Circular Wisdom

Someone on the SNB forum just reminded me of a problem I had when I first started knitting in the round -- knitting "inside-out" by accident. So I did a search for insight and found this fantastic circular and in-the-round knitting site. My, that was an awful sentence.

Next up: Sophie3?

Sophie3.... will she be in Kureyon, or the same Manos as Sophie2, but with a Fibonacci-striped addition of the gold/maroon/brown/yellow frufru yarn that I used in Sophie1?
I'm thinking, I'll add one stitch on each of the 4 sides to get one extra decrease, and therefore (is there an e at the end of that? I see it both ways) 10 extra rows to allow the Fibonacci pattern to be more perfect. Skipping the first 0 and 1 in the sequence yields [1,2,3,5,8,13]. Then I'll have the plain yarn stripes count down on the way up the purse, and the frufru stripes count up.
regular (frufru) :: 13(1)8(2)5(3)3(5)2(8)1(13).
So, that's 13 rows plain, 1 row with frufru, 8 rows plain, 2 rows frufru, ... ad nauseum.
Of course, I should be working on my thesis.

Sophie2

Yesterday, I swore that I'd work my ass off on school work and workout today. But that was before BF told me he was leaving for Iraq in 2.5 weeks. Of course I decompensated and turned to my knitting. I felted Sophie2:
Here she is before:


and after:




And an extreme closeup of the weird felt that Manos del Uruguay produces:


You might think that she's just not felted enough, but supposedly Manos makes this boucle-like felt regardless. She's hella-felted. 4 or 5 cycles, and she shrunk like hell. She's not getting any smoother than this, I think.

more IM wisdom or lack thereof

ME:I figure, maybe he thinks he's safe since I'm fat as a cow at the moment, and therefore he thinks I'm incapable of attracting another man.
[snip] and I don't mean that is specifically related to his decision to run off to Iraq. just that he doesn't really try anymore. But, I'm working my ass off in the gym, and I'll get back to being happy with my state of fitness and won't feel so insecure and that's that. If my needs aren't being met, maybe I'll have the courage to do something about it. But I'm not famous for that ability.
OTHER PERSON: there's a natural decline in "woo-age" from the initial peak to some steady-state value.
[SNIP]
[other person says something about the "stupid stuff" men do at the beginning of the relationship but not later -- i.e. romantic, nice gestures, etc.]
ME: I know. But if the steady-state value leaves me unhappy, then, well, ack. And, if it's "stupid" to him, then that's not what I want. I need to feel cared about and unique in his life. If I'm not, or it's not in his nature to help me see that, then that's likely to be a problem for me.

Why does he want a girlfriend anyway?

I was just IM'ing someone and this came out, when asked about the boyfriend. I thought it was harsh, yet telling, so I want to record it here.
" I am in quite a foul mood over it. I think because it forces me to acknowledge certain things about him and our relationship that I have tried to pretend aren't the case. i.e. he really doesn't need me. he doesn't need to talk to me, to talk over difficult decisions, etc. has no desire to tell me either the good or bad things that have happened to him over the day, that kind of stuff. I actually really do not understand why he even wants a girlfriend anymore.
I don't like the imbalance of attachment that we seem to have. He could care less if I went off to a life threatening situation. "

fat cow is angry about iraq

He's lucky I'm a fat cow now, actually. Because maybe if I weren't fat as hell I'd be more confident in my ability to seek a mate. i.e. he's safe and can get the milk for free without buying the cow. See, metaphor gone in a circle. Seriously, it's been almost three years, and I just turned thirty. I've never been one to want any legal commitment before, but turning thirty and seeing wrinkles is making me think I should've tried for it before I got all dumpy. Yes, I'm pissed now. Probably because anger is easier to deal with than sorrow right now. So he is getting the fat cow's milk for free, so why should he buy her?

Iraq

That BASTARD. He *asked* to go to Iraq, and didn't tell me, until he got orders, which coincidentally start the day we were to fly to my friend's wedding. WHich is to say I just found out 15 minutes ago.
Now, I love him, and I understand his sense of duty, but it still hurts that he chose to go, and never shared his plans with me. But the main point is I'm worried as hell.
I'm talking about my boyfriend, btw.
I'm so upset I can't write anymore.

SABLE

I learned a new acronym at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival: SABLE -- Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy. I should have known that I would go in this direction, as I tend to go all-out-crazy in collecting the best of the best supplies for whatever new hobby I've taken on. And ha ha ha ha, as I was googling "SABLE Stash" to confirm the acronym, I found Clothesknit's 'Reality Check' blog entry, which includes the best idea I've heard all day/week/month: THE YARN DIET. Clothesknit credits the idea to someone named Sharon, whom I don't know well enough (at all) to feel I could just write her name without an explanation... but if she indeed came up with it, she's my heroine today.
Anywho, I'm fat as hell now, and I love yarn, so the yarn diet sounds like a plan. Something like losing 5 pounds means $50 for the stash. I think I might make that first $50 go toward something to PUT the ever-growing stash IN, however, as I've filled my mom's yarn trunk (ok, partially filled with her stash and my grandmother's stash), and yarn is now taking over the apartment, much to the boyfriend's horror. Actually, he probably doesn't notice. He doesn't notice much these days, except me noticing that he doesn't notice much, which he just notices as nagging. I hate the thought that I could be a nag. And I've drifted all over the place in this post....

I hate tassles

Well, I hate making tassles. The almost-a-wedding-present "shawl" is done, minus the evil tassles, and I really need to send it along to the intended recipient. But I have failed three times at making a satisfactory tassle, and I can't quite envision how I'm going to attach the tassles even when they're done, so I'm reverting to my default state of procrastination.
So, I imagined up a pair of arm warmers to make, using some unnamed lace pattern in The Big Book of Knitting. It has occurred to me that they won't be particularly stretchy, without a ribbed pattern. So I'll probably be casting them aside in frustration soon. Or sooner, because the tiny yarn and the lace annoyances are driving me batty.

I can't wait to felt Sophie #2! 

Sophie #2 is awaiting felting.... She is done in Manos Del Uruguay yarn. I didn't get quite the cool swirling I hoped for, but when I took this picture, and the zoomed one above, I noticed a flame-like thing I hadn't seen before, on the bottom left!