Oh Yeah, the Transformers Hat

Transformers Hat
Rowan Felted Tweed
Source: Yes I MADE That

As you can see from the picture, my hat doesn't say "More than meets the eye" on the inside. My husband suggested changing that to "DIE AUTOBOTS" because his brother quotes that line from the original Transformers movie all the time. It turned out to be a good change because BIL immediately turned the hat inside out and the whole time we were home he wore it with the DIE AUTOBOTS side out. As they would say in the Selfish Knitters group on Ravelry, Definately Knitworthy.

The felted tweed I bought because I'm thinking of making my dad a sweater out of it and I have to say I enjoyed it. This sweater would have an MG sign knitted into it in intarsia (sad to say: I loathe intarsia), and I wanted to see how Felted Tweed looked with colorwork. It totally rocked. I have the big love for it now.

All in all, a good project.

Sock machinations continue. I have an upstairs sock and a downstair sock now, so I'm knitting on different floors.

Sock-a-Palooza

It's all about socks here recently at Chez Dove. I made socks for Jorah for Christmas - the Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. Then because I loved that so much I made the Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern for my mother - I just finished those last night, I haven't sent them yet. Both of these were made of Dream in Color Smooshy.


Then my boss gave us all Socks That Rock for Christmas - she picked out colorways for all of us and she totally nailed me with Pirate's Booty. I love love love this yarn. I made up my own pattern for this and will be writing it up - it's a super comfortable warm sock. I was really afraid for a while that I wasn't going to be able to finish the second one but I ended up having eight yards left - perfect.

Then I finished Ribby Bear Socks and decided I needed to make more socks, so I got some more Dream in Color and started some Gentleman's Fancy Socks for myself. (They are super comfortable, I've stolen Jorah's several times.) It's the colorway Flamingo Pie, which makes me really happy.

Too Much Thinking

I got all introspective for a while there, about, if you can believe it, how introspective I should be on the blog. I kept a journal from sophomore year of high school through the freshman year of college and wrote down every damn thought that passed through my head. I literally took the notebook around with me and would just open it an write when I didn't have anything else to do (this is before the knitting went everywhere).

So I'm used to writing down most anything that passes through my brain. It was a difficult fall for me. Some people I know were having a really hard time and it was weighing heavy on my heart and making it harder to keep myself depression free. I had a great summer and I went into fall with all kinds of personal goals because I was so energized, and by October I felt like I was just hanging on and getting the work things done, but without any time to spend on myself.

So of course in the middle of that, I start a blog.

I've been ambivalent about blogging for a long time - I never had a livejournal, I'm not on Facebook, etc . . . but it's one of the best ways to join the rich life of the knitting world, I truly believe, and that is and was something that's very important to me. I'm really shy in my daily life and don't have many close friends, especially close friends who live nearby, and so this is my way of reaching out . . . pseudo-anonymously.

The part I've been considering in the last few weeks during this time of blog silence is how anonymous I want to be. And how anonymous my friends and family want to be. You see, if I could be certain that only strangers would read this, I could say anything - we could walk right into the heart of my struggles with depression and compulsive eating and I could lay it right out for you. But oddly, the fact that people I know could find this place makes me clam up a bit. And that doesn't make a bit of sense. After all, one of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was to make friends out of strangers. Those strangers I could tell anything might start as strangers but it's my hope they would end up as friends.

The part of me who used to keep that journal wants to lay it all out. The part of me that is a Southern Lady with No Emotions thinks that pretty much everything is an overshare.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

I haven't really come to any kind of decision either. I think the best knitblogs are the ones that are a little more personal, the ones that invite you into the living room of life, so to speak, and are about more than just knitting. At the same time I think it's important for the knitting content to be high and not get left in the dust for other concerns.

I think it's time to take a chance. Maybe I won't write down every thought that passes through my fool head (that would be an improvement over this post, for example), but I keep telling myself I'm going to be more genuine with people and stop being so polite. I'm looking for a more authentic version of myself - maybe it will help if I pledge to be upfront here as well as face to face.

A General Dearth of Christmas Spirit

I don't really know what's up with me this year, but I'm just not feeling the Christmas spirit. Christmas is my favorite time of year; typically the three months leading up to Christmas are my happiest most anticipatory months, and by now I'm usually all excited and cheery.

Not this year.

I'm just worn out. It was a fairly stressful day at work; lots of crying and loud children, some with bad attitudes. I feel better today than I've been recently - I let myself sleep in this morning and that was an improvement - but I just have a general feeling of worn-outedness.

I feel sort of like I'm running in place or standing still. I clean and the house stays the same amount of dirty, I do dishes and the sink is full again, I knit on the Christmas Tree of Life Sweater and it stays the same length, my cousin's Noro stiped scarf is taking forever - a bad omen for the one I'll be starting tomorrow which needs to be finished by Sunday.

Maybe I'm just frustrated because none of my knitting is really working out that well. I made a beautiful purple sock for my cousin that is just way way way too small. I'll knit a mate and give them to my mom instead (and the plan is to make cousin the other Noro scarf), but I'm disappointed, I admit it. I was also making my mom a really beautiful neckwarmer, so I thought, but then I had some other ideas and now I think I'd rather frog it and use the yarn for socks and get a different color for the warmer.

It seems nuts that the knitting could have me this down though. I mean, I do love that purple sock, in spite of the fact that it's too small for my cousin. And for having just embraced socks, I really should be pretty content with a few mistakes. Well, imperfections. To be honest, it's been a tough fall at work too, and that probably has more to do with my discontent than vague knitting related angst.

I've been reading the archives over at Yes I MADE That too, and I'm filled with crafter envy. I really want to have her fabric stash and be able to do some of the sewing projects she's got going on. Why do I never have any time? I have two part time jobs that don't add up to one real job - shouldn't I have the copious free time?

Maybe I'm not taking the transition well to being a non-school person - not used to not having a vacation. I don't know though - I've been out of school for two years now. Maybe that's it. Out of school for two years, and I still haven't published a single design, not even just on Ravelry. Time is moving quickly or I'm not moving at all.

I really think I just need to finish something though. I mean, finish it and have it be right and look good, not finish it and have it be too small. (I finished a hat that is too small for me today too - I'll have to frog to the decreases and add length.)

My dog has been sick too. Basically, he's in heart failure and the vet has said that he could easily go downhill very quickly and there's not much we can do to help him. Poor baby. He's still a bad boy who spilled a bunch of Mountain Dew on my yarn last night. I do love him though. He looks at you with the goldeny eyes and I just can't help but melt.

Wow. I really know how to bring down a room don't I? Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?










Well, I've only got three days of school left and then it's off home for two weeks. Surely I can buck up enough to make it three more days.

The Estimate is In

$157.43

Limiting Factors

I'm definitely finding that the limiting factor in the whole blogging adventure is photo-related. I keep accidentally killing the battery on Jorah's wee little camera, and mine still languishes with Nikon Corporate (which reminds me, I have yet to get an estimate on how much that is going to cost . . .) I know that I most enjoy those blogs which contain many beautiful pictures, but I can't seem to get that going on my own blog. I need a photojournalist to follow me around and take pictures of my stuff. And then upload the files to my computer.

These are things I'm going to try and photograph in the next few days:

• The Jayne Hat I am making for Jorah for his birthday. Just needs a Pom-pom and I bought a pom-pom maker this weekend. (It filled me with crafter joy.)
• The Zoe Hat I've been close to finished with for awhile. Also in need of a pom-pom.
• The Christmas Tree of Life sweater I'm making for Jorah for Christmas.
• The socks I'm making for Jorah for his birthday. (The post which includes pictures of these will also include a love letter called, "Dear Smooshy")
• The elegant (I hope) neckwarmer that I'm making my mother for Christmas.
• The Silk Garden scarf I'm making for one of my cousins for Christmas.
• The alpaca shawl I've sort of been making for myself for the last eight months but I've barely started because I'm too lazy to wind the next ball, but today at the yarn store it was really cold and I said to myself, "I wish I had an alpaca shawl to keep me warm."

I think that's about all I've got going on right now. I made something this weekend, but I think it's ugly. I'm not sure. Pretty sure it's ugly. Not sure I'm going to show the blog. At least not until it's blocked.

Goal for this week: Photos.

Moving On