And Sometimes, Stuff is Just Weird

"I'm just one of those regular weird people." -- Janis Joplin

It's been a weird Sunday morning so far. I went out for my regular Sunday morning run, and it wasn't what I hoped it would be... my stomach was a little upset, and I felt a little tired, so I decided to do a shorter run rather than risk wearing myself out. I blame it on experimenting with a new pre-run snack and on having a couple of nights of poor sleep, but still... it felt a little strange.

It's carrying on into my yarn projects. I've finally managed to get my crochet project on the blocking boards. It's a free pattern call Tranquil Wrap from Lion Brand, and it was a relatively easy project...

... except it's a bit weird.

It's not the pattern, and it's not the yarn. Its weirdness is attributed by me failing to take into account that simply adding repeats on a crescent-shaped shawl does not mean it will grow proportionately. It's like assuming that a person who is twice as old as another person will need twice as much food. It doesn't work like that (even though, come to think of it, it would be kind of nice if that were the case sometimes).

Anyway, since I cause a disproportionate growth of this shawl, it was no longer a crescent when I finished, but more of a swirl... a vortex, if you wanna get dramatic. And, try as I might, after a couple of hours of sitting on the floor with this thing trying to wet-block it in one attempt, I decided it would be better to block it in stages. I'm pinning portions of the edge and letting it dangle to stretch out the lace.

It's the weirdest, messiest block-job I've ever done. I hope it works.

In the meantime, I decided to wind the yarn for my next project using two skeins of Cascade Heritage Silk in black. Winding yarn can be kind of tedious, even using a swift and ballwinder, but this time it was actually quite pleasant. The yarn was so slick that, even when I had ends that twisted around the shaft of the swift, it was a simple matter of a few tugs, and it slithered out of its tangled mess. Its serpentine nature made me think that the knitted project would be just as dreamy...

... except it's a bit weird, too.

Maybe it's because I've been doing a lot of crochet projects, but the cast-on for this project was the hardest ever. The HARDEST EVER. It's Susan Pandorf's Mehndi, which for all accounts is a beautiful and well-written pattern, but MAN did I struggle knitting through the first row. I probably cast on too tightly, and knitting through the back loop on the first row isn't that easy either, but an hour of dropping stitches and struggling to put them back on again was kind of... much. Gee willikers. I'm only three rows in and I think I need a nap.

The sun is trying to come out now, so maybe I just need to get up and make some lunch and go for a walk, and then stuff will kind of fall into place. I've got a turkey pie to make later, so I'd really like all the weirdness to work itself out now, because it would really suck to mess that up.

But maybe a messed up turkey pie isn't so weird. In another dimension, I think you could call it a casserole. Hm. That's worth considering. I wonder if all the other stuff is totally normal in another dimension as well. I shall ponder that as I roll out the pastry...