This 'n That

A few little things worth posting about today.

1. Half of an FO:



I had some long trips on the subway in the last two days, so I finished the first of my husband's made-to-order mis-matching socks. He was delighted to try this on, but wouldn't be dragged away from the computer for a proper photo session. But he pays the price, since the foreshortening entailed by this angle makes his foot look enormous and sort of misshapen. The sock looks good though, no? This was my first sock in self-striping yarn, and while it was fun, I wouldn't be heartbroken if it were my last.

2. I also got started on the second sock:



Yeah, I know, but he really insists that he wants to wear these two socks together. What are you gonna do? And yes, he does have very pointy toes, but especially wide feet. Just think - if I wasn't a knitter, I'd never know these things about my own husband!

3.



Am I the only one with a fetish for looking at the wrong side of Fair Isle knitting? Maybe that's the real reason I knit it inside-out. I've always been tempted to knit something up that's meant to be worn inside out, but somehow I haven't gotten around to it yet.

4. All ye who like the button I made for your blog - take it! take it! I just copied whatever art was already on your blogs and made it button-sized (Photoshop is available on our campus computers, ura! - Gives me something to do while waiting in line to print out a 97-page chapter).

5. And I forgot (until now) to update you all on the other two "flavors" of soy candles I've tried since I last posted about the awesome headache-free candles I ordered from Wendy's Dame Candle Company. The one called "Cool Water" is, she says, meant to be reminiscent of men's aftershave or wherever it is men get that nice clean smell from. This may be why I like it better than my husband does, but I at least love it, and I swear it can make a whole room smell clean without actually having to clean it! Okay, doing both would be good, but there's only so many hours in the day. But my real, hands-down, can't-live-without-it favorite is the lavender sage candle. It's divine. It's magic. I like to have it near me when I'm working, so it may also be partly credited with my having finished Chapter Two more or less on time.

6. It's an even better thing that, for the moment, the diss is going well, because we got some bad financial news this week. There's still a decent chance things can be made right and we will in fact be able to make the rent through spring, when I defend my diss and can't [EDIT: holy Freudian slip!] get out of @$^$%&^@$ grad school, but at the moment the waiting is nerve-wracking. And I had just almost convinced myself (and my husband) that it would be okay to order my christmas/birthday present early so I could have that much more time to enjoy the much-coveted Options needles set and KIPer bags...but not quite yet. We're going to wait a bit till we know what's what. I despise being dependent for food and shelter and future employability on the whims of an administration made up of malicious madmen. I swear, I'm not even exaggerating for once. The admin in question is fast becoming notorious for almost single-handedly destroying a department that's been at the top of its field for decades.

But let's not think about what we can't change. Let's instead think about yarn and pointy sticks.

7. Maybe, by delaying my order of the Options set for so long, I'll end up with a second edition of them that has the size printed on each needle tip. Now, that would be worth it! The glass is half-full, folks.

8. And to further divert all our thoughts, a meme, which I just made up, based on reading the footnote to Franklin Habit's latest post:

The Meme Meme

What I like about memes:

I love finding out odd little things about people. I love finding out anything at all about a person I'm interested in. I like the way memes sometimes bring out very unexpected, but revealing, things. I enjoy trying to come up with answers myself - sometimes because it allows me to make jokes, sometimes because I surprise myself, sometimes because I get reminded of something I haven't thought about in a long time, and sometimes because I think of or realize something new. I like making up memes even more than filling them out, because I get to just ask whatever in the world I'd like to know about how other people think.

What I dislike about memes:

I hate it when the questions are written with bad grammar or bad spelling. I'm picky that way, but then, I teach writing. I can't help myself. I really hate most of the memes or quizzes on that site, though I often do them anyway. They are so often based on the worst kind of least-common-denominator, stereotypical (non-)thinking. They are more likely to obscure than to reveal, but then, the reactions people have to being told they're "mohair" or whatever, are often the interesting part, and in that case it's worth it.

My official position on tagging, and being tagged:

I agree with the grumps that it's sort of like getting a telemarketing call - vile. I always hate being told to do something I don't feel like doing. In fact, I might not do something just because someone told me to do it. If I read a meme I like, I'm likely to do it myself whenever I have a spare moment of procrastination time. I don't need to be pushed, and don't feel the need to push others.

If I were a meme, what kind of meme would I be?

A really annoyingly inquisitive, personal one. But interesting and well written.