in one sitting.

7) And, finally, anyone who has worn handknit socks knows how superior they are to store-bought socks. Not only am I addicted to knitting socks, but my feet are addicted to wearing them.

Something I cannot explain is that I am happiest when I have a sock on the needles. I cannot wait until I am finished with the 2 projects that I am working on right now so that I can start the Elongated Corded Rib socks again. I just don't feel like I'm feeding my inner knit demon when I'm not working on socks.

Saturday randomness

The Lap Whore curled up with BB last night as we watched The Wizard of Oz. She's never nice to him. I think she was annoyed that there were no other laps available for her to claim so she settled for BB's.



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And, my husband is wuss. A small garter snake somehow got into the kitchen. The thing was only about a foot long, but what did Mr. 6'4" Giant do? Hollered for me with a grossed out look on his face. He wouldn't touch it. I picked it up, showed it to BB, who thought it was pretty cool, and took it outside to the yard. I cannot believe this big man is such a weenie when it comes to snakes.

Oblique

Amy posted the fall Knitty surprises yesterday. Did y'all see this one? Oh my, that sweater just screams "Beverly"!! Comfy, but still a little dressy. I think I have to have this sweater. But I have no yarn in the stash for it. Dammit.

I shall control myself and not buy any yarn for it. I think I can wait until Yarn Barn's annual sale at the end of December. Then I can get enough Cascade 220 to make it for under $50.

Must. Have. Patience. And. Self-Control.

Stash management

To continue with the theme of stash management, I have decided to reorganize my stash. I have had my stash sort of put out of the way for a few years, but there isn't any rhyme or reason to it, as the following pictures will show:



This is the basket that I keep WiPs in. The little barrel thing used to be used to hold current project yarn, but now just stores yarn that I was too lazy to put away in the plastic tubs pictured below.



This basket has been in this spot, full of whatever it's full of, for at least a year. I don't even know what's in it. The thing on top is a failed attempt at making a triangular shawl out of Lion Brand Homespun that I can't bring myself to get rid of. The tree trunks, er... needles on top of the Homespun mistake were a freebie from the Stitch N' Pitch. My hands hurt just looking at them.



This is the last box I received from Knit Picks a couple of weeks ago. I haven't taken anything out of it yet because I haven't known where to put it. It holds some Andean Silk and some sock yarn.



This is my knitting bag (and also my first knitted object - still in use 4 years later!). It holds another WiP that I haven't blogged about yet.



Here are the plastic tubs referenced above. There are 3 of them, and they are packed to the gills. They live in the closet in the office. I have to move other stuff to get to them, so they're not very convenient.

And finally,



This the the "temporary" cardboard box that I whined about in Tuesday's post. I have no clue what is at the bottom of the box.

That's everything. Any yarn in my house is in these 6 locations.

Now, the plan:
1) Purchase under-the-bed flat plastic bins. *DONE*
2) Sort yarns by weight.
3) Sort yarns by project if I have a project in mind for a particular yarn. Bag up these yarns in zipper bags so that they stay together.
4) Enter all yarn specs into Excel spreadsheet.
5) Create Excel spreadsheet. I guess this should go before #4.
6) Put yarn in underbed bins.
7) Marvel at space leftover after organizing and smack myself for not doing it sooner.

Some of you may wonder why I intend to keep a spreadsheet for myself instead of entering all of my stash into Ravelry. I may do that eventually, but for now, I think it will work better for me to have a separate spreadsheet. Also, the thought of photographing my stash makes me wince. With the horrible lighting in my house, I have a hard enough time photographing WiPs and FOs. It would just frustrate me to distraction if I had to try and get decent photos of all my stash. Plus, I know what it looks like. I don't really need photos of all of it.

I'm going to try and have all this done by Sunday night. That's a pretty optimistic goal, but I'm definitely motivated.

Onto making that spreadsheet...

A WiP for your Wednesday

I started Cozy a couple of days ago. I have to say that I'm really liking this pattern. It's a fairly simple pattern, but it's keeping my interest.



The first time I tried it with this yarn, I used size 8 needles. I didn't like the way it was looking after about 5 rows. So, this time, I switched to size 10.5 needles and I am much happier with the results. My general gauge rule is to go up 2 needles sizes from that recommended in the pattern, to compensate for my tight knitting, but I didn't have a size 10 on hand. The 10.5 is working quite nicely. I don't figure at such a large gauge that 1/2 a size will make much difference, especially with a flat garment.

Now that I've knitted 5 or 6 pattern repeats, I can really see the pattern. You know how lace usually looks like a pile of hopelessly tangled string before it's blocked? Well this pattern starts out looking particularly blobby. I had to get through a few pattern repeats before it started looking like something.

Patience is not one of my strong traits.

Did you knit from your stash, young lady?

A few days ago I was freaking out about our household budget, and our complete inability to stick to it, and I thought it would be a good time to recap my pledge to “Knit from my stash” this year.

The rules I set for myself were the following:

• No yarn purchases until 30 September.
• Knitting accessories and books do not count.
• Exception: Yarn purchased while on vacation or business travel does not count.
• Exception: I could buy yarn for a Christmas gift sweater that I expected to take longer to knit than the 3 months before Christmas.
• Exception: Yarn purchased to make my SP 8 a gift was allowed.

So, how’d I do?

Well, let’s just say that if grades were being given for exercising some amount of control, I’d have a big fat red “F” at the top of my paper.

I did really well at the beginning of the year. I think my first little cheat was the one skein of cheapie yarn that I bought in April for my coworker’s wedding shower gift.

Then it became June and I started to freak out about all the Christmas gifts that I had in the queue to make for my various loved ones, in addition to an anniversary gift for my parents. So I bought some yarn at Michael’s for the anniversary gift (Celtic Knot afghan that never was).

Then I bought some more for a Christmas gift (Lady Eleanor stole).

I just HAD to have a laptop cover, so I bought some yarn for that.

And then some more for my soon-to-be-niece’s baby blanket.

And again some more for the Ball Band Dishcloths.

Oh, and I joined the Secret of the Stole KAL, so I had to have yarn for that.

All-in-all, I guess I purchased less yarn in a 10-month period than I did the previous year, but I didn’t do very well with the yarn diet.

I have three ginormous plastic tubs in a closet that hold my stash. They’ve been completely full since my last big yarn splurge in December last year. I wasn’t supposed to buy any new yarn, so I didn’t think it was necessary to obtain another plastic tub. But, see, there was this extra skein lying around that needed to go somewhere. So I found a cardboard box and put the skein in there temporarily. Over the course of the next few months, extra skeins lying around here and there had to go somewhere, so they were put in the cardboard box.

People, the damn box is now FULL. Like, stuff is spilling over the top and onto the floor. The box was only temporary, right? Because I wasn’t going to buy anymore yarn? Not so much. Every time I walk into the office at home, that box stares up at me, mocking me.

That’s right – BIG FAT “F”.

So what have I done now? Pledged not to buy any yarn until after Christmas. Why do I do this to myself?!

Does your man have a murse?

I am having some serious blogger's block today. I realized about an hour ago that I hadn't posted anything today, and now I can't think of anything to write that wouldn't be long and involved. And, frankly, I just don't have the energy right now.

So, instead I will leave you with William. And the murse.



He always makes me giggle.

Just a wee babe

Blogstalking assignment: Show us the oldest picture of you.

Here it is...



The date on the back of the picture is June 1, so this was taken 4 days after I was born. This was probably the day I was brought home from the hospital. That's my mom's hand. I would recognize that wedding ring anywhere.

I am lucky enough to have this and many other pictures because my mom put together a big photo album for me that she gave to me when I graduated from high school. It chronicles my life from birth to age 18. I had to dig a bit to get the book unearthed from the box where it's been stored since I moved into this house 4 years ago. It was really hard not to just sit there and look at photos for hours.

Anyway, I came across this one too.



That's Wendy and me. According to the back of the picture, I am 18 months old. That would make her 6. I love this picture.

A woman's prerogative

I changed my mind - again. I started the first strip on the Woven Trellis scarf and I just wasn't feeling it. I love the yarn, and I love the way it was looking, but I hate DPNs so much that the project just wasn't making me happy.

So I changed my mind.

Instead, the person who was going to receive the scarf is now going to receive Cozy, in hunter green wool. What's sad is that I actually started this very project, in this very yarn, for this very person, a few months ago. I didn't like the way it was shaping up so I ripped it out and started looking for something else to make. Now I'm back. I don't know why I'm pulled to this project, but I know better than to ignore the inner knitting demon for too long. On my first try, I used size 8s. I knit really tightly, so I think I'll go with 10.5s this time and see how it goes. The larger needles should make for a lacier product. Lace is good.

Trick-or-treat, smell my feet...

Shane I took BB trick-or-treating Wednesday night and a good time was had by all. For the 3rd year in a row we went over to Wendy and Pete’s and walked around their neighborhood. Our neighborhood is not safe enough for children to walk around at night, not even with their parents (registered sex offender lives 2 doors down. seriously.).



Wendy and Pete stayed home while Shane and I walked around with BB. He had a blast! The weather cooperated—clear skies and not too cold. BB’s costume was scary enough that a couple of small children refused to get near him. He loved that!

Next year, I think I may try to dress up. My soon-to-arrive niece will be 10 months old by then, so I’m hoping we can get Kevin and Christy to bring her over to Wendy’s to walk around with us. We’ll just make this a big family affair.

Oh, and I saw this on my way to the grocery store the other day:


please excuse the crappy camera phone pic

The color of the leaves took my breath away. It is so bright, it almost glows. Summer here was so hot and dry that many of the trees just dropped dead leaves, skipping the gorgeous color that we usually have here. I was quite pleased to see this lovely.

Sock Woe-Jo

I did something really stupid just a little while ago—I joined NaBloPoMo. My blogging lately has been boring even me, so in an attempt to make myself post more than a couple of times a week, I agreed to post at least once a day. We’ll see how long I go before I skip a day. I predict that the weekends will be the hardest.

Onwards!

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My sock mojo is failing me. It’s not that the mojo is hiding under the couch or in the cat box along with the spider that lives there (really—a spider lives in the cat box). It’s not gone, just malfunctioning. And so I dub it Woe-Jo. WJ has succeeded in making me start a sock with the same yarn 4 times plus 2 major ripping backs (rippings back?). It started off as a Jaywalker. Too many stitches on needles too large. Riiiippp! Too many stitches on smaller needles. Riiiippp! Completely arsed-up triple decrease. Riiiippp! After the 3rd ripping, I thought I had everything fixed and settled. I started working on the larger of the 2 sizes indicated in the pattern, toe-up this time instead of top-down. I even got all the way to the heel. Turned the heel. Realized half-way through the heel flap that my math was completely off. I was going to need to do more gusset increase rows in order to have the heel math turn out right. Rip back the end of the increase rows. Do a bit more math and realize that the whole increase section needs to be moved closer to the toe or the sock was going to be too long. Rip back to the beginning of the increase rounds.

Then I put the sock in time-out while I finished the baby blanket.

When I finally picked it up again last week, I realized that the Woe-Jo was not liking the Jaywalker pattern at all. I try to listen to my inner knit demon when it comes to projects not working the way I want them too. If for any reason I am not feeling the love for the current project, it gets ripped and the yarn used for something else. So, I ripped again and started searching for another pattern.

Enter the most basic problem in this whole saga—I really don’t like the yarn. It’s Lana Grossa Meilenweit and it’s really scratchy. The past 3 pairs of socks I have made have been from either Koigu or Lorna’s Laces. Very soft and squishy yarns. The Meilenweit is absolutely twine-y in comparison. I know it will make for durable socks, but it’s wearing on my hands faster than softer yarns. I am firm in my resolve to use this yarn, though. The colors, while not anything really special, are interesting enough (really short color repeats which make for a variegated result). So on I plugged.

Once I had ripped out the last incarnation of the Jaywalker, I searched about for a very simple pattern that I could easily memorize and knit quickly. What I settled on is the Elongated Corded Rib (I think that’s the name) from Sensational Knitted Socks. I am working from the toe again, on 80 stitches. The pattern is a 4 stitch, 8 row repeat. Varied enough to keep my interest, and simple enough to memorize and work quickly. Problem solved.

Or not.

Due to the fact that this is a variation of a ribbed pattern, it’s really stretchy. I am getting 9.5 st/inch, which for me would mean 80 total stitches on size 1s, but when I last tried them on, they were awfully large. Not ginormous, but not very fitted either. I’m really picky about my socks fitting just right. I hate loose socks. I could probably continue on as is and the socks would turn out fine—they’d be a bit loose, but nothing fatal.

But here’s the thing: I hate the idea of spending so much time on something that I don’t absolutely love. I think I owe it to the Sock Mojo to only make socks that I really love, from beginning to end. That nagging feeling I have that something is amiss just won’t leave me be.

So here’s my solution. Cut the yarn, pull out the needles, set the unfinished sock aside. At this point, I have ripped out and reknit that section of yarn so many times that it’s getting very splitty and a bit worn. I will start a new sock on size 0s this time, on the same number of stitches. If I need the extra yarn I will rip it later. I just can’t face ripping it now.

Here’s to turning the Woe-Jo back into Mojo! I will finish this pair of socks if it kills me. And I will love every minute, dammit.