The Temporal Loop

that is my to-do list has finally, officially been decreased by one line.
I was in denial over the weekend, I admit it.
"No, I'm not sneezing because I caught a cold," I said, "I just have a tickle in my nose."
Two hours later I sounded like I'd been chainsmoking for thirty years. In the past three days, I've slept, used an entire box of tissues, and drunk a fishtank full of ginger ale; my nose is peeling, my voice sounds like a rusty squeezebox, and I still can't quite manage to do more than one or two things before I run out of gas. But somehow--somehow--I've succeeded in knitting that remaining sweater sleeve for the Tam Lin sweater, seamed it, attached it to the body of the sweater, and woven in all those evil little ends.
I should be feeling gleeful and triumphant, even though the KAL ended in November. I should be feeling relieved that I now have a warm, snuggly sweater to wear in this horrendously damp, rainy, chilly weather. I should be feeling gratified because I used yarn I originally got for another project that I ended up deciding not to do. Instead, all I can think about is how crappy I feel and about the difficulties of blocking an adult-sized sweater without the benefit of a blocking board... and in damp weather.
The upshot is that I now have one less project to worry about finishing, so I can now move on to other things. Like taking Nyquil and getting some sleep.

Elastic Sole

I'm currently engaged in a battle to the death with some elastic and the pair of Llyn y Morwynion socks, and it's not going quite as well as I'd hoped. Since I didn't follow the instructions for the cuff to the very letter, there's no actual opening to insert the elastic, which means that I've tried everything short of screaming in frustration (which doesn't work anyway). As of two minutes ago, I've tried a tapestry needle; this didn't work, since the elastic is too thick to go through the eye of the needle. Next I tried a hairpin threaded with the elastic; this resulted in several hairpins being shot across the room to the twanging sound of elastic at various tensions... Fail. The crochet hook is giving me somewhat more success, but it's still troublesome. I think next time I do this, I'll put the elastic in BEFORE I fold the cuff over and knit all the live stitches together, and hopefully not give myself gangrene in the process. Ahem.

Addendum: YES! I am victorious. At least... for now. Hopefully my knots won't work loose so that I find myself in the middle of the grocery store with my socks around my ankles.

Binge Baking

Something is wrong. I don't know what, where, or who, but there's one of those annoying feelings that something is wrong, and it's caused me such discomfort that at 1:30 this morning I went down to the kitchen and baked oatmeal cookies. I'm not sure if it's an act of appeasement, since I'm not an appeasing sort of person, but I did feel a bit better after baking cookies, which is no easy task when the house has excellent accoustics and the people sleeping upstairs can hear (and smell) Davros, the microwave, water running for the clean-up, and the banging of baking sheets going in and out of the oven. Oatmeal cookies with maple syrup and cinnamon would probably appease at least a minor boggart... maybe...
This afternoon, I was talked into doing more baking, so I produced a batch of pecan scones. And I also proved that tinfoil isn't an impermeable substance, though how butter gets through the tinfoil and onto the baking sheet is beyond me.

Sockiatry

Definitely wilder than I'm used to...

Bleh.

This pretty much sums things up. Icon borrowed from reira_21; it captures my current mood perfectly.

Spring Flings

Happy Spring!

It's... Alive!

Yay! I'm so relieved. Vincenzo consented to eat some food today, which means he's out of semi-hibernation mode and has decided it's warm enough to do something besides sulk. As if his.. um.. earlier exploits weren't an indication...

Get A Glue!

A Google and Wikipedia search turned up all sorts of interesting information about the sock glue, including a blog post about cosplay, which included a blurb about fashion model who was so skinny her pantyhose fell down while she was on the runway; the author suggested the model in question might have benefited from the use of this Japanese sock glue.
According to Wikipedia, during the late 1990s, a number of Japanese high school girls started wearing oversized socks with their uniforms. Originally, the socks were intended for use by hikers and mountain climbers; I assume it was pretty much a tube sock, but eventually a number of companies started manufacturing deliberately oversized socks specifically for export to Japan. Since these socks have cuffs that are wider than the average high school girl's leg, they're not likely to stay up without assistance of some kind, be it a garter or glue. Some clever person came up with the idea of using a glycerin- or water-based adhesive to do exactly that.
The fad caught on among younger students who wanted to imitate their older counterparts, and even the negative reaction by a number of school officials made the idea gain wider appeal... except among adults. Still, it's not hard to find sock glue on a number of websites catering to Japanophiles and cosplay culture.

Finishings

Socks are done. They knit up in what for me is record time; I'm convinced it's because of all the lacey yarn-overs. The top is a little loose, so either I need to invest in some of that Japanese sock glue that the schoolgirls use to keep their oversized socks from falling down, or I need to stick some elastic in there somehow. I'm astonished I was able to follow the charts without the whole thing turning into an enormous muddle, so much so that I may even make myself a second pair with the rest of the blue Happy Feet yarn... though I might want to go down a needle size if I do. Perhaps this will require a *gasp!* swatch.
The flash still makes the colors look garrish, but without it, the picture doesn't do the yarn justice, either.



















As I mentioned in one of the previous posts about these socks, the name I chose for them comes from the Welsh story of Blodeuwedd. Here's the relevent passage from the Mabinogion:

"Then they called together the whole of Gwynedd, and set forth to Ardudwy. And Gwydion went on before and proceeded to Mur y Castell. And when Blodeuwedd heard that he was coming, she took her maidens with her, and fled to the mountain. And they passed through the river Cynvael, and went towards a court that there was upon the mountain, and through fear they could not proceed except with their faces looking backwards, so that unawares they fell into the lake.
"And they were all drowned except Blodeuwedd herself, and her Gwydion overtook. And he said unto her, 'I will not slay thee, but I will do unto thee worse than that. For I will turn thee into a bird; and because of the shame thou hast done unto Llew Llaw Gyffes, thou shalt never show thy face in the light of day henceforth; and that through fear of all the other birds. For it shall be their nature to attack thee, and to chase thee from wheresoever they may find thee. And thou shalt not lose thy name,
but shalt be always called Blodeuwedd.'"

Let's talk about socks, baby.

The pattern is deceptive. It looks super-complicated, but it knits up really, really quickly.