Skip to main content

Belligerent


I try to think of myself as a positive person, although sometimes I just get into a negative state of mind about things. Like my bank, which I need to leave because I hate them. Yes, a minor thing happened and they (eventually) sorted it out, but now I just shudder when I see their logo, and get angry when they send me letters, and that includes my bank statements. When an organisation is making me belligerent, it’s time to go.
Belligerent is a good word for how I feel about Raph’s socks. There is nothing inherently wrong with them. The Old maiden aunt yarn is lovely, I love knitting on my Signature DPNs, David’s toe up sock book is easy enough to follow. And yet this project just feels beset by problems.

Partly it’s because I’m knitting for someone who can’t try it on. What if it doesn’t fit? What if it’s too short? Or too long? Or long enough but too tight? Or, or, or.

Partly it’s toe up socks. I like knitting on DPNs, and toe up socks are best suited to other needles. Also, I got the first sock started with no issues on DPNs. On a train no less. The second one took me five tries. FIVE. It was something about the way I was doing one of the increases. I was so frustrated by the time I got it going that I was thinking of presenting Raph with one sock and teaching him to knit so he could have a pair.

Partly it’s that I decided to knit from the centre of the ball. I haven’t done that for absolutely ages and that’s because it can lead to yarn barf, which I’m suffering from now.

Partly- a big part really – is I hate wrap and turn short rows, and that’s how the heel turn works on these socks. I’ve finished that part now I just need to do the heel flap and then it’s smooth sailing. 2 x 2 rib until it’s done, and being the second sock, it’s done when it’s the same length as the first sock. And then I can take a deep breath, gift wrap them and pretend I knitted them putting love and care into every stitch, as Raph deserves, rather than rage and hate, seething and anger.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Linky Wednesday - the one with the pause

In meditation it's said that the pause between the in breath and the out breath is a gap, a space to rest. Well, I'm in that in-between space for reading, listening and knitting. This is a random photo of a highlight of my week - I filled up my lolly jar. These are just supermarket party mix. During the lockdowns, we sources a great pick-and-mix delivery service, but at some point they started sending from the UK, which is a bit silly. Rachey messaged me a new one she found, and I impulsed purchased a kilo of mixed lollies, and then she sent me a link to the biggest lolly shop in Melbourne, which also delivers sweets by the kilogram, so i think I'm sorted for the rest of the year!  In reading I've just finished  The Beckoning Lady   by Margery Allingham . It's the second last book in the Summer of Mystery, and I have to admit, having now read nine Margery Allingham books, that they are OK. I wouldn't have read them if they were not connected to this club, but on...

Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises. 

Linky Wednesday - welcome to sOctober

Happy sOctober to those who celebrate. This week's reading was a bit of a mixed bag.  I read a review copy of  The Day He Disappeared   by Catherine Miller , although I ended up skim reading it because it was a very tedious book. Poorly written, repetitious, predictable and boring. Now I'm reading  The End of the Playboy by Harlin Hailey  which is a sort of midlife crisis Hollywood satire. Or a reflection on aging and society, I'm not sure which. I am enjoying it though.  Then I've got two more review books, the Amazon Original short story  When We Were Friends by Jane Green    And  Bad Reputation by Emma Barry A romance that I requested purely on the basis of that cover! In audio I decided to finally try  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke  because it's 34 hours long and I felt like I was getting through my credits too fast. I'm enjoying it - it feel like the sort of book that is better on audio. After I s...