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