I Finished One!

I finished one of the WIPs from my Stashalong goals, and my very first pair of socks ever! They weren't as hard as I thought they'd be once I got used to the double pointed needles. I'd made some Fuzzy Feet a long time ago, since the pattern notes said it was good for first time sock knitters. At the time, I though the pattern was complicated and confusing, so I decided that socks just weren't for me. However, in reading knitting blogs, it seemed that everyone was having so much fun knitting socks that I really wanted to try them. My experience with Fuzzy Feet made the prospect daunting, until I read some comments on one blog. I don't remember where it was, but someone said that the pattern was not the best sock pattern, and despite what the designer said, it really wasn't good for a first time sock knitter. So I started thinking about trying again. I found a KAL just for first time sock knitters, which had a link to a wonderfully detailed online sock tutorial. I worked up the courage to try again, and here is the result:





A pair of socks knitted with 100% worsted weight wool on size 7 DPNs. Yeah, there are some boo boos, but I'll get them worked out eventually. My kitchenered toes didn't quite come out right, so I'll have to work on those as well. But they are socks, and they are done, and I did them! I've already got another pair cast on.


Now, that leads me to this update of my WIP list:

• Prayer Shawl
• Irish Hiking Scarf
• Wavy Lace Shawl
• Red Heart Strata Scarf
• Branching Out Lace Scarf
• Texas Longhorn Scarf
• First Time Socks
• Monthly dishcloths--two per month
• Socks knitted from my Christmas yarn (two pair)
• One screaming stash project

There's something that's been bugging me for a while. Niggling at the back of my mind. I couldn't quite pin it down. I knew it had something to do with this post, and more particularly, this statement I made:

While at Wal-mart, I spent some of my Christmas money and bought the newest version of Pride and Prejudice on DVD. Sigh...Darcy...Why don't they make men like that any more?

Well, it finally hit me. They don't make men like that any more because they didn't make men like that back then either. Darcy isn't real. He is an ideal, dreamed up in the mind of Jane Austin.

I give her credit, though, that Darcy is more realistic that those men portrayed in those silly romance novels. Those things have caused untold grief to countless husbands whose wives read the book. The men in those books don't act like real men. They don't think like men; they don't express themselves like men; they don't experience things with a man's perspective. But what to they act like? They act like some woman's idea of what a man ought to act like. In other words, they act like women. Then these women read those books and sigh and say, "What a wonderful man." And they look at the poor soul sitting next to them on the couch with the remote in his hand and think, "Why can't my husband be like that?"

I'll tell you why, sister. Because your husband is a real man, not some made up fantasy character. He's going to act like a real man, think like a real man, and express himself like a real man. The sooner you stop trying to make a woman out of him, the better of you'll both be.

But I digress...So what makes men like Darcy so appealing? Well, I think at least for me, it's the clothes. Let's compare, shall we?

Darcy:

Earl:So, I think the question I should have asked is, "Why don't men dress like that any more?" If only they realized how sexy they would be...

*

*