Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, Thanksgiving is suddenly here. I'm not sure when that happened. But, I'm certainly glad it's here. I'm getting some free time, which is so nice. I will be using a good bit of the break to finish up my grad school applications and get started on a couple of papers, but for today I am taking a well-deserved break. I got to work on my Holden a little yesterday, but I'm expecting to hit it really hard today.

In other news, Ben and I received a lovely holiday surprise yesterday. I was at my house, knitting on Holden and waiting for Ben to pick me up, when I got a phone call from him. He told me that on the way over, he narrowly avoided hitting a bunny who darted across the road in front of his truck. He was in the empty lot that the bunny had run into, and asked me to come over and see if I could get him to come to me. So, I drove over with a baggie of baby carrots in my pocket. When I got there, one of the neighbors told us that the bunny had been wandering around in the neighborhood for at least a month, and that they had been leaving food outside of their house for him. They said they had tried to catch him, but he was too fast, and they wished us luck.

So, I sat down in the lot near the bunny, and eventually he came close and ate some of the carrots, but he would run away if I touched him. After a while, I ran out of carrots, and he still hadn't warmed up to me much. So, Ben and I sort of gently stalked him around the lot, talking to him, keeping him calm. After rescuing him out of the street several times, and pursuing him for almost an hour, we were getting pretty discouraged. But then, I managed to move very quickly, and I scooped him up! Then, we brought him home and set him up with some cedar shavings and food.



Meet Spook!

He's still a little nervous (hence the name) but I think he'll warm up to us soon when he realizes he's home and safe. I've always wanted a bunny, but I haven't bought one for various reasons. But, I guess the cosmos decided the if I couldn't be brought to the bunny, that the bunny would be brought to me! This is going to be an adventure.

I hope everyone is having a lovely, relaxing holiday. I'm off to work on Holden, drink some wine, and eat some turkey!

From the frozen tundra

Hello, all. I'm writing from the ice-cold library of my university, simply to say hi. I have no pictures to share, because very little knitting has been happening. I am in the super-scary flurry of grad school applications, and my daily schedule of classes keeps me so busy that I usually use all of my other free time trying to keep up with all the stuff for the next steps of my life. However, the Unicorn Cupcake socks are very near completion (there was an epic duel with the heel for the second sock--I won) and so I hope to have pictures soon. NOTHING has happened with the Holden Shawlette, which makes me sad. I know I'll get to work on it during Thanksgiving break, but I hope I get time sooner than that. I'm headed off to rehearsal now, but I really want to post more often, even if I don't have pictures, and so that's what I've done. *pats self on back*

Old and New

This is what my life looks like today:



It is my long-awaited fall break, and I'm doing nothing but what I want to do. The power is currently out at my house, but I don't mind, because everything I need is right here. I spent the morning being lazy and re-skeining some yarn that I want to return (the Noro Iro in the pictures). Also pictured are my Unicorn Cupcake socks, which I'm making mostly so that this yarn may come to some use--I can't think of anything else to knit it into. On the right is my Holden Shawlette, (Rav link) which I am doing as a knit-a-long with my tattoo artist Jessie (JessieJaine on Ravelry). Center is the book I've been reading for a very long time. I love it dearly, and it makes me really happy that I've made some progress on it lately. I also beat the amazing game Portal last night, and I may just start Portal 2 tonight.

It's been a crazy time for me (I feel like I say that every time I post. Maybe my life is just non-stop crazytime) and I'm glad to have this chance to stop and rest. It's a joy to be making new knitting friends, and prioritizing where I spend my energy in my life. It's not always easy, but it's usually good. The opera that I've been in late-night rehearsal for is over as of Saturday, so I should have much more time in the evenings for myself, now. Maybe I'll have some FOs to show off soon.

Makeover!

Hello all. Do you like the new look? I hope that it's pleasing to the eye--I find this layout delightfully relaxing. I've been working nonstop for a while on school stuff, so much that I haven't even been sleeping, much less getting a lot of knitting done. But, I'm working on some socks now, and I hope to finish up my mittens really soon. I also finally got my long awaited yarn ball tattoo, and once I go back for my touch up, I'll post pictures of it! I expect to get a little more knitting done from now on: things are coming together in a really good way for me right now, and I think life is going to get a little easier. I'll be back soon with pictures of woolies!

Autumn

Hello everyone! I finally have something new to show you. After a grueling week, the audition that I've been obsessing about is over, and I finished my Morlynn shawl just in time to wear it for the occasion. Today, my sweetheart and I had dinner in the park, and then he helped me to do a lovely little photo shoot of my newest woolie. I had a great time, and it was very refreshing to spend time outside in the fabulous weather, with my favorite person, a finished object and a brand new project on the needles.

Here are the details:

Project: Morlynn Shawl/Tuch by Alexandra Wiedmayer (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Morello Mash
Needles: 3.5mm

I used a yarn over bind off, which helped a ton with blocking it out to its full potential. This was a great knit, although I did find the pattern a little hard to stick with, at times. The yarn is fabulous--such a great color, and so smooshy. The only bad thing I could say about it is that, because it's so smooth, I struggled to keep my tension even at first. But, it's not enough of a problem to really matter. I have more of this yarn in the stash for another shawl, and I'm looking forward to using it.

The pattern is designed to be knit with two colors. When I originally bought the yarn, I misread the pattern and only bought one skein. When I went back, I didn't match skeins in the dye lot as carefully as I could have, and wound up with a lighter second skein. But, I decided to use the second skein in the places where Color 2 was called for, and it created a pretty, tonal effect. The shawl came out much bigger than I originally thought it would, and it's so great to wrap up in it. (It looks great with the point in front, like a big dramatic cowl. Anyway, enough blather. To the pictures! *Trumpet fanfare*

First, here's the before-and-after of the blocking:




^^^^It completely outgrew my bed! I wound up using pieces of cardboard on the sides, and sleeping across the top of my bed, because I couldn't move it. Ah, the things we do for yarn.


And now for the park photos:












^^^^This is one of my favorite pictures of myself, ever. There's something about Autumn that awakens my adventurous spirit. I never feel more alive than at this time of year. Maybe it's because good things have always happened to me at this time of year, and I associate it with happiness. I don't know, but I sure feel good right now. The leaves are starting to turn in the park, and the crisp breeze is stirring up my imagination.



I'm now working on a hat for my best friend, which will probably fly by after such a long project. I hope to have more projects to share soon! It's Autumn, and I've got a good feeling.


P.S. The Stash has been cleansed of moths. I haven't had a chance to remove it from the freezer yet, but it shall be liberated tomorrow!

The Starting Gun and the Home Stretch

Hello, everyone. It's been a wild ride lately, and I currently have nothing to show for it. I started school this week, and have never had such an overwhelmingly busy first week. I have hardly had time to sleep and eat, it seems more like finals week than the very first days of class. Before starting school, and during the occasional free moment, I have been working on a Morlynn shawl, which I would link to if I had time, but alas. I am partially done with the edging, but it is somewhat complicated and my brain is somewhat dead. I have no pictures of it in progress, but it is, indeed, almost done. I have very high hopes of finishing it this weekend, at which point I will finally share it with you all. I will return soon!

Moth Alert

Well, I can pretty much promise that I won't be turning out any new knitting for the next couple of weeks, because day before yesterday, I found a dead moth in one of my bags of yarn. This yarn was delivered in the bag it was in, from Knit Picks. However, I'm not sure if the moth came with the yarn in the bag or not, so now pretty much all of my yarn is in the freezer. Unfortunately, that includes the last ball of the yarn I'm using for my Mara, so I can't complete the project until this ordeal is over. I have a few surviving skeins, but I don't really want to cast on anything new, because I do have a lot of stuff in progress right now. However, I'll be freezing all of my WIPs and FOs, too, because they were near the bag with the moth in it. I feel like I'm going overboard, but I won't have peace of mind unless I freeze everything. So, I will try to post for the next couple of weeks with more Parade of Projects items, and keep things moving!

The Right Direction

Hello all. Suddenly, it's been almost a month since I made a post. I haven't been knitting much, because my job's been keeping me really busy. But, I've made a lot of changes in the past few days, including leaving that job, and now I'm moving in a direction that is much better for me.

So, today I did pretty much nothing but work on my Mara. I watched two of my favorite movies to knit to, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley.

The garter stitch is taking a long time, but I know I'm going to love the finished product. I have four balls of Palette, which I was originally going to use to make 198 Yards of Heaven. However, that project stayed in hibernation for a really long time, because the pattern was driving me insane. I had named that shawl "Welcome to Blue Heaven" in reference to the anime Outlaw Star. After frogging the shawl, I decided that I still wanted the anime reference, so the Mara's name is Melfina, after the main female character from the same anime. I named it after her because she is pretty much identified with the color blue for most of the show:



I'm not sure if I'm going to use three of the balls or all four, but I plan to make it big, almost cape-like, so I can wear it as an outer layer. I'm about a quarter into the second ball, so I have a while to go. I'll take a picture outside tomorrow, while Ben and I enjoy an adventure-filled day in town.

More soon! I have a feeling I'll be knitting a lot.

Parade of Projects, Part Two: Pansy Pearl

I finished this feather and fan scarf a while ago, and it's about time I share it with you!






(All links are Ravelry links)

Pattern: Two Weeknights with Warrick by Karin Bole
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Pansy Golightly
Needles: US 6/4.00mm
The Commentary: I really enjoyed knitting this. I worked on it off and on for quite some time, and I'm pretty sure that I chose the name because it was something I worked on either during or shortly after our production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers. It is a very soft scarf, and I love the colors! My only wish is that I had bound off more tightly (I know--the total opposite of my usual problem) because the bind off edge is far more stretchy and the points are different. I plan on reblocking them into more similar-looking scallops.

More projects soon!

The Ballad of the Red Knight

Once upon a time, there was a knitting princess. She lived in a kingdom with lots of yarn. One warm day, after finishing all of her work, the Princess sat down to work on her latest project, a pair of mittens (which was an odd choice, for it was the month of June). However, when she was about to begin, she realized that one of her six Royal Double-Pointed Needles was missing! The Princess always knitted pairs of things simultaneously, in an effort to avoid Second-Mitten Syndrome, and so the sixth needle was crucial to the completion of the project! The Princess thought and thought, and realized that she must have dropped the needle in the faraway kingdom of Uptown, which she visited that morning to take a lesson from the Music Master who resided there. The Princess sent correspondence to the kingdom of Uptown, and although a search party was sent out, the needle could not be found. However, the Princess was not ready to give up, convinced that the tiny needle was lying, overlooked, somewhere within that kingdom. Unfortunately, the Princess was exceedingly tired from her hectic week and the previous journey that she made Uptown that very morning, and her powers were drained. After pondering her dilemma for a moment, she had a brilliant idea.



The Princess decided that she would call upon the Red Knight to help her find the Royal Double-Pointed Needle. Like all of the knights in the Princess’s lands, he was strong, and swift, and brave—a natural leader. However, he had a special quality that the other knights did not, something that only the Princess could perceive.

Luck.

With that luck, the Princess had total faith that the she and the Red Knight would be able to find the Needle. She called the Red Knight to court...


...and gracefully requested his assistance.


Aside from his other qualities, the Knight was also very gracious and charismatic, and quickly accepted the mission. The Red Knight led the Princess to his chariot, and they set off on their journey.


They traveled far—over water,


On winding, high roads,


And beneath mighty trees.


Finally, they reached the Castle of Fine Arts where the Music Master taught. They made their way to the place where the Princess had last knitted.


The Red Knight and the Princess reached the Hallway of Doors. All of the doors were locked, but the Princess was sure that behind one of them lay the Royal Double-Pointed Needle!


The Princess produced a Golden Key and, approaching the final door in the hallway, unlocked it. (The Red Knight waited patiently.) She stepped into the room, and turned on the lights, holding her breath in anxiety. She looked around, hoping that their epic journey had not been in vain.


There, hidden deep in shadow and overlooked by all, was the Royal Double-Pointed Needle! The Princess cried out, and seized her beloved needle, holding it on high and jumping up and down with unadulterated glee! The Red Knight calmly reminded Her Highness-ness that jumping up and down while holding very pointy sticks was not the safest course of action. The Princess thanked the Red Knight for his wisdom, and they left the Castle of Fine Arts.


The Red Knight was hailed as the greatest hero! He was rewarded with a chaste kiss from the Princess.


And an Iced Green Tea.


The set of six Royal Double-Pointed Needles was united once again! The mittens could be finished simultaneously, protecting the Princess and her lands from the peril of Second-Mitten Syndrome. The Princess was enormously thankful, and promised the Red Knight that he would be immortalized in legend for his heroic deeds. The Red Knight brought the Princess back to her home.


And she knitted Happily Ever After.

Parade of Projects, Part One: Women Are Tough

As promised, I return with pictures! I have knitted several things since the last time I posted pictures, so I'm going to try to catch up now.

The first project to be shown off is the shawl that I knitted for my Grandmother's birthday. I did much of it in one night, and it's pretty much a miracle that I finished it on time.





Pattern: Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Masala
Comments: In my hurry to get this shawl done on time, I didn't record what needle size I used. It was probably 4.00. I left off the border due to time constraints, but I discovered that I also really like it without the border. The edging looks more winglike. I really love this pattern (I've knitted it once before), and I'm happy with how this one came out. Taking the pictures was a huge pain, because it was super windy that day. I think these two were the only successful pictures taken.

Stay tuned for Parade of Projects, Part Two!

Over four months ago

I made a post in this blog, and I did not return until now. The last post was a hurried one, about being busy, and a promise to return soon. I come to you now from a fantastically quiet space. It was necessary today for me to take a little getaway, and I'm choosing to do it in a place where I can sit and catch up with the little things that I enjoy most in my free time. For the past several hours, I've been reading Yarn Harlot blog posts from March until now. I'm finally caught up, which makes me feel very relieved, because I really missed hearing what was going on with Steph on a regular basis. I'm going to knit for the next couple of hours before I head on home. I planned on showing you a picture of the Ishbel I've been working on, but my new laptop's webcam will not let me, and my camera stayed at home today. But, I will come back with pictures, and also some pictures of the feather and fan scarf that I'm wearing right now.

In case you've been wondering what I've been up to for the past four months, I finished up the school year, operas included, with general success. I'd say that I've been resting since then, but it would be a lie. I took a summer job working at a doggie day care, and that pretty much takes up all of my time. I've been doing a scandalously small amount of knitting, which I plan to rectify this week. Over the past few weeks I have traveled, to Dallas for a wedding and Gulfport for a party, and now that everything is settled down again I think I'll have more free time. However, a substantial part of that should be used for practicing, since I have been neglecting that, lately. But, I really need to get more knitting in--the lack of yarn in my life lately has been seriously impacting my mood. The Ishbel is made with Knit Picks Palette for stashbusting purposes, so it's going to be pretty big, and hopefully really beautiful.

I really will return soon with pictures. Promise.

Coming Up for Breath

Wow, it's been a wild month. I have several finished projects to post about, but not any pictures, right now. I have a hat that I made to cover my post-wig hair during our Pearl Fishers shows, and I still have to post pictures of both sets of gloves--there will most likely be an accompanying narrative. I also have the orange cabled scarf that still has not been shown off. I took the day off of school today to catch up on work and rest, and it's really cold out, so the pictures are going to wait. But, I hope to be back soon, and back to blogging regularly.

Stolen Moments

Wow, it's really been hard to get a few minutes to knit, lately. I'm still on vacation, but I've been going to so many rehearsals, as well as preparing music for the new semester and trying to do household chores and cleaning that had been put off. So, my knitting has been a bit neglected, and I've been feeling particularly scatterbrained and random (which will become progressively evident through the length of this blog post). However, I finally got a chance to get some pictures of my current project, and I'll have some time to work on it today due to a cancelled rehearsal!

My current project is the Irish Hiking Scarf by Adrian Bizilia. The yarn is JoSharp Silkroad Aran, which I got on sale at my LYS. I really love both the yarn and the pattern, and I'm really looking forward to finishing this scarf, so I can wear it!





I have time to work on it today, and hopefully I'll steal some time tomorrow as well, so I can get finished! I feel like it's been ages since I completed a project.


I've also gotten a little work done on the Transformers pillow front, but it's still not done. I had decided not to give it to Ben for Christmas, so there are no pressing deadlines on it, now.

Today, I spent an hour or so enjoying a webcomic that I've just become aware of, The Knit Princess. Someone brought it up on Ravelry today in a thread, and I fell in love with it immediately! I've been catching up, reading the archived comics. It's about a young female college student and knitter, and all of her yarn-related adventures, and I highly recommend it. It's very optimistic, light-hearted and clever.

So, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of this day. I hope that you are all having a great day, as well.