My Sock Wars.......

Sock Wars started Friday. And I was super excited to be a part of it. I got up at 7 and got ready, put the bub on the bus and checked my email. No dossier and pattern. Not to worry I'll clean and vacuum (since there won't be much of that this weekend) And so it went most of the morning inserting different cleaning things. Until about 11 am I just happened to see a post on ravelry about the pattern being uploaded on the site. I quickly downloaded and got to knitting. I left for my LYS's sit and knit and had fun knitting. Though, I was starting to feel a little bummed and not so excited about the war. But I just figured it was the nervousness of not wanting to die and the frustration of the un-clear pattern. I got a call from my sister about 2 or so that she got her email with her target in it.. so I was hopeful. When I got home I ran to the computer to check, Nope, nothing! That is how much of my Friday night went checking email and getting nowhere, I couldn't focus so I only had a small part of the socks done by bedtime.
Saturday we went to a Pirates game, not to worry I brought my knitting. We went a little early b/c they had a chance to meet and take photos with a few players. My DH was excited he got to take a photo with Jason Bay, his favorite player. After the photo opt, we went to watch batting practice. My DH got a ball that Ian Snell (#45) threw up to him. I tell you what, watching the batting practice is fun but freaking scary. you watch the balls go up and follow it through the sky and then the sun blinds you and you freak out b/c you can't see the ball anymore and the players in the out field are turned around saying "watch it" or "heads up" (those baseballs hurt if they knock you out) To begin the game, the US Army Golden Knights parachuted into the stadium. it was really cool to see, if you go to my flickr page I've uploaded the pix from that day. The Pirates won BTW, it was a good day. When I got home I actually had my dossier in my inbox.That was a relief.
Sunday was of course Mother's Day. We went out to eat at Lone Star and had a wonderful dinner. (brought half of it home) We then went home and all took a nap (from staying up late the night before) I didn't nap but the girls and my DH did. I was knitting of course. But seriously by this time I was ready to be done. I think a lot of my problem was I couldn't stay away from the forums and reading them. The pattern was a tad unclear and I'm not sure my socks were being knit right. but there was no way that I was ripping at this time. And I really liked how they're looking.
I continued to knit and ended up turning the heels of my sock on Monday. I was really struggling to continue completely bummed and totally not having fun. I know that's a horrible attitude to have. And I'm not crying or whining just want to vent how I feel about this installment of Sock Wars. I know I'm not the only one feeling this way. Over at ravelry is a thread for ways to improve the next Star Wars, I hope it helps. So far the consensus is (and I volunteer to help! those that know me know I like to be in charge and organize things) some of these are my own ideas though too.
1: There needs to be more people to help be in charge of organization of the war.
a. to answer questions that arise
b. help get the dossiers out
c. help take the stress off of just one person and spread it around.
2: The pattern needs tested (preferably by those who will help with the organization)
a. by more than 1 person closer to 5
b. by people from different countries so the terms are accurate and clear.
c. it will prevent a lot of confusion.
3. Close the sign ups 1-2 weeks before the start of the war.
a. this will help the pairing up of the assassins and targets.
b. open the sign ups earlier if this is a problem.
4. Send out the Dossier's earlier (like a day or 2 before start of war)
a. enable the pattern to be sent as a mass email instead of individually
b. pattern could be posted at a specific time on the website
c. mind games are sooo much fun and part of the game.
5. the form for filling out shoe size should have a line of length of foot from toe to heel. instead of shoe size b/c it's not always accurate. maybe even the size around the ankle and calf.
6. clearer rules on things like:
a. wearable socks ie: dropped stitches, big holes etc
b. pattern following what's ok and not ok. ie: adjusting CO to fit target

OK I'm done sorry to go on and on... my DH says me and my sister should get together and start something ourselves. I think he's sick of me talking about it. My sister and I called back and forth the past weekend talking about the war. That was fun for me. Like this morning at 10 AM, I was getting ready to work out and there was a knock at the door. Upon opening the door the UPS man was walking away and there was my death, in an envelope. I called Jessica and left a message saying help I'm dying (who lets voicemail get their sister's call for help really?)...Upon opening my envelope I found my socks. They're very pretty and soft too! The colors are lovely. I promptly got my SIP's off the needles and packaged them up and mailed them off. Good luck assassin. Thank you for the lovely socks. (and for relieving the problem I was having) I'm such a brat, I know. I'll be looking forward to the next, I hope the problems will be working or worked out.