Thursday, January 10, 2008

Trust Me

I rarely think that I know what I'm doing.  It's not that I lack self-esteem.  It's just that I'm something of a realist.  I've lived with me for over four decades now and I've seen the carnage of which I'm capable.  I haven't burned down any orphanages lately nor have I cause a nuclear meltdown...at least to my knowledge.  But, on more than one occasion, I have given my own self pause after some ill-conceived plan goes awry.  

Don't get me wrong.  I enjoy me and think I am quite delightful.  But, I'm not so blinded by my endearing qualities that I can't see my shortcomings.  I goof up a lot.  In fact, I goof up the knitting a lot.

But, sometimes I am rather happily surprised by my own good judgement.  The Maine Morning Mitts spring to mind.  Sure, the thumbs show a marked lack of technical skill and the first one has a bit of an issue with "closure" at the top.  But, I did managed to pull off some rather spectacular feats of planning.  At least by my own standards.

I knew when I purchased my very first ever skeins of Noro that it would be for MMM.  I also suspected that I could squeak a full pair out of one skein.  But, I bought two.  Not because I didn't trust myself, but because it appeared that the striping was going to be different if I didn't work from two skeins.  This may be obvious to the rest of the world, but this sort of thing often escapes me so I'm rather giddy over my making the right call on this one.  In spite of today's afternoon temperatures being somewhat warm, the morning was rather chilly.  So I was able to debut my matching Maine Morning Mitts on an actual Maine Morning in all their weird-thumbed glory.

But, before I did that, I weighed one.  Then I weighed the leftover yarn.  One ounce each.  Exactly.  By gum, I do believe I can make a second pair.  Now, we all know that math and knitting have absolutely nothing to do with one another.  There are a few deluded souls out there who may disagree with me on this, citing things like measuring and gauge.  But, for every example you can come up with, I can counter with a story of how a gauge swatch lied outright.  

Yet, as I was driving to work today, I thought to myself, "Sheepie...these here mitts could stand to be just a bit shorter.  You do, after all, have such small and delicate hooves."  I'm so darned smart.  I shall simply knit a shorter version, one that doesn't come up quite so far on the fingers.  I realize, having said this, that I have probably doomed myself with excessive back-patting.  Any day now, I'll be telling you that I accidentally cut off one of my knitting thumbs or that a yarn thief came in and stole all my Noro.  

But, you'll know the truth, I suppose.  You're kind enough to let it go, though.  Meanwhile, we'll all just sit back and admire my genius.

I also decided to trust myself and hang onto this weekend's appointment with The World's Greatest Stylist.  With finances being somewhat pinched right now following the holidays, the vet bills and the weird way the paychecks came in this past fall, I'd given some thought to canceling it until the next time the school department decided to reward me for my labors.  But, I didn't.  I was really unsure of myself on that one, though.  Was I being a responsible sort of Sheepie?

My decision was confirmed during the last period of the day.  After observing my muddling through a particularly difficult lesson on how to edit a writing piece with a student who was not really inclined to put pen to paper, one of the fifth graders came over to me.  With the most understanding of expressions on his countenance and in a tone that was so very gentle and kind he said:

Isn't it really uncomfortable for you to always have your hair in your eyes like that?

I am going to be going with my instincts more often from this point forward.  Trust me.

SA

16 comments:

Mel said...

You could tell them that you only wear it like that because it makes you look like Chrissie Hynde, but I suppose the significance would be lost on a 5th grader.

My verification word, kid you not, is "rxpox". Who the hell would prescribe pox? I'm sure it's some sort of zombie code.

Knitting Linguist said...

You know it's time to get your hair cut when a fifth grader notices. Definitely trust your instincts. They will also then be well-honed when the zombies come.

Anonymous said...

I tried this earlier, but it didn't work. So you might have two.

I watched the "Today" show earlier, after your working folk had begun your day. The story was about a lady who had found her niche in England making something called "mukluks" which seemed to be Mitts for the legs. You might want to explore them. Might be something lots of good locals might be interested in.

Anonymous said...

Above was from G.D.

sheep#100 said...

Erm, isn't that the sort of question that the grown-ups are usually asking the kids?

PS - Who is G.D.??

Anonymous said...

Kids have a way of telling it like it is, don't they? :)

Anonymous said...

He may have meant well, but it still makes my "controlling creep" radar twitch. Still, it's probably just what he's heard from his parents and may even have been a genuine question. Since you already were thinking of getting it cut, I say go for it.

Last I knew, "mukluks" were Eskimo boots.

Rabbitch said...

I think you should do your hair up in several (12 seems like a good number) tiny ponytails, held by brightly coloured elastics. Sticking out all over your head.

It's distinctive. Also too the zombies will be laughing so much it'll give you more time to get away.

Mia said...

Awwww... kids :)

But i totally agree, you are a genious and delightful and definitely deserving of some quality time with your therapist, oops, I mean stylist *grin*

Alwen said...

Are you saying you're sporting the Olde English Sheepdog look these days? Tres spiff!

Donna Lee said...

Stylist or no stylist? I say, always go for the stylist. Everything looks better when your hair is looking good. Even the thumbs on your mitts will probably look just about perfect.

Susan Pandorf said...

Did somebody say "zombies"?

That's a new brand of yarn, right? Right?

When are they coming? Have they been dyed yet? Are they coming UPS or US mail?

Very rare. Almost non-existent. Available for a limited time. Must have!

Excuse me, I hear the loopy ewe calling my name...

What's that? Oh, it's NOT yarn?

Never mind.

debsnm said...

Arm warmers (or wristlets, or gauntlets, or fingerless gloves, or whatever you want to call them) are as addictive as socks. I've knitted more different styles than is rational, so I completely understand your fascination. And it's not even all that cold here!

Anonymous said...

Aw, what a sweet caring boy.

And.....genius! Bask in the glow. Matching? Even in weight? Magnificent.

mehitabel said...

Hmmm. You reminded me that I need to call my Stylist to the Stars (well, he does my daughters and my SIL) and get a couple of inches cut off the shag-mop before I go East and scare all the relatives back there. Sigh. All those mirrors... but if my grandson noticed, and commented, I'd feel really really bad.

Anonymous said...

Stylist time is a must have.
Nothing is more rewarding than successful knitting!
Don't Zombies hibernate in the winter?