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. 

Lies we tell ourselves

I've been busy lately. (I haven't.)

I wanted to keep a regular blog but every time I thought, "I should do a blog post," something came up. (It didn't.)

I have been working on things though. (It's actually true!) I've been working on finishing up my first pattern. I have about half of it typed up and formatted, I just need to finish typing it up and take some pictures for it before I can send it out to my test knitters.

I like this pattern a lot. I like how it looks and how it feels on my feet but I hate knitting it. At this point I am knitting the 5th sock I've knit in this pattern. I rarely knit the same sock twice let alone five times. So many things have changed though and I want to make sure that people will feel like they spent their money well if/when they buy the pattern instead of feeling ripped off.

I don't expect to become rich off of selling sock patterns but I would like to be able to make some money so maybe I can eventually start chipping away at the mountain of student loan debt I have. One can hope. (It's hard to though.)

The next week I hope to get the pattern sent out to test knitters. I hope to finish a swatch of another pattern or two and maybe even start a new sock. That would be nice.

I honestly don't know how other designers do it.

Malaise (Finished Friday of sorts)

Malaise probably isn't the right word but I haven't found a good enough synonym to replace it.

I haven't felt...right this week. Not sick or depressed really just...off. Okay I did feel sick that I have reached that age where if I don't get a good night sleep, I feel sick the next day. I've also had a couple of head aches this week but I blame that on the constantly changing pressure systems here in Florida. Sure, it's all sunshine and rainbows most of the time but talk to any Floridian and they will tell you that it rains every day. It might not rain a lot or for very long but it rains every day.

If you can name the show I was watching, you get 50 Internet Points

This malaise, for lack of a better word, hasn't stopped my knitting though which makes me believe further that I'm not sick or depressed. I knit a sock (but not the one that I needed to work on), I've worked on a blanket to donate to charity along with some baby booties that took me less than two hours to knit, and I've been working on my Inheritance shawl/scarflette thinger. I've also found another scrap blanket that I want to work on but I'm forcing myself to finish at least one other blanket, preferably one to donate to charity, before I start it. See, I'm showing restraint on making another scrap blanket. Possibly only because I don't know if I actually have enough scraps to dedicate to another blanket. I have a lot of scrap blankets in the works...I am definitely not a monogamous knitter. Being a monogamous knitter is boring.

I did learn some new techniques this week. I learned how to do an afterthought heel with was really fun. I paired that with a crochet provisional cast on and this might be my new favorite way to make socks. It was fun and easy. The afterthought heel did make it difficult trying the sock on though, especially since I am constantly worried that somehow my count gets off or I accidentally change needles or something and the fit gets all messed up.

There hasn't really been much excitement here really. I think the cat is trying to kill me but I haven't discovered her secret plans yet so I can't confirm it. Once I can confirm it, I'll let you know, mainly so I have witnesses if I happen to go missing.

You'd do that for me, right?