Sometimes you get it right

I’ve been meaning to post for days. To tell the truth, I’ve had distinct feelings of “Bloggers Guilt” for not posting sooner. Part of that is due to the fact that I’ve been going through a kind of “knitter’s block”, and part of that is due to a lack of time.  We’ll take it in order:

Timesink #1: Work. I know, I generally don’t talk about the office on my blog, but in this case it’s pertinent. I’m working some fairly odd shifts and just went from a month of graveyards with relatively steady hours to becoming part of the rotation. The rotation is kicking my arse, and it’s partially due to…

Timesink #2: The gym opened! Between my new work hours and trying to log in workouts every day, I have had very little time to blog…and even to knit! That’s been the hardest adjustment, made even more frustrating by…

Knitter’s Block. It’s kinda like Writer’s Block, only for knitting. I managed to overwhelm myself with nothing at all. You know how the Yarn Harlot has a case of startitis at this time of year? I managed to quite literally stun myself into inaction. I couldn’t decide whether to design my own sock, knit someone else’s design, use this yarn or that…it was terrible. Add onto that the Sweater Disappointments from earlier this month (which I had been using to keep myself occupied until my indecision over socks had faded). I’m surprised we’re only halfway through the month; it feels like it’s been longer.

So what *have* I been doing?

We went to the theatre. It may not look like it, but that’s my striped purse-sock in front of the curtains at intermission. Obviously the lighting wasn’t optimal for sock-in-progress pictures as such things are not the main priority of a stage manager…

We saw a local production of “Assassins” that is currently playing at the Pumphouse Theatre here in Calgary.  I definitely recommend going to see it if you’re in the city. No, it’s not a professional cast, but the actors do a great job for not being Broadway-trained. Yes, there are some hesitant lines, and yes a little of the singing is slightly off-key – and that’s part of the charm. We’re planning on seeing more productions. HMS Pinafore will be playing soon, as well as a production of Gypsy.  Squee!

I’ve also been working on socks. Remember how I was talking about that tangled skein that I thought had the perfect colours for a pair of Breaking Hearts socks? Well, I cast it on and…it striped. Yep. Stripes. Not what I was looking for. That caused me more angst and had me wandering the house, looking like I was lost and worried. Even Robin remarked on it. Then I went back into the feedback loop of damning the fact that the sweater colours didn’t work, and thinking about designing a sock, and trying to decide if maybe I shouldn’t just knit someone else’s design…

And then I remembered a sock yarn that I had tried in other patterns and kept ripping back because it never worked before, and maybe, just maybe, there was an off-chance that it would work here. Imagine my surprise when it worked. The picture doesn’t do it justice because I took it in my kitchen during the evening with plain old overhead lighting (which has a yellowish cast), but it’s a mixture of pinks and blues. On many other patterns, it’s looked almost garish. Here, though…perfect. Again, the Breaking Hearts socks by Cristi H. Brockaway (which you can find on Turtlegirl’s Bloggy Thing). The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Merino in Winterberry.  I’ll try to get some better pictures later.

So now that I’m no longer in my knitterly indecision loop, I just have to eke out the time to actually knit. Now that I’ve blogged…I guess that gives me a little time to do a little knitting!

 

(and I managed to find a better picture of the yarn, taken in the sunlight.  Get a gander at the hot, electric colours I’m working with! Yowza! Perfect for the cold snap we’re currently going through!)