Word of the Day: blern

Pretty much sums up my feelings right now. I’ve had a 24 hours full of walking home in rain storms, being attacked by umbrellas, missing buses in spectacular fashion and being on the receiving end of misplaced anger. Blern.

I hadn’t really noticed before how often I turn to knitting when I’m upset or anxious until today, which just goes to show how slow on the uptake I can be. I learned to knit during one of the most uncertain and anxious times in my life, the end of college (can I get a witness?), and this spring when my grandmother died and before I decided to pack up my car and move 1200 miles away, I was knitting every night until 3 am or until my fingers hurt, whichever came first. But it took a 30 second conversation with a client (who is in need of surgical removal of a large object from his bum, btw) to drive me over to Ravelry and start offering mittens to coworkers, which then lead to the realization that I want to knit when I’m out of sorts. It’s my baby bottle, I guess.

The sun was actually shining today when I got home from work, so I finally got some finished object pics of my Houdini Socks, which have been complete since Saturday and waiting for the camera. The light in my apartment is appalling, my windows face the building next door (Rear Window, anyone?) so I had to act fast to catch the one beam of light in the room before a cloud blew by and took it away forever.

Behold, socks:

I ended up enjoying this pattern a lot. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves socks but is a little bored with the usual toe-up or top-down construction. Also, by making both feet first, then knitting the legs, it’s a great recipe for times when you’re not sure how long your yarn is going to last.

Speaking of yarn, I used Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock in Grant Circle, and I can’t say enough good about it. It’s soft, it’s squishy, it’s warm, the colors are beautiful and the yardage is amazing. I have huge feet and calves and ended up with a small ball of yarn left over, and just look how tall those socks are:

I’d say a knitter without the calves of a woolly mammoth could get knee socks out of one skein, and how is that not a fabulous thing? Do you see the healing power of knitting? Didn’t you think of that amount of yarn in one skein and get a little happier? I did.

Apartment fix up is at a bit of a stand-still, as funding has dried up at the present time. Pesky bills. And the desire for beer and concert tickets outweighs the desire for a new end table right now. I never said my priorities were straight. Once I have more than one wall to show you, I’ll be sharing.

Also, it’s a sad day in rock and roll. I’m listening to Are You Experienced? Well, are you?