A bit of fluff

Meet "Sirius Black" on some kind of mixed media roving. It's pretty sparkly, but there wasn't much of it, so I don't know what I'll do with it. Hopefully something fun. Once I ply it and everything. Whenever I get the chance to do that, since this week is full of post-Christmas type stuff, and packing. (I'm leaving on Monday!)





I had to spin Sirius up, because I had only done about half of the mini-braid and I needed to make room on my wheel for this:

Little Women on shetland wool. It's another spin along, based on classic literature. I'm very excited to spin this braid, but I fear that spinning it will have to wait until I return from my quick jaunt to Europe.

Did everyone get nice Christmas presents? I did!

Finishing High

You know that feeling you get when you've finished a new project? The euphoria because it's so awesome that you're done and have a new object, and hey wouldn't it be great if you could finish some other stuff so that the feeling could continue?

Well, I have it. I've been doing kind of a purge on my WIPs. It's pretty cool. I finished my class knitting hat. That's my knitting during my academic classes, not a knitting class where the project is a hat.

Pretty, yes? It's the Pasha hat, in Honor. Absolutely gorgeous yarn, but I'm very partial to Lorna's Laces. And silk...

I also finished my novelty scarf. Just in time for Christmas! Which is lucky, because I need a present for a friend, like, right now. Two birds, one stone. Epic.

Admittedly, part of the purge has involved frogging. Those socks I was complaining about? I've consigned them to the frog pond because they have displeased me. Now I need to select a different stitch pattern and try again. You know, at some point in the future. Because I have many better things to knit! Including a thrummed hat and thrummed mittens. Which I may or may not have already cast on.

I'm so excited to be knocking down these WIPs! The melonstrosity finishing high should persist for a while longer, right? Cuz I can think of a bunch of things that I would like to work through...

A very hairy Christmas

I actually ended up knitting very few Christmas gifts this year. Maybe I maxed myself out last year. Or my friends and family have enough knitted items (perish the thought!) 

Anyway, this year I just knitted a couple of cowls, the same yarn and pattern. I posted about one of them earlier this year, because I thought I was gonna be on top of things. Ha! Anyway, 2 cowls. 

Then, because I love my brother beyond reason, and because he thought it would be funny, I made him a beard hat. I hope he likes/wears it. Because the half double crochets were much slower than just about any other stitch I have ever had to work, and the treble crochets in the beard were obnoxious as well. Holy poop.

Finally, I made a little fingerstache. Because all fake mustaches are hilarious. I can't imagine a time when I wouldn't find them funny. And my cousin clearly agrees, because she silk screened my brother a t-shirt that says "I mustache you a question"only with a mustache instead of the word. Freaking funny. Anyway, I bet she'll appreciate the fingerstache I made for her. Fortunately, it didn't take very long. And it's the only one I had to make, unlike the cup cozies I made last year that no one understood cuz Dad forgot to include the explanatory note (no, I'm not bitter, why do you ask?). Genius. I guess this actually counts as Hanukkah knitting, since she's Jewish... but who is counting?

Anyone else have some wonderful Christmas knitting to display?

A little Christmas present to myself

DO YOU SEE THAT?! That's the melonstrosity. I have finally killed it. I cast it off this afternoon, and wove in the ends, and tried to fold it up.

Do you know how heavy more than 40 skeins of Simply Soft knitted into a blanket is? Do you? Well, it's really *bleep*ing heavy. Like, really. Clearly, someone didn't think this plan through all that well.

Too late now! Now I'm going to love this blanket to bits. Because I invested several months of my life into it. And it's wonderful. I just need to find a place for it to live... hopefully somewhere with reinforced floors.

I now have the freedom to knit pretty much anything I want! And don't have to donate 2 hours every night in the hopes that someday I will be free of this blanket. Unfortunately, I'm still being dutiful. I have a hat that was a class project but now class is over, a cozy shawl that has been sadly neglected, a scarf made out of the new ruffle yarn that hasn't received my full attention because it's kind of difficult to knit with, a sweater that requires-wait for it- 3 charts, some socks that have fallen out of favor, and a lace shawl that I can't bear to look at because it's scary.

*Sigh* I guess it's back to the grindstone. Maybe I'll reward myself with some time on the spinning wheel before I slog away at those other projects, though...

Picture this

Last night, I sat down at my knitting (after whining a bit to Caitlin about how sick I am of the melonstrosity). I was working dutifully, thinking how wonderful it was going to be to get 4 more rows done, and be closer to the end (less than 3 blocks away!), when BAM! I ran out of one of the colors I was using.

Apparently, the last time I purchased yarn for this freaking blanket, I didn't check the labels on the colors I was buying. I bought 2 skeins of vanilla, and one skein of off-white. Off-white is not sufficiently close to the correct color of yarn.

Therefore, at 10:30 last night, progress on the melonstrosity stalled.

Bugger.

Going out for yarn reinforcements later. I am cranky that this is necessary.

Revised

I was going to post this really long, whiny rant. But then I decided I didn't really want to put that out into the universe. Instead, the things I want to say, in bullet format:

• This week is kicking my booty. Seriously. Can we be done yet?
• It's my sister's birthday week. Yes, she gets a week. Which means I'm seriously sleep deprived and yet still have to function normally. How is that fair?
• Knitting on the melonstrosity continues apace. If by "apace" you understand that I mean that I'm cramming it in wherever I have space, which is not really a whole lot of time.
• Shield your eyes if you are sensitive. Christmas is less than 3 weeks away. I'm not done buying gifts, making gifts, and deciding what to give people. This is a problem. 
• I'm leaving for Europe in less than a month. I don't have enough clothes for this trip. And I don't have my airline tickets yet (not my job, I'm waiting for the group I'm going with to send them to me). I'm kinda freaking out. I have my knitting planned, though. So at least that's settled.

That is all. Return to your regularly scheduled lives. Sorry there aren't any pictures. Again. Because my life is being consumed by this month. No joke.

Some short lists

I hate:
-school
-my management paper
-the end of the semester (which, I swear to god, is never coming. I'm just going to be stuck in this black hole of hellatiousness forever)
-Christmas knitting

I'm looking forward to:
-this weekend, even if I have to rewrite my &%$* management paper. Again.
-turning in the management paper of DOOM
-finishing my Christmas knitting

Except that I'm pretty sure none of that stuff is actually going to come to pass. I'm just going to have to relive this week over and over again. End of the semester blues have me. I shall return when I have something cheerful to report.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had plenty of turkey and pie yesterday. I certainly did! I love Thanksgiving, it's one of my favorite holidays because of the food, but also because of the fact that we get to see people who are pretty much family. My favorite.

I don't have any pictures, since I was having too much fun, but I did take a picture of what I purchased today, since I went out on Black Friday and I was right near my favorite yarn store, which was having a sale!

This is a ruffle yarn, called Flounce that I"m going to use to make a scarf that I may or may not keep. Mostly I just want to be able to say I did it. But I do like the colors, and it's supposed to be a quick, fun project. So it may end up being a Christmas present, which, hey, isn't that bad an idea, since I'm a little slow going this year.

Some Alpaca with a Twist Fino, because of the beautiful shawl that was made out of it. Unfortunately, they were out of the book that the shawl is in, so I need to find that book somewhere... I'm working on it. It's beautiful, and I shall have it, even if it's scary real lace that looks like poo while you knit it. Much like the edging that I'm avoiding.

I will probably require a great deal of moral support.

This is some luscious baby alpaca fiber that I have had my eye on for a while. It's pretty much amazing. And it's mine, all miney mine mine.

In other news, I did some good work on the leaf lace shawl, and really need to get back to the melonstrosity, since I left it here for the last 2 days and am therefore behind. Gotta catch up!

I have nothing to knit

That's a lie. I have many things to knit, including the stash and the WIPs. I should say I have nothing that I want to knit. But you know the feeling, right? I've been slaving away at the melonstrosity (4 rows a night equals a little less than 2 hours of work, somewhat less if I'm not procrastinating/distracted/tired). But the melonstrosity knitting is just... duty knitting. I'm doing it because I know I should, and because it will yield a product of which I can be proud and which will be useful. I'm not knitting it because I want to. So it doesn't really count.

I'm also knitting on a cowl, which I started a few days ago because I was bored and because it counts toward Christmas knitting. Which I should really get on. I'm just not inspired about it yet. I probably will be when I get back from Thanksgiving, though, because that will really be crunch time. But now is not the time.

I have, as you know, several shawls on the needles. But the lace shawl I had big plans for last weekend pissed me off to the extent that it's back in time out because I've decided I hate it. Big scary holes, that's all I have to say. The other shawl I'm working on is the leaf lace shawl that I've been eyeing for a while, primarily because the sample I saw is made out of Karabella, which is a yarn company that only manufactures luscious, uber expensive yarns.






Mine is made out of slightly less luscious yarn, because I don't really need to spend a hundred bucks on a shawl. I just don't. Anyway, it's coming along fairly well, although it would be doing better if I could remember my freaking pattern when I leave the house. I'm still on the first ball of yarn, but nearing the end of it (I like to think).









To distract myself from the fact that I have nothing to knit, I have been spinning many things. Firstly, I started some of the fiber that I purchased at last year's Estes Park Wool Market (where Caitlin and I were overcome with wool fumes and nearly hyperventilated because we couldn't purchase everything).

It's Bonkers superwash merino in Indigo. It's very pretty, in person, and I haven't even washed it yet. I'm a little worried that the dye is going to bleed quite a bit when I do wash it, so I'll have to be careful. Anyway, it's pretty and it's plied and now I need to think of something to do with it.

I've also been plying my singles from the Tour de Fleece this summer. I only had a hand spindle for the TdF, so I went a lot more slowly than I thought I would, and didn't get nearly as much done as I had planned. I was proud of what I accomplished, however.

 This is Prim on BFL, from Storied Yarns. It's a representation of a character from The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. This BFL isn't as luscious as the BFL singles I gifted to Caitlin last weekend, but might be nicer after I wash it.

 This, I think, is Rose Quartz on Merino, from a mystery fiber company. All I know is that I purchased this fiber from my LYS, because I lurved the color. It's very nice, and fairly smooth.

This is Mint Petals on merino/silk, from Funky Carolina, which has closed since I purchased this fiber in the spring. It's also my first attempt at 3 ply, which came out quite nicely, and is quite gorgeous because of the silk. It's actually kind of pastel, but I like it. Excellent.

You know what I really want to work on? I want to start a new sweater... I've got it picked out and the yarn and everything, I'm just a little concerned that the yarn is the wrong weight. Which would suck. We shall see. Maybe.

Big plans

I had big plans for this weekend. Ambitious. I was going to do some serious work on the lace shawl that has been languishing in time out for several months. And I was going to work on the leafy shawl that promises to be gorgeous and comfy. And I was going keep up my streak on the melonstrosity.

The only one of these that I accomplished completely was the melonstrosity goal. I worked 4 rows on the blanket each night, which means my streak is still intact. I think I only have 7 more blocks to finish. Which will take me approximately 35 days, if I stick to my goal. Which I won't, because next week is Thanksgiving and I'm not dragging the albatross with me for that holiday. It would be pointless, since it would just get ignored.

I did a small amount of work on the lace shawl. I hate the edging. I'm sure it'll look good eventually (that's not true, but I'm trying to believe it is). But right now it's funny looking, hard to work, I'm pretty sure I'm joining it wrong... let's just say there's a good reason that it's in time out. Someone want to work a lace edging on a lace shawl?

I did a few rows on the leafy shawl. Which was fairly satisfying, but I was really lusting after some spinning. Since I didn't bring a spindle with me, and I don't travel with my spinning wheel (it makes me nervous), I was unable to scratch that itch. Which mostly meant that I didn't craft. I read my books. And spent time with people that I don't resent because they're intelligent and I don't have to tutor them. And I watched Caitlin spin things, because the spinning process is rather soothing, even if you're not the one spinning.

Know something interesting that she spun?

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary on BFL roving. I spun it on a hand spindle, she plied it on her wheel. ANd it's finished! And quite luscious, really. It was an early birthday present, because I can't think of anything that I would make with it. It's not in my colors, but she loved the bright greens and the pretty purples and blues. So, let this be a lesson to you: cultivate friendships with other crafters with different tastes than you because that way they won't try to steal your favorite stuff, and you can give them stuff you don't love. Genius!

I didn't take a picture of the other things that I gave her. I should have, though. They were project bags, with little handles and elasticated openings to keep the yarn and stuff on the inside. Caitlin seemed to like them. I'll probably be making some more as gifts for other yarny friends. It'll be good stuff! I really need to get to my gift list. Too many friends have birthdays this time of year (I'm looking at you, Shelby and Caitlin), and then there's Christmas. Or Hanukkah. And all the things that I want to make for myself, of course!

What's on your gift list at this time of year?

Streak

I haven't been doing very much interesting knitting lately. It's a result of the fact that I haven't had much knitting time, I feel that my WIP list has reached critical mass (this is an arbitrary determination, not like I have a set number of WIPs that can be called "too many"), and the fact that I am really determined to finish the freaking melonstrosity soon-ish.

Or at least to make consistent progress on the beast.

I have, if you wish to know, knit 4 rows on the melonstrosity each day for the past week. That's right. I've got a knitting streak going. It's really great, because I can see that I'm making progress; I mean, I finished more than an entire block! But it's also putting pressure on me, because I don't want to fail now, when I'm doing so well.

So I've mostly been working on that blanket. And haven't really had time for much else. Because 4 rows of melonstrosity takes up about 2 hours of my life. Which isn't a big deal, since I have tv to catch up on and whatnot. It just means that I'm not knitting on anything interesting, or spinning anything that needs to be spun. Oh well. This needs to get done too.

What projects in your life have felt like a ball and chain?

Adventures in Spinning

I've been spinning a lot lately. It might be a result of the fact that I'm not very enthused about my knitting projects, so breaking up long periods of melonstrosity (yes, I'm back to working on it. It's freaking freezing and nothing sounds better than a big cozy blanket) with spinning either on the wheel or finishing up some stuff on the hand spindle. I showed you a picture of the stuff on the hand spindle before, but here it is, nearly finished:

This is Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, from Storied Yarns. It's just BFL, but it's pretty luscious. I haven't had a chance to ply it yet, because my ball winder broke sometime in October, and I put off getting it replaced. I'm hoping that it'll come in the mail today and then I can get on with plying some stuff that I spun over the summer.






Next, let's take a look at my first handspun from the new spinning wheel:

This is some mystery fiber. I purchased it last year, shortly after I learned how to use a spindle. I think I got it because I loved the color so much. It's not my favorite fiber, but I did have quite a bit of it. Took forever to spin up. But it was a good first project because I didn't care if I messed it up, or had to throw a bunch of it out or something. Anyway, it's kind of tweedy, and I don't know what I'm going to do with it. Anyone have an idea?





Finally, we have my first attempt at spinning from a batt:

This is Octarine, again from Storied Yarns. Octarine, for those who don't know, is the color of magic on the Discworld. It's kind of a greenish purple. This batt is "textured" so it makes kind of an art yarn, which is not really my style of yarn, but you should try everything at least once. I'm going to have to try it more than once because I bought another textured batt from this lady, and it's lying in wait in my pile of fiber waiting to be spun. At least now I know what to expect. This yarn is going to have to be just a piece of art for a while, because I really have no idea how much yarn i have, and what I would want to use it for.


Since I've finished with all this fiber, I've pulled out some of the fiber that I purchased at the Estes Park Wool Market this last June. I bought quite a lot and haven't really made a dent in it. Anyway, I pulled out a bump of Superwash Merino roving, and am relieved that it's spinning quite well, because I was beginning to worry that I'm rubbish at wheel spinning, since the stuff I'd spun so far was a bit lumpy. Turns out it's meant to be that way, or the fiber wasn't the highest quality. Good to know.

Mission Accomplished

Look what I finished! Do you see those wonderful mitts? And the thumbs? The thumbs are amazing. Because I spent a great amount of time working on those freaking thumbs. Admire them. Thank you.

And now, I need something else to knit. I'm thinking I'll yank out the good old melonstrosity. Because it's been quite cold lately, and a blanket would be nice. 

Next time, remind me to show you what I've spun. It's very exciting.

Ouch

I've been standing up all day. Seriously, this is the first time I've had the chance to sit for more than about 2 minutes since I got up this morning. I had to clean the house, bake some really delicious cookies, go to work, come home and get ready for my pumpkin party, and then actually have the pumpkin party (which was really fun). Then, after the pumpkin party, because my dog is really sneaky, I had to chase her down the street and up an alley and corner her in some strangers driveway while waiting for my dad to bring reinforcements (peanut butter).

In the dark.

She is a black dog.

Bad combo.

Especially on aching legs.

Anyway, now that I'm sitting down (without my beer, dammit, I don't want to get up and get it), I thought I'd show you a couple things.

Pretty sweet pumpkins, right? The third one from the left is Mariah's first jack-o-lantern (she thinks). Yeah, I'm a twenty-something and I had a pumpkin carving party, what are you saying?

Mine is the one on the far right, it's the Grim Reaper (or Death, if you read Discworld). Pretty awesome, right? That's cuz the pumpkin kits my dad got had templates in them. Pretty much amazing.

Also:

Almost a whole, entire mitten! How exciting! And it fits. And it doesn't pucker (which I always worry about with colorwork). Yay! I haven't cast on the second mitten yet. Not because I have SMS-second mitten syndrome-but because I finished it kinda late last night, then had to sew the ends in and then I had a busy day and and I'm too stupid for colorwork. But never fear! I shall do my best to cast on tomorrow.

And now, my dears, I'm going to soak my aching legs in the hottest water I can stand. I was going to spin, but I don't see that happening.

Brrrrrr!

That's what I woke up to this morning. I was expecting it, but it was SUPER cold and I had to be up and out early for work. I wore my favorite new scarf, the Brisk shawlette that I made this summer on the never ending road trip. It's perfect. Very cute, and you can wear it wrapped around your neck for outside, and draped casually over your shoulders inside, for just a little extra warmth.

Despite the fact that all I wanted to do was curl up inside with the dog and my knitting, I had to actually focus today. As if it's not enough that I had the longest weekend ever, and forgot to turn in my homework, I also had an accounting test tonight. And I didn't get any studying done this weekend, so I had to study today. Not that it helped. The test sucked. But other people thought so too, so maybe I'm not the only one who failed miserably. Hopefully.

Moving on. Want another view of what I saw while I was trying desperately to study for a subject that I struggle with?

There ya go. Doesn't it just make you want to grab a big blanket and some hot chocolate and just burrow? Me too.

On a completely different note: know what I'm doing on Friday? I'm having a pumpkin-carving party. Yes, I really am a legal adult and could go out drinking. I'm choosing to host a pumpkin-carving party instead. It'll be way more fun. Apparently Mariah has never carved a jack-o-lantern before. And who doesn't love scooping pumpkin guts? Weirdos. Wanna see the pumpkin I picked out? Of course you do.

Now I just need to figure out what kind of face he wants to have. It's gotta be a good one. Thoughts?

Return of the knitting

Man, I am still exhausted from this weekend. So tired I nearly nodded off at work today. And I needed an energy drink to get through class, because I don't want to embarrass myself by snoring through someone's presentation. I'm not that rude.

I did, however, knit my way through class. I started a hat:

That's the first inch or so of Pasha, in Lorna's Laces Honor in color Poppy. I decided that I needed a new, excitingly colored hat. Which is totally not true, but it makes me happy to lie to myself. It'll be pretty, though, and extra warm because it's wool and silk. Which also means luscious. Yay!

The reason I cast on Pasha is because these are not going the way I want them to:

That's version 2 of those fingerless mitts I was trying to make. I've decided that the wrist is too short, and the thumb is too long, so I'm frogging them. Because they're clearly just not meant to be. I'll just let the yarn sit and stew on its fate for a while.

Also, the Rainbow mitts are not very portable, since they involve changing colors every 3 rows at this point, and they involve 8 colors. Not hard to knit, just hard to keep track of the colors and what is going in class at the same time. However, I did get a fair amount of cuff done last night:

Very exciting!

Want to know what came in the mail today? Of course you do. Who wouldn't? My mailbox is an exciting place

That's the Toboggan Hat and Mitten kit from Knitpicks. They had them last year, and I didn't order in time, so they were sold out by the time I was ready to order. Which made me le sad because I really wanted the blue kit, but they weren't getting any more in and you couldn't get the pattern by itself... anger. Anyway, they have them again this year. I went back and forth between the purple and the green kits, Caitlin told me to get both and make one up for her, but I decided to just go with purple, since I don't own a lot of green winter gear. We'll see how I like it. Now that I have the pattern, I could make all kinds of colors of these little buggers! Not that I need them (see the hat comment), but I could.

Anyway, it's all very exciting on the knitting front, and I'm going to have to exercise self-control (not a lot of that around here these days) in order to keep from being buried in a pile of WIPs. Or being committed to the sanatarium because my parents think I've finally lost it. Wish me luck!

In which life returns to normal (whatever that is)

It's official. Shelby and Chase are married, and all of the wedding events are over (except for opening presents, they haven't had the chance to do that yet). I can now return to my regularly scheduled life. It was a pretty hard core weekend. Lots of fun, lots of driving, lots of silliness. Not lots of sleep, unfortunately... but who needs sleep when you're making memories?!

Heads up: this post involves no pictures of knitting, and very little knitting information. Scroll to the bottom if you want to read it, though.

We started out by getting our nails done, then running some errands, and then we went to meet the lady who would be doing our hair! She did a lovely job, day-of:

That's Caitlin's head, because I can't take a picture of the back of my own. And Shelby's hair was mostly covered by the veil. Just in case you were wondering, that hair style is a result of 45 bobby pins and 2 clips, and a ton of hairspray. That's how we roll.

Then, Shelby and I loaded up in my car and hauled ourselves down to the location of the bridal shower. Which was lovely, and Shelby got many pretty presents. The themed shower was a great idea, and I think everyone had fun. Hopefully. I didn't get many pictures of the shower, I was busy leaping around and giving people clothespins, or offering them drinks, or writing down the names and gifts as Shelby unwrapped them. She did get quite a few ribbons, which made a lovely ribbon bouquet for the rehearsal:

After the shower, we headed into Denver for the bachelorette.

We had SO much fun. Lots of dancing, no mishaps, everyone got home in one piece and, as far as I know, no one suffered a hangover, which is more than I can say for the groom. Good times all around!

The next day, we had kind of a lazy morning, I failed to send a fairly important homework assignment in, and we packed up all of Shelby's shower gifts into my car with all our luggage, and trooped back to Fort Morgan for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, which I don't really have pictures for, since I was kind of busy at the time.

Then, it was wedding day!







Doesn't she look lovely? This is how she decided to sit on the floor so we could play some cards. Silly games, of course, because we didn't have the attention span for more difficult games.

Caitlin looks totally relaxed, doesn't she? 

Every 30 seconds this happened:
Despite the lovely job that the hairstylist did, my hair is very opinionated, and didn't want to stay put. There was just this one curl that kept popping out. Caitlin did her best to restrain it.

The cake was agreed to be very pretty, and perfectly acceptable, and we didn't have mountains of cake left over, so that was all good. I'm not saying there were no leftovers, just an acceptable amount.

And, since Caitlin and I were completely done with our responsibilities, other than making sure the bride had someone to hold her dress occasionally, we indulged ourselves:

The sad part? We drank most of 2 bottles of champagne, and didn't even get buzzed. No clue what was up with that. Oh well, it was fun, but remind me to never try another marathon wedding weekend. It was exhausting. And going back to work is so hard. I guess it could have been worse, Shelby and Chase had to be up at 3 the next morning to make their plane that was taking them to their honeymoon cruise. Poor buggers. I hope they're caught up on sleep by now...

One result of the busy-ness of this weekend was that I didn't have much time to knit. I think I did all the thumb gusset stitches for the little mitt that I've been working on. But otherwise, mostly nothing. And I'm not even knitting on those things that I already have started now. Know what's sitting next to me on the couch right now? Rainbow mittens! *Wiggly eyebrows*

And it begins

The wedding event countdown is finally upon us. I am currently ensconced in Caitlin's "cozy" apartment, thinking that I'm gonna have to get up pretty early tomorrow in order to make my manicure appointment with Shelby. But that's ok, because it means that I'm done with work and school for the week! Huzzah! I was totally unenthused for being responsible this week, and now I can be done. Next week isn't going to be any better, but we'll just ignore that for now.

On the knitting front, I finally sewed up the chunky sweater. It's pretty good stuff, and the sleeves fit perfectly! Which I was worried about, but now I can just relax about it. Wanna see it?

Yay! I'm so excited to wear this. I'm gonna need a tank top to go under it, though.

Guess what else happened today? My parents returned from their little mini vacation, so the dog finally has enough human beings to cater to her. And my dad has finally been trained:

He brought me a yarn souvenir from New Mexico! Apparently he scoured Santa Fe for some fiber, since I have the new spinning wheel, but he was unable to find any, so he settled for some lovely yarn. I'm super excited to knit this stuff up. I'm thinking a hat.

Wish me luck on this marathon wedding weekend!

Guess what I did this weekend?

So, I may have mentioned that it's just me and the dog this weekend. As a result, I've had the time and the space to block some of my backlog of knitted-but-unblocked projects. This included my fabulous alpaca cowl:

Which looks a lot better now that it's not all rolled over itself. I also blocked the Haruni that I made over the summer, because I was unsatisfied by my first one:

Lovely, no? And the right size. I love it. It's a great pattern, but I won't be making it again for a while. It's a little monotonous. Which isn't bad, when you have something else to focus on. But I like variety in my projects.

I also blocked the big chunky sweater, but I haven't found the courage to sew it up yet. So it's still hanging around. The body is still a little damp, so I have an excuse. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And now, in direct violation of a self-enforced rule, I'm going to go cast on a new shawl, because I really want to.

Horns

Well, hello there. It's been a while, hasn't it? Maybe not that long, but it's felt like it. I feel like this was the longest week ever. Maybe because I had so much to do and not much time to get it done in. I got a lot accomplished this week, but none of it is knitting.

I did my management homework (boring), and some accounting homework (even worse). I went shopping for more pieces of present for Shelby's wedding events (T-minus 5 days to the kick off of the wedding weekend extravaganza), called a bunch of people for stuff that had to get done before, or maybe for the wedding. Oh yeah, and I worked. Busy busy week.

And it's not over yet. Oh no, turns out that I'd lost track of what is due when for my accounting class, and I need to complete the second take home assignment sometime before I leave for wedding-palooza. That'll be fun. Especially since I've got the house, and dog, to myself this weekend. My mother, the lucky woman, has a 2 week fall break, and she and my father are taking advantage of the time of by taking a little camping trip for the next 4 days. I don't begrudge her the time off. I just wish I had the same. I'm ready for a break. Anyway, it's just me, the dog, and my homework this weekend. It'll be fun.

I tried knitting some things this week! I really did. On Monday, during my online tutoring stint, I picked up the white chunky tunic. I made some good progress on it, but it involves pattern reading, and it's kind of large, so I can't bring it to work with me.

Then, I worked on the little gray sock when I went with Mom to pick Abby up from the airport. And somehow effed up the pattern. See that little line of crossed stitches? I reworked it like 6 times and couldn't fix it. So I continued knitting through the frustration. Probably not such a good idea, since I'm getting the feeling that I'm gonna have to frog back to try to get that situation under control. And make the heel bigger, since apparently I have body image issues and have no idea how big my feet are.


Can't see the line? How about now:

To avoid the frustration of the sock, and the pattern issue, I cast on a little mitt. It's a cute pattern, not too difficult, and it's made out of a yarn that I love for fingerless mitts. Makes an excellent fabric, pretty colors. Turns out this mitt pattern and this yarn are not well suited. So, I'm gonna have to frog that back too. And pick a different pattern for this yarn, and a different yarn for this pattern.

Which brings me to the point of this post (yes, there really is one). I need something to knit. I've got a busy week coming up, and I'm gonna want something to take the edge off. So it needs to be a project that I won't whip out in an hour. And it can't involve too much pattern reading, cuz that's hard to multi-task with. And it needs to be portable, so nothing too huge or involved.

I know, it's a tough challenge. I've narrowed it down to 3 types of projects: a hat, to go with my cuddly cowl from last weekend; pick a new pattern or a new yarn and try the fingerless mitts again; or a shawl, despite the fact that I have yet to finish the lace shawl from last winter (it's not my fault, the Yarn Harlot put the idea of a shawl in my head!). What do you think I should knit?

Look! A distraction!

I'm starting to feel the stress. And my favored method of dealing with stress is to not deal with it, and focus on something else. I never said it was a good method, just that it was my method. 

This weekend, we got our first snow! It's kind of hard to see, but I know it's there, so you can trust my word. It was really cold, and I finished the chunky sweater last week (it still needs to be blocked, but I'm giving myself a break), so I cast on a lovely new cowl. 

Pretty, right? I love cowls. They're so quick (compared to sweaters), and they can be either fairly simple or super complex, they don't involve any shaping at all, and you only have to make one of them. Basically, they're perfect. I'm nearly done with it, and I just started it on Friday afternoon. I'd say it's a pretty good project to get me out of the old project slump that I've been in lately. Maybe. Hopefully. This cowl is made out of Misti Alpaca handpainted yarn. It's pretty much the best stuff I've ever touched (except for maybe cashmere). The best part? It was a gift. My dearest Caitlin gave me some yarn when she was destashing, and these skeins weren't really the kinds of colors she likes to wear or use. But they certainly are mine!

One more thing:

My dog makes a really cute fairy, doncha think? She's adorable. 

News

Well, it's been a busy week for me. We're starting the final countdown to Shelby's wedding (The Final Countdowwwwwwnnnnnn), and I am starting to freak out. Mostly because apparently my brain fell out when I started my 3rd tutoring job. I know, I sound crazy already. Anyway, I keep forgetting things that need to get done. I realize all of this could be avoided if I kept some sort of physical list, but lists are for people who don't like excitement and adventure in their lives.

Speaking of excitement and adventure, guess what I purchased this weekend?

A spinny wheel! Huffah! Now I can get cracking on the massive backlog of fiber that I keep purchasing because it looks or sounds pretty. I'm very impressionable, and I've therefore learned to limit my exposure to fiber reviews because it always ends up with shame and more wool. But hopefully now I can make some headway against the threatening stash-valanche in a corner of my room. We shall see. It's a double drive, double treadle Ashford Traveller. So exciting! I lurve it.

My knitting has not improved as much as one might hope. Turns out the sleeves of a sweater are pretty much the kiss of death. Almost as bad as second sock (or mitt) syndrome. It's just because they're so long, and boring. There's not much shaping going on, and there's not any change of pattern for most of it. Which makes me fall into a knitting coma and look for more exciting things to do. Like watch paint dry. Anyway, I've finished about half of the sleeves, but I've decided that they're never going to be done. Because it turns out that I made the sleeve holes too big for the sleeves, so now I have to do extra increases. Which isn't really that big a deal, since the sleeves (as wide as they were at the end of the recommended increases) don't fit around my biceps.

Maybe this sweater really wants to be a vest. What do you think?

In other news, Steve Jobs died today of pancreatic cancer. I am saddened by this, since I feel that he was a great deal of the innovation at Apple and I love Apple products, or have up to this point. I guess we'll just see where they go in the future!