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I’ve mentioned before that I’m not crazy about the idea of knitting socks. This is mainly because socks in general don’t excite me. They do the opposite of excite me. (I guess that would be “bore.”) The idea of socks drives me to apathy. I was raised in a warm climate so I have no fond associations of nice warm socks by the fire, that kind of thing.

Now, I’ve made a pair of socks. I got this yarn as a prize, and my dad told me he wanted some, so I made them. And it was exciting, finishing that first sock - mostly because I wasn’t sure if I would ever get the thing to fit or look right. And then it did, so I was happy. My first sock! Yay.

However, I have found, since then, that my general apathy toward the sock continues. I no longer have actively *negative* feelings about knitting socks (as I did while attempting the ill-advised “blue-sock project” on Size Negative Three needles or whatever - that’s never going to happen, by the way). But I’m still not converted. I probably have similar feelings about the subject as Eunny - in other words, I say I don’t like to make socks but will ocassionally do so, anyway.

Case in point:

Um, yeah. I’m making another pair of socks.

So here are the two great things about hand-knitted socks: they are super comfortable, and they make wonderful knitted gifts (for people that like socks, that is). After trying on my dad’s socks, I decided I wanted something super-comfy, too, man! And I know a few people who would appreciate having some soft hand-knit socks for their vewy ownz.

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But here’s my next complaint: what is up with this self-patterning, self-striping, multi-color whatever yarn?! This sh*t is crazy! I mean, about 95% of the time, the colors look amazing, gorgeous, or even just really pretty, when they are in a ball or skein. Observe:

Isn’t this nice? I received this in the mail, and thought: oh, so pretty! I want to make something with it! Those colors *are* just like a spring garden!

But then *this* is the result:

!!! That’s just wacko. To the point that it’s approaching circus-clown-style. Maybe I’m weird, because I’ve never seen anyone else complaining about this. But I do not like how multi-color yarn looks all knit up in rows together. The self-striping yarn is okay, I guess, but I still think that stripes you make yourself look way better.

End of rant-thing. I don’t even know if that qualifies as a rant. So. I’ll let you know when I finish the other sock.

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No one has of yet correctly answered the prize-winning question I posed in my last post. That really doesn’t surprise me, because it is fairly tricky. But I wanted to see if anyone could get it, regardless. The prize is still up for grabs, and I’m going to put another clue in my next post, so stay tuned!

One of the most clear-cut “lessons” (for lack of a better word - anyone have a better word?) I’ve learned from knitting has been persistence. A lack of patience, fear of failure, and simple boredom can all lead to me giving up on a project at the first sign of trouble. Frankly, I can usually get by pretty easily without having to work too hard at things. I may not always excel, but I can get by. Because of this, I never HAD to be persistent at anything.

So unlike projects I procrastinate doing because I’m afraid of being bad at them, there are things that I’m happy to start, because at least at the beginning, I don’t have major expectations for myself. I go along my merry way, glueing that model spaceship together (or whatever), until, um, I mess up. I glued the wing to the bottom of the fuselage or something. I’ve messed up bad enough that I’ll have to start over, or trash the whole thing, or at the very least spend hours fixing it while swearing to myself.

You can guess what happens next. Yeah, nothing. I give up, and tell myself “Oh, it’s totally not worth it, What am I going to do with a model spaceship, anyway?” or “This is BO-RING!,” or, “I just don’t want to deal with all these fiddle-y little details like ‘wings.’”

However, after a couple of false starts when I tossed a project into the corner in disgust after making a mistake, knitting has been different for me. I actually *fix* mistakes! I will undo rows and rows of knitting just to make something right, even when no one else will even notice! I occasionally make swatches, (one of the most boring and frustrating aspects of knitting)! I am persistent, I finish projects, I keep working even when something is hard and it may never turn out right! I have learned the beauty of persistence and patience, ladies! (And gentleman, if you’re out there). Yay!

Of course, translating that to other aspects of my life is yet another step, it doesn’t necessarily automatically happen. But I do see my attitude changing in small ways. So that’s a good thing.

I’d love to hear if you’ve had similar experiences, or feel like you’ve learned something else from your knitting adventures…

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Thanks so much to those who left nice comments about my pink sweater. It’s definitely one of my favorite FO’s so far.

In other news, The Kitchener Bitch was having a little contest over at the Vintage Knit-Along she hosts. She was offering prizes in different categories, and she picked my picture to win for the “Best Pic from a Vintage Pattern”! So I won three skeins of some lovely yarn:

Thanks, Kitchener Bitch! Now, this yarn I would have never bought myself, because I am not a “sock knitter,” and really don’t have anything else I could use it for. However, it was so soft and lovely, I wanted to make something with it, d*mnit! And I remembered my dad saying something about wanting me to knit him some socks. So… drumroll, please:

My first (finished) sock, ever!! The pic is in B&W because I’m adding a couple of details to it - it’s not actually finished, yet. Man, I never thought I would be this excited about a sock.

For those of you who’ve made it to the end of this post, congratulations! I’m having a little contest of my own. There is a yarn prize in store for the first person who emails me with the name of the sketch comedy TV show from which I got the title of this post (Placate, Posture, Pomp and Circumstance). I’m prepared to give hints if no one gets the answer right away. You can use the contact form on this website to send me an email. Good luck!