So, I’m making some headway on my main project right now. They’re lacy  mock cable socks knit in my STR yarn, and it was quite an adventure getting there.

First, I had planned to knit Brigit, by  Monkey Toes. I love those socks, and they’re perfect for Imbolc. And I wanted to do them in white. (Or maybe pale pink, but I settled on white.) So I got my yarn, and based on gauge info on the website I ordered the medium weight.  And I swatched. And swatched. And swatched. I finally managed to get gauge on size US0s, but once I started the socks I realized that the fabric had moved past dense and was verging on bullet-proof.

So, onto plan B. I wandered over to Article Pract, and picked out some Noro Silk Garden Sock in a white/neutral colorway. And I swatched. And swatched. And swatched.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

I couldn’t get gauge on either yarn! Finally, I decided to embrace the yarn and find a new Imbolc-y pattern. So, I still wanted cables because cables say Irish to me, and Brigid being an Celtic Goddess and the one I associate most with Imbolc…well, it just made sense. I finally settled on the Lacy Mock Cable socks, partially for speed (also why I didn’t design my own) and partially because I liked the little lace circles–it just feels right.

So, I finished sock number 1. Now, all I have to do is speed through sock 2, and oh yeah, sew a skirt before the 31st. I can totally do that, right?

In other news, I’m contemplating my upcoming birthday. I am not, as it turns out, that happy about it. I feel like my social life is in quite a sorry state for turning 26, and I’m also facing my annual delemna about celebrating.

See, the thing about being born in late January? Is that your birthdays don’t generally go so well. I don’t think I’ve had a birthday party where people actually showed up since I was….I don’t know? Twelve? Thirteen? All the big birthdays–16, 18, 21–I did  pretty much nothing. It’s always, maybe 1 or 2 people that can make it. Thing is, it’s not even that people are purposefully blowing me off. It’s just this time of year. People get sick, they’re tired from the holidays, they’re busy with new projects at work.  So I can never decide–plan something and hope for the best (and be disappointed if it doesn’t work out?) or just give up and be lame and go home to watch Grey’s Anatomy with the cats?

Sigh. Who knows?

Tarot Card of the Day: Two of Pentacles