Friday, October 12, 2007

no knitting or sewing

Work has been very busy this week, much as usual. Every time I make a few plans to either knit, sew or possibly do some house cleaning (gasp!), an email will come in asking 'have you got time for this for tomorrow' or 'do you think you can possibly work extra this week?'. After an inwardly 'nooo!' and a deep sigh most return emails start with 'yes of course...' I'm not complaining, but it means when I have a little bit of free time I'm torn between desperately needing to do some cleaning or sitting down and actually relaxing - that is, if I still know how to do that!

I had to rip back the second sock I'm knitting for my dad. In February we went on our annual trip to Lyme Regis (my dad, I. and N. and I). This year for the first time in ages it was actually quite wet, windy and cold, and I noticed my dad wearing quite thick socks. His birthday was in March. I thought, optimistically, I'd knit him a pair of socks for his birthday. Ha! At this rate he'll be lucky to get them for our next trip! I've had to unpick these socks so many times, it's unbelievable. And it's not as if I've never knitted a pair of socks before, and it's not as if it's a very complicated pattern (garter rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. Either way, I keep making mistakes, and stupid mistakes, which means I've got to rip back. This time I was halfway down the foot when I noticed this sock was using up more yarn than its mate (who's feeling decidedly lonely). I counted the stitches of the cuff. And again. And AGAIN. Okay, 8 stitches more on the second sock than on the first. For three seconds I wondered if dad would notice. Then I pulled all the needles out and ripped. Again.
I have cast them back on again and have done about 6 or 7 rows of the cuff, but not had time for much more. I thought about forcing myself to just knit this one until it's done, but I know I'll get bored with it and not do it at all. I just want to get on with other socks by now!

On the decorating front, I managed to fill a few more holes last night and put the second coat of base paint on the wall in the alcove. Basically I can now put the final paint colour on. B. is probably off to work tomorrow, so I might drive back home and see if I can do the whole room in one go. I'm sure it'll need two coats and I'm also sure I'll end up going back to B&Q for some more paint, but so far I've only managed to do one wall at the time - it'll be good to get a bit more done and see a bit of progress. I'm getting fed up with tripping over Playmobil in my room and having to share my bed with a dozen teddies.

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