let’s see how it 碁s. god i can’t stop.
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| Which Alice in Wonderland character are YOU? created with QuizFarm.com |
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| You scored as Alice
You scored Alice! You are kind-hearted and curious and give yourself very good advice, but seldom follow it, which leads you into trouble. You always try to be courteous and polite, but you become cross when people speak in nonsense to you and scold them sharply.
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Yesterday turned out to be a really good day for me. Nothing super exciting happened, but I managed to find the energy to clean up the kitchen and bedroom, plus do all of my PT exercises and spend some time getting organized. The other little things that I managed to fit in yesterday, like paying my bills, gathering clothes to take to Beacon’s, and taking a bath, really helped me to feel more in control of my situation. Too often in the past two months have I felt like I was incapable of taking care of myself and my life. At times, I was too miserable to properly concentrate on any task, whether it was purely meant to entertain me or not. I am very glad that things seem to be on an upswing for me, and I want to do my best to keep positive things happening.
Doing my physical therapy exercises can be very annoying, but I am beginning to feel the benefits of continued practice. When I have to do three 30 second long sets of 2 different stretches on each leg, I always feel like I am never going to be done. That is the number one most annoying part of my PT routine, and one I wish I could do without. Unfortunately, those stretches seem to be the foundation of my entire program, so it would be very wrong of me to skip them. The rest of my exercises are still hard for me to do, but they are clearly working areas of my body that have deteriorated from dis/misuse as I’ve been recovering. It’s sort of bizarre how difficult I now find it to do simple leg lifts.
I managed to knit for a few minutes on my sock last night, and put in a few more minutes on the train this morning. I finally finished turning the heel and picking up gusset stitches, so hopefully it won’t take too long for me to finish this guy up. While I have many ideas about what to knit next, I am realizing that I may be missing some supplies. Why is it that I seem completely incapable of buying enough of one type of yarn for oh, anything? I have zillions of mismatched balls scattered about, but they are so varied that it’s hard even to find enough consistent weights to make a toy. Argh.
Well, there are certainly many more tasks to accomplish before I am back on top of things, but I am excited to be chipping away at them. Yay!
Today Jason mentioned to me that his friend Roland who has had a pretty serious arm injury in the recent past wanted to send along a message to me to take my physical therapy very seriously, as it is the number one factor preventing any injury from becoming a chronic problem. This inspired me to sit down and make a thorough list of all the exercises I am supposed to be doing at home (twice a day.) I have made myself a chart to check off when I do them, morning and evening, but I have to confess that so far I’ve been hitting most of them, but only the ones that occurred to me at the moment, leaving room for a bit of incompleteness. I am going to try really hard to go through the complete routine, and even add in a set number of swings with my kendo kata sword so that I don’t lose all of the upper body strength I’d been working toward.
Other than that, I finished
The Throne of Jade this morning, and found that I liked the last third or quarter of the book quite a lot better than what preceded it. I will most likely read the subsequent books, but I don’t really feel the burning desire to run out and get them that I felt after finishing His Majesty’s Dragon.
My main entertainment, of course, has remained going crazy with the manga. Since the beginning of my convalescence I have gone to town on:
Vampire Knight
Naruto (interest waned around 1/2 of the way through the existing chapters)
Absolute Boyfriend
Tsuki no Shippo
Red River/Anatolia Story
Love Monster
Death Note
Emma
Ranma 1/2 (though pretty much just the first few volumes)
Dragon Ball (lost interest not too far into the “Z” part)
Neon Genesis Evengelion
Black Cat
Ayashi no Ceres
Bride of the Water God (which I like a lot! I hope new chapters will be translated soon!)
and most recently, Gakuen Alice/Alice Academy
I have of course kept up with Inuyasha and Fullmetal Alchemist, both seeming to be ramping up to their respective dramatic conclusions.
As far as the watching goes, Jason and I are fast finishing up all the available Bleach episodes out there, and, having finished Hikaru no Go, have moved right on to Shion no Ou. I watched the first couple of episodes of Honey and Clover at my friend Carolyn’s house, and hope to continue with that when I get the chance.
I’ve also started watching Flight of the Conchords, which is so funny sometimes it makes me have problems. Like saying random phrases like “startled by a light” way too often and to people who have no idea where I am coming from. It’s also fun to recognize spots in the neighborhood and thereabouts in the show.
All in all, I have clearly found much distraction in the face of my injury, and will probably continue to waste my time once I am capable of returning to (more) productive pursuits. Like knitting, which has for some reason been cast aside in the past few weeks, since I find myself acting like every stitch suddenly hurts my soul. This had better straighten itself out soon, as I have many unfinished projects/projects queued and ready to go. I am blaming it on these stupid socks I am making without a pattern. I’m on the second sock, and absolutely abhor having to count how many rows I did on the first sock every time I progress to a new section. Of course, I could have just written it all down, but that would be far too stressful for someone in my delicate condition. Right? Right.
I finally broke down and made knitty’s Kate. Ever since I saw a large version at the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival last year, I’ve harbored a deep desire to have my own. I knew that the knitty pattern was for a smaller toy, but went ahead and knit it as is, and was happy to see that while sized down she remained charmingly rolly-polly. Someday I will sort out the pattern and make a larger version. Someday when I gain math skills.
I knit her in Brown Sheep, actually *gasp* going out and buying the yarn specifically for this project. Well, I had the bright blue color already, but I did in fact buy two complete skeins of yarn for her. Sewing her face went better than I had expected, as that is oftentimes where my toys get a little um…character…(see cat 1 and cat 2 (Betsy cat) and octopus) but this Kate-face turned out just as I’d hoped.
The only frustrating thing about the finished product is a line where the stiches were looser between two of the needles. I have tried to even this out by tugging at the surrounding stitches, but have not yet succeeded in fully fixing the loose column.
After knitting Kate, I realized that there were a few other toy patterns available on knitty that might help me to get better at knitting toys and move on to the ultimate goal of designing my own. And so I made the spiral-shelled nautiloid.
I made this guy with some yarn that Simone found in her mother’s attic, possibly Lopi? Only some of the yarn had labels still attached, though it seemed to be only slightly different. It was rather bulky, but worked pretty well for a substantial toy. It’s a bit scratchy, so I probably won’t be passing it off to any little kids. Now that I know that it’s an easy pattern to make, I would certainly consider making another as a gift, just in a different yarn.
In the above picture, I am about to screw up rowing a reproduction of an authentic french yole! But I am going to have fun doing it!
When I first got back from Europe, all I wanted to do was knit. I had gone a whole month without needlecraft of any kind, and since I certainly didn’t feel like doing anything else (going to work–ew! grocery shopping??–no thanks) I picked up some abandoned projects and set to work.
My first accomplishment was knitting the mate to the sock that I made when we got back from Illinois last summer (shameful, I know). I had to knit the second sock on a size smaller needles than the original, since my gauge has changed so drastically since last summer. In any event, though the time for wearing this, my first pair of socks, will not be for quite some time, I am glad for the project to be over with.
I then went on to figure out what in the world I had done to the Anna socks that I started. Once I’d frogged many rows and gotten myself back on track, I decided that I needed to cut my losses and restart the project on smaller needles and with yarn that hadn’t been pulled apart, picked at, and left to gather dust for months. So I did. I bought some size 1 six-inch double pointed needles, the only ones available at Seaport Yarns, though I was hoping for five-inch ones. I certainly haven’t finished this project, but I now have about as much as I had before I left it, and in much nicer condition. I even found the project its own little bag, so if it does get shunted aside, nothing too drastic should happen to the yarn.
A couple of rounds of knitting in bars saw the finish of my garter stitch hood, which sat abandoned for many months because I’d made it too narrow, and needed to pick up stitches and make a back panel. I think everyone agrees it looks a bit like a chain-mail helm, but most of the people in the bars were unimpressed with this. I am okay with it, however, but will just have to wait for colder weather to see how much use it gets.
I thought about finishing this ridiculous tank top that I started a few years ago from Stitch n Bitch Nation, and went so far as to knit an inch or two English-style to preserve the gauge. I doubt I’ll go much further though…
Here is a little exercise that I found on a knitting blog. I am going to do it as a little break from my final final paper!
Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.
Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (no way! I am not a fan of that book…)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn (it’s in my bag and ready to be knit!)
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors (want to do this soooo bad!)
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (so many dishcloths!!)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit (well, at least reminding one…)
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys (bah, i guess i shouldn’t really count this…my toys are all crocheted…)
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern (just a couple of simple ones)
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers (oh so many)
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug (been wanting to do this for a while!)
Knitting on a loom (no…but I hope to someday weave!)
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public
Arrrrrrgh! I have about 8 days left to finish these last two papers. AND THEN! I will be finished with my MA in the Sociology of Media. Yes! It is true!
The weather has been beautiful lately, and I have been trying to figure out how to work in a decent amount of exercise so that in less than one month I will be ready to cart my backpack around southern Europe. I feel pretty out of shape, but I know that if I really spend some time stretching, doing yoga, going for long walks and possibly even…running…I can get to a better spot in this time frame. I actually have been for very short runs twice so far, and I am trying to keep it up. I am using Carolyn’s program of running a certain amount of time the first day, and then on subsequent outings increasing the time spent running by one minute each time. So next time it will be fifteen minutes–hopefully I will get to 20 by the end of next week.
Schoolwork is happening, but I am not very excited about it unfortunately. It is much more exciting to think about our trip! I have been looking up various places on wikitravel and am getting more and more excited about seeing Spain, in particular Barcelona and the Pyranees. I am very interested in hiking around a bit and seeing lots of views & sights. Wheeee!
We are going to visit my parents for the weekend. I am pretty excited about quitting the city for a couple of days, since I have felt a bit stuck as of late. However, this past week the city has been beautiful, and though I have had schoolwork hanging over my head, I was still able to enjoy the change in weather.
I still have much to do toward finishing my schoolwork, and would love to get as much as possible done on the bus ride this afternoon, though I know my tendency on long rides is to put on headphones and fall asleep. I feel like the slight head cold I am dealing with at the moment will not help particularly. I would like to re-read some of my assignments for Media and Critical Theory by Siegfried Kracauer and make up an outline for my paper.
My granny-square bag will stay at home, but I am bringing some dishcloth cotton and some size 6 needles, so I will have something to knit if I feel the need. Quite likely I will.
Well, it actually feels like it’s barely dragging by, but when I realize how long it’s been since I posted anything at all I am more inclined to say the time has flown. I am in the midst of the last push (well, month) of paper writing for my MA.
Things I have knit or crocheted since last posting:
-waved welt dishcloth
-the back and front right side of a sweater from Interweave that I keep doing stupid things to
-the better part of a katamari cousin
-numerous granny squares to be made up into a summer bag
This last has been giving me a bit of trouble, as I never realized quite how much end-weaving-in was required for granny squares. It annoys me quite a bit as I only decided to make this bag in order to quickly use up some aging acrylic, and now it’s been just days of end-weaving. Argh.
I would like to imagine that I will get lots of making things done as soon as I finish my coursework, but thrillingly I will have two weeks to scramble around making preparations and then Jason and I will be off to Europe for a month! Ah well, maybe when I get back.
