Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Oddly Obsessive

I am oddly obsessive - yes, this is the way I eat my M&M's, by color, by color order... and then when I only have the blues, yellows, and oranges left, I eat them so the little piles dwindle evenly. The green ones I save for the hubby!

D#2 walked in my office the other day and saw this pile on my desk and said, "Mom! Gah!!! Stop it. You're a freak."

I eat my fries by size. It doesn't really matter which size goes first, but I have to clump three or four together, and they all must be the same size. I can't just pick up a few willy-nilly. I sit at the table moving my fries around making little piles of different sizes... I swear they taste better that way. The kids look at me like I'm some kind of freak. Although, I caught Kaity doing the same thing last weekend. Ha ha, I've warped her again.

However, this all depends on the setting, if I'm driving down the road I just rip the top off the M&M wrapper and pour them directly in my mouth. Or reach my hand in the bag and grab a handful, size and sorting doesn't matter in the car. There's no rhyme or reason to any of it.

I like order - in some things. I loved to cross stitch because it was all very orderly, and I liked the perfection. I hate sewing because I can never do it perfectly enough to suit me. I like the glasses put away in the cupboard just so, but the drawers are a mess. My desk is a mess. My closet is a mess. I type complicated medical reports for a living, and am in the top tier for performance and accuracy - although I don't check this blog nearly close enough and am always finding spelling and gramatical errors when I go back and read something I've posted. Oddly obsessive.

Knitting still baffles me. Some things bother me, some things don't. I ripped out my Ella soooo many times to get it perfect. There is not a mistake in it - that I am aware of (okay, I found out after the fact I've been doing yarnovers wrong all this time, but it looks right). I wouldn't have left a mistake in my Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken cardigan - well not an obvious mistake. However, I didn't go back and rip out the not-an-eyelet detail on my Sitcom Chic, I just left it the way it was.

I think it has to do with the "specialness" of the project. My Ella shawl and Marilyn's cardi were nicer pieces. My Sitcom Chic was made to throw on and go to the store. I'm sure if I invested a lot of money, I'd obsess. Or if I was making it for someone else. Or if it was just an especially pretty piece.


So, I guess that's how I justify this crap..... These socks are a disaster. Actually, they're fine until about mid-way down the foot where I decided I'd teach myself to knit continental - in the middle of a project. There are no less than 10 mistakes. You can't see them too well in this picture, but they are blatantly obvious in real life. Believe me, there is about 2-1/2" of obvoius ugly going on there. They're not dropped stitches, but somehow I forget to knit one, don't quite figure that out right away, then say, what the heck, I'm not going back. AND, they are all on the TOP of the foot - the bottom of this sock is perfect.... what's with that??? There is about 2" of mess... then knitting continental got easier and a little more natural, and the last 3" are great, no more mistakes.

Maybe it's because I'm considering these "learning socks," maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've only got about $3.50 invested in this pair of socks. The other thing is all the mistakes are where you won't be able to see them - in my shoes. I don't know... the mistakes bother me, but not enough to fix them or frog the sock, although I did seriously consider that last night... I just didn't want to start over.

Okay - I casted on for the second sock last night, and I'm determined I can make this one with no mistakes. I'll let you know how it goes. (or, do you really care? are you sick of looking at this same stupid pair of socks for a week now? Bless you for staying with me;)

I do have to say - when you're knitting continental, the ribbing almost does itself....SWEET. I am loving that!

Oh yeah, I signed up for Ariane's Holiday Sox Exchange, so I better get my act together.... I can't give away crap socks. Those will be beautiful, obsessed-over socks!

9 Comments:

At 8:41 AM, Blogger Jen said...

YAY! You can join me in the OCD club! I also eat things like M&M's, Skittles, Gummi Bears and my secret stash of Fruit Leather so the colors dwindle in perfect unison. You're not a freak if somebody else does the same thing... At least that's what I keep telling myself.

I really can't see the difference between your English stitches and your Continental stitches. I have no doubt that you can, it's just not evident from the picture. And it's strange how these things pop up only on the side you're likely to look at... I had the same thing happen to me on my Tivoli. I screwed up the increases on the front of the shirt but not the back. I could just wear it turned around since it's symmetrical, but the top edge has a tendencey to roll out and the end I wove in for the cast on thus sticks up. More acceptable for the back, but not right under my chin.

Sorry for hijacking your comments, but I was too excited to read about your obsessive tendencies to control myself.

 
At 9:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Okay Miss OCD... what's the secret to doing the continental ribbing that makes it "do itself"? I've heard that ribbing is so much easier with continental style knitting, but it's all I can do to hold my yarn for the knit stitches let alone a purl (which I've never even tried in continental).

I still think your socks looks adorable!

 
At 10:21 AM, Blogger Ruth said...

i used to have odd idiosyncrasies (enough for people to put me in the weird OCD category too) until i met my hubby. he really messed me up (because he's so messy and laidback). and now i'm really screwed up (see me twitching over here?!). hehe.

 
At 10:23 AM, Blogger Ruth said...

p.s. i just noticed your bible study books on the side of your blog. how is that elizabeth george's study (seeking Him)? i'm looking for a good study for women. thanks =)

 
At 11:09 AM, Blogger chris said...

Okay, while I don't actually sort the M&M's out by color, I do try to eat them by 3's. Always an odd number. 1 is too little and 5 is way too much, so it's usually by 3's. Oh, and there should also be a green in each handful, too. Or else something bad might happen. But I'm not OCD like you or anything like that. ;-)

Your sock looks great!! I really can't see any difference in the stitches- they definitely don't look like "crap socks" to me! I'm going to have to order that Geranium now. Couldn't stop thinking about it since I saw it in your stash a couple weeks ago.

 
At 12:44 PM, Blogger amylovie said...

Can I join the OCD club too? Can I? Can I? When I was a teen-ager, I had to brush my hair a certain number of strokes, wear certain colored hair rubberbands, and slip into bed at PRECISELY 10:00.

Your socks are fine. I can't see any mistakes. They will be covered by shoes, right?

Amy

 
At 3:00 PM, Blogger LC in Sunny So Cal said...

I just wish the M&M's stayed on the table long enuf to get sorted! But, the continental is pretty slick, and worth the time to practice. (I did MANY practice swatches before I was comfortable with it...) I like the socks...imperfect has character!

 
At 3:49 PM, Blogger Jillio said...

knitting continental...OH YEAH! welcome to the club :)

and i don't think sorting m&m's by color before eating them is freaky. i mean, what little candies sold by the packs are all the same color anyway? skittles aren't, reese's pieces aren't...mentos are, but it's no big deal.

if it makes you feel better, i used to try to peel the shells off of the cracked ones and eat them separately.

and i notice i tend to make things out of acrylic before i make them out of nice yarn. i'm so afraid i'll screw up the nice yarn, so i always have to do a test knit first to familiarize myself with a pattern. things take twice as long that way... :(

i guess that's why no two socks are ever the same; you make all your mistakes on the first one so your second one comes out perfect. blahhh...

oh, and the monkey foot knitting is hilarious. try it if you really want to weird out your kids. hehe. :)

 
At 4:10 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I also do the M&M thing...but I like mine melted and I make a bar graph out of them while I eat...What can I say, I was a math teacher.

The soks look great!. That's the nie thing about projects on the feet...when you look down you can't tell if a tiny thing is off.

 

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