Wow, two days in a row! Surely this is a sign of the apocalypse. The challenge that I accepted last night of completing Aria's shawl was an abysmal failure. I didn't finish it today, either, but I am on the last section, so there's hope for finishing it this week, if I can get my homework out of the way early enough. There's even a glimmer of hope for tomorrow.
As of this morning, a care package is on its way to Shreveport, containing my copy of Knitting Rules, two Hubig pies and a bag of Zapps Voodoo Blend chips. It should arrive in Shreveport tomorrow, where Frances will bring them to Stephanie on Saturday night. With any luck, she'll sign my book, and Frances will get to give her my foodstuffs, along with a six-pack of Abita beer. I also included a heartfelt note, just to further solidify my dorkiness and simulated presence.
I hope to have pictures of a finished something soon. The Ishbel is #1 on the list, so it will probably be that. I think I'm going hit the WIP basket hard for a while, and finish up some of these things that have been lurking. Next up will probably be Mara, since that's almost done. It's also mostly garter stitch, which will help since my knitting time these days almost always coincides with study time/practice time/class time/driving time. (I'm kidding about that last one. Mostly.)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Bumpy Roads
I find myself back at the blog, and once again it's at the lull right after a big push. I've just finished my grad school auditions, finally, and was prepared to celebrate. However, my most beloved family member had a sudden, severe accident with a ladder, and is now in the hospital. It's a miracle that he's even still here, and all I can do tonight is sit back, completely overwhelmed by the huge twists and turns of the past couple of weeks. I've spent the past two days with this hat pattern, as a present for a beautiful baby girl. As I worked on it, I thought frequently of Elizabeth Zimmermann's famous motto, "Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises." I really don't know what I'd do if I didn't knit. It would probably involve a lot of hand-wringing and awkward staring. Furthermore, I think it helps more than the knitter, and that knitting produces an aura of calmness that helps everyone around. In the end, the action soothes anxiety while producing something beautiful, and what could be better than that?
On that note, I think I'll go start another hat.
On that note, I think I'll go start another hat.
Monday, January 2, 2012
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!
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!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
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!
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!
Monday, November 7, 2011
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*
Monday, October 17, 2011
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.
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.
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