trying not to rant

at the risk of sounding like a broken record, i am very agitated today. have been for a few days. since the last encounter with the supervisory-type person, i have been very irritable and, dare i say it, cranky. unfortunately this has manifested as an antipathy towards all persons of the male persuasion, especially when they appear to be criticising, making fun of, or telling me what to do. i say appear, because they may not actually be doing these things.

i had a meeting this morning with someone who is not a supervisory type but is a female academic in my school and she was very helpful. she did however, make me realise that the best way to deal with 'the issue' is to talk, possibly to the supervisory-type himself, about it. i am only 6 months away, less, from submitting my thesis, and we really need to clear the decks so to speak. her advice was to ask him whether he wanted to help or hinder that process. once i had his clear response, i could act accordingly.

this is good sensible advice but it makes me agitated. a, because it means i have to DO something and b, because i feel like i shouldnt have to DO anything. it shouldnt be this difficult!

apparently, it quite often is, however.

so, i hereby issue a blanket apology to all males who i may have been, or thought about being, cranky with. i want to yell and scream and rant and say all sorts of un-pc things, and i am trying really hard not to do that. some of it may slip out the side, however. i apologise in advance for that as well.

meantime i am finding the spider socks very fast going, for someone who allows herself only night-time, tv-watching, knitting, given i have so much work to do on The Book (let alone The Thesis).

here is what they look like today in the grey cold outdoors:


this is a good representation of the colours, they are gorgeous and the wool is beautiful and soft to work with. the picot edges are harder than i thought (bells!) so i experimented on other wool first and i got them right first go this time, its the attaching to the inside of the sock thats difficult, i have trouble knowing which part of a stitch to pick up and knit into.

and i am still really hopeless at corners on three needles. see the litte ladders (circled)?


the yarn harlot says to just pull your first couple of stitches of each needle tighter and i do try and do this but they're still not great. anyone got any anti-ladder tips?

so the only other thing i am not-ranting about it is how frustrating it is to have to do 'real work' when all i want to do is finish my socks.

but you all sympathise with that one, right?

kms xxx