I finished Aidan's Socks for the book, and took in a pile from sample knitters over the weekend, which made my heart sing with delight in ways I can't even describe. The pile grows. I like to see it grow. We've got Emily's Socks (knitted by Mary Alice), Aidan's Socks, the man sock Tamara did up, the Lorna's sock Mary Alice also did (Mary Alice is the current sock leader, with three in the bin, eclipsed only by moi, who's knit...lemme think...8 pair so far with one or maybe two more to go). I feel like I totally have a handle on sock done-ness. Kristen has the lovely teal ones, Karen has the bamboo ankle sock, Tamara is doing a re-knit for me...and I need to do the women's fair isle that I keep saving for last (I do not love fair isle, did I mention that?)The rest of the time I do this, proofing, which is dull as dirt and boring as - as -
as well, frankly, as snot unless you have some cool disease. I already wrote it. Why must I read it again and again and again? Eventually I will memorize it. For the most part I am pleased with the flow. I would like to add a bit in one particular location, but I am not sure how to go about that. It needs a tiny bit of something. The patterns are all written up except for two charts which need to be either hand-drawn or very creatively made into excel sheets. I have gone over the patterns twice now looking for math errors, but will go over them as many times as I can fit in between now and the 23rd. I still want to have it all done by the 18th, but I am not sure I'll send it. I may sit on it over that weekend, re-read some bits during the week and send it in on time, just to let it mellow in my brain a bit.
I have also been upsetting the cat again, so had to walk on the treadmill with her in my arms for a while, about ten minutes, till she calmed down. She is probably not the best cat for anyone with PMS, a temper, a kid under 18, or a book contract. She freaks out at any raising of voices, even if it's good raising, like party and game noise. She adjusts, with time and attention, so attention she got. And she made my nose stuffy and my eyes itchcy, but she was happy and purred and did not want to get down when I made her go. Maybe I should get her a baby sling...Last night when I finished Aidan's Socks I could not take it any more and had to
cast on something, anything that was NOT a sock. I chose the Flower Basket Shawl that appeared in Interweave a while ago (Fall 2004 it was, that's how behind I am in things I want to knit versus need to knit!) in Gail's hand-dyed alpaca silk, a lone skein I grabbed two weeks past because it called to me. Literally. No joke. I walked by and I heard this tiny little voice "Melissaaa...Melllissa..." what could I do but buy it?? It's allegedly an odd-ball skein, but very close to rouge. Maybe a tad softer. I got a bit done in the hour before bed. I love it. Very fun to work, although the chart is tiny and could use blowing up. So far I can follow and watch tv with post-it's. It'll be a few days before I get back to it, but it warmed my heart to knit something without a heel. Don't get me wrong, I love socks. I adore socks. But lately all I think about or do involves socks on some level. Talking with Stephanie-from-Storey Sunday about the sock book and impending Promotional Tour (which almost made me toss my cookies right there, and caused me to lose my ability to say anything besides "uh-huuuuh" for minutes), taking in socks from sample knitters and discussing the socks with them. Writing sock patterns. Proofing sock patterns. Knitting socks. Dreaming about socks. Socks, socks, socks, SOCKS, SOCKSSSSSS! It's enough to make a grown woman cry. So a flower basket was inserted, just a tiny drift into something not-a-sock for a little while, like when the dog was gone and I made the Zimmerman Surprise sweater for Em. I still want to get her hat and socks and second sweater set done. We'll see. There's time. Stupid Job. Some days it's the best job ever and other days it backs me into corners I don't want to be in because I want to be free, I want to knit, I want to make shawls and start sweaters for babies and not think about socks. I mean, yeah, it's knitting related, and yeah, it looks all glam. And I do get a manicure and I've never had one. And I may even get to travel a tiny bit which will be cool. But oh how I would love to just sit and knit for the sheer joy of it. Just because I want to.
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