Monday, April 02, 2007
A Sock
I'm half-way to my goal of knitting a pair of socks. About a month ago, I finished one. The pattern called for a super bulky yarn, which I had on hand, but only size 6 needles, which didn't quite jive with super bulky yarn. I went at it with the yarn and required needles and ended up with one bulky, stiff sock. It has a harsh seam on the heel that will make for some uncomfortable walking. Now, I'm trying to decide whether to make another sock of the same yarn, or start over with something a little less bulky. Here's my attempt:

Monday, January 01, 2007
What's Unusual
I'm roasting. Sitting upstairs at the computer & sweating, even though it's winter in Minnesota. (We finally have a wee bit of snow & a whole lot of ice - the roads are skating rinks.) Heat rises, so our second story is always warmer than the main floor. What's unusual about my warmth is that I tend to run on the cold side, so even if a room is warm, I'm the one that's over-dressed. Not tonight. Now I'm stripping layers off.
I'm sitting here listening to a new CD while I blog & surf & sweat. I broke down and bought 2 new CDs for myself, Dave Matthews Band's The Central Park Concert (currently playing) and The Killers' Hot Fuss. Those who know me well know that I'm tight-fisted and have great difficulty spending money on myself. This is a direct result of having grown up in a household that was perpetually short on cash. I was well indoctrinated in scarcity thinking & it's pretty hard to break out of that rut to move into abundance thinking. I keep trying. Buying myself CDs, books, or fiber arts materials is the way I manifest abundance thinking when I can stop myself from worrying about the bills. (Ever notice that there's always one of them due?) I decided to buy these particular CDs after having checked them out of the library & giving them a listen. (See, music biz executives? Sometimes a free listen turns into a purchase.)
My other recent purchase was a nice wooly skein of yarn, hand-dyed, I believe. It cost about $7 for the skein. I also got some circular knitting needles. (I'm going crazy with the Cheese Whiz on this abundance thinking thing. Don't worry, it won't go to my head.) I've decided to knit a hat using a pattern from a book I got for Christmas. I've never knitted in the round before, so it's an adventure. Knitting was one of the last fiber arts forms that I learned. As such, it's been the most difficult for me to master. The hat is going well so far, once I got past figuring out how to join the stitches in a round. (Thank you, sister-in-law!) The next obstacle will be decreasing for the crown, which involves switching to double-pointed needles. If I can lick this, I may just be able to tackle a pair of socks. (Crossing my fingers on that.)
By the way, Happy New Year, readers, and thanks for reading my blatherings.
I'm sitting here listening to a new CD while I blog & surf & sweat. I broke down and bought 2 new CDs for myself, Dave Matthews Band's The Central Park Concert (currently playing) and The Killers' Hot Fuss. Those who know me well know that I'm tight-fisted and have great difficulty spending money on myself. This is a direct result of having grown up in a household that was perpetually short on cash. I was well indoctrinated in scarcity thinking & it's pretty hard to break out of that rut to move into abundance thinking. I keep trying. Buying myself CDs, books, or fiber arts materials is the way I manifest abundance thinking when I can stop myself from worrying about the bills. (Ever notice that there's always one of them due?) I decided to buy these particular CDs after having checked them out of the library & giving them a listen. (See, music biz executives? Sometimes a free listen turns into a purchase.)
My other recent purchase was a nice wooly skein of yarn, hand-dyed, I believe. It cost about $7 for the skein. I also got some circular knitting needles. (I'm going crazy with the Cheese Whiz on this abundance thinking thing. Don't worry, it won't go to my head.) I've decided to knit a hat using a pattern from a book I got for Christmas. I've never knitted in the round before, so it's an adventure. Knitting was one of the last fiber arts forms that I learned. As such, it's been the most difficult for me to master. The hat is going well so far, once I got past figuring out how to join the stitches in a round. (Thank you, sister-in-law!) The next obstacle will be decreasing for the crown, which involves switching to double-pointed needles. If I can lick this, I may just be able to tackle a pair of socks. (Crossing my fingers on that.)
By the way, Happy New Year, readers, and thanks for reading my blatherings.
Labels: abundance, blog, dave matthews band, family, holidays, killers, knitting, minnesota, money, music, scarcity, weather, yarn
