Inch by Inch

This is River.

Slowly but surely, she is growing.

Sock it to 'em.

This weekend has been made of magic. I've barely slept, and it doesn't even matter. Instead of making a "to-do" list for the weekend, I decided to make a "did-do" list, writing down things after I accomplished them. I highly suggest this method if you're an ambitious person, because it is far more encouraging than staring down a big list of tasks. In the end, I find myself extremely satisfied on this quiet Sunday night--I certainly made the most of the weekend.

I did some MAJOR cleaning (RIP my phone charger cable, which has been sacrificed to the Vacuum Gods), laundry, drank a LOT of tea and enjoyed some of my favorite movies, played some video games and found all kinds of stuff that I thought had been irretrievably sucked into the black hole of my closet.

But, aside from that, I also finished one of my long-lingering WIPs:
The Unicorn-Cupcake Socks



This yarn could not be less my style. It was an Etsy buy in the early days of my knitting career, and the picture was...misleading, at best. The yarn sat in my stash for a long time, and finally I decided that I'd use it to practice my socks. On that particular night, I had decided to watch The Last Unicorn, and the colors reminded me of unicorns and cupcakes. So, I cast them on and worked on them until they were almost done...and then left them to languish until yesterday. I'm still not sure why that happened, but I finished them up quickly. They have achieved their purpose perfectly, allowing me to further develop my understanding of sock knitting.



The pattern is the good, plain sock from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Knitting Rules.

Speaking of Stephanie, something amazing is happening. She's coming to Shreveport. Unfortunately, she's coming this weekend, while I am completely booked up and busy. It makes me quite sad that she's not coming to New Orleans, and that I'm not free to see her, but there is a silver lining. A friend and colleague of mine is staying in Shreveport for an opera, and she's going to the meetup. I asked her if I could mail her one of my books for her to get autographed, and the fair lady has decided to humor me! So, I'm going to be shipping off one of my books tomorrow, probably with a really enthusiastic note/dorky picture tucked inside to further simulate my presence. I'm really excited, because it's the closest I'm going to get to meeting her for a while.

In other news, the Ishbel that I'm knitting for my friend Aria is near completion. Then I'll have an Ishbel block-a-thon for Aria's and Ginger's shawls and deliver them to my sick friends. If I finish the Ishbel tonight, that will be two completed projects in one day. Challenge accepted.

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.

So, I'm back.

Wow, it's been a while. I have been so busy with performances, papers, and exams, that I've hardly had time to make anything, much less write about it. I frogged a few things, and made both Ben and I gloves. I plan on having a post dedicated to that alone, so more on the gloves, soon. I have a silver-dollar sized portion of a hat done, and most of a sweater shaped iPod cozy. If I get the show on the road, I can get the cozy done.

However, this is what I am concerned with at present:



This is (a crappy picture of) an Autobots chart that I am making into a pillow for Ben. I started it over the summer, with no particular plans as to when I was going to finish it or give it to him. As of right now, I'm considering it as a Christmas present for him. I'm pretty confident that I can get this done in time. As a matter of fact, I think it may be time for another round of creative burnthrough--maybe even tonight...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

The past couple of weeks have been a whirling race to the finish line, to the end, to the beginning of the eternal weekend that is summer.

The opera is on Monday. After that, a presentation, exams, and I'm done.

Not only am I done, but this summer will be the first real summer of freedom for six years. The last time I had a summer of freedom, I was pretty much a child. I decided that how I usually spend my summers has really not been good for me for quite a few summers now, and I'm ready to be free of that and have a summer of relaxation and actually doing things that I want to do.

There have been many revelations as of late, and life is getting pretty great from where I stand. I just have to get through these last few crazy things.

When the opera's over, there will be much posting of pictures and telling of stories. I promise, I will be back soon, with tales of victory.

Oh--and I finally saw Blade Runner today. It was awesome.

Deep Breath

This week, this month, the past six months have all been leading up to today. Tonight, for the first and last time, I'm going to go sing my role in the opera. I'm a little anxious, but I always am when I'm waiting to get started. Once I'm up there, I feel great.

It's been a very hectic time for me. The construction in the city has only made it harder to get around, but I try to enjoy the little moments, regardless. I think that may be another reason why I wanted to do Simple Things first. It's all about the mindset. Enjoying little moments of beauty is what makes life worth living.



Here are the long-awaited photos of my brother's scarf:






He really likes it, but of course it's gotten warm since I made it, so he can't wear it. That's how it always goes, though. I made it with Impeccable, by Loops & Threads, and killed the acrylic by ironing it with a wet cloth over it.

Sunday, the Saints play in the Superbowl. That's really all I'm going to say about it. We'll see how it goes.

I finally managed to sit down and start my Simple Things shawl yesterday. I had been waiting on the right needles to come in the mail. I planted my butt in a sunny side room of my university's library, and cast on several times until I was finally satisfied. Since then, I've done quite a bit of it, and I'm quite pleased so far! I'm loving the pattern. It's so clear and approachable. Mary-Heather's pattern writing style makes me feel very comfortable. I'm going to work on it for a while before I leave to do the show tonight.






By the next time I post here, all of my work for Pirates will have culminated in-- God willing--a fantastic show, and we'll know who won the SuperBowl.

Everyone, take a deep breath.