Not your standard sock pattern

Posted on 11 December 2011 at 8:10 pm by Stephanie

I was unpacking all my socks on Friday and trying to shove them into my drawers, my now very very full drawers, when I said to my roommate, “Don’t let me knit myself any more socks. In fact, if you see me knitting socks, just ask me who they’re for. Please don’t let me knit myself any more socks!”

The unfortunate part is how easily sock yarn stash accumulates. I think I have enough for three pairs right now, and what exactly am I supposed to do with all of that? I guess I’ll get creative.

On the bright side, I already asked Becky months ago if she’d be all right with me sending her some pink socks. She seemed to think it was a risk she’ll be willing to take.

fo-socks-1

So many tiny cables! No wonder this project took me months. I think I started these socks out of boredom and heat exhaustion sometime in July.

fo-socks-2

I’m a fan of the way these cables take over the entire sock. They took forever, but it’s so worth it when someone makes a sock pattern that isn’t just “here’s this stitch pattern, input it into your normal sock structure”. Something that plays with the structure so that it’s fresh and new. These socks definitely hit that spot.

fo-socks-3

I mean, the cables even go all the way to the tip of the toe! Thank you for not being a standard sock pattern, Java socks. Thank you very very much.

boredom socks (Ravelry):
Pattern: Java by Cailyn Meyer.
Yarn: Austermann Step? I forgot to put these details into Ravelry, and I am not sure where the ballband went! Oh no! It was definitely the one that has aloe very in the yarn, though.
Needles: US 1 – 2.5mm

I have got to finish the things that are on the needles right now. I’m a bit tired of my projects and ready to go on to something new. Just finished these yesterday, so I’m doing pretty well at documenting right away at least!

Posted in 2011, Finished Projects | Tagged | 4 Comments

Your body is not wrong.

Posted on 6 December 2011 at 4:44 pm by Stephanie

Today’s post at Already Pretty struck a chord with me today: Your body is not wrong. I started playing with makeup recently, which led me down the path of wishing I had clear skin and wondering what I can do for it that won’t drive me crazy. Reading Sally’s post reminded me, though: I don’t have to worry about it. I have flaws. So what?

Of course, this isn’t going to stop me from playing with makeup. I started doing it because it’s fun, and that’s why I’ll continue! Not on a daily basis, but I like to be the kind of person who does things in moderation. Extremes make me cranky, but indulging in beauty products every once in a while makes me happy. Doing things that make me happy is not a bad thing.

Posted in Community, Musings | 2 Comments

What better way to spend Saturday morning

Posted on 3 December 2011 at 1:55 pm by Stephanie

Thanks for the comments on the sweater! I’m still very much in love with it. Though I would be happier still if the thermostat was controlling the heating in my apartment better. It worked for a week, now it’s back to 72-74F in here. That is not sweater weather! My roommate and I were both happy when it was around 62-64F. I want that back, please. (And I am so sick of calling them to get it to work.)

In the spirit of attempting to post more, here, have some cookies!

cooookies

I am also pretty sick of my gluten-free diet, because I MISS BAKING. I baked all through high school. It’s one of my de-stressors, and now it’s just difficult so I don’t do it often. So since I haven’t been having many problems lately (fingers crossed), I threw together these cookies from King Arthur Flour. That site is a gold mine for baking recipes, I swear.

And, have a naughty cat.

silly kitty

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Posted in Baking&Cooking | Tagged | 4 Comments

No, I have not taken this off since Friday

Posted on 29 November 2011 at 5:07 pm by Stephanie

So, hey, turns out that this is sometimes a knitting blog. Check this out:

fo-twisty-1

It is a FINISHED SWEATER! I mean, I only started it last January. But the finishing details, those take a while. I devote one afternoon to them, it’s not finished. Another afternoon. Still not finished. Geez, how much time do the finishing touches need? I’m starting to think they take about half again as much time as the sweater itself. And that’s time I’m not spending knitting or reading!

However, I finally worked on it while turkey was cooking on Thursday and sewed the buttons on while waiting around for things to happen on Friday and I have worn it pretty much every day since. Check out the sweet collar, which I haven’t quite blocked yet:

fo-twisty-collar

How come people always leave out the cables in the collar? I think they really make it. Speaking of cables, the sleeve:

fo-twisty-arm

Not only is there a beautiful cable going up the sleeves, but the extra special part of this sleeve is that it fits snugly — not too loose — but not so tight that I can’t push the sleeves up without worrying I’m breaking the cast-on. To be honest, a lot of this sweater fits that well. Ever since finishing it and finding out how well it fits, I’ve been thinking about unraveling a couple of other sweaters and knitting new things with their yarn based on the measurements of this sweater. I’ve never really known what I was doing with knitting, so I’m glad I finally have a sweater that I feel like fits perfectly, and I can use it as a model for measurements for the next few sweaters.

I even went to get yarn for another sweater last night, but the store I went to did not have the yarn I craved. I’m still pretty disappointed about that. Still, let me gush to you about my new sweater again.

fo-twisty-2

It’s pretty much the best thing about winter. Even if my apartment suddenly got too hot again.

twisty (Ravelry):
Pattern: Twist by Bonne Marie Burns
Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton
Needles: US 5

Posted in 2011, Finished Projects | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Spurred by Equality magazine

Posted on 22 November 2011 at 10:23 am by Stephanie

Yesterday I received my quarterly issue of Equality magazine from the Human Rights Campaign. I’ve been donating monthly to the HRC ever since a guy on the street called out to me as I was heading to an appointment, “Can I talk to you for a gay minute?” That caught my attention, amused me, and made me talk to him. Later that day, my roommate told me that the HRC is a really big, effective organization trying to promote equality, so I was proud that my instincts led me to something that would help. Gay rights haven’t been the cause I’ve been fighting for myself (I’ve been working on environmental issues), so I’m glad at least some of my money is going to this just cause.

My favorite parts of the magazine are the ads that are deliberately designed for this magazine, but seen nowhere else. They’re all very “wholesome”, a couple with their kids, a couple checking out a new cell phone, a couple on the beach— all, however, same-sex couples. These could be ordinary ads, but I have the feeling they were all designed specifically for this magazine to show off the advertisers’ friendliness to GLBT persons (despite the fact that their actions may not always follow their words). I’m both happy to see these ads and heartbroken that I never see the same anywhere else. Mainstream media is absolutely saturated with heterosexuality.

I thought then about my own friends and who they are. One friend of mine has expressed frustration at not being interested in girls, because guys our age are fairly rude and obnoxious. Most of my friends I assume are heterosexual, except for the ones who are out as flamboyantly gay (I don’t think I know of many lesbians in my offline circle). On the Internet, where people are freer to come out as who they are because the repercussions are not as great (especially when using a pseudonym), I’ve heard a greater discussion of different preferences and lifestyles. Which is great. It’s just frustrating that we have to hide who we are, except when we don’t have the repercussions.

A good friend of mine posted an essay privately yesterday on how she is lucky that, despite being bisexual, she fell in love with and married a man. If she had fallen in love with a woman? Life would be so much harder for her. My favorite argument to people who like to think being gay is a lifestyle choice is: who in their right minds would choose to be so different from the rest of the world, in a world where not conforming leads to threats and violence against you, ostracizing from your family? Yeah. Definitely a choice. (Please excuse my sarcasm.)

So while I’m figuring myself out, I’m going to read the Equality magazine again and wish the world were more accepting of diversity of people and the different ways to love and that I weren’t only seeing these ads making same-sex couples look normal in this highly specialized magazine.

Posted in Unknown | 2 Comments

Returning again

Posted on 21 November 2011 at 12:40 pm by Stephanie

Gallo Cerveza

Yes, I’ve been terribly neglectful of Sunbeam Soapbox. I don’t know what to say, other than that I’m changing and that I’ve never been sure how to deal with this change. Knitting and photographing things are not at the top of my priority list anymore. (Photographing never really was – I just wanted to be one of the cool kids. Funny, because in other avenues I’ve never worried too much about being one of the cool kids, so why now? I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted if I didn’t take pretty pictures of my life.) But there is a need in me that I haven’t been fulfilling lately, and that’s my need to write.

I joked just before going to Guatemala two weeks ago that I’d be writing poetry in fledgling Spanish in a cute café. The poetry didn’t exactly happen, though, since we were taking in so much and using all of our brainpower to process that much Spanish and new experiences. But I’m almost ready to try it. Almost. Just need to change a little bit again. I think the more important thing to me right now is to start writing here again. Little stories and anecdotes so that I’m exercising the writing muscle of my brain in a little more important to me ways.

One thing I haven’t been talking about because it seems too good to be true is that I have an internship now! Unfortunately it’s unpaid so I’m still looking for a part-time job, but I’m doing something I love for an organization that I have developed a deep respect and admiration for. I’ve heard good things back from them too, that they are very happy with the work I’m doing. All I need is a paid job and I’d be set!

It’s one thing to tell myself that though, and quite another to drive off the demons who keep telling me that I’m unfit for society. So I worked hard all through school. So what? Now I am a sloppy laze-about who finds much too much comfort in reading and escape. My cat likes me a lot for staying home all the time, though. At least there’s that.

Posted in Musings, Writing | 2 Comments

An open letter

Posted on 21 October 2011 at 4:18 pm by Stephanie

Dear Gauge Swatch,

I don’t think you understand how this goes. I’m supposed to knit you with various sized needles, hopefully not TOO much smaller than the suggested ones. The pattern’s gauge is the same as the ballband suggested gauge, so this shouldn’t be too hard. I realize superwash yarn will grow when washed, so I’m taking that into account.

Suggested needle size is US 6. Knowing that I hardly ever get gauge on the recommended needles, I drop a few sizes. Let’s try US 4. Knit a swatch. Knit kind of tightly, because I have a bad feeling about this. Goodness, look at that nice dense stitching. If that’s not 24 stitches to 4 inches, I don’t know what I’ll do!

Bind off. Cross fingers. Measure. 23 stitches to 4 inches. Excuse me while I bang my head on the wall, then wash the swatch.

It grows. (I don’t want to measure it.)

I used US 4 needles, swatch! For sport weight yarn that suggests US 6! It is YOU that is having the problem here, not me. Because those stitches were packed nice and tight and they still were not 24 stitches to 4 inches. Which YOUR ballband says you can achieve. And then you have to go and grow on me! It’s like you’re not listening to your own manufacturers. Take heed, swatch! Because I cannot forgive you for this.

I might have to just re-engineer the sweater for the gauge I have, because ugh, getting the right gauge is always a nightmare. And that, friends and readers, is the secret to why I don’t knit more sweaters. Getting Gauge Is a NIGHTMARE. Why can’t it just do what it’s told?!

No love, ever,
Stephanie

Posted in In Progress | 5 Comments

Life stories

Posted on 14 October 2011 at 10:45 am by Stephanie

Last night as I was idly chatting the subject of families came up. Everyone has family stories. Everyone’s family stories come out at one point. What I realized about my family story is that the whole story of where my parents come from are an important story to my life narrative. I tell people who are most important to me the story of my naming, of my brother’s naming, of my parents’ parents. About my grandmother who knew seven languages. Even the people I’ve never known have shaped my life in some way.

And that brought me back to the power of story.

The Missive Maven shared the “History has set the record a little too straight” postcard for National Coming Out Day on 11 October. It’s a postcard that details people in history that history remembers, but rarely tells the stories of their sexuality. The “records” of these people left out a very important part of them. The words “record”, “history”, and “narrative” have all been swirling in my head lately. Joseph Campbell wrote reams and books on the subject of archetypes and myth. Reading The Hero With A Thousand Faces awoke in me the realization that story-telling truly is a powerful tool, despite its lessening importance in today’s society.

We tell stories about ourselves all the time. Not only do we describe ourselves with adjectives, but the things we talk about contribute to our stories. Do we blog to talk about crafts only? Then crafts are a large part of our story. Do we blog to talk about our opinions? Then having our opinions heard is a large part of our story. Do we talk about the weather? Our families? Cosiness and comfort? How we tell our stories says a lot about who we are.

You can’t say to someone, “Stephanie is a 22-year-old California transplant into the Midwest who likes to read and knit,” and expect that person to know everything about me. That person has to hear more of my stories: why do I live in the Midwest? Why do I knit? What’s so special about reading? Why do I want to learn so many languages? Why am I so against changing my name? These are all stories that I share with the important people in my life, so that they know where I’m coming from and where I am in the path of my life story. Your stories tell me where I fit into your life. Sometimes we have to re-frame our narratives to fit our experiences, but we will never stop thinking in stories.

What kind of stories do you tell people to get to know you better?

Posted in Anecdotes, Musings | 7 Comments

Bzzzzt.

Posted on 6 October 2011 at 6:16 pm by Stephanie

I was talking to a friend about feeds today, who then mentioned adding my blog to his feedreader. Which didn’t make sense to me, as I hardly ever post. Oh right! Perhaps I had better do that. ;) Knitting has simply not been as big a part of my life right now. But hey, have an FO so I can show a WIP and ask for advice on an upcoming project and oh, I should write a post about some of the cool things I’ve been doing lately.

Socks:

fo-buzz1

I have always wanted to try this pattern. I’m sorry you can’t see it as well without a model, but I really do not need any more socks so I’ve taken to knitting socks for dear friends like my roommate. Therefore I feel weird either modelling them or asking the friends to model for me. I’m pretty pleased with how the socks turned out, though. The colors turned out great and the yarn is so squishy.

fo-buzz2

A close up—does that help at all?

buzz (Ravelry):
Pattern: Drunken Bees by Domesticat.
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet, who knows the colorway
Needles: 2.5mm

Posted in 2011, Finished Projects | Tagged | 1 Comment