Oh Crap

Yep, another nice ten day stretch of nothingness between posts. Go me.

See, I'm the red bird, looking all adorable and goofy in an attempt to distract you from the fact that I haven't posted in over a week.

But nothing terribly interesting has been going on, knitting wise. I'm working on knitted tops for my Converse, firstly. My chucks are torn up beyond recognition, so I'm thinking this could be a neat way to put them back into action. The pattern tells you to sew the new tops onto a strip of fabric left on the bottom for that purpose. Here, let me scrounge up a visual...*shuffles papers*

See the red line? You're supposed to cut the canvas there and leave a little bit of canvas to sew the knitted top on to. This is all well and good, unless you're actually trying to refurbish a pair of beat-up Chucks. The most common ripping is the canvas from the sole on the outside of the shoe. Of course, since they're now "fashionable" you hardly see an old beat up Chuck anywhere. Which is sad. But anyway, I have no canvas to stitch the knit top to. Thus, I am punching a needle through the rubber sole. Unpleasant work, that. I have one done, but they're on the backburner at the moment. Because...

I'm knitting another pair of socks! I have knit one pair before, but I got the yen to do another, for some reason. They're not for me, they're for Boyfriend. But I think they're going decently. I finished the first one and now have to fight the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome and cast on for #2. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate casting on? I hate doing the first bit of a project for some reason. Bores the everloving crap out of me. Anywho, I do have a photo of the first sock.

Look to the right, there. I think it's going pretty well, but like I said, let's see if I can avoid the dreaded SSS. This is prior to blocking, by the by. My stitches look straight-up nasty. Crooked and all that. Which is strange, considering the one thing I can usually get right is even gauge. Tight gauge'll do that to ya. The yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease (he wanted something machine washable) in ranch red and black. This is the first time I've done a sock in more than one color, and it looks alright, although I think my method could use some work. In addition, I bungled the toe decreases somehow and the grafting is a fucking mess. Never again shall I attempt to graft a toe without the instructions right in front of me. Boyfriend likes it, though, and that's all that really matters. The pattern is Thuja from Knitty Winter 05. I like it; it's easy enough to do in class but interesting enough to keep me from falling asleep. And yes, that is my foot, not Boyfriend's. His foot is much bigger than that.

I've also been poking around for a hat pattern to knit with my skein of Noro. I have recently decided that I can pull off a slouchy hat, so I'm looking.

So that's all that's really going on. No new giveaways to report, really. Yeah, it's been pretty boring around here.

Why Do I Suck So Much?

So, the extra bit of stockinette on the Flomit socks was annoying the crap out of me, so I frogged them. In other words, both of my WIPs, gone. In a day. I've really been batting a thousand lately, haven't I? Well, I wasn't really enamored of the pattern anymore either, so maybe it was for the best.

So, I trolled Ravelry for good sock patterns and decided on the Sunday Swing socks. The only problem is that these are sized socks. So, first, I had to find a photo that demonstrated how far the socks came up, and then measured around that part of the leg. I've always been awful with guessing distance and other spatial trivialities, so this was actually pretty hard for me, not to mention a gigantic pain in the ass. This done, I found that I should be making a large. ...A large? Me? Now, you don't know me, but I've never been a large in anything, ever. Clothes have always been too big on me. (By the way, don't read this as a knock on people larger than me. It's totally not; I'm just trying to better illustrate my absolute confusion. I think sizeism is a big problem in our society.) So, anyway, I start looking at my leg, and realize that my calves are quite plump. Okay, doesn't bother me. The only problem is that I have tiny chicken ankles! So, will they fit? Stay tuned to find out.

The Sunday Swing pattern is one made specifically for variegated sock yarns. It was written by Kristel Nyberg and featured in the Summer 09 issue of Knitty. By the by, I love Knitty. If you don't know about it, it's a free online pattern mag. Besides the patterns being free, they usually also come in a variety of sizes, which is important, considering women both big and small need stylish clothing and patterns. It warms my cold little heart. Also, the fact that a pattern is even in Knitty serves as a sort of quality control. If it's in there, it's probably good and relatively free of errors. Anyway, here's a photo of the socks from the magazine, on the right:
Nice, right? I think they look pretty good, and should look good in the pink. I'm hoping for a pair of socks that look nice with flats. (I hate to not wear socks with flats if I'm in long pants. Chalk it up to a personal neurosis.) The pattern is charted, and this is my first time working from a chart. Let's hope it goes well!

In other, not knit related news, today I mourn the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. Of course, I started a Rav thread when I heard about it, and it's already a shitstorm It's got the little "heated discussion" guy at the top. You know, many people make mistakes, grave mistakes, awful mistakes in their lives. I'd wager Ted did much more to atone himself than others. What I find funny about this is that the people badmouthing him benefited from legislation he wrote or pushed for. Like, lady, don't you see what he did for you? It's ridiculous. But, I'll miss Senator Kennedy. Paraphrasing a friend here: He was a man of privilege who chose to be a man of the people. And for that, he has my admiration. RIP.