It's a long story

I know, I know. I'm neglecting my blog. Poor blog. Bear with me. It's been a long few days, and I've got great excuses.

On Thursday I just couldn't blog or even knit because I got a new toy. My Father gifted me with this



It's his old MPIO music player. I didn't think I needed it, but I absolutely LOVE it. It's really useful. I wore it until my ears hurt. I can wear it when I knit, and when I do the dishes, and when I knit, and when I'm cleaning, and when I knit, and when I'm outside playing with the kids, and when I knit, and when, well, you get the picture. I spent most of Thursday downloading songs to load onto my player. Collecting songs could become a time consuming hobby in and of itself.

On Friday with an MPIO full of my favorite songs I decided to sit down and get serious about Hopeful, and here's how it turned out.



Here's another Public Service Announcement. When you are gifted with a pattern, and then a few days later an second version of said pattern is distributed because the neck-line is too low on the original version, please be sure the copy you downloaded into your Palm is the second updated version of the pattern and not the first copy of said pattern. I finished the entire left front side, and most of the right when I decided to try the shirt on and see how the length was. Imagine my surprise to discover the length and shaping was perfect but the neckline dipped down below my bra. After some checking I realized I was knitting with the original version of the pattern, the version that was scrapped because the neckline was too low. No biggie, I'll just frog to the neckline and knit until I get to the appropriate length to begin the neckline. But as I'm frogging I realize I've started my shaping much lower than called for by the pattern. For the life of me I can't imagine why I would start the waist shaping at three inches instead of the four and a half inches called for by the pattern, so I frog the entire sweater. As I roll the last ball I realize I started the waist shaping so low because I was modifying the sweater to spread the shaping over a total of eight inches instead of four. I frogged the entire thing because I am a DUMBASS who needs to keep better notes on my knitting.
In shame I avoid my blog.

So Saturday feeling sad and demoralized by knitting I sit with my MPIO and try to make so pretty stitch markers to cheer myself up. I made these



They're nice, but not quite what I intended. I just wasn't feelin' it. With nothing to show but some balls of yarn and a story of knitting idiocy I consider entering the blogger protection program.

So Sunday I start Hopeful again and just pray I can recreate the new shaping that fit so well. Why oh why did I choose this project to get cocky on and stop using row counters and keeping detailed notes? With progress to show I consider blogging but I got The Greatest a new computer game for his birthday and I was unable to get within ten feet of the computer.

On Monday I continue to knit Hopeful. I'm roughly where I was on Thursday.



But I feel no joy. Where's the love? Hopeful has lost all meaning for me.

Today was Chemo day. I didn't want to bring either of my sweaters to chemo, they're getting too big. So I decide to work on my Socktober socks before Socktober is gone. I'm working on Knitty's Straightlaced socks. Only I don't have two size 3 circular needles. I figure I'll just work with the needles I own and make the larger size, that should work won't it? Everyone reading this is shaking their heads and wondering if I've started doing drugs again. I got the ribbed cuff done, but it is no where near fitting. So tonight during the Sopranos I reworked the gauge to match the needles I have, it's cheaper than buying new needles. So my fabulous Socktober socks look like this



I need a finished object to cheer myself up. I think I need to grab the project that is closest to being done and just finish it. That or I need to find Boyd and sacrifice him in a ritual to the Gods of Knitting.