It’s all up in the air

Now that it’s almost the weekend again, how was everyone’s holiday (if you’re American) weekend? I had a great time with family, friends and beer every day of the holiday. And I got to see some guy steal groceries from the Woodman’s in Rockford. Truth! He ran out with a basketful of food right as I walked in the door. I didn’t even have time to react. I don’t really know how I would have reacted, though.

And in news from the land of knitting, I’ve been working on a sort-of secret project. It’s sort-of secret because I haven’t posted about it here, except for the sneaky pictures on my Flickr badge in the sidebar, but it’s not-so-secret because I’ve been working on it in public. Just not the internet part of public. Yes.

This fabulous project is the Ballet Camisole by Alexandra Virgiel from MagKnits last year.

I’ve gotten this far…

… and I’m not sure if I’m doing this right.

I’m making the second smallest size, and I’m using needles 1 size larger than suggested for to make the appropriate gauge. (For to make, yes, I said it.) Problem is, I’m rounding the homestretch of the 4th ball, and am only as far as you see up there. The pattern says “join new ball of yarn” like three more times, and I only have a total of 6 balls (2 balls left), and the pattern only calls for 5 balls total.

Now, for some reason I find it too scary to actually check the gauge of my tank top to see if I have indeed made a significant error in judgment when I chose to use US 7s instead of the US 6s. I haven’t ponied up the metaphorical coin to do that yet. Why? There are many possibilities, most of which have to do with me being a knitting-fraidy-cat and not wanting to be made aware of how bad a knitter I am.

I have this perfectionist streak (which I keep far, far away from my house-cleaning streak) that makes me NEED to be absolutely fabulous at knitting, instantly. There is no reason for this. I know I can’t be instantly awesome at knitting (even if “instantly” means “over two years”). I teach other people how to knit and I always tell them that it takes immense practice to be proficient in every aspect of this craft, and yet I weep at my failures.

Does anyone else have this perfectionism embedded deep within? Am I alone?

(on a happier note, I do like what I’ve done to the back armhole decreases….

… Let’s hope they don’t get ripped out)

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Weird

I got tagged by Femiknitter to participate in the Seven Weird Things About Me meme. I don’t usually get tagged for these things, mostly because I am a shy blogger and am hesitant to comment on the things other people write about. I feel like I don’t know much about knitting, or whatever the topic, and can’t contribute to the conversation. NO LONGER!! I am making it my mission to visit more blogs and comment more often. I shall OVERCOME MY SHYNESS!! Exclamation Point!

And in the meantime, I will tell you about a few of my weirdnesses. Enjoy.

Number One I have a loathing for water in my ears. I used to take swimming lessons every summer at the town pool, and every summer I would get an ear infection from water in my ears. Now I can’t stand even water spray from the shower going in my ears. It scares me.

Number Two I am very organized about some things, to the point of being kind of obsessive. I organized my extensive collection of books by genre (religion, sociology, history, fiction, non-fiction, etc.) because it killed me to not have it that way (thank you, Femiknitter, for creating this monster!). I also have my knitting patterns organized in a binder by genre (baby, lace, socks, hats/scarves, tops, etc.). And I have my yarn organized by weight in a database. And my needles are organized in a database. Um, and my knitting books are organized in, yes, a database. This may come as a surprise to those of you who know me as the girl who has this kind of desk:

Number Three I have normal feet. Not weird, I know. The weird part is that I had to have surgery to make them normal. I used to have big bunions on my big toe joints, and they gave me a lot of pain — it was hard to stand up for a long time, fitting shoes was a nightmare, and I was frightening small children with my creepy feet. Now I have normal-looking feet (plus a few kick-ass scars, and either 3 or 4 screws per foot), and my shoes fit.

Number Four I can only flare one nostril. I am not making this up. Only my left nostril moves at all. I tell people this and they think it’s because my right nostril is pierced and there was some nerve damage or something, but no. It was like that before and I got the right one pierced because if it’s not going to contribute anything useful, it might as well be decorative.

Number Five I am an amateur genealogist. One of my teachers in 8th grade assigned our class a family tree project designed to get us to talk to our grandparents and whatnot. I asked my grandma if she had any information and she, who never ever threw anything away ever, gave me a huge stack of papers and the phone number of my grandfather’s cousin who researches our family tree for fun. Turns out my family can trace parts of itself back to the Middle Ages and has lots of wacky characters and strange legends (as you do when you have a few hundred years of history). I’m related to one president (very distantly, and he wasn’t that important), and four of the women who were killed as “witches” at Salem, Mass in 1692. Obviously once I found that out I was completely hooked on finding out more, thought I do go in waves of being interested (I’m currently in the trough of the wave and not paying too much attention to it … I don’t think I even added my marriage to my database. Yes, I have a database for that, too).

Number Six I have a very loud clap (no, not The Clap — or even Clapotis — I mean applause). It annoys my husband and can frighten small children. I don’t know why it’s that loud, other than the fact that I was once a cheerleader in junior high, and felt the need to lift everyone’s school spirits with the ringing percussiveness of my clapping. The upside is that my family can tell where I am in the audience by the sound of my own thunderous applause.

Number Seven I have a pretty sensitive nose, and therefore also have an aversion to lots of strong smells. Most commercial/synthesized scents (air fresheners, some perfumes, dryer sheets scents, laundry soap scents, deoderants, cleansers) drive me nuts. I get headaches and trouble breathing sometimes (hmmm… sounds more like an allergy than an aversion, eh?). As a result I use perfume- and dye-free laundry soap, no dryer sheets at all (I use these instead), vinegar & baking soda to clean most hard surfaces in my home, and Tom’s of Maine in my armpits. I had a roommate once (Hey Femiknitter, I bet you know who I’m talking about) who always put down some weird powder on the carpet before she vacuumed. Drove me batty.

Okay, that’s enough about me. Now I want to hear from Heather, Anna, Wanda, ActLikeOne, Laurie, Penny, and anyone else that feels like sharing some deep dark secrets (or the shallow, light secrets).

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It’s too early.

I woke up this morning at 5:00, and I’m in one of those awake-but-damn-I-wish-I-wasn’t situations, so I’ve decided to share the random thoughts that have plagued me for the past 2.5 hours.

1. How the heck does my little neighborhood (the alley between four houses, two apartment buildings and one doctor’s office) need THREE garbage pickups? THREE, I tell you. One on Monday, to pick up the dumpster right outside my bedroom window, One on Thursday, to pick up the dumpster right outside my bedroom window (it’s a treat, really, to hear clattering and beeping at 6:30am TWICE A WEEK), and now apparently on Friday morning as well. What is the purpose? Is there really that much need for garbage removal? Or are they doing it just to fuck with me?

2. In getting ready for some friends to visit this weekend I dusted the corner of our “dining room” that is the library. I haven’t dusted in a while … let us not discuss how long, because my mother reads this blog and I already said fuck and I don’t want to make her even more disappointed in me. Anyway! so yes, I dusted and there was a definite reddish/pinkish tinge to the dust in my house. Why? Do I have designer dust and don’t know it?

3. I have to send the Dada camera away. It’s too painful to keep looking at my pictures and seeing those foul horizontal lines in what would otherwise be a great shot. And I can’t keep taking pictures with the flash, that’s just tacky. I found a store (in freaking Bensenville) that will fix the camera, or at least give me an estimate on the damages. I’ve been putting it off because I don’t want to give up my camera (craptacular though it may be), as it’s my way of communicating with the internets (and you all are so nice). But our friends down the hall have two digital cameras and have offered the loan of one, so this might work out.

4. While I’m on the subject of bitching about things, can I just say how much I hate the new Interweave Knits layout? I want to see the pictures and look at the pattern AT THE SAME TIME. I don’t want to go hunting for the pattern in the back, then flip back to the nice big picture in the front to get a better look. There’s a reason why I (currently) subscribe to IK and not to Vogue Knitting, and the layout is a huge part of it. Also, there is nothing in the Summer issue that I like. Nothing. IK usually sits around on my coffee table for at least a month while I peruse its pages, but not this issue. It went right into my bookshelf where it will live with the shame of its existance.

5. My neighbors across the alley have ducks. These ducks (one white, one a drake mallard) waddle around the yard and chase each other, the kids, the dog. Sometimes they swim in the little kiddie pool in the yard (oh good god I want a backyard!). This is all very cute and adorable and charming — when it’s not the very early morning while you’re trying to stay asleep.

Alright, I have exceeded my grump quota for the day. Probably for the whole week. I’m off to work and then to the busy weekend, and shall return on Monday with stories and tales of my adventures. With any luck they’ll be full of derring-do.

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And The Winner Is…

Renae! Who is, sadly, without blog.

The random number generator randomly generated the number 12, which means Renae wins the sock yarn. Renae, I’ve emailed you for your address.

Thank you to every one of you who commented — I really appreciate seeing everyone’s name and hearing what you like about springtime knitting. I’m with Jessica who liked the no-sleeves aspect of spring. I’ve started a tank top in the round (more on that project later) and I love that it’s going to be done when the body is done.

I’m also loving this new (-ish) project…

… which is keeping me on my toes. Counting is definitely not my strong suit these days. I blame the gorgeous weather. It’s Molly’s Headband from the Sweet Somethings extra (it’s a .pdf) from IK a hundred years ago or something. The yarn is Twize from SWTC, and it’s in the colorway Twing. I love the shine, I love the color, and I love that it’s making a great headband.

And in honor of spring and things I love and all things green, I bought this wallet from DogwoodLane at etsy. Fantastic customer service, quick shipping, and stellar work. If you need a new wallet, go to her. Go.

In other news, if you’re thinking of going on the Yaz birth control pill, don’t. It’s made me miss a period, break out in more acne than I’ve had since sophomore year of high school, and now I’m having the period from hell during the hormone weeks. We hates it, precious, and we’re going back to our old pill in 24 days.

What do you think? Too much? (Hi Mom!)

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Welcome!

Hey, I see you found your way over here! Thanks for stopping in.

I’m still getting the blog the way I want it, so things may be moving around for a bit. But I have all the major things settled in, and I’m glad you’re here to visit.

If you came from my old blog, you may have noticed that I’m having a giveaway to celebrate the new place.

It’s KnitPicks Sock Garden in Morning Glory [I’m an idiot, it’s actually the Stargazer Lily colorway] (discontinued), and all you have to do to get a chance to win it is leave me a comment telling me what you love love love about springtime knitting. Or telling me hello. Really, this is a massive begging maneuver to increase my comments and make me feel better about myself. Post a comment by midnight Central time on Tuesday, May 15th, and I’ll give the yarn to the lucky commenter whose number was chosen by the random number generator. For fairness.

So poke around, get to know the place, and feel free to come back. I’ll be talking about my latest knitting mistakes (three big ones!), my feelings for the Summer 07 Interweave Knits mag (hint: I wish the new layout would die a fiery death!), and how I fell off the Knit From Your Stash bandwagon (sort of!).

Have a great weekend!

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