I finished the socks this afternoon...here is a quick pic:



I haven't decided if I am going to keep them or not.....I really like them but I think they may be just a little too large for my feet. I used the same pattern I used last time, but I think I knit a little more loosely. Next time I think i will have to do a smaller circumference as well as a shorter foot.

I finished the blue scarf last night...here's a look:


This will be for my boyfriend's niece for her birthday (in January), and goes along with the hat and mittens set I finished previously.

Started on selfish knitting (socks for me) and christmas knitting (homespun sweater for cousin's child). Also, I won an ebay auction for this. Lots of fun sock yarn to play with! I'm excited :)

Almost done with the scarf, I have done about 40 sets of boxes (7 rows each) in K5P5 pattern...now I am just waiting for the yarn to run out. Yay. After this, it will be sock-it-to-me Friday....that is I am going to start a new pair of socks with the yarn I got from Janine last week. I think it's called Jellybean....super fun colors. I know I should be knitting on the baby sweater, but the fact that it's all hanging on straight needles makes it really unappealing.

BTW, one nice thing about living in the south....the weather! Altho it's still hot (it's been reaching 80 degrees all week, I believe), it is sunny and there is not a cloud in the sky today! And that's not a metaphor! Amazing.

Haven't been posting much lately because not that much has been going on. Or perhaps because so much has been going on, but none of it interesting to anyone else. I've started a scarf to go with the blue hat and mittens I made previously. This will be for a 4 year old's bday in January (my boyfriend's niece). I am itching to do more socks, so I may do some selfish knitting once the scarf is done. It's quite a ways along, so my feet may be cozy again soon.

On the school front...things are going ok I guess. My analysis prof seems to think I am doing "very well" by some freak occurance. He is now urging me to consider candidacy for the PhD program, saying I would have "no trouble qualifying" for the program. FYI (to those not living in math la-la land) to qualify for PhD candidacy you have to pass this big test called the comprehensive exams. (This is kinda like the boards for med school or the bar for a lawyer, etc). It tests a couple of subjects...in my school 2: Algebra and Analysis. It is notoriously hard. Lots of PhD hopefuls never make it past it. And the analysis part is supposed to be much harder, and I think my prof even helps to write that section. He must be seriously mistaken. I currently don't have plans to torture myself that much.....

I finished the chenille scarf! I had some trouble on deciding what to do on the ends, but I knew I wanted something there. I ended up making a little bit of fringey loops via crocheted chains (same stitch as I use on boas, just on a smaller scale). Here is the end product:


The second picture shows the color a bit better. For this I used 5 skeins of chenille sensations, 3 in mulberry and 2 in venice print. I knit 25 stitches in garter stitch on size 7 needles, alternating the color every two rows. I just stranded along the side for the color changes and knit til I ran out of the venice print. Then I worked a row of single crochet around all sides, then did the fringey loops. Voila.

Warning: Contains mostly non-crafting babbling

I guess I've been absent for a few days. Well, Tuesday night my boyfriend was finally able to fly in. He got in late (we got back to the airport at about 12:30). Wednesday we got to go out to eat, and we also hit Joann's, Michael's, and Garden Ridge in Kennesaw. I didn't get anything at Joann's (eep!), I got a fringe tool at Michael's (our main purpose there was to get carveable pumpkins...which, btw, are a MAJOR pain), and I got nothing at Garden Ridge. I hadn't been to Garden Ridge since before I moved here, and at that time I wasn't such a yarn junkie, so I didn't know what they carried. Their yarn section was terrible! It consisted of a few different colors of caron one pound, and some caron fascination. I really think that's all there was. I have more yarn than they do (if not quantity, then definitely variety). Needless to say, I won't be back there. We also got some fake lights for our pumpkins, once we get them carved. We didn't finish them this visit, but he is sposed to be back for halloween. Wednesday night we got back early and planned to watch the Matrix Reloaded. Him and I both loved the original and had planned to see it together. We missed it in the theatre because he wasn't able to visit while it was showing. But.........I hate it. I fell asleep about 45 mins into it. What a mistake.

Thursday we got up early and went to the bank and the video store before school. We now have a joint account so in about 30 days I will enjoy the same flight benefits that he gets, yay! (He works for United airlines.) We rented Anger Management and Boat Trip, tho he only saw the former. SPOILER ALERT: Anger management was like a mini version of "The Game". It was alright tho. Boat Trip was funny, but not as much as I'd expected.

Friday we had to wake up at 3:30am to get his butt back to st louis! Poor us! He got in around 10am his time so he had his entire day left. What did he do with it? He decided to go in to work even tho he had it off! Awwww, he's such a hard worker, hehehe.

Last night on my way home I made my (probably last) stop at the going out of business Joann's. I got about 8 skeins of Lily Sugar n Cream (super sized) and 10 balls in 5 different colors of bernat boa.....all 60% off. I also got these neat markers for candles, less than $1 for 2, and refill fabric for my Brother Appliquestation (60% off!). Then when I got home I had a skein of Magic Stripes from Janine waiting in the mail! yay!

October is going to be my last month for buying yarn. Exceptions will be: if I sell something I made or if I specifically need a certain yarn for a project for a present. Make sure I obey!

A question...if anyone made it this far

Do you buy yarn by project or by fancy? Do you just buy it cause you like it, or do you specifically set out with a pattern? I am more the latter, I buy it when I'm in love or when it's on sale and then later I try to match up my yarn to patterns.

FO again
I finished another super quick scarf. This time it's for me:

I used 2 strands of homespun corinthian and 1 strand of copper fun fur held together this time, fun fun.

FO! FO!

No, I'm not just stuttering, I have two! First, the homespun sweater:

It is kind of big. And the cuffs aren't tight so the sleeves hang down. Ah well, it' still wearable, esp if I wear a shirt underneath.

Now, the scarf:


This is a Christmas gift for my aunt, who requested a new scarf. I used plain (beige) colors so that I could use crazy (furry) yarn. I worked this from 1 skein of Caron Fascination in Marble and 1.5 skeins of Lion Fun Fur in Champagne. All I did was hold 2 strands of fascination (pull from inside and out) and 1 strand of fur, cast on 13 stitches on 35 needles, and knit in garter until I ran out of the fascination. Simple! And elegant (I think). The entire scarf took less than 3 hours (and I was on the phone for some of that time)

I finished the sweater!!!!!!! Too late to take pics tho, since I wanted to wash it. It's a bit large.......ok it's more than a bit large. But that just makes it extra comfy right? I hope so. It's hard to tell since it was so hot inside today I could barely do more than try it on. I started on a new scarf! No not the one I started yesterday, a NEW one. This is a quick garter scarf on size 35 needles with a few different strands. It's working up so quick, will probably have it done tonight.

Janine's a bad influence on me. She made a gorgeous scarf and inspired me to dig out some yarn and make a scarf. I didn't like what was going on so I ripped it out, but am still making a scarf, argh. That having been said, I am about 1/2 way through the second sleeve. Not too much longer, woohoo

Stash-o-Rama

No knitting progress...cause I have been doing this instead:

Yup what you see is most of my yarn...the rest is in the 2 tubs underneath and a bag on the other side of the closet. I redid the entire closet (cept for all the junk on the shelf) and I LOVE the way it turned out. Not only is my yarn so much easier to access, but so is everything else. My yarn used to be in tubs which were stacked, the top one with its lid off. I had 2 of these stacks (altho one stack was mostly fabric) and then I proceeded to pile and pile and pile more yarn on top of the open tubs. Which means to get underneath, I had to take all that off...so that never happened. Now it is SO easy to get to everything, and the way it is set up makes me feel like I've got my own personal yarn shop. These shelves were only $8.88 at Walmart...they hang from the closet rod (thank goodness it's sturdy). They're crappy plastic and want to come apart, but I wanted something cheap and simple since I will only be here less than a year. Yeah!

I absolutely love Christmas stockings. Love them! I have several I have made (check my other pages for pics), and am currently scouring for a pattern for one this year. I think I would like to knit one in fair isle (just 2 colors). However, I have not really done fair isle. Does anyone know of a simple pattern/page that teaches this well? I am thinking of practicing on hats (quick, round, yet big enough to work comfortably). Also if there are any neat fair isle stocking patterns out there, I would appreciate that as well.

Besides that, I was expecting my boyfriend tonight but he is unable to make it (again), so we are pushing it off til next week. I am realllly trying to get him here for Halloween. I think Halloween is such an easy holiday to be lonely on, because you can so easily see everyone else having a wonderful time. So, that's the plan. So what I am going to do is buy some sort of organization system for my yarn. I convinced him this was a good idea by telling him that "Ya know, sometimes I need a certain yarn, and rather than dig through mine to see if I have it, I just go out and buy some!" This is too true. So a system where I can see and easily access my yarn is a necessity.

Been busy lately so no real knitting to report. I plan to finish my sweater, hrmmmmm, by Friday hopefully. *fingers crossed* Then I have Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off for fall break! And it happens to fall inbetween Algebra assignments, so it won't be so bad!

Besides that, for the last week or so I have been practicing positive thinking. Leaving my house with the thought that the day ahead will bring great things...and so it has! I'm doing better in my classes, getting compliments on my work, my looks, etc. Go figure! It is tiring tho (and so unnatural for me, heh).

I made some progress on my sweater yesterday and this morning.

I'm worried about the pocket, I keep thinking it's not centered. I measure it and it seems perfectly centered but when I flop the sweater on it seems off. Maybe it will look right when the side seams get sewn...or maybe I'm just not symmetric enough. Started on a sleeve, just barely, this morning. I think I have a couple days off next week (fall break) so it should be done soon! Have tons of work to do now tho.

BTW this isn't just a few additions to the last pic, that is the front sewed to the back and with pocket and collar, yay.

"Saturday is the TRUE Lord's Day! Sunday will be enforced as the day of the Beast!"

This is what a sign proclaims everytime I get on the freeway. Gotta love the south. Anyways, I found some interesting knitting propaganda this morning.

All photos are from Knits n Bytes.

Ugh. I am so agitated at my internet. It has been up and down all day. All month. All year. Ever since I got it. I hate it so much. I have considered cancelling many times, it would sure save me a lot of money. Perhaps I could get dialup, since I pay for a phone line I never use.

Anyways, I finished the scarf. Here is a pic:

I made this for my grandma for Christmas...and it goes with the hat and gloves I made previously.


Ode to my ISP
"Have I told you lately that I loathe you,
Have I told you there's noone else below you.
You fill my heart with madness,
Take away all my gladness.
Cause my troubles, that's what you do."

Brrrrr...

It's a wee bit nippley this morning...and I'm LOVING it! hehehe. I finished the green part on my sweater front last night and I will be working on it ferociously today. Also I am practically done with the scarf, I've got it off the needles and am just adding some more fur to it now...yeah! I was hoping to knit til I just ran out of woolease and then just use up all the fur, but it was getting pretty long and it's a gift so I decided to stop. It is the perfect length to wrap once around the neck and have both ends hanging in the front, and it looks great that way with the hat! Yeah!

BTW I got an email today informing me that it is the anniversary of Rembrandt's death...just thought I would pass that tidbit of trivia along.

Well I've gone and hurt my twisted my ankle, scraped up my knee, and bruised my hand so not much of anything is going on here (I got in a fight with the sidewalk). Anyways, it has finally cooled down here in Hot-lanta! How sweet is this?