There and Back Again

Sorry for the huge lapse in posts! Ben, Spook and I went home to New Orleans for a week, and now school is starting and things are crazy! I've been knitting socks, so I'll probably do a sock post soon with lots of pictures. And I still need to share pictures of the mittens! I had such a nice time with my loved ones in New Orleans, and now it's time to get back to the work-school-rehearsal routine (and squeeze some knitting in.)

Here's a few pictures from my week at home:

Every Time a Bell Rings...

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all of my internet friends! We had a lovely, quiet day here in Chicago, and I worked on Ben's second pair of socks, cooked, and am about to settle down and watch It's a Wonderful Life before I go to bed. Today, just before we settled in to open our presents, it began to snow! It snowed for several hours, leaving just enough of a sparkling layer to make everything glisten beautifully. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with pictures of mittens and--finally--talk of the Suupa Seekrit Holiday Knitting! I hope that you all are having a beautiful, peaceful night.

Rosemary

Remember that unexpected adventure? It was a deeper rabbit hole than even I anticipated. It took me four days to reach completion, but I'd say it was worth it.

In February of last year, I decided to start my first sweater. I chose the pattern, Plain and Simple Pullover, ordered some Knit Picks Palette in red, and got started. However, I planned on making it with long sleeves, instead of the short ones in the pattern. Being a newer knitter than I am now, it didn't occur to me right away that drop sleeves wouldn't be able to be easily converted by just knitting them longer. Ultimately, I asked around on Ravelry and found someone who said they'd help me convert it to a raglan. I knitted both sleeves from the cuff up, but life happened and the Raveler was unable to help me. So, I finally put the sweater away, with plans to take an evening to frog it at a later date.

However, it never did get frogged, and the other night it floated back into my mind when I was falling asleep. I realized that I could probably manage the raglan shaping now, having gotten many a sock gusset under my belt since then. Using EZ's directions from The Opinionated Knitter, I did the calculations, got numbers for my gauge, and the rest was history. Victorious, glorious history.

(This might be my new favorite picture of myself.)

It's been a really gloomy day outside, so we'll probably take more pictures at a later time.

I'm so happy with this sweater. It fits very well, which was more than I expected, and it's delightfully warm. All the math worked out beautifully, and now I can't wait to make more sweaters! I'm so glad that I didn't have to end up frogging all of my hard work. I named her Rosemary, because I finished her the same night that I saw White Christmas, with Rosemary Clooney, for the first time. I know, shameful, right? One of the most famous movies in my favorite era of cinema, and I hadn't seen it.

But, it's just like this sweater--better late than never. :)

P.S. I also finished Ben's first pair of socks, and started a second. Pics to come.

Upgrade

This is the first day off I've had since the last time I posted! Wow, I really need it, too. I wanted to show you the last thing from our little photoshoot in the park. I finally knitted Ben a proper wool scarf, after all these years.

It's about time! For the past six years, he's been using the scarf that I crocheted him out of Red Heart when we first started dating. Yeah, not exactly the warmest, coziest thing to make a scarf from. I wasn't always the yarn snob that I am now.

Anyway, it served him well enough through New Orleans winters, but he needed something a little more substantial in Chicago (if he wanted to survive until spring.)

It's just a plain seed-stitch scarf, made extra wide and long so that he can wrap it around three times when it gets cold enough for him to need that. I made it from two skeins of Imperial Yarn Columbia in 116 Black Cherry. I think I used 5.00mm needles, but I'm actually not sure. That's what the yarn called for, so that's probably what I used. He's gotten a lot of use out of it so far, and it's a very sturdy yarn, so I think it will be a scarf that sticks around for a long time.

I am almost done with my first pair of socks for Ben! The first one fit him perfectly, and I'm really excited about stocking up on socks (hah, get it?) for winter. Pictures soon of a couple pairs of finished socks. Until then, back to knitting by the tree!

Heavenly Peace

Sorry for the lapse in posts, y'all. The past few days, I have been getting in a whole lot of much-needed relaxation. Tuesday was my birthday, and I had a fantastic day! Ben gave me something I've been wanting for a long time: a Willow Tree nativity scene. I've been spending so much time lately blissfully curled up with my knitting, enjoying the coziness of our light-bedecked apartment and tiny Christmas tree! I will be back very soon with the remainder of our photo shoot pictures! Until then, I hope you are enjoying some of your own cozy holiday cheer.

Thankful

Thanksgiving got here so quickly, this year. We didn't plan on staying here originally, and suddenly Thanksgiving was coming and we were staying and I needed to cook! I wound up getting it all together at the last minute, and combined with Ben's birthday yesterday, I've done a tremendous amount of cooking in the past 48 hours! But, it was all so, so worth it. We have had an amazing couple of days, and we really needed the break. This was our first holiday in our own home, and I thought I'd be sad and homesick, but instead I was excited, optimistic, and proud of the job we did. I think I'm going to take a page from the Yarn Harlot's book and do this one photo-essay style. I really should have broken out my proper camera, but everything was moving too fast. These will do.

(He didn't eat much of his plate, but it was the spirit of the thing that mattered.)

I'm so proud of the meal I cooked and the experience we had today. This will certainly be a holiday I remember for years to come--I've never had a Thanksgiving where I felt so thankful.

As for knitting, I've been working on a Damson with some straight needles I bought at VKL and some Mal Sock that I bought while my friend Eryn was visiting me around Halloween. I'll be posting more pics of that soon. I'm also going to start knitting Christmas stockings for our house! I'm going to get some yarn for that soon, I can't wait to start them. I hope that everyone had as good of a day as I did--today bodes well for the rest of the holiday season. And now that my kitchen is immaculate one more, time for some much deserved relaxation and knitting. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Emerald Isle

Hello all! Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans, and I hope that my Canadian friends had a lovely holiday earlier this week. I come to you today from an actual computer, which is helpful, because I can provide you with better quality and more appropriately placed photos!

On this Fourth of July, I find myself nestled quietly away, cozy and ready for this thunderstorm that's threatening to come down. I have to say that I'm fairly content, and I'm looking forward tot he rest of my quiet evening. I have a few past projects to show you, so I figured I'd get started today. This is an earwarmer that I made at the request of my best friend.

Pattern: Bow Headband by Beth Postelwait

I really liked this pattern. It was a great opportunity to finally learn to do short rows--which were a little more challenging than I anticipated. I understood the concept of the short rows, but wrapping them correctly without over tightening them was a tiny bit tricky. However, I got the hang of it after a while, and I'm pretty pleased with the final result.

I made a couple of modifications: Firstly, I made it a button closure instead of just sewing it all together at the end, because Shelley wanted to be able to put it on and take it off without disturbing her hair. It was actually Shelley's idea for me to hide the buttons under the bow, and I'm very pleased with that decision. I also knitted the middle portion of the bow, instead of wrapping yarn around it like the pattern calls for, just because I like it better that way. Shelley's happy with it, too, so it all worked out very nicely, and there's even yarn left over to give back to her.

Shelley is Scots-Irish, and with that comes her beautiful red hair, so this color that we chose together looks utterly fabulous with her hair and skin tone. She's using another skein in the same color to knit her first non-fun-fur scarf, and is making me very proud with her enthusiasm. We're both hoping she doesn't get herself into a mistake that she can't fix, because she's in Bavaria for the next month, and there's only so much that can be accomplished over Skype.

Oh, and remember those mittens that I swore I'd finish on Sunday? I DID. They aren't blocked yet, but I'll be getting on that soon, with pictures to follow. I also have a few more projects to share, so I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of the Traveling Woman that I cranked out at breakneck speed last week. I only have one other major WIP in the basket: the Brandywine Shawl that I put away for my own good, some time ago. It might be time to revisit her.

Happy New Year!

Hello all! Oh dear, it's been a while...

I hope you have all had a lovely holiday season. I suddenly find myself in 2012. When did that happen? The past year has gone by very quickly for me, although each month seemed to pass by so slowly. It was a particularly difficult year for me, and I'm pretty glad that it's over. I hope that the coming year will contain significantly more knitting, and less drama. It will hopefully also include more blogging! I think about blogging all the time, but I seldom actually get around to it. It doesn't help matters that I haven't finished a project in ages. I have one shawl to show off, my finished Holden Shawlette, and multiple other things in the works, most of which are gifts. I have a film-strip scarf for one of my dearest friends, which is somewhat slow-going due to the four MILLION ends I have to weave in before doing the edging. I'm also finishing up a hat for another friend, and after a quick headscarf for my closest girlfriend, I'll be able to start a new project for me, or maybe polish off one of the many sleeping wips. I hope to have pictures to post of SOMETHING soon!

While I do hope that this year will contain more knitting, I can guarantee that the next few months won't, so I'm trying to get as much knitting as possible done before the new semester starts. I hope to be back soon with pictures! As it is, I'm going to stop rambling and get some sleep--something I haven't had much of over the last couple of days.

May 2012 bring wonderful things to all of us!

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!

Happy Easter

It's been a time for cleaning and taking care of business for me lately. I've been working pretty hard on getting my room into a presentable state--it's been a wreck since the opera, and I never really finished moving into it in the first place. That took up most of the beginning of my spring break, and I'll be doing some more of that tomorrow before I go back to school and face the Les Enfants/Mozart Requiem/Carmina Burana/Finals/Durufle Requiem rush. Phew.

But, this has been a very nice break. Ben and I took my brother to the park, and afterward, I managed to coerce him into drinking a smoothie. With fruit in it. This is a big deal. It was great to get to take him outside and just play for a little while.



Also, just before the break, and through a small miracle, I actually managed to get tickets to Wicked! It was a dream come true, and better than I could ever have expected, and I expected it to be really great. I don't have any pictures from us at the show on my memory card--I'll have to check my computer's hard drive.


Also, we recently went to see Video Games Live, which was AMAZING.



We waited in line for two hours afterward to get autographs at the meet-and-greet. I got there an hour late, because I had to dash there after a mass, so I was pretty pooped when we finally got our autographs at 1am. But, it was totally worth it.




I've also been trucking away diligently on my Traveling Woman, which is going decidedly slowly.



I'm almost done with my third repeat of chart A, but it's still pretty small. Because I knitted so loosely when I first started, I always sized down my needles, but I apparently don't need to do that anymore, because this is quite a bit smaller than it should be, I think. I'm just going to keep on knitting. I have three more balls of this yarn, so I can make it as big as I want. Although, I probably won't make it too big, because it's such a bright color.

Anyway, I hope that everyone is having a lovely weekend in whatever way means most to you. I went on a loot-buying spree last week, and I have to take pictures and get them all posted, so I'll be getting those up soon.

Many Victories

I find it amazing that I often get less rest during holidays than I do during the normal year. Because I have so much free time, I stay up even later, and then I try to get up early the next morning so that I don't waste the day. Ultimately, I wind up totally whacked out when I go back to school. I'm really going to try to keep this from happening this holiday, but I'm going to have to start fighting it now. I've stayed up obscenely late almost every night, so far.

Generally, the past day has been full of win. There was massive owning at Pictionary, and the beating of Halo 3 by Evan (and crying by me, as always).

But, best of all, was this:



That is Evan. Yes, he is crocheting.

Last night, he expressed an interest in learning how to crochet (after talking to me for quite some time about how absolutely wonderful it is) and I told him that I would teach him today. We started, of course, with the chain. Because I wanted to teach him just like I was taught, I sent him home with some acrylic and one of my hooks (no one can ever doubt that I love this boy), and instructed him to practice chaining until I see him again over Spring Break. I spent a lot of my childhood practicing the simpler stitches, and it really benefited me.

I'm extremely impressed with how quickly he grasped the concept, and how enthusiastic he is about it. I taught him both pencil (what I use) and knife hold, and he chose knife hold, for the time being. I think it will work better for him, because he has big hands. I am mega proud of him, and I can't wait to teach him more when he comes back. Ben captured the last few minutes that we spent with Evan before he left to go home again (sad face). Me and my Evil Stepmother, he and his blue acrylic starter chain: shoulder to shoulder.




These are the moments that make me remember just how wonderful my life really is.

Trucking along

I just finished winding the second skein of Imagination for my shawl, using my favorite swift (read: my knees) and my favorite ball winder (read: my hands). I sometimes toy with the idea of buying a swift/ball winder, but I really don't have the space for it in my room right now. When Ben and I have our own place, I may get one, but I really enjoy the personal feeling of winding every yard of my yarn by hand. My mind may change later.

So, today we went to Borders with Alex, Ben's brother, to pick up a book. Normally, I have a reasonable amount of restraint in bookstores. It almost makes me sad to go into them, because I want so many of the books, but I don't like to let myself buy them, because it always snowballs. We spent at least an hour browsing and enjoying the loveliness of the store.

I caved.




I've been wanting Abundance, At Knit's End, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but the other two were spontaneous. One is about the Salem witch trials, and one is about China. I don't know much more about that last one yet, but I read a bit out of it, and it seems like it's going to be amazing. I love reading fiction that is immersed in other times and cultures. I never buy this many books at a time for no reason, but I'm really happy to have these.

I sent a message to the designer of All Tied Up, and after reading her response, I think that I'm going to tackle the seams on the shawl soon, so that I can stop thinking about them. It seems like they're looming, and every time I stop to look at my work, that's all I see. I'm going to get it done now, so that I don't get any more psyched out.

Ben and Evan, a good friend of ours who lives too far away, are beating Halo 3 on Co-Op while Evan's here for a visit. He's leaving tomorrow night, and I'm very sad to see him go. We only see him twice a year, and we're such good friends. I find it amazing how close two people can become so quickly. I only met Evan a few years ago, but I feel as if we've always known each other. I think that my favorite thing about the holidays is getting the time to see the people that you can't see any other time of year.

It has been decided today that men are like Rocket Launchers, and women are like Spartan Lasers...because they are apparently Vehicle Sniper Rifles. LOL.

Well, it looks like they're saving the final mission of Halo until the morning. It's time for a match of Extreme Pictionary. I love the holidays.