Lucy Manette Was a Fool, and I Need Instant Gratification

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way --

Despite my best efforts, I've spent much of the last couple of weeks feeling like a character in a Dickensian novel. I can't blame anyone. I know I have much for which to be thankful, just as I am aware life could be much, much worse for me and is for many.
After all, I could live in Iraq, Darfur, Kenya, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, and a long laundry list of places where the human condition doesn't even afford basic necessities of survival, much less a semblance of human or civil rights. Does that make me feel more like Madame Defarge than Lucy Manette? Well, yeah, but it still doesn't make me feel better about my personal situation.

I've been doing my best Madame Defarge impersonations lately. Snarly, snappy and somewhat upkept -- yes, that would be me. Poor Necropolis is usually the recipient of my ill temper. The things I say make so much sense in my head, but when the words come out of my mouth, and I hear them, I can't believe what I'm saying. I don't know if it's venting, or if my 'consider others' feelings' filter has been broken, but I've been more than a little acerbic and blunt. And, no Madame Defarge impersonation would be complete without needles. Never forget the needles.

Here's where the instant gratification kicks in. I can't hold my concentration for shit these days. Dr. Manette's got nothing on me for absent mindedness or the just plain crazies. Everything literally floats in and out, and I needed a project I knew I could see the end even before beginning, much less see through. I made dishcloths.

All three were knitted with 100% cotton. I couldn't tell you the colorways to save my life. This stuff has been in the stash so long, I have no idea where the ball bands are. The blue is done in the blockweave I used for the kid's Principal's Scarf. It's incomplete in the photo, but is long since completed by now. The green and blue variegated is a simple K2 P2 rib. The purple and white is very similar to that found in the Mason-Dixon knitting book. I would venture a guess it's probably almost exactly the same pattern, but I can't say that with 100% certainty. I found an example somewhere and counted up the rows/stitches, and did the math really quickly.

So, stay tuned for my next installment, where I redeem myself with my selfless good works.

It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, it is a far, far
better rest I go to than I have ever known.

All quotes and characters in this posts are taken from A Tale of Two Cities, my personal favorite of the Charles Dickens' novels. Personal redemption, the power to reclaim self worth, is a powerful thing. Not to mention, more than once I have had to wonder at the intelligence of a woman who has a man profess to her, "You have been the last dream of my soul [....] You kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire," only to choose the other guy. What's wrong with that chick?