My Favorite Week-Long Holiday

Warning: I'm not really sure what inspired me to right this post, but know that it is very...excitable/hyperactive/exactly the opposite of how I'm feeling right now.
I did a rather odd thing tonight. I made a very WEIRD hat. See?



I knit it out of leftovers, and as you can see, the fabric is quite sturdy. This hat stands up for itself!



It even has a point. That and the vibrant green makes me think of a dinosaur, and so I give you:



THE DINOSAUR HAT!!!!
(Also known as THE WEDNESDAY HAT!!!!!)
Because the hat serves two functions (Looking like a dinosaur and standing up for itself), I shall wear it on days when I a) wish to look like a dinosaur
or b) wish to stand up for myself.

Now, you MAY JUST be wondering why I named the hat after a day of the week, and I'll tell you why! It's because I have, as of about three minutes ago, declared it WEIRD HAT WEEK! That's right folks! This week I plan on trying to make at least four weird hats! (I'm thinking about going really crazy and making one every day! We'll see how that goes!)

Celebrate with me people!

Thing to be grateful for today: Random ideas that make a single week quite fun.

Chugging Along

Here's a a list of notes/what's going on right now/etc.

• The second sock is in progress. I'm about halfway done with the leg.
• I read the two plays I needed to read for my mentor and answered her questions, and now it's on to Hamlet and Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.
• I need to be doing German work more.
• My yoga schedule got thrown off this week by other commitments so I'm looking for a replacement class time this week.
• I'm going to really have to make myself run tomorrow, because I need it.
• Happy birthday to one of my favorite people in the world. I am so glad to have you as a part of my life, and have no trouble celebrating the day you were born.
• I'm seriously considering defeating second sock-itis by only making single socks. I think that that is a pretty cool idea, but then I'd have no matching socks.
  
• I think that for the most part I could live with that. I also think that my next sock project are a pair of dress socks for myself; black with a blue cuff and toe. I actually planned to make those ages ago. They are of course exempt from the one sock only policy. Dress socks that don't match are lame.
  
• I've decided that I always need to have a sock going because they are very portable projects.

• I've decided that May is UFO month (for the non-knitting minded, that would be "Un-Finished Objects). The things I would be working on are:

1. My mother's shawl.
2. The Cardigan (What cardigan? I don't know what you're talking about).
3. A pair of fingerless gloves that I'd intended to be fingered but are no longer for me and therefore this person is getting fingerless because they are easier.

Thing to be grateful for today: You.

One Sock-itis

I am currently shoving through a case of One Sock-itis. I've finished the first sock...



and, while my excitement over finishing was great, now I have to work on the second, which is a total buzzkill. Also, looking over Franklin's socks again, I see that he did something very clever in that he made the stripes uneven so that one sock had thick stripes in one color, and the other had thick stripes in the contrasting color. I wish I'd done that now, but there is no way in hell I'm starting over for something that silly. Plus, I like the sock for the most part. I'm not 100% happy with it, but it's a learning curve.
My socks get progressively better every time. Or at least I'd like to think so. My goal is to be able to knit one sock on my journey to Germany this summer, and one on the way back. And perhaps to knit a lot of socks for Christmas presents this year. You may all be wondering why I have all this sock knitting lined up (How obvious of a lead-in was that?).
Well you see, I'd very much like to be a part of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Club next year. For those of you who don't know what a sock club is. It is a company that you pay at the beginning of the year, and they then send you one original sock pattern a month, yarn included. I think that that's a pretty badass idea. I'm quite excited.

Thing to be grateful for today: Speaking my mind.

Truly Terrible

I've contracted a rather poor habit. I've been staying up into the wee hours of the morning (anywhere between one and three) knitting and watching Lost. The funny thing is, though I like Lost, it is not the reason I'm staying up. It's the knitting. I just keep saying "one more row" or, "finish this stripe" or "I'm not that tired, I should really keep knitting." This goes on for several hours before I finally succumb to sleep. Tonight is different, because tonight I'm saying no. I'm truly very close to the end of the first sock; I've just begun the toe, but I must put it down now. I need to sleep. It is past two in the morning, and I really need to be out of the house by noon tomorrow, fully clothed, cleaned, and fed, ready to work. That means I must go to sleep, but the sock is calling my name. Surely, that last inch of sock will not be the death of my sleep pattern tonight...
No! I must say no to the sock, though it is enticing, because if I finish the toe, then I'll want to graft the end, and if I graft the end, then I'll want to weave in the end (yes, one end for two colors of yarn. I'm truly amazing). Then! Then I will want to try on the thing, and at that point I will probably pass out on my living room floor, my feet covered not by blankets, but by a single striped sock.
I'm entirely aware that the socks will look much cooler as a pair. They'd be alright socks if they were the same, but having the stripes be off-kilter is what makes the socks so cool, and it is that two-sock interest that makes it so hard to put this project down! I just want to start the second sock and get far enough along that I can show them off to people together, so that they too can share in the truly awesome nature of these socks. However, I must say no. The first step is admitting I have a problem.
Good night sock.
Good night readers.
Good night cat.
(Good night moon.)

Thing to be grateful for today: Bad days that do one-eighties.

Curioser and Curioser...

I've gotten a decent amount done on the "Alex Through the Looking-Glass Socks" (that's what I'm calling them now).



The pattern is simple enough, though like anything I improvise, it isn't "design worthy". Still, I'm posting it on my her for my own reference more than anything, so if you want, you can skip the next few lines.

CO 64 st.
*K1 p1* repeat to end. Complete this round twelve times in Co1.
Switch to Co2. *Knit to end.* repeat four rounds.
Continue switching colors every for rounds, at some point decreasing to 62 stitches. Complete 16 stripes after ribbing. Increase back up to 64 just before you begin heel. Work heel in Co2. Pick up side stitches and resume knitting in the round. Continue stripes as before, beginning with Co2.

That's where I'm at right now.



The colors aren't as rich in either of these photos as they are in real life. The purple is darker, and the brown is more of a teddy bear color. I was skeptical of the colors at first, but it was either this or blue and brown, and I wear and knit a lot of blue and brown things, so I thought purple and brown would make for a nice change. As I've gone on though, the colors have grown on me, and now I quite like them. I can't wait to be done, so I can get to wear them around town.

Thing to be grateful for today: Lewis Carrol.

Differences In Teaching

I've taken two yoga classes this week. One was much better than the other. They were my first classes in a while, and I'm so glad that I went to both, because they showed me what I want out of a yoga teacher. The first class was good, I just didn't feel like the teacher was really "there". Provided, she was rather pregnant, and so I can understand her not wanting to get up and down from her podium. My problem was that I just didn't get any connection with her at all during the class. Today however, my teacher was wonderful. She was present, she knew most of the students by name, she knew the body very well, and she would go over to individuals to adjust their postures. Both teachers were incredibly nice, and I don't have any judgment against them as teachers, because both styles work, I just now know which style works better for me. I need a teacher who works with you and your body, and checks in with you. I need someone who is really focused on the person rather than the group.
I'm like that with anything I'm trying to learn though. I react much more positively and get a lot more out of a teacher if they are focused on working with their students as individuals. For me, an ideal teacher is someone who can be easily approached in and out of class, and someone who knows their students well enough to be able to see when something is amiss. I'm certain that that's why I've done so well in private school. The smaller class environment has been great for me.

Thing to be grateful for today: People who care enough to make sure you're ok at their own inconvenience.

Roads Turning

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new era, both in knitting and the play. Provided, the knitting era change will not be all that exciting. I'm just starting a new project. Recently, Franklin of "Franklin's Panopticon" recently wrote about his Wonderland Socks, so I decided that this was a crazy nifty idea and decided I'd make myself a pair as well. I'm quite excited. I'm thinking that the colors will be indigo and burgundy. Sound nice?
Here's what's going on with the play. I met with my mentor today, and she pointed out to me that what I had so far is really good as "pre-writing", because it provides a lot of backstory, but it really isn't what I need in the play. Her opinion basically came down to "You have what can't be taught, a good ear, but you haven't really got the structure yet, which can be taught." (I just spelled "taught" as "tot" the first time. That worries me.) So right now, we're doing "official" pre-writing, and I've been given a list of questions to answer about my characters and story, in addition to the characters and stories of four other plays. I'm really glad to have her support, because with her, I'm getting so much great work done and so many awesome ideas flowing and churning around. It's wonderful.

I stayed up until two last night finishing the hat last night. I have to say, I think it's pretty great.



I'm happy with it.

Thing to be grateful for today: Ceasing to wait.