FO: Scottish Monkeys and New Year Reflections

I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like putting that much pressure on myself. Besides, I never successfully reach any of them. So this year, instead of going all crazy, I’ve made only one: I will take care of myself this year.

Now, this is why I’m all sneaky. That one l’il resolution is more than enough to cover a wide variety of bad habits I’ve accumulated over the past 27 (gulp! almost 28!) years of my life. That one resolution encompasses the following:

*I will go to the gym more often.

*I will eat more fruits and vegetables. Hell, I’ll just stop ordering so much takeout.

*I will stop drinking Diet Coke. (Again, inner demons laugh maniacally)

*I will read at least two books per month. This might be accomplish-able if I stop listening to Queen on a loop when I’m taking the subway.

*I will focus on my spiritual essence. Whatever that means.

*I will try to remove my UFOs from their sad little shelf. They cry every day and I meanly just shove them to the back and refuse to give them supper.

*I will finish my novel. I will finish my screenplay. I will finish the seven short stories that mope in a little folder in my computer. I will publish something fictional instead of just lots of informative articles regarding your physical health and/or lipstick.

*I will go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. If I can somehow cure my addiction to that little gadget known as “snooze.”

This all sounds crazy. Yes, crazy. But the one secret, magic weapon that makes this all OK is the wording of that one resolution which encompasses all things. I will take care of myself. And taking care of myself means I give myself permission to fail on occasion. It means overall, I commit to living a better life by focusing on areas of improvement but not whipping myself if I mess up. I can slip up and eat French fries and sip my Diet Cokes and not read a blessed word for a whole damn week if I want. But I can do it knowing that I will get back up on the well-behaved horse the next day. I figure as long as I allow myself to act like a complete child once in a while, the adult in me (I know you’re in there!) will, for the most part, emerge to take care of the little brat that likes to take up residency fairly often ‘round these parts.

For example:

Scottish Monkey Socks
Pattern: Monkey Socks from Knitty.com
Yarn: BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight in Scottish Highlands

I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship between me and some STR. I did notice that I have this problem with socks. The first one is always way tighter than the second one. I have one of two choices: I can either move to smaller needles for the second one or I can make a conscious effort to knit the first one looser. Boo. I know consistency ain't my strong suit, but I had no idea that this translates into my knitting. But look, I finished one of the projects that had been crying on my shelf! I'm already moving in the right direction!

Also, the heels on these socks resemble Scottish meadows. I watched Braveheart the other day with my roommate while knitting these up. I like Scottish accents. They are muy sexy. Maybe I'll add that to my yearly goals...meet actual Scottish people so I can listen to that accent on a consistent (!) basis.

Young Scarf

When I was 10, my father finally put aside his Ph.D. studies and got a job for the first time. That year, we bought our first house and that Christmas, my parents finally sprang for a Christmas tree. A week before Christmas, my dad came home with a giant turkey provided by his office to all the employees as a sort of Christmas bonus. My dad's first name happens to be Young and his co-workers had played a little joke with his turkey crate. Instead of "Young Turkey," someone had added " 's" to the "Young." My brother and I thought this was the funniest thing we'd ever seen. We ate "Young's Turkey" for Christmas dinner.

Since my dad keeps making sad little comments about how many things I've knitted for my mom and how I've knitted nothing for him, I am knitting him his very own Young Scarf:

I'm using Noro Iro and the Braided Mischief pattern by Teva Durham in Scarf Style. At first, I thought about seed stitch, but my hands are not that deft right now for whatever reason and I found it fiddly, especially with chunky yarn. I moved over to a broken rib pattern and was seriously displeased with the curling. I figured I should look through Scarf Style since I've only made one pattern out of it so far and it was like seeing the pattern for the first time. The sample in the book is knitted with Felted Tweed, but the Iro is so much squishier.

I also read this:

I cried a lot. I haven't seen the film version yet, but I hear it's equally heartbreaking and moving. Jean Bauby was the editor of French Elle when he suffered a massive stroke in 1995 that left him paralyzed. The only part of his body that he could move was his left eyelid. Using this one movement, he and his nurse figured out a method of communication by which he eventually wrote this incredibly uplifting and beautiful memoir. The title comes from this passage in the book: "My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court. You can visit the woman you love, slide down beside her and stroke her still-sleeping face. You can build castles in Spain, steal the Golden Fleece, discover Atlantis, realize your childhood dreams and adult ambitions."

I am always in awe of those who refuse to give up despite the awful things that can happen in this world. A year ago, when I was in the depths of despair, I read some poetry by Wislawa Szymborska and found the following sentence: "Not without its charms is this terrible world; not without its mornings worth our waking." This book captures that idea so perfectly.

I also couldn't stop myself. I knitted a sock. Monkey pattern again, this time with Socks that Rock Lightweight in Scottish Highlands:

I think the pattern complements the dye job beautifully. The hills are aliiiiiive with the sound of muuuuuusic.

FO: Noro Sock...and a ThanksGIVEaway!

First we have a finished stockinette Noro sock. It's sad. It's rone-ry. But there's another one at the store that it can play nicely with when I take it in on Sunday. I've named her Rainbow Brite. 'Cause she's like, seriously bright.

Rainbow Brite Noro Sample Sock
Yarn: Half skein of Noro Sock Yarn sample
Needles: US 0 Inox circulars

I didn't really "conquer" the short-row heel and toe, but I did make progress. They ain't gonna lick me anytime soon.

Also, I put in an order at Blue Moon Fiber Arts to buy some sock yarn. I know, I don't need more sock yarn and I haven't even started knitting the one STR that I own, but I. Don't. Care. I got all excited about the Raven series but didn't really feel that I wanted to knit socks that were that dark. I'll wait until I find a perfect lace pattern and buy some Lightweight Raven for a shawl instead of socks. Although, this is making me feel mighty tempted to go ahead and order some anyway.

So, I ordered four skeins:

Clockwise from the top: Saratoga, Cluckers, Rooster Rock. I love these colors. The Saratoga has a blend of butter yellow, lavender, brown, sky blue, and orange-y rust. The Rooster Rock (which I'm sure everyone has seen) is brick, slate, brown, fuchsia, and beige. The Cluckers is sage, coral red, ochre, tan, and a grayish-purple. The Blarney Stone is...

Wait, what's that you say? There is no Blarney Stone in the photo? Well, it seems we have a problem here. Blue Moon sent me an extra Cluckers instead of a Blarney Stone!

At first, this made me terribly sad. I love the Cluckers, but I really wanted four different colors. I have specific plans for the Cluckers and Rooster Rock and don't know what I'd do with another Cluckers. I e-mailed Blue Moon and asked if I could exchange the skein because of the error. They are just the nicest people ever and I got an email today saying that they would ship me the Blarney Stone and I can do whatever with the extra Cluckers. How nice is that?

It seems that free knit blessings are just falling into my lap right now, since a non-knitting friend of mine also got me an issue of the Interweave Holiday Gifts after I'd purchased one for myself.

I've been so lucky this year when it comes to knitting. I started blogging and joined Ravelry around the same time and people have left such nice comments and introduced me to their blogs, all of which really make my days a little bit happier. I'll be honest and say that I'm just coming out of a few not-so-good years personally and this season, I finally have my head on straight, I know who I am and what I want to do with my life (at least right now), my family is all healthy and whole, and my friends are just some of the best. I am an incredibly lucky and blessed person this season. I know from reading some of the blogs out there that other people are going through some hard times and we all need a pick-me-up once in a while. And it's easy to get lost in the horrors of rampant consumerism during the holiday season and forget the whole point of just sitting back, taking stock of our blessings, and just being truly grateful for the good things in our lives. So in honor of giving thanks, this is my ThanksGIVEaway. Excuse the cheesy portmanteau.

Leave a comment sharing what you're thankful for this month. It can be funny, cheesy, tragic, simple, complicated. You can be thankful for the moon. You can be thankful for cheese. You can be thankful for indoor plumbing or Johnny Depp. The cut-off will be 11:59 pm., EST, on Friday, Nov. 16. At midnight on Friday night, I'll pick two random comments. The first will get the STR lightweight in Cluckers and the second will get my extra copy of Holiday Gifts along with two skeins of Louet Gems in Crab Apple to make either the Sweetheart or Veronik socks featured in the mag:

The things I'm grateful for right now: Socks, Law & Order re-runs, the power of email, brand-new giant towels, and my mom's health.

Cloudy and Grey

"Cloud goes up, cloud goes down. Cloud goes up, cloud goes down." - Homer Simpson

One completed Marlena & Rosie Charade. At first, I thought it was simply pooling. Then, oh but then...I realized the genius behind she who is named Claudia and the actual cloud-like effect of the color patches. Pink clouds, grey sky? Grey clouds, pink sky? Chicken, egg? Also, Right Foot is very tired and could not be bothered to pose properly.

Here's a better look at that pink cloud:

They've got silver linings.

Things are moving along on all fronts. Luigi's back is finished. Clapotis is done with Hank #1 of Colinette and moving on to Hank #2. Four diagonals have been dropped. Smoke Shawl has been frogged and re-begun on US 4 Inox needles. It is now quite dapper and much, much happier. He feels not quite so transparent, you see.

Yarn and Daisy Pr0n

Ooh, my first skein of Socks that Rock just arrived...

At first, I was a little taken aback. The color on my monitor made the yellow portion of the skein look much, MUCH more like beige. And then I just took it in stride, because the whole skein does look the way I imagine a Scottish hillside would look. A dusty grey sky hanging over a grassy expanse peppered with purple-blue thistle and sunny cowslip.

The grass and the cowslip...

The sky and the thistle. It's all so Braveheart. Despite Mel Gibson's lunacy, I still think the Scottish accent is the most attractive accent ever. Some of the hottest people in the world are Scottish. Ewan McGregor, Shirley Manson, Sean Connery, Deborah Kerr, Travis, Gerard Butler...I think I could go on. But I won't.

Speaking of Scottish...W.B. Yeats wasn't Scottish, but he was Irish. And that's pretty much the same thing. You know, like Asian people alllooksame. Anyway, I was flipping through some old notes and came across this poem I hadn't read in years. And I was thinking how beautiful it is.

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

They used it in this sci-fi action movie, Equilibrium, starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson and Taye Diggs. Bad movie, folks. However, if all you're looking for is some eye candy, it'll definitely tide you over. Sean Bean has a small part and he's the one who reads out the poem. I am a huge fan of Sean Bean as a character actor and he imbued such a sense of beauty into those lines. Later, when I walked by a deli, I caught sight of some vibrant Gerber daisies (my favorite flowers, ever) and purchased a few to brighten up my dreamy but poor life.

I'm not a flash-user with my photos on a normal basis. Mostly I think they distort colors. But these came out by accident and I really appreciated how the flash highlighted the velvety texture of the petals.


This last one was taken in daylight, without flash. This face has no makeup and it's still so gorgeous. I hope I marry a man who will come home bearing gigantic bushels of Gerber daisies for me. And then I will knit him socks.