I hope to redeem myself by giving you a whole lotta yarn porn in this post.
I started the spring semester last week. Just one class, Evaluation of Information Services, which seems fairly interesting, in part because of the course content but mostly because of the potentially limitless entertainment offered by my classmate Rebecca. Example - last week when the professor asked a rather muddled question, Rebecca's response was "Could you rephrase the question using none of the words you just used?"
If I turn out half as awesome as Rebecca, I will have done well with my life.
The class meets Monday nights, which necessitated the installation of DVR, so that I can keep up with Heroes. The supreme pleasure of getting DVR was marred only slightly by the cable guy showing up an hour early, while I was naked and on the toilet.
The week before that, I went to my first stitch 'n bitch. For someone with near-crippling anxiety about social situations, this was a huge step. I finally realized that it wasn't exactly a social social situation, because knitting could save me from having to be social at all. All I had to do was show up and knit. I may be spastic and awkward, but dammit, I knew I could show up and knit. I did send a panicky last-minute text message to the boyfriend insisting that the other knitters wouldn't like me and might even point at my sock and laugh. He replied that I was the sexiest knitter he knew (nice, even though I'm the only knitter he knows) and that my socks rock. He's a keeper.
The sock was in fact a hit. The nice knitters admired My Pretty nearly as much as I do. And who wouldn't admire him, really? Mmmm, so pretty...
Here, take a closer look...
I know a bunch of knitbloggers don't need to be convinced of the pleasures of shared knitting time, but DUDE! So. Much. Fun. So many knitters, at all different levels, with different yarn and different projects, and the only thing we have in common is that WE ARE ALL OBSESSED. Plus, I learned stuff, just sitting there. One of the knitters was working on a gorgeous Clapotis (the first time I've seen one in the wild), in an amazing scarlet silk-merino blend. And, in her spare time, she showed us the knitted cast on (life-changing) and how to spit-felt ends together. It was like having my own personal knitting Yoda. Except not wizened or hairy-eared. And, unlike the regular Yoda, I bet I could totally take her in a fight.
Last week I missed SNB in favor of seeing Mortified, the show where real live grown-ups read their adolescent journals/poems/letters/song lyrics/whatever aloud. One of the funniest things I've ever seen, and totally worth missing a knit night for.
But I will be SNBing this week, regardless of how much work I should be doing in that time. My coworker, Awesome Meredith, attends lunchtime yoga, and she says she tries to view it like a doctor's apointment: not something optional, but something you schedule and do because you're better off for having done it. I'm trying to see Stitch 'n Bitching the same way.
And the knitting has been going remarkably well.*
Both My Pretty and the Experimental Sock-in-Progress should have mates in the next week. As Marge (hilariously) mentioned in the comments, "Socks come in pairs so that feet don't get envious and bitter and turn on each other." Hopefully, this will forestall any potential hellish sock war.
Now that I think about it, I'd be doing pretty well if I set my sights on being half as funny as Marge, too.
I'm trying very hard not to be concerned that the second Experimental Sock seems significantly smaller than the first. If I chant "Same yarn, same needles, same number of stitches, same pattern" over and over, will that make everything turn out ok?
My Pretty will be getting a fraternal, rather than identical, twin. I love me some perfectly aligned stripes, but I was feeling whimsical when I cast on and decided to let the socks stripe as they see fit.
And finally, I'm still getting caught up on blogs and comments, but wanted to say thanks to everyone for the nice comments recently. I feel so popular!
* Now that I've thumbed my nose at the knitting goddess with my smugness, who wants to bet that My Pretty doubles in size during blocking, or perhaps that I'll be involved in a complicated knitting-related train accident, wherein no one is injured but my knitting is irreparably damaged? Keep your fingers crossed.
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