Seriously…could this pair of socks be any more boring?

 Regia Silk, which is lovely yarn.  However…I decided that I’d try size 0 dpns, which is making a nice, dense fabric.  And since they’re for Mike, it’s plain, boring stockinette.

 So…endless endless endless knitting.  Movie knitting, if there was anything I wanted to see.  Which is unlikely - been in a depressive slump lately.  So the fact that these socks are even progressing is rather surprising.

 Every time I knit a pair of socks for him, too, I go through the "That’s got to be way too big" thing.  Seriously - they always look huge.  Then I go hunt down another pair of socks I’ve knit for him, that he swears are just perfect, and they match.

 But there you go.  No thinking knitting.  Except for when I stab myself in the hand with the DPN, because they’re a bit longer than the ones I’m used to.  But then…I never claimed to the world’s most graceful knitter.

 Oh, and Adamas got restarted as well.  Is it sad that I put a lifeline in halfway through the starting chart?  One of the end rows always gets me screwed up, and I’m tired of screwing the whole thing up trying to tink it.

Okay, so I have a reason why I haven’t updated. Knitting content is included. I promise!

My hard drive decided to start going back, and it needed replaced. If you’ve ever done this, you know it’s a complete pain in the ass. I *think* I’m back to where I was before with most things. We’ll see.

Also, things in SWG are kinda uneasy. For those who don’t play online games, I’m part of a fairly good-sized group of people, commonly known as a guild. People generally join guilds to make playing more fun, make friends, etc. You can do more fun things if you have people to go play with, since these kind of games are generally designed so that most things are designed for groups to do.

Unfortunately, in SWG, there’s not a lot to actually *do* that hasn’t been done many, many, many times. This isn’t a problem for my guild, Total Eclipse, since we’re what’s known as a role-playing guild. In other words, we all have characters in the game, and we try to “live,” for lack of a better word, in the Star Wars world while we’re playing. So our characters don’t talk about things like what’s on TV, or our real life jobs, or whatever. They might discuss what they do for a living, since they’re separate people. Or whatever their hobby is, or what’s going on with people they know, or the war. (It’s Star Wars, after all!)

At this point, you all probably think I’m insane and should be carted off somewhere. You’re probably right. However, it’s great fun, and generally lets you forget real life problems, at least for awhile. And it beats “Let’s go out and kill Tuskens again!” It is, however, extra work on top of all the standard work that guild officers would do.

Let’s face it. Any time you’re responsible for a group of people, there’s work. Some of it is what my friend Thirteen would call “cat herding.” Just getting people to do the right things at the right times, for the good of everyone. There’s things like inventory and finances, and just keeping track of things. I have spreadsheets for all different kinds of things in the game.

I take the majority of the work. I’m the guild leader. And, going into this, I knew it would be work. I don’t mind at all. TE is an incredibly great group of people, and I’m honored to be trusted like I am. However, I can’t do it all myself, and so I have some officers. Unfortunately, I lost two of them last night. One of them was Mike, who was my Executive Officer.

Yeah. So…stress. I’ve gone from having four officers to two. And one of those two is out of town at the moment. So…a bit of panic on top of the stress. We’ll get through it. As I said, it’s a great group of people, and I love them all. They all understand that I’m stressed and have jumped to help out wherever they can. I love them all. I really do. I’m happy to count almost every member of TE as a friend, and our new members will be friends in time, I’m sure. But it’s affected my knitting, in that it’s hard to hold needles when you’re pulling your hair out.

However, I did manage to finish the Dublin Bay socks. I’m rather happy with them, but I’m starting to think I’d like to get hold of some size 0 needles that won’t snap when I look at them funny, because I’d like to see how I’d like a tighter gauge.

And, without further ado, pictures.

Odd perspective, I know. Picture taken by my webcam, which sits on top of my monitor. Trying to get both feet in the picture was a bit difficult. And my desk is relatively clean there. Sad, isn’t it?

I do love the little lace pattern up the side of the leg. Enough that I shaved my legs just for these pictures. Heh. Yes, you guys can feel loved.

I adore brightly colored socks. I don’t know why, other than the fact that they make me incredibly happy, both to wear and to knit.

The downside is, I can never ask Mike’s opinion of them. He hates them. In fact, he won’t wear anything than a dark, preferably solid-colored sock. Stockinette or a plain ribbing. *yawns* So his reaction to my Jaywalkers or the Dublin Bay socks is rather…unenthused. At least he makes the attempt, but bright colors just aren’t his thing. I think the best line he’s given me yet has been “It looks just as good as it always has.” I do love the man - he honestly tries.

The first Dublin Bay sock is almost done - a dozen or so more rounds until I start the toe. Here’s a crappy webcam picture, to the right.

Not loving the blotch of pink, but at least that will be safely inside my shoes when I wear them. And I am not ripping these back again. For anything. I am not that strong a person, or a knitter. And these have a certain charm. Probably because everyone who sees them thinks I’m insane.

They’re probably right. After all, the papers you can see behind the sock are a printout of a spreadsheet I’ve made for Star Wars Galaxies. Actually, it’s two different views of the same spreadsheet. I might have a problem…

Really, I do. Just, it seems this year is the year of me fighting with the yarn, and the yarn not wanting to tell me what it wants to be when it grows up.

Seriously…completed work this year? One pair of socks. Assorted cat toys. Numerous partial socks that have been frogged.

Probably half a dozen attempts at Adamas, which is now in Time Out.

But here, I present to you, what might just be yarn and a pattern attempting to get along. Good thing, as this yarn’s been frogged more times than I care to count.

Yarn is my beloved Lorna’s Laces in the Knit Happens colorway (custom dyed for one of my LYSs!). Pattern is Dublin Bay - fairly simple, but a step beyond basic stockinette. Since my gauge is off, and I have no size 0 needles that I’m happy with, I’m working it over 64 stitches on size 1 Brittany Birch needles.

Oh, digital camera’s still broken. This picture courtesy of my webcam. Whee.

New age.

New driver’s license. (No picture. Sheesh.)

New socks!

Yes, I went outside in my socks on my birthday so I could share an appropriately colored picture. Because I care. And because it’s warmer than it should be for this time of year. It’s normally snowing.

I love these socks. They make me happy, and they fit very well. Also the first sock I’ve done in something other than stockinette or ribbing. I feel accomplished! And, and the striping match up better than it appears there - I just had one sock pulled up less than the other. One just has a few more rounds of green on the toe.

All my fears aside, it was a very lovely birthday. Well, except for the part where I spontaneously burst into tears at midnight. :I But Mike had the day off, and spent it with me. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for lunch (Taste of Tandoor, for those in the area) and then to the yarn store. Where Mike bought me my gift:

A black leather Knit Knack Sack, which I’ve wanted for ages. Yet another set of size 1 needles. And that section of overwhelming gorgeousness?

Schaefer Anne. Mike picked it out. I didn’t see it, but when he handed it to me, I fell in love instantly. He says it’s “very Tina.” I agree. And I have the most incredible husband ever. He didn’t complain ONCE in the yarn store, and when I couldn’t find anything that spoke to me, he actually told me, “It’s your birthday. You have to get something! How about a book? Or some needles?” Then he went to ask about the Denise needles I was looking for, but they were out. So he left *his* cell phone number with the shop and he’ll get them when they get a new shipment.

I love that man.

We were going to go out for dinner, but I was tired, so we came home and I had a nap. Must be getting old. *smirk*

Updated to add: When sent out for snacks, Mike brought me back what we’ve come to call “Happy Cake.” Yet another term we’ve picked up from the nieces. He picked this one because it was not only obviously happy to look at, but on the box read “It’s what happy tastes like.”

Apparently, happy is both chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Yum.

I’ve decided that I want the Jaywalkers finished in time for my birthday on Monday, to cheer me up.

Here’s the first one:

I’m halfway done the heel flap on the second. It’s going well!

Go with it.

I think there’s been a bunch of knitting slumps around blogland. I know I’ve been in one this year. January hasn’t been the best month, personally, and it’s been reflected in my knitting.

But now that things seem to be clearing up (*peeks out cautiously from under umbrella*), the knitting is starting to work again, and not fight with me. As proof, here’s the Jaywalker:

It was, very much, one of those nights tonight where I was making deals with myself to get so far. “Just finish the heel and pick up the gusset stitches,” I bargained. I’ve been wary of those, since the first attempt at this sock, before I’d even seen the Jaywalker pattern, got completely fubared at that point. And it irritated me enough that I frogged the entire thing.

Yeah. Not pretty.

But at this point, I’m glad. I love the way this pattern is knitting up. Grumperina is a genius, really. And after the stitches were picked up, I couldn’t put the sock down. It’s now 6am, and I’ve finished the decreases. It’s a great deal of fun. I can’t wait to finish it, because it really makes me happy to look at it. And then I can start another pair. *grin*

I love how they’re turning out now. Makes up for a lot of life crap happening.

So, I love this pattern, with this yarn. See?

The problem is, I don’t love this:

But now that I’m better with the k-f/b, I’m going to rip and do it again, properly. And then nothing can stop me.

You realize that I’m at 0% knitting progress for the year? Honestly, anything that I’ve done has, or will be, frogged. Yet I’m hopeful!

And I have the best SP in the world!

I wasn’t happy with the Regia sock. So I’m jaywalking.