Things about me (76-100)
76. I used to be a morning person…but that has dramatically changed since high school.
77. I kept pet rats when I was younger. I still think they make great pets.
78. I score surprisingly not-great on standardized tests. It’s not like I bomb them, but I scored about 100-200 points lower on the SATs and GREs than people guess my scores would be. I did rock the psych subject GRE, though.
79. Despite my revolutionary leanings, I was a member of Business Professionals of America in high school (one of my teachers signed me up) and went to state competitions for international business 3 years in a row. I also aced the Economics AP test. Weird, huh?
80. I have very strong hands, and give really good back massages. I do not like receiving massages myself, though, as I have a very low pain threshold.
81. Strong hands also means that I have a really firm handshake. This once got me turned down for a job as a waitress at a pizza place. The manager later told a friend of mine that I”d scare the customers because I was so manly, and that he could maybe find me a job stacking boxes in the back room.
82. I have never broken a bone, had a serious medical emergency or gotten significant dental work done. I have had several concussions, though.
83. I was born skinny and with a ton of hair. I have a weird Mohawk in most of my baby pictures. My sister, on the other hand, was the prototypical fat, pink, bald Gerber baby.
84. My pet peeve is when people are really indecisive, but still super-picky. Like when everyone’s sitting around and somebody decides we should do something. So, you start suggesting things, and they’re like, “no, no.” And you eventually just ask them what they want to do and they’re like ,”you know, whatever….” Drives me nuts.
85. My other pet peeve are those people that are completely unable to just chill. Like, I have a friend who thinks that we have to do something fun in order to hang out. I’m all for going out and having good times, but that’s too much pressure! Can’t we just plop down on the couch every now and then and watch a DVD?!
86. Guys with really long, thick eyelashes get me every time.
87. I have always wanted to ride in a submarine.
88. I flirt like a boy in the 4th grade. Seriously, my method involves showing the guy how smart I am and then punching him in the arm. I’m, like, the least smooth person ever.
89. I get totally weirded out when I see my professors around town. There’s one in my department that lives near me and rides the same bus to campus as me, and I find it very jarring to see him just sitting there minding his own business, listening to his iPod like everybody else.
90. I find weddings kind of annoying. I always feel like they’re way longer than they need to be. I really don't have a romantic bone in my body.
91. I am a very fast but utterly terrible typist. I never learned the proper technique and can’t touch-type to save my life.
92. I once saw a production of Madame Butterfly in Estonia, with a Russian singer playing a Japanese woman. It was totally surreal.
93. If I have kids, I’d really like to name them crazy things like Balthazar or Phlox. I’m not sure if this impulse is a love of quirkiness or a latent sadistic streak.
94. Peculiar things bother me in film and TV. Like, why was Hermione’s dress the wrong color at the ball in the fourth movie? And why do all the women on Lost wear their hair down? It’s a tropical island for chrissakes! My neck gets too hot, and I live in the Midwest!
95. My favorite word is nexus. It sounds cool, and is the kind of cool word you can use in everyday conversation.
96. Sometimes I pretend I speak German. The most I can say is ‘du hast ein fleishe-tascha’ which I’m told roughly translates to “you have a flesh sack.”
97. I have an irrational hatred of William Shatner.
98. As I mentioned before, I’m a fiend for coca-cola. But I am sure that it tastes a bajillion times better out of the can than a 2-liter bottle. I have very defined opinions on this.
99. One time, Jon, Dani and I were driving from Ohio to Texas and I kinda….lost it after my driving shift. I was driving in the wee hours of the morning and right about dawn and Bjork came on. Somehow the combination of these things made me all loopy and we pulled over to switch drivers. At this point, I jumped out of the car and rolled down the grassy hill at the rest stop, much to the chagrin of my roadtrip-mates.
100. I’m the most annoying sick person ever. And poor Jon has to deal with my urgent, and sometimes conflicting demands. One time, I whined for him to get me some water, and then change the channel…WAIT! THE WATER’S OT COLD ENOUGH!! Where are you GOING? I HATE this show……etc. (Note: I have made efforts to be better this time around, but I've failed. In the last 48 hours, I've made Jon order me a milkshake, a burger, and go out for muffins...twice.)
And thus concludes all of the interesting information about me! I must confess, I thought that this would be easier than it was. I consider myself a quirky, interesting person, but those last 10 or so tidbits did not come easily. In fact, many thanks and much props to Dani, who helped me get through the last five by answering my many pestering IMs.
Knitterly Happenings and Acquisitions
First, an FO!
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Yarn - 2 skeins of ArtYarns Ultramerino 8 in color 115 (various shades of red). I've had an idea for drop-stitch socks like these floating around in my head for awhile, and I bought this yarn way back with them in mind. I thought it was going to knit up in as a semi-solid with lots of depth, but the striping actually looks really cute.
Needles - 47" size 0 addi turbo circular. I told you....wee little needles. I'm having a kind of love/hate realtionship with them. I knit really loosely, so the gauge I got with them was just about perfect, but they are really intimidating. I took a wee-needle hiatus after finishing he first and made the yoga socks in the interim, and the size 5's felt weirdly big.
Pattern - Here it is in far more detail than anyone wants. But, since this is my blog, and I like to keep track of how I make things, you just get to deal. Ha! Sucks to be you!
Wheelie socks
Cuff:CO 64, work in 2x2 rib for 5 rows
next round: [k2, p2, k1, yo, k1, p2] to end {increased to 72 sts}
Leg:
drop-stitch lace pattern from Knitty's Wheelie:
round 1-5: [k2, p2, k3, p2] to end
round 6: [k1, yo, k1, p2, k1, drop 1, k1, p2] to end
round 7-11: [k3, p2, k2, p2] to end
round 12: [k1, drop 1, k1, p2, k1, yo, k1, p2] to end
work 6 repeats of lace pattern
- on last row of repeat 6, work as follows: [k1, drop 1, k1, p2, k2, p2] for first half, work in pattern for second half. This is the set-up row for the heel flap {decreased to 66sts}
Heel:
work 32 sts on first half back in forth as follows for 30 rows, ending on WS:
RS/row 1: [s1, k1] to end
WS/row 2: s1, p across
turn heel with 6 center sts and 13 sts on each side:
row 1: k 19 sts, ssk, k1 and turn
row 2: s1, p7, p2tog, p1, turn
continue until all sts are used up, ending on WS
Gusset and Leg:
- k across turned heel and pick up and ktbl 15 slipped sts and 2nd rung at joining point
of heel and leg, [k2, p2, k3, p2] across instep sts, pick up and knit 2nd rung at joining
point and 15 slipped sts, knit across heel to instep and mark new beginning of round
Continue working gusset as follows until 30 sts remain for sole:
round 1: k across instep in pattern, ssk, k to 2 before marker, k2tog {2 sts decreased}
round 2: k across instep in pattern, k to marker
When there are 30 sts on sole, work instep in pattern and k plain across sole
-for gusset and foot, work a total of 5 repeats of lace pattern (11 repeats for the entire sock)
-for last row of last repeat, work as follows: [k1, drop 1, k1, p2, k2 p2] across instep, k across
sole {4 sts decreased}
-next 5 rounds: work instep in 2x2 ribbing across instep, k across sole
Toe:
- set-up round: ssk, k to 2 before end of needle, k2tog, k across sole
work toe shaping as follows until 24 sts remain (12 on each needle), ending on round 1:
- round 1: [ssk, k to 2 before end of needle, k2tog] repeat for sole {4 sts decreased}
- round 2: k plain across instep and sole
Finishing:
-graft toes together using kitchener stitch
-weave in ends
Aside from these socks, I'm afraid I've developed knitter ADD. Right now, I've got four more projects on the needles with no FO in sight:
1. I'm trying to adapt the Thelonious sock into a toe-up knee sock. I'm really enjoying the process of learning how to knit a sock the other way, and the charts are surprisingly easy to read in the opposite direction. I'm still not sure how to continue the lace panels up past the written charts. Ideas?
2. I'm working on a lace mohair sweater based on this swatch. I'm still not through with the yoke yet, but it's moving along pleasantly. I'll show you pictures when it's more than a fluffy blue blob.
3. I've started the beginnings of Exchequered in crazy-bright LSD colors. It'll be an awesome scarf, and I'm actually enjoying double-knitting.
4. Because all of these projects involve some sort of cognition while knitting, I was kind of stuck today. I made Jon take me to go see The Reaping because I haven't left the house and I was starting to feel all cabin-feverish in addition to regular feverish. So, I grabbed this sock yarn and made up a pattern during the movie. It's inspired by Jaywalkers, and is basically a heavily modified version of the Ampersand pattern (available here). I have dubbed them the Amperwalkers.
Oh! And I joined Sockapalooza 4! Check out the button on the sidebar.
Best moment of the day
I felt absolutely terrible this morning when I got up, but that did not stop the cats from demanding attention. Mittens is ridiculously entitled, but the Jon Seid Kitten just walked over and nuzzled up. It was very sweet and endearing, so we weighed him, and he's up to......(drumroll, please).......15 pounds! He's essentially doubled his weight since we brought him to Michigan. Impressive no?
In honor of this astounding feet, I give you a collection of photos which capture Sir Fatness best:
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PS - Flair has been finished for, like, two weeks now. I'm waiting for the serendipitous coincidence of daylight, warmish weather, and good health for her debut. Stay tuned!
3 comments:
It's about time you posted again! You shouldn't worry about your slightly less than suave style of flirting--not all of us can have the charming, sophisticated deportment of certain heavy-set gentlemen we all know and love, besides it makes the game all the more interesting.
I second your opinions on Coke being better out of a can than a 2-liter bottle. It's debatable whether it's better out of a can or one of those 12-oz bottles, though.
Your socks are fantastic. :) I need to sort of...you know...finish my socks. *grumbles something about finals* Oh, and those mary janes in the picture? I just bought those same shoes last week. Weird.
...And I'm back.
I really, really want to make my own Wheelie socks. I got this fantastic blue/green yarn at Rhinebeck that'd be perfect. You mentioned that you got gauge with size 0 needles, but...what's the gauge? Or am I just a fool and didn't see it anywhere? Because really, with the holes my brain's developed lately, I wouldn't be surprised.
My awesome Mary Janes thank you. :)
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