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. 

Mmm, tasty lotion

My dog believes that leg lotion is a delicious and nutritious snack. Every time I shave my legs, and therefore require lotion on my legs, she notes the fact that I smell tasty and licks it all off. It's kind of disgusting. And tickly. And that's all I can think about tonight, because she won't stop licking my leg!

This is Lucy, my dog, being adorable. Primarily because this is not a picture of her licking my leg free of lotion. Gah!

In other, knitting related, news I have accomplished very little. Or very little of interest, anyway. Primarily because I'm a tremendous slacker, but also because I was accomplishing a Very Important Task today.

That's right, folks, I'm nearly done with my major Maid of Honor duty for Shelby's wedding. I have decided on the wording for the invites, printed the invites, attached a small amount of tulle to the invites (I didn't have to cut the tulle or attach the little bows, just attach the tulle to the card), and I've stuffed them, along with various other bits of invite paraphernalia, into envelopes. I have furthermore printed address labels for the guests, because my handwriting sucks, and printed myself return address labels, because at that point I was on a roll. As of tomorrow (hopefully), I will have mailed the invites out so that the lucky party invitees can get back to me and we can start the next phase of getting Shelby married! Woo!

Sorry about the lack of knitting, for those of you who just come by to see that. I've accomplished a great deal today, though little of it had any knitting involved. Presumably tomorrow will be slightly better. Carry on!