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...

End of an obsession

It's official. I've finished the fourth monster scarf.

This one only took 3 days, but that was only because I was powering through the knitting to get the little bugger done. I'm officially sick of these monster scarves. Not that they aren't lovely, but I've made four in a row and it's becoming a little monotonous. Did I show you a picture of Abby's scarf? Here

The colors were all nice, I didn't hate any of them. I didn't have to rip back whole sections because I'd messed up the pattern. In short, they were nice, one-note kind of projects. And now I've got 3 other people who can wear them with me. (Note to self, get a picture of that. It'll probably be funny) But this epoch of monster scarf knitting can now be in the past and I can move on to bigger and better things.

The only question is: what bigger and better things? The bigger part had better be in a metaphysical sense because the only things larger than these scarves are baby blankets, and I'm not going down that road. That way madness lies. I'll have to think on it. Maybe work on one of my WIPs which have been sadly neglected during this scarfalicious period. Perhaps I'll go rummage for inspiration.

My kingdom for a knitting needle!

So, Thursdays are long days for me, at work. I work from 9 to noon, and then I have an hour for lunch and I go back from 1 to 3 to tutor idiots stupid people community college students at math. All kinds of math. The nice thing about this is that mostly not many people come in or they don't need much help. So I have a great deal of knitting time, as long as the project is simple (so that I'm less likely to drop stitches/lose my place in the pattern). Because of this, I was looking forward to completing a 4th monster scarf today.

It totally could have happened.

Except that I forgot one of the knitting needles, and therefore couldn't knit at all today. This lack of a needle and last week's craving of Sour Punch Straws can mean only one thing:

I need a minion. Any applicants?

More of the same

I was going to write about something else today. But then I remembered that I need to post some pictures, and I didn't have pictures for the other thing I was going to write about. So that will have to wait. Maybe tomorrow.

Today, I shall just say that my knitting continues apace. I got a fair amount of Abby's big ass scarf done today, because I had work and class, where I am able to knit more or less unmolested for large swathes of time.

It's overflowing my school bag in this picture. That should give you some idea of how much work I actually have to do for the MBA I'm working toward, i.e. NONE.

Caitlin and I started the fronts for our Runcorns, and I've already messed up some of the required decreases. Which is somewhat disheartening, since I hadn't even been drinking. Or doing anything else that required my attention. So bleh, and no picture of that because it's stuffed back in its bag until tomorrow. I'll just have to try harder. We decided that we would be happy if we finished the fronts before the end of the week. (Psst, Caitlin! What are we counting as the end of the week? Friday or Sunday?)







Also, I finished the cowl for my mother on Monday, but was too lazy to photograph it. And even having photographed it this evening, it doesn't look like much. I'm gonna make Abby come over and try it on anyway, so I'll make her pose for a picture when she does that. And I suppose I'll have to block it at some point, so it looks less like a lump of alpaca and more like the luscious, cozy winter accessory that it is!

We went to Texas Roadhouse for a fundraiser for Abby's sorority, btw. I ate too much, but it was delicious. And terribly unhealthy. I'd feel bad, but I love steak so much!



I worked a few rows on the melonstrosity this morning. It has been sadly neglected of late, because I had more exciting, and portable, things to do. Like scarves. And a cowl. So it hasn't seen much action and my efforts this morning were basically a drop in the bucket. I would vow to do better, but I have this thing about breaking vows, just because I object to making vows about things I enjoy. It's cuz I'm stubborn like that.

I think I need to do something to shake up my knitting in the near future. All this lazy k2, p2 rib nonsense is putting me in a coma. Suggest something exciting?

You can be the centerpiece of my obsession...

The title of today's post is particularly apt, since I'm feeling a bit obsessed this week. With many things: the song "All your life" by the Band Perry (if you haven't listened to it, I recommend it), the chunky scarves that never end (I started another one), and The Bridal Shower. There are often times that I find myself wholly taken up with a concept or activity. Therefore I know that these obsessions will pass, but for the moment, they are all-absorbing.






I had a good reason for casting on another of the big scarves, I swear! I was going to work, and I didn't have anything on the needles, because yesterday I finished Dj's scarf, and the day before that I finished the socks, and the Runcorn (what Runcorn?) isn't very portable or work friendly since it involves 3 colors and an ability to pay attention to the pattern, and... well, you get the idea. Anyway, since I have the yarn for 2 more of those giant scarves and Abby expressed an interest in one, and her birthday is in December... I cast another one on, just so I would have something to do at work.

Stop that laughing. I can quit whenever I want to. I just don't want to right now, ok?

The bridal shower, well, it's a big event, for one of my very close friends, who I haven't seen in a while, so of course I'm obsessed. Not to mention that I like girly things and decorating and baking and all that. So it's totally natural that I walked in to Michael's today and started freaking out about all the cute things that I could make from the baking section: cake pops, mini brownies, tiny cookies in the shape of her initials, little chocolate candy hearts... let's just leave it at that. I told my sister that I was going to open a bakery, so I could make those cute things all the time. She just laughed at me. Psh.

She's probably right, though. I'm more of a box-baker. Not that I can't make things from scratch, just that the box mixes are so much more convenient and quick! Anyway, probably not opening a bakery. But it's a fun thought!

Another of my totally fabulous obsessions is the fact that my friend Mariah is interested in learning to knit, and it's her birthday coming up, so...

I got her some yarn (Simply Soft and cotton, since they're both pretty accessible), and some needles (straights and circs in metal, and wooden straights). I'm planning on finding some pretty simple patterns too, maybe, and adding those to the bag of crac-- uh, I mean, her lovely birthday present. I'm such a good friend.

And, one last obsession that I forgot to mention up top: I'm knitting a cowl. Out of the most wonderful alpaca yarn that I got on sale from one of the LYSs where I live, because they are going out of business. I don't know about you guys, but when I'm confronted with the kind of closeouts these guys were offering on some absolutely wonderful yarns, my defenses crumbled! So I have a bunch of alpaca in this soft grey, and in a pale green. I'm not sure the green is really a color I would use, so I may be forced to over-dye it. Which will probably end up being another obsession. At least I can spot them coming?

The cowl will likely be done by the end of this weekend. I really like the pattern, A Noble Cowl (ravelry link, so if you don't have ravelry, it won't work). It's simple, easy to follow, easy to spot where you've made a mistake. Basically perfect. I hope my mom likes it. It's going to be her Christmas present.

Cravings

Do you know what I really wanted today? Sour Punch Straws. Any flavor would have done, really. I thought I would be able to find them at the 7-11 between where I was eating lunch and the place that I park for work. However, such was not the case. It was really very disappointing.

In order to cope with my disappointment and craving, I knit about 80% of a sock:

While I didn't actually finish the sock at work, enough of it was done that I didn't need to do much once I got home. Yay! So I've completed a pair. I'm not sure how I feel about them. They may need one or two repeats of the pattern to be removed. I worry that removing those repeats will make the top of the sock fit, but the bottom and heel of the sock be too short. Therefore, I've woven in the ends and am planning on wearing them around a little before I make a decision.

I also sent the invites for Shelby's bridal shower this afternoon! It was very exciting because, as I may have mentioned, I was getting a bit obsessive about them. I brought them to work with me, so I could finish writing things on the envelope and stamping the envelopes so they'd be as cute as possible. I posted a facebook status about being obsessive about "the invites," even. And apparently "invites" only means one thing to the facebook-verse: wedding invitations. I don't know why so many people assumed that it meant some portentous sort of invite, since it's not like I have a highly-active love life, but there you have it. This morning, I was forced to reassure several people that I wouldn't think of getting married in the near future. Ridiculous.

Also, it is finally time for you to meet Dj's scarf.

Nice colors, right? It's just a shame about having to carry the yarn up the side so much... you can see that on the edge of the scarf in the picture. I'm not sure what to do about that unattractiveness yet. Abby approves of the scarf, though. It's not done yet, although I bet I can finish it before the end of the day tomorrow. She put it on today and started making very satisfied noises about how cozy it is. She often has to go sit outside for long sporting events (Dj plays baseball. In Nebraska.), so she needs cozy clothing, and she prefers to steal that sort of clothing from her boyfriend. I suspect that she will get a lot more use out of this scarf than he will...

Anyway, that's all the knitting that's fit to print. And for those of you who are curious, I managed to find some Sour Punch Straws on my way home from work. Success!

Closet acrylic

I have a confession to make. Despite my penchant for luscious fibers such as alpaca and silk, I also secretly adore acrylic. Nice acrylic, of course. But I like the bright colors, and the fact that it's pretty cheap, and you can get a lot of yardage. It's just so easy. So I keep all my ends of simply soft, just in case I think of a project in which I can use them. And I've fallen deeply in love with Lion Brand's Hometown USA. 

It started with a scarf. A scarf for my brother, since he just started his first year at CU Boulder. And I decided, like any conscientious knitting big sister, that what he really requires is a school spirit related scarf, to wear to football games, and attract members of the opposite sex (or same sex, I'm not here to judge) by it's wonderful squishy coziness. Not so long ago, Caitlin made her brother a wonderful blanket out of Hometown USA. And with the leftovers, she made her sister a wonderful scarf. So wonderful. And I decided that is just what Wyatt needs.

This thing was so quick to knit up. And now I'm addicted. I'm making one for my sister's boyfriend, whose birthday is coming up, I've got the yarn for 2 other scarves that I'm not sure who they're for yet, but they will be WONDERFUL. Squishy and warm, really wide and long (I don't like bitty scarves. I suspect this is related to my horror of cold. More on this topic at a later date.), and so colorful! Really, it's a killer combination. 

Seriously, though. This scarf took me less than 2 days. And look how cozy it looks! And it's taller than I am (I'm almost 6 feet tall). This is the perfect scarf for cold sporting events. I just hope he loves it as much as I do. He doesn't really have a track record for being grateful for things that people give him that he didn't necessarily ask for. But I also gave him Wall-E for his birthday. So he can suck it up. This present is about me, not him. So there!