sweater, & pony silliness

I sewed the sleeves onto Ropes and Picots last night. (They have you attach the sleeves, then do the front and neck bands, and THEN sew up the sleeve and side seams. I couldn't immediately see a reason for NOT doing the side seams before the front bands, but thought maybe there was some reason I couldn't see). I picked up mmmmost of the stitches I needed to (95 up one side, 16 across the front of the neck, 22 across the side and shoulder, 48 across the back, 22 down the next side, 16 across the second neck-front....and I burned out before getting to that second 95. But I might do it tonight).

Picking up stitches is not a favorite knitting task of mine. And I struggled to get the "proper" amount - on some sweaters you can kind of wing it, but here there are increases and decreases at specific points, and I didn't feel like trying to do the math to make them come out at the "new" points they'd be at with a different number of stitches.

I'll be glad to have this one done. I'm thinking about "next" sweaters. I'm still unsure whether I want to start the yellow  Saddle Seam pullover, or if I want to do the Skye Tweed Vest (but not of Skye Tweed, in my case), or if I want to start the second version of the Central Park Hoodie. Or if I want to dig out the Kureyon from where ever I have it stashed, and do Rosedale. (I'm actually leaning to that. I feel like I need a riot-of-color project right now).

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And more pony silliness. It seems I think about pony stuff when I'm stuck waiting in line, or doing some menial task, or something. (What? It amuses me, and it's better to be amused at something your brain is playing with than annoyed at being stuck in line or over having to stir the soup so the cheese you put in it doesn't seize up)

So: Element of Indifference would have the "meh face" cutie mark
Element of Futility would have a headset like telemarketers have to wear.

I thought of a couple other anti-ponies:

Element of Entitlement (would HAVE to be a white unicorn, would whine a lot, and would probably have a silver platter - as in "I want it served to me on..." as her mark)

Element of Cruelty (again, not sure on the mark on this one....I can think of one or two but they're not exactly kiddie-friendly)

Element of Chaos (would have the "anarchy" symbol as his/her mark. And yes, I know, technically Discord is the Element of Chaos, but....)

Element of Incompetence (Whatever her mark was, it would be upside down and the colors would be not properly aligned)

And I got to thinking: Well, they are almost but not quite the Seven Deadly Sins (Gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, wrath, envy, and pride). And this is where I wish I were a better artist: I could totally draw the My Seven Little Deadly Sins....of course, Sloth would be lying down, Wrath would have to be bright red, with a fiery mane and tail. And Envy would have to be green. But the one that made me really laugh? The conception I came up with for "Lust." Of course you'd have to make it PG rated, but I can see a curvy little pony, with heavy eyeshadow and lipstick, winking, and saying "Hello, Big Boy...." And I can see THOSE ponies going on some kind of "magical girl adventure" like the ponies we know and love - but it all going totally wrong because of course these are selfish little ponies who don't think of others or of the greater good. I don't know. Dark humor, maybe.

(I guess in some conceptions "Accedia" and "Vainglory" are also considered part of that group. Heh. Accedia would be almost like The Element of Indifference. But Vainglory is kind of a good pony name, even if it's not a good name for a Good Pony. I could see Vainglory being a stallion who boasts a lot, rushes into situations fast, and messes things up by his quick actions)

In reality, though, the Ponies in their current formulation are a lot closer to the Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience (or forbearance, which I think I like better as a word), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (And I was greatly embarrassed, some years back, back when I didn't have the same level of familiarity with the Good Book that I have now, when someone made the offhand comment that my mother seemed to have the Fruit of Gentleness to her, and then kind of expected me to name the rest of the fruits of the spirit, and I could not.)

And really, upon thinking about it:

Element of Loyalty could be Faithfulness
Element of Laughter/humor could be Joy
Element of Kindness is, well, Kindness
Element of Generosity could be Love
Element of Honesty....well, I'd suggest that Applejack is pretty patient, so she'd get Patience (or, as I said, Forbearance)
Element of Magic doesn't really fit, but I'd give Self-Control to Twilight Sparkle. Though at times she maybe takes the self-control a little bit too far.

No, I'm not proposing a The Gospel According to Ponies! (though such a thing exists for both Peanuts and for Dr. Seuss). But I do think it's nice that a kids' show explicitly promotes certain things that I think we still mostly agree upon as being virtues.