Domesticated (Day 27 KEDfaY)

I didn't do much today, at least where knitting is concerned. I knit maybe two rows. I can easily finish this hat if I just buckle down and do it but I felt like cleaning up. Yesterday I was in a crummy mood that brought a stomach ache so I decided today I would Get Shit Done. 

Laundry. Check.

Dishes. Check.

Cat box scooped. Check.

I even showered and wrote a bit. I have an idea for a piece that I've been mulling over for a while now but I can't get it to work. Maybe more time for it to stew will help things come together.

Right now I'm playing through the latest chapters in Pottermore (because I'm a super nerd) because I decided to reread the series again because why not? Dinner is also simmering on the stove (enchiladas!) and just waiting for the Boyfriend to come home to put them together. 

I might attempt to finish the hat tonight or then again I might decide not to and leave it for another day. We'll see. 

HAT/Another unoriginal post title (Day 26 KEDfaY)

Today is one of those days that started out alright but then one small thing made the whole day have a sour mood about it. I hate these days and I hate how easy they happen. 

Got some more done on the hat I started yesterday. I'm almost ready for the decreases and then it'll be off of the needles! If I wanted to, I could probably finish it tonight. Hell, I might finish it tonight, just depends on how enthusiastic I am about knitting on it later. Since it's going to be a present, I want to stay positive while working on it. I'm not a super believer in the whole idea that if you think positive thoughts while you make something then the person that receives it will have positive results but I don't want to make something while thinking awful thoughts and then the person have negative things happen to them. That would make me feel guilty and definitely not help my current mood.

Think I might go read for a bit. Any suggestions? 

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime! (Day 25 KEDfaY)

Because I don't have much else going on right now and because I'm pretty bored most of the time, I decided to get a head start on my Christmas knitting. Last year I had a lot planned and because I was busy having an emotional breakdown because my grad school was a literal joke, I only got two presents done and one of those I finished up after Christmas lunch. This year though, will be different! (she says to herself, trying to convince herself it will be.) 

I went through today and picked out yarn and patterns to go to various people. I finished the brown hat yesterday and I even started another project today. It's another simple hat, 1x1 rib, nothing too fancy. The men in my family, for the most part, are simple in their tastes so a simple hat will be appreciated. 

I'm a little worried though because my yarn stash is slowly dwindling. It's still at about 3 full tubs of yarn but my scraps are being used up faster than I am getting them. I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of scraps. The idea itself makes me a little panicky. 

I'm going to stop thinking about that and instead think about puppies. Ahh, puppies. 

Movie Time! (Day 24 KEDfaY)

My hat is currently at that point where it is just a tube. I haven't really knit a lot on it today, just about a row, but I knit a lot on it yesterday while the Boyfriend and I were at the movies. Today I made the mistake of going to Netflix without any idea of what I wanted to watch so instead of knitting on my hat and watching something, I just browsed through the options until I gave up and started dicking around online again. This happens to me a lot. This happens to me so much that I pretty much don't go to Netflix unless I have something specific in mind. 

But back to yesterday and the movie.

The Boyfriend and I decided to go see Pacific Rim. We made a very good choice. It was a pretty normal movie outing including someone commenting on me knitting during the previews. He and his female companion were reading books and he looked over at me, chuckled and said, "I'm glad we're not the only ones." I then continued to knit through most of the movie. I stopped after the second act because it was getting good and I was forgetting to move my hands and actually knit. 

Pacific Rim got relatively mediocre critical reviews but everyone that I know who has seen it says it's one of the best movies of the year. And I have to agree. Sure the humor wasn't always polished enough to nail the punchline but it was entertaining. Most importantly though, it did something for me that a lot of movies don't do, at least not any more. It made me want to see it again. Not only see it again but learn everything there is to know about the characters. Each character was so interesting and well developed that they'd have to make a whole series to devote to these characters. The movie made me want to learn more not in a way that I thought they didn't give the audience enough information but in a way that they just piqued my interest. If there was a graphic novel series in production right now, I would totally buy it when it came out. And I think that this interest is something that doesn't happen with a lot of movies any more. Either you learn all about the characters in the 90 minutes of screen time or you know you're going to get a sequel in 18 months or they just aren't that interesting. It isn't like after seeing the Hobbit or any of the super hero movies that I can go out and read all about them. All audiences have of the Pacific Rim world is that movie and that's it. I want to know more. If there were more movies or a comic series, I would be all over it. You hear that, del Toro? Make a graphic novel series, plzkthx.

That's my 2 cents. You should go see Pacific Rim too. I recommend taking something simple to knit. 

Finished Saturday, which is a lot like Finished Friday except on Saturday (Day 23 KEDfaY)

All done! I finished it up this afternoon. The Boyfriend and I are going to go see a movie and I wanted to get this done before we went out. It was the only thing I wanted to accomplish today and by Prince Baby George, I did it! Whoo!

My Dear Aunt Flo (Day 22 KEDfaY)

Everyone has their own remedies for a lot of things. It's like grandma's or mom's and how they always know what's best for whatever is wrong with you at that moment. Sometimes it's just what you needed to feel like a human again and other times it makes you feel smothered and like they are really just trying to kill you.

Leigh's cure for being sick:

• Sleep
• Meds
• Lots of tea
• Marathoning Harry Potter movies while live-tweeting and making fun of them 

This was just a culmination of a lot of habits. I drink tea a lot anyway and hot tea just makes you feel better when you're sick. You're always supposed to sleep and it's hard to sleep when you can't breathe so sleeping and cold meds just make sense. The Harry Potter movies started when Chamber of Secrets came out on DVD. I think it's pretty well known that I'm not a fan of the first two Harry Potter movies. They had so much potential and then they weren't treated like movies, they were treated like kid's movies which, more often than not, are treated like straight-to-DVD movies. But one thing I did like about Chamber of Secrets was Dobby. I thought they had done a great job with Dobby and that he was perfect and I loved him. (Yes, I sobbed uncontrollably in the movie theater at the midnight showing of Deathly Hallows Pt 1. You wanna fight about it?) I decided to watch Chamber of Secrets one day when I stayed home from school. I took my meds, drank some tea, snuggled up on our couch and somehow I ended up timing it so that the only parts I was awake were when Dobby was on screen. I'm not really complaining because they're some of the best parts but I certainly didn't do it on purpose. Somehow in my drugged up state of mind, I had become conscious enough to wake up and see Dobby. (My favorite part is when he says he's free at the end because his little ears twitch and it's adorable. Don't judge me.)

Leigh's cure for a hangover:

• Gatorade
• Daily vitamin
• Tums
• Lay in the bottom of the shower and alternate hot and cold water until hot water runs out. 
• After many hours and only once your stomach feels like it's going to eat itself, eat something starchy. Really starchy. Preferably pasta. Leigh recommends macaroni and cheese with tuna and peas. 

Some of these remedies take a lot of trial and error. I was once told that vitamins B12 and B6 help with hangovers. I don't know how or why but it did help me the next day and so now I always try to take a (chewable) daily vitamin when I know I'm going to be hungover. 

The shower thing I learned while living in the dorms which was perfect because the water fluctuated by itself and the hot water supply was seemingly endless. It doesn't work as well in apartments and there was one time that I actually boiled water for a bath because I had run out of hot water. I half drunkenly/half hungover stumbled my way across the house I was renting to the kitchen, draped in a bathrobe that I had somehow gotten wet (probably from me dropping it when I put in on in the half full bath tub) and getting my electric kettle so I could boil water in the bathroom for easy pouring access to the bath. If I can recommend one thing here: Do not drink $5 red wine that you got on sale, don't drink almost the whole bottle and especially don't do it after not eating all day. 

Trial and error.

Same thing goes for that time of the month. Well for me it's once every three months. Trust me, it's better for me, you, and anyone who might come in contact with me during Shark Week. It used to be easy to deal with me. I lived by myself so I would just really shut off all face-to-face contact with anyone so that I couldn't get irrational and ridiculous about stupid things like socks. Now I live with my boyfriend and the poor bastard has to deal with me getting irrational. The other day I cried because of groceries. Just, don't ask.

I don't get cramps like most of those lucky few who menstruate. I'm pretty lucky from what I've been told. Mine don't get so bad that I throw up or have to miss work or even pass out. They suck but a hot water bottle and some ibuprofen and I'm good to go. I've never even bought a bottle of Midol. 

What I do experience though is the cravings. All of the cravings. Everything that's bad for you and that you shouldn't eat but you want to anyway, that's what I'm going to eat. 

Leigh's grocery list for when Arsenal Play at Home:

• Steak
• Chocolate, preferably Hershey's Miniatures Family Size bag
• Soda, Coca-Cola to be precise
• Wine, white and sweet and cheap
• Optional, Potato chips

It's not like I gorge myself on this list of terrible junk food all week (except the chocolate) but usually by Wednesday of the Red Tide, I need my steak and cheap wine and potatoes. I'm sure there's some sort of scientific reason that I'm craving all of these things. The chocolate and steak are for iron and protein but soda? Wine? Potatoes in any form? 

I don't pretend to know my body, I just know what works and what makes me happy.


-----

And when I'm not talking about my period online for millions to read, I also knit. See! Look what I've done! 3 corners down, one more to go! I knew I was going to run out of that one yarn, the purple and blue variegated, so I decided to spice up the edging a bit and do stripes because who doesn't love stripes? Stripes are one of my favorite things ever. Probably in my Top 10 but not my Top 5. I hope to get this bad boy done soon and then move on to something else. Maybe my hexagon blanket that I'm still working on...

Sunshine State of Mind (Day 21 KEDfaY)

Look at how beautiful and sunny it is outside. How the palm tree is shining in the sun and everything seems just so perfect!

(This is where I pretend that I sat outside and knit today. I didn't. It's currently 90* F with a Real Feel of 102* F. Since I'm working with acrylic yarn that tends to be squeaky and gross in the best of conditions, I didn't feel like sitting outside in the sun where everything would be multiplied. My hands are sweaty just thinking about it. I figured though, dear readers, that you were sick of basically the same picture every day so I decided to change it up a bit. So you get a palm tree. It's a nice palm tree. It's definitely better than the one next to it that you can't see but that is directly outside the window that my desk looks out of. It's just so sad. It hasn't quite recovered from being transplanted yet. 

My plants haven't either. Well, I take that back, they all have except my Japanese Peace Lily. My other plants, the coffee tree, the lemon tree, the cactus, are all doing well. Who would've thought that putting tropical plants in a tropical climate would really make them happy? My aloe plant wasn't doing great but I moved him inside and now he's much happier. I did the same with my JPL but it's still kinda mopey. I'm hoping that they next few days of love and attention will help it feel happier.

Yes I am one of those people who talks to and names their plants. I name a lot of things and talk to a lot more other things so this shouldn't really be a surprise for you in the future.)

But there it is! I worked more on the blanket again today. I am definitely going to run out of the yarn I am using for the border but I'm done with 2.5 sides and just have 2 more corners to turn and then I'll have it off of my needles. Whoo! I'm trying to get it done for a KAL in one of the groups I'm in on Ravelry. I don't do a lot of KALs but I figure one that is just trying to get things off of the needles is right up my alley since I have all of the projects ever on my needles. It would be nice to just get some things done, clean things up if you will. Supposedly having clutter makes it more difficult to be creative or whatever. I don't think this is the case but merely a ploy to get creative types who tend to be messy to clean up once in a while. While I do tend to let things get cluttered when I am busy and stressed, I am neither of those right now so things around here are pretty clean, or at least as clean as I can get them. There is a lot of the Boyfriend's clutter around that I can't clean because 1, I don't know what it is and 2, I wouldn't know where to put it. I am still working on organizing his random stuff but it's been put on pause right now because the next tub I need to sort had a bottle of bike chain oil spill in it while moving and I don't feel like cleaning it up. I mean, would you want to clean bike chain oil off of random electronic components? Me neither hence why the tub is currently sitting on our dining room table. 

I don't know if I'm going to be able to get this blanket done this week. I can probably get it done by Monday but not if I also want to get that sock done but I'm not really in a rush to get that done because I have no one to test knit it for me. If you're interested, please contact me and I'll get the pattern out to you as soon as it's done!

Turning Corners (Day 20 KEDfaY)

Every time I start thinking about writing a post lately, it goes to the same topic and it's not really a topic I want out in the open. It's something private and that I don't think the internet needs to read about. Something I'll have to deal with on my own time. Something that sorta makes me look like a pathetic fool and I'm not really ready for everyone else to know that. 

That's why I don't really have anything to write about today. I'm ready for the second corner on my blanket. I've also worked a bit on that hat I had started for a Christmas present. I think everyone this year is going to get a hat or washcloths. I have more cotton than I know what to do with and almost everyone I'm making a present for lives in Indiana so a knitted hat won't be out of place. 

I wish I had something enlightening or insightful or anything even remotely exciting but I got nothin'. 

Same old, same old (Day 19 KEDfaY)

These days, the small things seem to entertain me more than usual. 

I now regularly play How Late in the Day Can Leigh Go Before Putting on Deodorant? It's usually about 5-5:30pm before I decide that the sticky armpits are getting a bit too sticky. 

I also am trying to train the cat to like me. Well, not so much like me but be less of a heinous bitch. She has taken up the habit of swiping at me, claws out, every time I walk by. It wouldn't be that bad but she purposefully sits in doorways or hallways so I have to walk by her. I've done everything the internet has said to try to get her to like me and so far nothing has worked. The latest thing I'm trying is pushing on her neck when she does something bad. Not too hard but enough to get her attention. Somewhere on the internet someone said that this is how mothers discipline their young. I've only had to do it once so far so I'm hoping it's working. I even got to pet her last night without her trying to eat me which is a bonus. 

So far though, the most exciting thing that's happened to me today is getting an email about a job I applied for. They kindly emailed me to tell me that not only did I not get the job but that they were getting rid of that position and department altogether. So I guess it's a good thing I didn't get the job.

I knit a bit today. About another 8" of this border. It's taking longer than I'd like but I don't know what I expected. 

That's all I've got for today. Maybe something exciting will happen tomorrow.

Organizing the Unorganizable (Day 18 KEDfaY)

For those of you who might not know, I recently moved from Indiana to Florida with my boyfriend. He was offered a fantastic job and so we packed up house and moved cross country. All of my stuff, while haphazardly packed, was at least somewhat organized. All of my yarn stuff was in its own tubs. Stuff from my desk got its own box. Stuff from my bedside table got its own box, etc. My boyfriend on the other hand was not so organized. His idea of organization is throwing things into a box or bag and dealing with it later when later means never. As you can imagine, this has been incredibly frustrating to unpack and live with especially since he has gone searching for things and left bags and boxes half unpacked in random rooms. 

So I put my foot down. 

Well not really, I told him that if he got the storage things, I'd organize it all for him. I don't have much else going on right now so I figured I might as well try to clean up the place. 

In one tub today I found his retainer for TMJ, super glue, half an iPod, a bike pump, lighters and various tubes of pencil lead. This is what I have to deal with.

The super fun part is that a lot of this stuff is electronics and not just like keyboards (of which we have 6 that aren't in use) or mouses or cords but things like pcb boards and resistors and transistors and random bits of wire that have solder on them. I don't know what easily half of this stuff is. So I'm just taking things that look similar and putting them in a little cubby drawer and hoping for the best. 

I've also been knitting. I got the first corner turned today on my blanket I'm working on. It's going well although there was a 5 minute time period when I had a minor freak out because I couldn't figure out which way the short rows needed to go to make a corner. As you can see from the picture, I figured it out. Three more corners to go! I might run out of this yarn but I figure, it's a scrap blanket, I'll just use something else. It isn't that big of a deal. 

I also knit some on my sock but not a whole lot. Not even a whole repeat. I like this pattern I'm just kinda sick of knitting it right now. I might just write up the pattern with the corrections I want to make and then finish the sock later. *Shrug* I'll figure something out. 

Runnin' around (Day 17 KEDfaY)

Today was chore day/run around and do errands day. I got some knitting done but I don't have a lot to show for it. I had to rip out that border about 3 times to get it to lay right but I think it's going to work well now. My goal this week is to finish up this blanket and finish my other Panty Dropper sock. I should've done that this week but a week full of headaches (hello, 3 day old headache. Why won't you go catch on fire?) prevented me from doing chores let alone anything productive because no matter how hard I try to justify it, playing solitaire on my phone is not productive. 

I also hope to finish Arrested Development. I'm one of the last people on the planet that hasn't seen the new season because it came out right as we were moving and unfortunately, moving takes priority. I decided to cancel my Netflix account because I am broke and since I can't afford it, I should probably stop paying for it. We also have cable now so I can watch a lot of things that I couldn't before. Not only that, but I can stay up to date on them so I don't have to worry about spoilers after every awesome episode of whatever show aired that night. 

I'm also thinking about watching Orange is the New Black again because holy crap that show is good. It's so good that I audibly made a noise of a disgust as I read Entertainment Weekly's B+ review. That show is a solid A-.

Anyway, what was I talking about? Knitting? Sure. Yeah. Knitting. That thing. I did it today. There's my proof! Ta-da!

Migraine Smigraine (Day 16 KEDfaY)

Had another migraine today. It actually started two days ago and slowly built up to the gross headache I have now. You'd think after a ton of sleep and rain that this headache would go away but NOOOO. I took cold medicine earlier today in hopes of making the sinus pressure disappear. It's helped a bit but not much.

But I put a challenge before myself and I'm sticking to it, dammit. I didn't knit a lot today. Probably less than 10 rows but I have knit and that's all I challenged myself to do. So I did it. Harumph. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to staring at the TV and hoping that my head doesn't explode or that if it is going to it goes and gets it over with. 

Finished Friday (Day 15 KEDfaY)

I finished my shawl! I did that last night so it doesn't count as my knitting for the day but I'm still proud of it nonetheless. I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn because I had a skein of laceweight that started out at 440 yds but some of it was lost to moths (stupid moths) and the appx. length I had for it was 375 yds. Fortunately though I had enough. I didn't even have to sweat the bind off too much. I didn't have enough of another repeat or another row even, most likely, but I had enough to bind off.

Now I get to figure out how to block this thing. I have absolutely no blocking tools. I don't even have pins. I think I might pick up a box or two of pins this weekend and use our couch to block it. Since our TV is set up in the bedroom, we don't use our living room that much so our couch would be perfect for it. 

And here's my proof that I knit today. I didn't do much, just a couple of rows. I've had a really lazy day today. I woke up with a headache that won't go away no matter how nicely I ask it to. Add an incredibly sore hand left over from the marathon knitting the other night and I just plum don't feel like knitting right now. I did a couple of rows while watchin' youtube videos. So I knit, albeit not a lot, today. At least I knit though!

Weekday Disorientation (Day 14 KEDfaY)

You ever have one of those days when you wake up and you think all day that it is Wednesday and then at 4 pm you find out that it's not and that it's actually Thursday? And what's worse is that you went through the whole day yesterday thinking it was Tuesday? 

That happened to me today. 

I don't really know why but I was completely lost on what day it actually was today. I had to check my phone. Even after reading online that people had plans for today, THURSDAY, I thought that they were obviously wrong or were talking about tomorrow. So there's that.

I also stayed up all night last night. I never did that really in college. I can count a handful of times that I pulled an allnighter. I am definitely one of those people who needs their 8 hours of beauty sleep to not be a royal bitch to everyone and everything alive. I can go about a day or two with less but after that I can make no promises about your wellbeing when speaking to me, near me or of me. 

I haven't been sleeping well lately and I'm not quite sure why. I have introduced caffeine back into my diet but small amounts, much less than what I was drinking. And it isn't that I haven't been sleeping well, but instead of being tired at 10 or 11 and being asleep by midnight, I'm not falling asleep until 1:30ish. It wouldn't really matter except that the Boyfriend has to be up at 6:30 for work. You can see where the problem develops. Instead of laying in bed last night until I felt tired and eventually fell asleep, I just stayed up. My idea was that I would just stay up until I felt tired and then go to bed. I didn't feel tired until 5:30. At that point, I just decided to stay up until the Boyfriend got up because I knew he would be grouchy if I woke him up coming to bed an hour before his alarm went off. He might be the only person in the world that I know that gets grouchier than I do with less than normal amounts of sleep. I don't know it's that my sleep cycle is just messed up or if I'm battling insomnia or something else. It's definitely something I'm going to be watching in the next few weeks and you, dear reader, get to read all about it! Aren't you lucky? (I probably won't talk about it again. Not because it's personal or whatever but because it would get boring, posting every day about how much sleep I got and how good it was and what have you.)

So I stayed up and knit all night. I am about three rows and the bind off from finishing my shawl and I'm pretty excited about it. The last lace row might need to be fixed though since I was pretty tired at that point and there was lots of counting and YOs and while I might've just learned the new skill of counting, I don't trust my sleepy self to count correctly.

I might've accidentally'd the whole season of Orange is the New Black. It's a new show on Netflix about a women's prison and is one of the funniest shows I've seen in a while and has one of the greatest casts of characters that are really well developed. It is definitely worth watching if you haven't seen it. And don't take just my opinion on it, pretty much everyone else online is in love with it too so take the internet's opinion. They weren't wrong about cats, were they?

Lacy lacy (Day 13 KEDfaY)

Workin' on my shawl. Gettin' shit done. 

Nothing too exciting right now. I am on slowly chugging along on the last bit. I'm at the point where the purl rows are taking longer than the lace rows but the lace rows are still pretty simple. I think I may actually be learning how to count! Someone alert the media! 

Not much else going on. Today is a boring day. 

SOCKS/Unoriginal title is unoriginal (Day 12 KEDfaY)

You know how yesterday I talked all about not being lazy and working out everyday because, what else did I have to do to occupy my time? 

Yeah, well, I didn't workout today.

I have an excuse though. Last night, as I tried to fall asleep for about two hours, I laid in bed with a sinus headache. It wasn't quite a migraine but it felt like it was threatening to turn into one. I eventually fell asleep and was lucky enough to wake up with said headache. I took meds, drank water, drank coffee and finally started to feel better as my sinuses slowly drained. I still have a lingering headache but since I don't have any decongestants, I just have to deal with it for now. 

So I didn't workout.

Instead I laid in bed and started a toe for the third prototype sock for the Panty Droppers while watching Will and Grace. I finished the second one a couple of days ago and it turned out pretty well I think. There is a minor tweak in the pattern and I have to figure out how to word it but I think that this pattern just needs to be written up and sent to test knitters at this point. (If you are interested in test knitting or tech editing, please email me at leftoverknits (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send you the pattern as soon as it gets typed up! No experience needed, just willingness to deal with my probable mistakes. Please note that I am le supre broek so I can't offer anything besides the pattern and a winning smile and an internet high five and a mention/link in the final pattern.)

I decided to knit this sock in both a solid color and a variegated one for the photos because I think it will actually work well in both. The pink-ish/light red sock was made from some Kool Aid dyed yarn I did years ago. I was hoping for a nice dark red and used numerous packets of black cherry Kool Aid but I was young, naive and just plain dumb and didn't know that cotton wouldn't dye and that yarn is a wool/angora/cotton blend. The wool and angora took the dye well but no matter how many more packets of Kool Aid I added to the sink and how black the water looked, it wouldn't get darker. You live and learn. I like to call this dyelot "Hamburger Helper" because it really does look like raw hamburger, even more so when it was in a gross tangled mess. I put the unwound skein in the dryer. Did I mention I was just plain dumb at this point?  

I also got to the last chart-y bit in my Aeolian shawl last night. That was really exciting! And I remembered to put in another lifeline before I started the next section. This section is the incredibly complicated one so if anything terrible is going to happen (again) it will be there. I might hunker down with some Woodchuck and try to finish it tonight. I have to say that I am really enjoying knitting this lace shawl even though up to this point, I have hated lace. I blame an immature knitter Leigh who attempted too much while knowing too little and having too little patience/not enough booze or ability to buy booze. 

Multitasking! (Day 11 KEDfaY)

I still don't have a job.

I knew that this was going to be a problem and the Boyfriend and I have talked about it so the situation is not a surprise to anyone.

I decided before we moved, since I would be jobless for presumably a long period of time, I decided I was going to workout every day. And why not? I don't have anything else to do. There are only two of us living here and a cat and while we do go through a surprising number of dishes, we have a dishwasher. We are also the very first people to live in this apartment so there isn't even residual dirt from previous tenants or lazy landlords. To clean the apartment, top to bottom, would take me about 3 hours and that's if I swept and mopped. Twice. 

So I have a lot of free time. I fill it with knitting, mostly, right now. And some writing. I have a few pieces that I would like to polish and start sending out to actual publications in hopes to make a few bucks. 

But I told myself I'd workout everyday. There is a gym in our complex and I've seen less than ten different people in there ever so I don't even have to worry about it being crowded or full of people looking at the jogger's wedgie I got going on.

I almost didn't workout today. I didn't work out all weekend but I decided it was the weekend and I would much rather sleep in than go and workout. I mean, who wouldn't. Today I was going to get up with the Boyfriend when he went to work, workout then start my day of knitting and watching syndicated sitcoms. Instead I laid in bed and read for two hours and fell back asleep before waking up and watching syndicated sitcoms and eating Doritos for lunch. 

It was when I was eating the cheesy residue off of my fingers that I decided I should probably workout today. And maybe eat some fruit. 

I used to knit and walk all of the time. I haven't had a car for a few years and this makes it very difficult to find a job especially in cities that have terrible public transportation. A few summers ago, I was jobless and bored and living by myself. Most of my friends seemed to be too busy all summer and so I was left to my own devices most of the time, which, don't get me wrong, is awesome, but can get very lonely when you don't see anyone or speak to anyone besides your dog for days on end. So I would take walks. I was walking about 3.5 miles every day and getting almost a whole washcloth done. (I think I've told this story before but it ties in to my day today.) 

I decided I was going to knit while I was working out today. I don't really need washcloths right now but I needed something simple to knit. So I started a hat. I figured I could get a jump start on Christmas presents. If I do one hat a month until Christmas, I'll have enough for everyone I'm planning on making a hat for and since I know I can whip up a hat in about two hours, I think this is a completely reasonable goal for me.  

The Boyfriend is constantly grumbling about me watching TV and staring at my phone. He complains that I'm not even watching TV so he should get to choose. I then tell him I'm multitasking and that I am too watching TV but I just so happen to be reading Wikipedia too. It's not my fault he can't do both. 

At least I learn... (Day 10 KEDfaY)

After about 3 or 4 hours of ripping and picking up stitches and fighting with my lace and at one point I ended up just ripping out one repeat back about 8 rows so I could fix my mistake. You know what it was? I simply forgot a decrease. One little decrease messed up my lace so much that I couldn't save the pattern at that point. Again, I don't pay attention. 

But I've learned my lesson! Instead of just hoping I don't make a mistake like that again, I actually used a lifeline! That's what the light pink line through my knitting is. I'm pretty excited that I used my brains in my head to attempt to fix any future mistakes I might have. I don't use forethought very often. I probably should try that more...Hmm...Or not.

I'm currently working on the second to last chart of the Aeolian shawl  and dammit, I'm pretty excited. It's actually making me want to do more lace shawls. I actually looked at cones of laceweight yesterday to see if I could get a deal and then realized that even if $42 for a pound of laceweight is a deal, I don't have the money to pay for it so then I stopped looking before I depressed myself further. 

I was worried about posting my progress/proof every day. I'm not planning on a trip any time soon but there will be some in the future where I just don't have time to sit at my computer or won't be able to sit at my computer. But, there is an app for that! I found an app and yesterday's post was published on that. I'm pretty excited because now I can blog from ANYWHERE MUAHAHAHAHA! Not that I really go anywhere or do anything but just in case! 

Okay, back to counting now.

I really can't count. (Day 9 KEDfaY)

So...I can't count. Or I can't pay attention. Or both. Probably both. And I also don't do things that would make my life easier, oh no! What's the fun in that? Life line? Who needs it? Definitely not this gal. Nope. Not at all...

If I have learned one thing is that life lines are our friend. I've spent probably an hour already ripping back and trying to figure out what is actually a stitch and not just a yarn over on a row that I'm ripping out.

I have a Woodchuck and my lace and bad movies on cable. Who said that I don't know how to have fun on a Saturday night.

What has gotten into me? (Day 8 KEDfaY)

I hate lace.

I am really bad at counting which I know, at 24 years old, is probably something that I should have mastered by now, but alas, that's not so. Being bad at counting is a problem when knitting lace.

I also tend to not pay attention while I'm knitting and this project is already the perfect example. I actually started this last night and got through about 9 rows of the first chart before I ripped it out. Why? Because I didn't pay attention to the decreases and just presumed that all of them were k2togs even though the key for the charts clearly says otherwise.

But for some reason, I have to knit lace right now. It's like when you have to have a steak right now or you have to go for a walk or you have to watch reruns of Friends again. There's no rhyme or reason as to why you HAVE to you just do.

So I'm knitting lace.

I'm not even knitting simple lace, I'm knitting something relatively complex. Why? Probably because I'm officially insane.

I also knit on my sock prototype #2. It's getting close to begin done. I probably have another inch or so to knit before the ribbing and calling it done. That's sorta lacy but not enough to squash this craving of lace.

Maybe it's because my brain is telling me it's bored and wants something challenging to do. That would make sense since I haven't really done much since the semester ended. I've had the mental break I needed and now I need something stimulating.

Or it could be that I've finally had the break in sanity that I needed to become completely insane and decide lace is a good idea. We'll know for sure if I decide to try steeking next.

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed (Day 7 KEDfaY)

Everyone has those days when they don't quite get enough sleep or their head twinges just a little bit, enough to be annoying but not enough to need to take medication, or you can't quite get your underwear to fit right. Because of this small inconvenience, the whole day you get annoyed by every minute detail that isn't quite perfect.

Today is one of those days.

Last night I went through my yarn stuffs and various projects because I got the urge to do so. I was debating on starting a Hemlock Ring blanket  and was trying to distract myself from actually doing that. It's a beautiful blanket and I will make it some day, I even have the yarn in mind right now, but I told myself I need to finish some projects first.

While going through my yarn and organizing my side of the hobby closet, I saw my log cabin blanket. I pulled it out to see where I was on it and how much more I needed to do and I realized that it was ugly. Super ugly. So ugly that I can't even pretend that I like it. Now I could frog it but it's really close to being baby blanket size and I do still have yarn that I've set aside for it so I decided to finish it and put it in the donate pile. I'm sure someone somewhere will need it for something, even if it's just a blanket to put on the floor for the baby to play on.

I got a good chunk of a strip done last night and finished it up this morning and picked up for a second one. But today I hate everything.

This blanket that I already didn't like, I hate more. The yarn that is OLD Red Heart variegated that I set aside for this blanket? I want to set it on fire.

Again, I hate everything today.

Of all the things I hate today though, I hate my bank the most. If you follow my personal account on twitter, you've read about my battle, 140 characters at a time. I was supposed to get a new card at the end of May because my debit card expired then. The last time it expired, I was sent a new one without me calling or asking and it was wonderful. This time though is VERY different. Four phone calls with a 5th coming up to challenge a replacement fee that I shouldn't have been charged in the first place, 6 weeks after I started this fiasco, and I still don't have a debit card. Good thing I don't have bills to pay or groceries to buy. They told me I could go to a local branch and have it all taken care of in no time. That'd be great except Jacksonville, FL, one of the largest cities in the US, doesn't have a branch of my nationally recognized bank. So I get to sit and wait for this card to hopefully show up this week and then call them again. And because it's a bank and not like a store or a restaurant, they can't do anything to compensate me for their massive fuckups. I get to sit and wait and call them and deal with their shitty service. It took four phone calls for anyone to apologize to me. Four. And all I got was an insincere apology that was hidden in a script for the customer service person to follow. I know it's not the individual's fault and I haven't yelled at anyone except myself in frustration because they get paid the same amount whether I'm nice or a complete bitch to them and really, who wants a stranger yelling at them? I know I don't, hence why I don't do customer service.

Like many other things in life right now, I'm frustrated because I can't do anything. I get to sit and wait. That's what my life is right now, sitting and waiting, waiting to hear back about a job interview, waiting to get my debit card, waiting to get a job. Sitting and waiting. And it sucks. I am awful at waiting.

/rant

Bi-craftual (Day 6 KEDfaY)

I, like many of my fellow crafters, have dabbled a bit into the world of crochet. I am by no means an expert and it isn't something I make a habit of but every once in a while, I feel the need to crochet. 

So I did. Don't worry! I knit today as well. I worked a few rows on the sock prototype but today I just felt like crocheting. I finished a blanket that I've been working on for a while. It is a scrap blanket, made up of leftovers given to me mostly and some that I had left over from my own projects. I'm planning on giving it to charity because, while I do love blankets, I like mine to be big enough to cover more than my lap, especially since I now live in Florida where it doesn't get below 75* ever. (Don't try to argue me on this. I am now an expert on all things Florida. I have been to the beach and live in a swamp [sorta]. Seriously, there was a wild boar big enough to eat me killed less than two miles from where we live and there is a hurricane that is coming [nowhere] near us later this week. I think I can call myself an expert now.) The lap/baby blanket is going to be donated to a local cancer center because I figure they will find someone who can use it. I think I'm going to do an edging on it because, like I said, I'm no expert and my edges look atrocious. 

The hexagon blanket that's also pictured up there had some work done on it the other day. I'm about 7 hexes away from finishing it! Whoo hoo! 

So here's my proof! 6 days in a row of knitting and I didn't even fake it! I did like 10 whole rows of this sock! Whoo! (I had coffee late today so excuse the extra excitement.) I'd like to finish this sock this week and start writing up the pattern and possibly start the third sock in a third yarn to see how it works with variegated yarn. I think some of the patterns will work but the cables might get lost. We shall see! 

My name is Leigh, and I have an addiction (Day 5 KEDfaY)

So that small mitered square I made yesterday? I blame it.

It's probably my fault since I'm the one that decided to knit it and I'm the one who actually knit it and I'm the one who picked out more yarn and made a small log cabin-type square out of it but I blame that little square.

I have a problem.

For any of you who don't know me, I kinda have a problem with scrap blankets. I love them. I love everything about them. I love picking out the colors, I love going through my stash of scraps, I love finding new patterns. I just love them SO MUCH. I save every bit of yarn I have, no matter how small it is because if it isn't going to one of my numerous blankets I have started then it's used for stuffing toys if/when I ever make one. You could call me a hoarder or obsessive but really I'm just being smart. I'm using all of the bits that others don't want or would throw away and I'm using them to make blankets. I have at least four right now (all under the Charity Blanket project title) that I'm planning on donating as soon as I finish them. I'm also saving money because as a broke ass-post-college grad who has no job and still can't find one, my yarn budget is nonexistent. I don't buy yarn, especially not for myself or for any project that I want to make for me. All of the yarn I buy goes towards presents for other people.

You could say I'm selfless but really I'm just broke.

So instead of working on another prototype sock so I can type up another pattern and get it out to test knitters, I am playing with scraps and making squares for a completely new blanket.

My name is Leigh and I have a problem.

Off Day, Not a Day Off (Day 4 KEDfaY)

You have one of those days when you try something, try to work on something or make something or do something, and you just fail? Today was one of those days for me in the knitting realm.

I pulled out some scrap yarn because I was going to make some baby booties to donate to charity. I've made this pattern before and I blew through both of them in about an hour so I was pretty confident. I glanced at the pattern again to remind myself what I had done because I didn't follow the pattern exactly. And when I finished the baby bootie, it didn't look at all like a cute little bootie but a misshapen blob of yarn that wouldn't be able to used as a bootie but more of a coin purse if you didn't mind all of your change falling out and it not really be able to be used as a coin purse at all.

So I ripped it.

I wanted to do something though, something small and intant gratification-y because I haven't finished something in a few days and I haven't finished something that wasn't a sock in even longer so after looking through my queue on Ravelry for a bit, I decided on a square for a blanket. It isn't for any blanket I'm working on right now, it's just a square. Why? Because we all have that pile of squares that we're going to make into a blanket eventually one day, right? Of course you do! If not, then you should.

So there it is. My sorry excuse for an attempt to get something done. It's not even a really big square. I casted on 27 sts on size 8s and k3tog every other row. It's about 3"x3". I have no idea what I'm going to use it for but, dammit, I finished something and most importantly, I knit today.

Injury Time (Day 3 KEDfaY)

I don't know if it's because I've been over doing it lately or if I have returned to my old bad habits of slouching with my hands right in front of my face but my elbow has been bothering me today. I blame a lot but it all comes down to me having awful posture and not correcting it. I've tried, it just hasn't worked out so well.

It's gotten to the point where I can't even finish the row I'm one because my arm hurts so much. I did knit today though. I knit a lot more yesterday when I finished the foot and turned the heel on the sock I am working on. That might have been what did it though. I was determined to finish the heel no matter what and I did and now my right arm hurts.

If you have suggestions that might help the pain or help me kick the bad habits of horrible posture, it would be awesome if you would share them. Or not. You can keep them to yourself if you're selfish that way.

Ow.

Bad Juju (Day 2 of KEDfaY)

You ever have one of those days where you just hate everything and you don't know why? And nothing works to make you feel better? Eating, a nap, a glass of water, nothing? Today is one of those days.

Even knitting is sorta frustrating me. I'm working on a new pattern that I flew through the on the first prototype but now I just kinda want to throw it across the room when I get to a pattern row. I also hate how the cables are turning out on this one.

Today I just hate everything. Deal with it.

Of goals and ambitions (Day 1 of Knitting Every Day for a Year)

Day One

I make a lot of goals for myself. Small things like "I will exercise every day this week," or "I will write one journal entry every day," or "I will do dishes every evening." Most of the time, I actually do these things for about three or four days and then quit. 

I was up to about three weeks on the "write a new journal entry every day" thing before a bad case of depression took over and I didn't want to write down that today was another shitty day for no apparent reason. 

And I don't work out every day but I am getting good at working out every other day which, hey, I'll take. 

And dishes are getting done every day but only because I have nothing else to do while waiting for food to cook and it takes just a few minutes to throw some plates into the dish washer.

There are a few people about the internet who are doing neat projects like 100 sewn dresses in a year  or creating something small every day for a year. It's projects like these that make me want to accomplish something similar. 

I knit every day. There are very, very few days where I haven't knit anything and most of those days were because I was resting my wrist because I have terrible posture and form. So I figured why not actually prove that I knit every day. Show some progress that isn't just me tweeting about random complaints I have about the pattern or yarn or my own cock ups. I already knit all of the time so why not try to make a project out of it? 

And if I make a blog post to go with it, I figure then I am forcing myself to write every day too which, as someone who calls herself a writer, I should really do more often. 

So here it is. The first post in my attempt to knit and record my knitting every day for a year. 

Should be fun, right?

Not Even Socks

I finished my pattern this week. It felt awesome. It is currently being tested by some test knitters and I might be looking for more to test the other sizes. Right now I'm feeling mostly terrified. This is my first pattern and I want it to be perfect even though I know it won't be. I hope I did my math correctly even though history has shown that I can't do math to save my life. 

But I'm trying not to think about that right now. 

I've already started another sock prototype. I like how it's going so far even though you can't really see the pattern in this yarn. I'm also choosing to do a different heel so that the math will hopefully be easier. 

So that's where I'm at right now. Lots of knitting and doodling and scribbling and freaking out about math.

I did make myself some sock blockers. I used this tutorial and some place mats I got from Target. I've needed sock blockers for a while but now that I'm actually taking pictures of my socks and putting them in patterns, I need them to look a bit nicer than what I was doing which was hand washing or throwing them in the regular wash, depending on the yarn, and hoping for the best. So far, the socks look much nicer. Definitely worth the $4 and about 15 minutes it took to make them. I recommend every le broke knitter to make their own blockers to use until they can afford the really nice wood ones. 

Mmm. Wood sock blockers.