A Bitter Knitter

End of the Year Race...

2011-12-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

At the end of the year, it seems that there is always a race to finish those WIPs... Christmas deadlines and New Year's resolutions and other goals always seem to create a knitting rush. There were some WIPs that I wanted to finish before Christmas and year's end and some that I had planned on finishing sometime in the next year.

This WIP was one that I thought was going to wait until January...

But ended up being a December surprise!

My baby girl, whose moniker for this blog shall be "Jo," was born December 21st. I had gone into the hospital for a non-stress test to monitor my blood pressure on the 20th and it was discovered that I had severe pre-eclampsia, so they decided to induce me early (37 weeks) for both our safety. Jo weighed 5 lbs 5 oz at birth and is 19 inches long. As you can see, she's got a head full of dark hair (except for a blonde patch in the back). She's also got long fingers like her mommy.

I'm loving being a mom. Jo and I are both doing pretty well now and we are getting to know one another. She has absolutely captured my heart. She has her Daddy and all of her other family wrapped around her (long) little fingers! I look forward to her growing into all the lovely hand-knit sweaters she's received from my knitting friends.

Now, this is a knitting blog, right? Well, as a result of pregnancy things going not-so-much as planned, Christmas knitting didn't go quite as planned, either, but I do have things I've been waiting to show! I did gift a couple of stealth projects, though:

A hat for Sister-Son, whom I call "Froggie":

And birthday socks for my mom (whose birthday is the day after Jo's!) (I actually finished these while in the early stages of labor...):

I still owe knit gifts to my husband and one of my other nephews, but they know they'll get them when I get to it... which may take a while with this new little one around!

I did, though, manage to squeeze in the time to knit Jo's first stocking! I'm going to knit her a different one every year--it will be part of her Christmas morning surprise. This year it's a tiny one for a tiny person (key shown for scale):

The completion of the socks and stocking make it an official 24 projects completed in 2011, as was my goal.

It's certainly been an interesting year! In addition to my baby, my older sister had a son, and my younger sister got married. I'm looking forward to next year with my little one and seeing what else the future has in store.

A Productive November...

2011-12-02T20:50:00.001-08:00

This November, rather than NaKniSweMo (a sweater in 30 days), I participated in NaKnitMo, knitting as much as possible in 30 days. Over the course of those 30 days, I competed:

A blessing dress for my little one:

Booties to go with it: (somehow already lost one, and she's not even born yet. Ah, well. Just have to knit some more...)

And a Dalek jumper for my little one as well:

Plus I finished another Gaptastic Cowl for a friend of my mother's, a pair of stealth projects (Christmas presents) for my biggest and smallest nephews, and got good progress made on a couple other stealth projects for Christmas as well. The Gaptastic is pictured on my Red-Headed Sister below:

So, all in all I completed three works in progress, started and finished three new projects, and got half-way through two more... all in November! I feel highly accomplished, especially in comparison to a few months ago! I aim to finish the two half-done projects by Christmas, which will be completed projects #23 and #24 for 2011--a nice round two-dozen, as my goal was at the beginning of the year. Nice!

Goodbye, October! It was fun...

2011-10-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

At least I have knitting to show for the time that has passed!

I have finished one of the two projects I mentioned at the end of my previous post:

This is the baby sweater I was talking about that just needed sleeves. The pattern is "Oriental Lily" and I just love it... More of these in my little one's future, methinks.

I've also completed an itty-bitty pair of booties (pattern: Saartje's Bootees) which are just darling, if I do say so myself:

And, third, my contribution to Knit for the Cure 2011, a "Ground Flower Hat." I do love the pattern and how the hat turned out. There may be more of these in my future...

In more fun knitting-related news, a couple of friends and I went to the nearest Yarn Harlot book signing a couple of hours to the north. Of course, we didn't just go to the book signing... we yarn-crawled our way there first! The other two ladies I went with knit on the way up, but since the pregnant lady gets motion sick, I got to drive. While I'm a little bummed that I missed out on all that knitting time, I did get to drive my friend's really, really nice BMW that accelerates like a dream... That's an acceptable trade-off. We saw and fondled a lot of yarn, and some of it followed us home, so of course we had to keep it. I think, total, we hit six stores.

The book reading and signing was awesome. And we all met Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and I've even got proof.

Plus... I got mentioned on the Yarn Harlot's blog! I'm the 16th photo down...

In her recent posts, she'd been talking about her Gwendolyn sweater that she had to snip and graft because of mis-crossed cables, so I brought in my Sophia Cardi with the sleeve that had to be snipped and grafted because of puled stitches. I have been dubbed a fellow "Black Ops Knitter" and I love it.

Super Secret Stealth Project

2011-10-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping secrets...

Secrets about a "stealth project" and I've been keeping them for months now...

That's the reason that I've gotten nothing done and haven't written any posts... I might've spilled the beans...

But now it's bean-spilling time. Oh, it's still a work-in-progress, but I've reached the point where I'm willing for it to not be so stealthy anymore...

This WIP is about two-thirds done and should be finished in January:

(The photo is a few weeks old; it's time for a new one. My bump has gotten much bigger since!) Oh, and for those of you who will ask, it's a GIRL!

As such, I have reexamined my knitting goals... (I was off knitting for a few months when everything made me nauseous and caused motion sickness, including watching TV, being on the computer, or knitting. I read a lot...) I set a goal in January to complete at least 24 knit projects. I have thus far completed fourteen projects. I have a whole bunch more on the needles, but I'm not sure if I will complete ten more in the next three months. Of course, baby sweaters and things go fast, so it may be possible. I'm not holding myself to two-dozen anymore, though. Whatever gets done gets done...

There were four types of projects I wanted to complete this year, and I think I've changed my mind on all of them...

1- Knit a project with beads. I had fully intended to do this one. But I tried a tricky pattern with beads while pregnant. That didn't work so well... I have decided that, while I have pregnancy brain, I am not smart enough to knit that pattern. And I'm OK with that. I still have yarn and beads that need something to do, but right now they're not speaking to me. That's fine. Maybe next year, and maybe not.

2- Knit a pair of mittens. Well, I may do this one, but they won't be mittens for me. They'll be mittens to fit my baby girl next winter when we will, hypothetically, be going up to Utah for Christmas with my in-laws.

3- Knit a pair of gloves. And now I wonder why this was on my list. While it would be cool to have a pair of gloves that actually fit my fingers, I don't wear gloves all that often and am wondering why I would invest all that work.

4- Knit a pair of toe-up socks. Again, maybe toe-up baby socks, but I don't see myself knitting a pair for myself in the next three months. (I have two pair for me on the needles already and they take priority... not to mention the socks I've been promising Husband for months and months... ugh.)

I also made a comment about blogging more often... yeah, we all see how well that went this year!

The only thing I've finished since my last post is a Gap-tastic cowl for my Red-headed Sister, who is planning on moving to New York next year. Blue to go with her amazing eyes...

I've got several things in the works, including a baby sweater that's nearly done. (I just need to finish the sleeves... round and round in tiny tubes...) And I've completed one of my hedgerow mitts. The second is well underway. Maybe in my next post I'll have both to show you...

...maybe...

I got nothin'...

2011-07-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

I last blogged two months ago, and in that two months I have accomplished a big whoppin' NOTHIN'. I have no new finished projects to show, much less any photo-worthy progress on any other works in progress.

Instead I have started and frogged multiple things repeatedly. In this process I have learned:

That reading the directions is important. All the directions. While this sounds really obvious, it's amazing how many times I keep learning this lesson. Guess it's not sticking... Before casting on some ridiculous 600+ stitches using Judy's Magic Cast-on, it is useful to read the direction that says to switch the positions of the tail and working yarn. Uh-huh. Because otherwise your working yarn is on the wrong side to start the project, and then you have to pull it all out and do it again.

I actually ended up saying "forget it" to that cast on and doing a different provisional cast on, only to discover that the pattern and I don't get along. Oh-the pattern is fine. I've charted and grafted and counted fifty times, and it all works... until I'm knitting it. And then it doesn't work anymore. And having to re-cast-on at least 300 stitches over and over again was going to drive me batty. Fine. I'll take it as a sign that it's not meant to be. Something else I've learnt. So now I'm looking for another shawl pattern for 425 yards of sock yarn (with beads, ideally).

That when you're working on a project and you've made your way through the increases and then, from that point forward, all your colours start lining up and pooling extremely conspicuously, you can knit all the rows you want and be as hopeful as you like--The colours are not going to magically move. They will keep pooling. And yelling at them won't fix it. (Trust me. I tried.) Fine. Frogged. Looking for another pattern.
That when a yarn says it's a "sport" weight but looks more like "fingering" or maybe even "light fingering," one should not stubbornly use it for a pattern that calls for "DK" weight. It will just look stupid. I still want to knit that cabled vest, but I'm going to have to find another yarn (that's actually "DK"), and then look for another pattern for this delicious alpaca (in "fingering" weight, probably...)

Lest you think that I'm not getting anything done at all, I assure you that I am working on a pair of socks and a cowl, and those are moving slowly but surely. And while I haven't managed to complete a knit project in two months, I have made another knitting success:

I have convinced my red-headed sister to take up knitting! (I will confess that it was actually Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's books that pushed her over the knitting edge, but who was it that lent her the books, has her reading The Yarn Harlot and Panopticon blogs, and gives her knitted gifts? Yeah--me.) She is making a hat for her first project and is on the decreases. She says she loves knitting. Yay! Our family says that she is "Knitting Gingerly."

Stealth Projects Exposed!

2011-05-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

I owe you an update... I promised you pictures of stealth projects in "late March." Well, I guess May 2nd is now "late March." Sure. Let's go with that. So here we have the promised stealth projects, as well as the other projects I've completed since.

STEALTH PROJECTS:
My older sister is expecting a baby in a couple months, and these are for my future nephew:

Because I think every little boy needs a "Hobbes" tiger.

We're calling this his "hat of many colours."

And for my niecelette, a pair of socks in her favourite colour, "hot pink," to celebrate that she will soon be a big sister:

RECENTLY FINISHED PROJECTS:
1- Bubble Socks that I started back in November and finished during a 12-hour Doctor Who marathon. (Did you know that you can watch all of Series 5 in 12 hours? You can. I know. Pam and I did it, and it was awesome.):

2- My second pair Musical Mitts. (The first ones are here.) These ones are for me. I completed these at Knit Camp (Yes--Knit Camp. Knitters together, all day, knitting. It was awesome.)

3- Mint Dark Chocolate Socks. No pattern, just socks. Finished these while house/cat sitting for a pair of spunky kittens.

4- Beaded bracelet. I've been wanting one since some of the other knitters made them last year. Now I want more of them.

5- Easter scarf. I wanted this for Easter Sunday to go with my cream suit. It was a close call--I ended up casting-off during choir practice right before church that morning. I love the pattern. I wasn't sure about the sparkliness initially, but I was talked into buying it and I'm glad I did. The pattern is just lovely with this yarn, and it went very well with the suit. I'm trying to get a picture that captures the actual colours, but haven't been successful. The colours on it are really fantastic, and what sold me on the yarn in the first place. It's actually currently blocking, (I wore it unblocked with ends very hastily woven in,) but here's a picture of the lace:

Whew! With those projects done, I have finished 12 projects so far this year. (Not bad for "late-March!") Half-way to my goal of 24.

Growing a sweater

2011-03-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Take some yarn... (well, not just some yarn. Lots of yarn. About 1200 yards in this particular instance.)

Add some knitting needles, a few stitch markers, a handful of blocking pins, and an emergency crochet hook. Wait 125 days (who knows how many hours... I'm not sure I really want to know that number...) and then, if the Knitting Fates have smiled upon you...

...your yarn will grow up to become a sweater.

My NaKniSweMo sweater is finally all grown up. *sniff*

More photos when I can get some one to take them for me--I'm just ecstatic with the fact that these sleeves are LONG ENOUGH for my abnormally long arms.

Also, since my last post, I've finished another pair of socks:

These are the first pair of socks I created without a specific pattern--they are knit straight from my brain. They are also my first socks with afterthought heels. I love the colours, especially of the variegated yarn. The LYS I bought it at only had one skein of the variegated but I really, really wanted it, so I bought the solid for the cuff, toe, and heel, cast on and knit the cuff, then knit with the variegated until I was halfway through my yarn, and then knit the toe. Then I added the heel where it needed to be.

I'm making progress on the Aster Vest. I've finished the back and am well on my way on the left front. No pictures because it just looks like wadded up yarn... Lace is one of those amazing things that can look totally lumpy and miserable before blocking and then looks incredible after blocking. There's no point in showing you the lumpy miserableness right now, but I'm loving the pattern.

I still owe you pictures of the things I've recently stealth knit, but as I still haven't gifted them they are still in stealth mode. Soon, though, I hope!

Open Letter to those Two Purled Stitches:

2011-03-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Pair of Pesky Purled Stitches-

You hid so stealthily from me while I knit the sleeve of my sweater, waiting until the sleeve was soaking wet to expose yourself. You placed yourselves on the sleeve right where it would crease at the elbow so that you knew I would see you every time I wore the sweater. And you did it all to torment me. You knew that being faced the wrong way would cause you to catch the light differently than all the other stitches in the broken rib pattern. You wanted to draw attention to yourselves and away from the sweater as a whole.

Multiple people told me that you were just two stitches and no one would notice, that you weren't worth the effort, and that I should just let you be. But you and I know that isn't true. From the moment you showed your faces, you should have known that you were doomed. I could not allow you to besmirch my sweater, and so you had to go.

I admit that I was intimidated by you. I knew that I would have to take scissors to my finished sleeve and unravel several stitches around you in order to be rid of you, but I was not going to let you have the better of me. I came prepared.

I separated you from the other stitches. You should have known then that you weren't long for this world, but I suppose that you perhaps could have doubted me... perhaps you thought me a coward. But I wouldn't relent. Armed with a large supply of chocolate, I took the plunge. I pulled out my scissors, snipped the stitch between you, and soon you were gone.

But the challenge was still ahead of me. I then had to rejoin the rows of stitches above and below where you had been. While you knew my skill at kitchenering together knit rows, you knew that I had never before attempted to kitchener broken rib, much less would I have chosen to do so voluntarily. You deliberately put me in that position in an attempt to stop me from removing you in the first place. But I refused to let you thwart me. I admit to a few false starts, but in the end, I triumphed over you. You are no more. Aside from the ends I now have to weave in, it is as though you never existed. Ever.

I confess that I feel rather smug at your demise and the perfectly knit stitches that now sit in your place. I do not regret your loss in the slightest. I suppose I could be noble and state that I appreciate the opportunity that you created for me to expand my knitting skills, but I won't. What you did was underhanded and sneaky. I am glad to be rid of you. Pull that dastardly trick again and you will meet the same fate.

Let this be a warning to you.

--A Bitter Knitter

Yarn Puzzle

2011-03-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

If I would stop stealth knitting, you would get blog posts. I'm planning a post for late March that will show you what I've been up to in January and February, but you're going to have to wait until then for most of my knitting progress.

For today, however, I have some good yarn-y news.

I have finished all the pieces for my sweater!

Yes, my NaKniSweMo sweater is finally cast off. It's currently blocking (perched precariously on my piano) and looks like a puzzle waiting to be put together... A sweater sized jigsaw puzzle...

The second sleeve is hiding down on the piano bench. Each sleeve took a whole skein of yarn. Or, to rephrase, it took 200 yards per sleeve to make them long enough for me. Of course, it was after knitting all 400 yards (or 50 inches) of sleeve and putting the whole thing in to soak that I noticed the mistake below:

Two stitches that should have been knit that I distractedly purled instead. If I had noticed before binding off above it, it would have been an easy fix to just drop the offending columns one at a time and crochet hook up again the right way. Now I'm going to have to resort to scissoring. After it dries, I'm going to have to snip that stitch in the middle, pull those stitches out, and weave new yarn through the stitches correctly, and then, of course, weave in the four ends created by that process. I do not like having scissors near my knit-work. It's disaster waiting to happen... (Even on the occasions when disaster did not happen, it was still waiting.)

My goal was to finish the sweater by the end of February, and I'm awfully close. If February was a 31-day month, I would have cast off in February, but February cheats everyone out of a few days. Yes, it's February's fault. We won't blame all the other projects that I worked on and/or completed during that time, or me for working on those other projects. After all, I had other deadlines to meet, too. Nope-blame the anomalous 28-day second month.

My next big project is going to be Cassie Miller's Aster Vest, but I'm not going to let myself start it until I have completely finished this sweater.

Moving right along...

2011-01-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

It's looking sweaterish! After 18 pattern repeats, I finally finished the horseshoe lace pattern. I have successfully divided for the back and fronts and managed not to flub the shaping! Today I begin the sleeves... all 50 inches of sleeve... but with how fast the back and fronts went, I actually don't think that it will be too bad. (Of course, I'm saying that now. Ask me how I feel about it later, when I'm done with one sleeve and realize that had I normal length arms I would be a third of the way through the second sleeve.)

My niecelette (3yo) has discovered Fraggle Rock. She called me the other day because she was watching an episode and the Doozers take up knitting because they can't build, which is what they usually do (for whatever reason. I missed that part). But they sing a song about knitting. And I know you want to see it too, so I've embedded it below. (If you find it hard to understand the lyrics, you can read them here.)

Knitting with Resolve

2011-01-08T23:43:00.000-08:00

We're now over a week into the new year. I've been mulling over the past year and what I want to "resolve" to do this year, so here's my 2011 knitting goal:

Complete at least 24 knit projects.

That's an average of two a month. (Last year, my first complete year as a knitter, I finished 20 projects of various sizes, so I think this goal is extremely reasonable, as I was also in school for half the year.)

Among those projects I want to:

Knit a project with beads.
Knit a pair of mittens.
Knit a pair of gloves.
Knit a pair of toe-up socks.

Among my list of things to knit "someday" are the following:

Knit an afghan
Knit with 100% silk
Knit with cashmere
Knit a drop stitch pattern
Knit a pullover sweater
Knit a cardigan with buttons
Knit something that has steeks
Knit something with entrelac
Knit something intarsia

I also want to learn how to knit Continental and how to knit and purl backwards. If any of these happen this year, great, if not, they'll be on the list next year.

I'm also going to aim to blog here more often... no more letting a whole month or more pass between posts.

I'm off to a good start this year: I've finished three projects already (of course, two were started before the new year, but as the goal says complete 24 projects, I get to count them this year. They're not counted as part of last year's 20.)

First: Two gifted Christmas presents.

1- Biohazard beanie for S-nephew #3. Modeled by Husband (who also wants one), I found the biohazard chart through Ravelry, and then took some basic stitch numbers from another beanie to get started.

2- Sid's Scarf for Elder Sister's husband, modeled here by their darling little girl, my niecelette. He requested it after last Christmas, and finally got it for this one.

Also, a finally-completed stealth project that you haven't seen yet which was gifted for Christmas (but finished before the new year, so it counted last year) is the scarf knit for Elder Sister:

I've also finished a project for me, started in 2011: Chandelier wristers:

I love this pattern. I think it's fantastic. I think I'm going to knit more pairs of these in the future, but I think I'll join it to knit in the round when I reach the second lace pattern. I additionally loved how fast they knitted up. I was going crazy; after knitting my sweater through November and then Christmas presents through December (that got finished in January), I was dying to finish something (and something for me!).

So I'm currently working on my sweater (which looks like it did in the previous blog posts, except longer), re-knitting my beach shawl, and working on two pair of socks. I would (ideally) like to finish my sweater by the end of February. May or may not be wishful thinking. But it IS going to be finished this year.

Well, at least I've figured out my knitting resolutions. Now to decide what other resolutions I want to set for this year...

Christmas Grace

2010-12-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

If you do not care to read religious blog posts, feel free to close this one now. I don't mind. Have a pleasant day.

For those of you still here, I wish you a Happy Christmas. I recently finished rereading Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." My favourite line in the book is when Bob Cratchit is speaking to his wife about Tiny Tim. He says, "Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and bind men see."

Tiny Tim put it well. This Christmas season has given my family good cause to think of the Saviour. We think of my tiny nephew, Tommy, who passed away this month and we remember on this Christmas Day He who suffered for our sins that we may be forgiven and then died and rose again that we may be resurrected. At this time, when commercialism has flooded the holiday, I am grateful to have this albeit somber reminder of the true reason we celebrate today: the gift of Christ and His atonement.

We remember the babe born to Mary in the most humble of circumstances who, through His birth, brought us the gifts of grace and mercy, and of resurrection, and eternal life, and eternal families. The Lord who brought healing in His wings (2 Nephi 25:13) and encircles us with the arms of His love (2 Nephi 1:15).

I had the opportunity to attend a Messiah Sing with my older sister before coming up to visit my in-laws. I love so many of the scriptures used in Handel's Messiah but have selected just my favourite-favourite ones to share:

For, unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. [. . .] He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities [. . .] and with His stripes we are healed. -Isaiah 53:4-5
Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. - Revelation 19:6, Revelation 11:15
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. -1 Corinthians 15:20-22

It is indeed a "good tiding of great joy" that the Lord came into this earth. I echo this day the angels who sang of His birth so many years ago: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)

The Coat Connundrum

2010-12-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and all the books (except the 13th) are titled with alliterations. He also uses alliterations for many proper nouns throughout the books. It seemed fitting that my own "series of unfortunate events" follow the same pattern.

I needed a coat. It's cold and snowy where my in-laws live. I don't believe in snow, but that doesn't change the fact that it's cold in there and I therefore need a wintery coat. So today I set out to buy one.

Destination #1: Burlington Coat Factory
Reason: Lots of coats of the warm, wintry sort (and I want a black one under US$200.)
Results: I must have tried on 20 to 30 coats. to no avail.

In order for you to truly understand my dilemma, there are a few things you must know.
1- I have really long arms. Really, really long arms. Longer than they should be for a person of my height. Typically, a persons arm span (from tip of middle finger to tip of middle finger) is equal to ones height. Mine should therefore be 68 inches (172-ish cm). My arm span is 74 or so inches (188-ish cm) (it's hard to measure on oneself). (This means that I have to knit about 6 more inches of sleeves than the average knitter when I make sweaters for myself. But I digress...)
2- I have wide shoulders. My little sister loves this because I will buy blouses, realize that they don't fit across the shoulders ('cause I get stuck getting them on), and then she gets to keep them. I don't think that's fair, but thus it is.
3- I use forearm crutches almost all the time that I'm out of the house, so I need a decent amount of range of motion in the shoulders and arms.

Test #1: Does it come down and cover my whole wrist? If not, the sleeves are definitely too short, because every time I move, they're going to come up. If so, move on to Test #2.
Test #2: Raise arms in front of me to shoulder height. If I can hear the shoulder seams strain when I lift my arms forward, I know that's not going to work. And then if I can't raise my arms to at least shoulder height in front of me, that's not going to cut it either. If both of those tests pass, then move on to Test #3.
Test #3: Look in the mirror. If it looks dumb, the answer is no. If I like the look, then buy the coat.

I rarely made it to Test #3.

But I made a discovery: I can get long enough sleeves and wide enough shoulders if I buy a man's coat. But then I look like I'm borrowing my husband's coat because they lack the waist shaping of a woman's coat. And if I wanted to look like I was borrowing my husband's coat, I would just borrow my husband's coat.

I ended up with one possibility, but wasn't really sold on it--too many buttons and things on the sleeve which made it hard to get in and out of my forearm crutches.

Destination #2: J.C. Penny
Repeat Burlington Coat factory experience, except that their coat selection is much, much smaller.
Results: Nada

By this point, I'm running out of spoons but I've got to save enough to go cover a shift at my Sister-in-Law's work. Only time for one more stop, because I'm also running out of time.

Destination #3: Nordstrom
(Side note: anyone else out there tried taking an escalator on crutches? Not exactly an experience I'm looking to repeat. I'll stick to elevators, thank you.)
Results: I was searching through their coat selection and was greeted by their "Coat Expert" who had me try on various coats and talked about what I was looking for and what I needed. I ended up trying on four coats, and buying one. (Black. The sleeves hit me an inch below the wrist when hanging by my side and I can move my arms any way I want, even though they show four inches above the wrist when I raise them in front of me. Plus it was marked down from US$148 to US$89!!)

So I now have a coat, ready to go to and face the fabled "snow" next week. It only took three hours to find one. Good riddance.

A Christmas Goodbye

2010-12-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

I've decorated my window for Christmas. My policy is that, since we're suspending Christmas we may as well suspend all the decorations, too. I'm not putting any decorations on flat surfaces. (Except the tree, which others insisted on putting on the ground and which I've already protested.) They're hung or they're not displayed. (Call me Grinchy, call me Scrooge. Maybe I am as you say. Some days I think that I should have skipped directly from the end of November to the beginning of January... today is one of those days.)

Every time I turn around our holiday plans have changed. I suppose they're as set as they're going to be now, as they're already in progress. Husband and my sister-in-law left early this morning to drive up to see my in-laws. This is a change because Husband and I were supposed to drive up next week, and sister-in-law had no plans of going. After blogging Monday we received some very sad news. Husband's nephew, 19-month-old Tommy, died in his sleep Sunday night after a short but difficult life. Husband and my sister-in-law will be attending the funeral tomorrow while I will be covering shifts at my sister-in-laws work and then I will fly out next week to join Husband and the family for Christmas itself. Keep this dear family in your prayers/thoughts, please.

We will greatly miss this sweet little child who has gone home to his Heavenly Father. ♥

Suspended Christmas

2010-12-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

For a while there was some hubbub in the house as to the critical question of the season:

Where are we gonna put the tree?!

Last year this wasn't a problem. But last year this room didn't exist and the Christmas tree was right here. Where I'm sitting, right now, on my bed, writing this blog post. Yeah. SO not going to work this year. My sister-in-law's family (hence forth dubbed the S family for simplicity's sake) has a HUGE Christmas tree. I suppose that when the average member of their family is over 6-feet-tall an 8-or-9-or-10-foot Christmas tree looks proportionate. But now that Husband and I have moved in, there's no floor space for it.

We ended up using our little 5-foot tree. It stands in the entryway and looks so ~~vulnerable~~ petite in this household of giants. But for a while, we contemplated a far more interesting solution:

Take the 8-or-9-or-10 foot tree and hang it from the ceiling.

Yup. The idea was to decorate the tree and then hoist it and leave it hanging from the ceiling with a 7-foot clearance underneath. Something like... this:

(Except instead of being decorated with Christmas bulbs, please imagine that it is decorated with biohazard and radioactive warning symbols... Just go with it.)

This is relevant because Christmas has been suspended. The S family will celebrate Christmas & exchange hand-knit gifts sometime the last week of December/first week of January. (We thought that suspending the tree would have been a great physical representation, but those responsible for the actual physical labor of hanging said huge tree from above pictured tall ceiling didn't want to expend all the extra effort.) While Husband and I will be Christmas-ing with my parents on the 19th, I don't have to have any knitted gifts finished by then. Instead, we will give ElderSister & her family their gifts (they're the ones getting hand-knit gifts) on the 28th and then exchange gifts at home with the S family. (That's one long Christmas season. Especially considering that Christmas decorations were up in stores before Halloween and radio stations have been playing Christmas music since early November. I'm so over Commercialmas already... but that is another post for another time.) The suspension of Christmas will allow me plenty of knitting time!

As I'm only working on Christmas gifts right now I have no new knitting to show you, but I thought I would show one of my favourite things about my new room:

The sun comes through that top window right about 11:30/noon every day and shines on my bed. Mmmm... I love the sunshine and my bedroom gets a nice lot of it around midday.

NO-vember... Moving on...

2010-12-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

If there was an award for being an inconsistent blogger, I would win. My last post was a month ago as I was one week into NaKniSweMo.

I think I'm going to add November National Whatever Months to my "I don't" list. I did get about 16 inches done, which I calculate to be 19,074 stitches. Not bad for moving in the middle of November, but not exactly a 50,000+ stitch completed sweater.

I still have quite a bit to do; It's not close to done by any stretch of the imagination. But for now it's on hold as I frantically knit Christmas presents. I read the Yarn Harlot's blog today as I was taking a break from knitting and completely agree with the statement of "I feel like I'm going into this Christmas with no reserves." I started knitting for this Christmas months ago, and yet I'm still really pushed for time. (That and my family is Christmas-ing on the 19th, which cuts into knitting days.)

I haven't completed anything since my shawl, so I really have no exciting knitting to show you. That's kind of a bummer, because I feel like I've been knitting non-stop but have nothing completed to show for it. I guess that's the price one pays for having several wips (wip = work in progress) at the same time. But how about new yarn? Yarning for You had an excellent Black Friday sale and I picked up more sock yarn. (Mmmm. Yay. Sock yarn.)

Well. That's all I've got. I'm procrastinating working on Christmas presents because the knitting itself isn't very interesting. On the up-side I finally got my new crutches in time for the trip up to Utah for Christmas. One of my old crutches broke and is now completely unusable, which is useless for ice and snow. It took a month to get the crutches, which was frustrating (way to leave a spoonie high and dry, folks), but now they're here and way nicer than my old ones.

Ok. I've got to get back Christmas knitting. Heigh ho.

NaKniSweMo, day 6

2010-11-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

Good Morning (or whatever the appropriate greeting might be for the time at which you are reading my blog). For me, it is promptly 8 am as I type this sentence and is the beginning of DAY 6 of NaKniSweMo. Thus far I am nine inches or 4.4 ounces along in the knitting of my sweater. In terms of my goal, I am 0.6 ounces (2%) behind where I need to be in order to finish by the end of November, but have knit 9724 stitches, whereas I only needed to be at 8333 stitches yesterday to reach the 50,000 mark, which puts me almost a day ahead in terms of reaching my stitch goal.

Am I boring you with this? How about a picture?

Well, I shall leave this post short because:

a) as I previously illustrated, I have knitting to do. (I'd like to catch up that 0.6 oz that I am behind as well as knit today's full oz.)
b) this is the only project I have in my active project basket, having officially hibernated the others for the month. (Officially meaning I changed their Ravelry status to "hibernating" and put them in the closet.)
c) I'm also supposed to be clearing out stuff and packing to move. (Note the use of "supposed to be." Can you guess what's taking priority for me? Who plans a move in the middle of NaKniSweMo anyway? A muggle (non-knitter), clearly.)

She Who Blogs Not

2010-10-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

My last blog post was two months ago... I have started and frogged multiple projects and am still working on some stealth projects, but I finally have things to show you! (With all pictures, click to embiggen.)

1- Musical Mitts for Read Headed Sister

This is one of the stealth projects I'd posted about previously, but since her birthday is now passed I can show them to you!

They are knit in alpaca and are wonderfully soft. She tells me that she loves them and that everyone who sees them is jealous.

2- Captain Hats 1 & 2

Some of the ladies at Knitter's Anonymous had knit this hat and I just loved it, so I knit one for a friend (tan) and one for me (grey).

It's a very fun, fast pattern (hooray for bulky yarn!)

3- Raspberry Chocolate Mitts for the Cure

These were knit at the Yarning for You "Knit for the Cure" event and donated to Susan G. Koman for the Cure. The colours remind me of raspberries and chocolate, hence the name of the mitts above.

4- Darn Socks

"Hmm. This is megamesh. Outmoded, but very sturdy. And you've torn right through it!" --Edna Mode, "The Incredibles."

At least, that's what came to mind when a friend showed me the socks he received as a gift while in Finland several years ago... the ones he had worn right through on the bottom of the heel. I understand that socks become warn over time and that wear is a sign that a pair of hand knit socks are well-loved, but part of being well-loved means being repaired when they show signs of wear.

So I've repaired the one with the hole and duplicate stitched the other as well, as it was wearing thin and only a matter of time before it needed to be darned as well. If I was the person who had knit said socks and was unable to repair them myself, I would like it if someone else would do so on my behalf.

5- Phasianidae Shawl

I finally completed my "In the Land of Oz" shawl! (I frogged my beach shawl and am re-knitting it.) I love the colour--the greens are just rich and beautiful. One of the knitters in my group, Janean, blocked it for me--a thousand thanks to her for doing that!

It was a fun pattern. I had enough yarn to knit the full shawl as written and a second repeat of chart 2. I had some fun with Photoshop:

6- Sophia Cardi

So November’s coming up… For some that means NaNoWriMo. You know--those crazy writers who intend to write 50,000 words by the end of November (Hence National Novel Writing Month) . Well, NaKniSweMo is similar but for knitters. Instead of writing 50,000 words one plans to . . . dun dun dun . . . knit a sweater. Yes, you read that right. A sweater. In a month. Thus giving us NaKniSweMo—National Knit a Sweater Month. 30 days to turn yards upon yards of yarn into something recognizable as a sweater. For me, this means my first sweater.

It’s currently late October. 11 months ago I finished my first knitted project: a pair of fingerless mittens in bright green fuzzy yarn. I can definately say that my tastes have become more sophisticated since then, as have my knitting skills. But I’m still intimidated by the idea of knitting a sweater. I do think it will be cool to knit a sweater around the anniversary of completing my first project, and a sweater is my next knitting rite of passage. I’ve done the sock knitting rite of passage. I’ve done the cables rite of passage. I’ve done the lace rite of passage. I’ve done knitting flat on circulars, double pointed needles, darning socks, and colourwork. I figure it’s about time I knit a sweater.

So I’m sitting here with eight skeins of Plymouth Encore in a lovely shade of pale blue and contemplating the pattern I have chosen, which is a cardigan with a knee length hemline. It has a lace pattern up to the bust where it closes with a clasp. However, I have eight skeins and 30 days which means I need to knit two skeins a week. That my friends is a lot of yarn to knit in a short period. Maybe I’m crazy, just like those who participate in NaNoWriMo . . . Who am I joking – I’ve tried NaNoWriMo . . . Yes - I am crazy. But I figure I’ll give it a go. Why not, right?

So yesterday I swatched-- Veni, vedi, swatci... This is my first project with gauge swatches... another rite of passage.

And then, November 1, I’ll be off and running . . . err . . . knitting. Well, wish me luck!

I think this post is plenty long... makes up for 2 months, right?

ABitterKnitter

A Tale of Knitting Bitterly

2010-08-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

I first tried knitting in 2002 or 2003. I'm not sure which--I was sixteen or seventeen at the time. I learned how to do a long-tail cast on and how to knit and purl. As a result, I knitted a piece about eighteen inches wide and four inches tall in 2x2 rib. And then the royal blue yarn and the aluminum size 9 needles sat abandoned in my closet. And then I moved, and they sat abandoned in my new closet.

Eleven months ago today, 22 September, I walked into the yarn store near my university and bought yarn and knitting needles. I had seen a pattern online for a Hogwarts scarf and wanted to make one for my little sister for Christmas, so I purchased yellow and black yarn (Hufflepuff colours) and a size 7 circular needle and, with the help of YouTube and half a dozen knitting sites, I cast on again, some seven or eight years after I first attempted knitting, and began knitting again. Just knitting. Solid knitting. Solid stockinette stitch in the round for about seven feet. It took four months. (And to think--I've been contemplating knitting a Doctor Who scarf... fifteen or so feet of garter stitch. Glutton for punishment perhaps?)

Of course, it wasn't my only project in those four months. After about two months I was hooked but BORED! So I searched through Ravelry and began my first ever pair of fingerless mitts. I finished them in three days, but in that project I learned how to use DPN's, kfb, and create a thumb gusset. Soon after I knit two more pairs from that same pattern. After finishing my first pair of mitts, I officially dubbed myself a knitster, making my knitiversary 23 November.

Then I began to knit hats. Well, just one hat really. I have now knit four hats from the same pattern, all of which have been gifted away. They were my first experience with cables (well, my only experience with cables) and I learned other ways to increase and decrease.

After finishing what felt like miles of stockinette stitch and having knit three hats and three pair of mitts (only three patterns) I decided to take a knitting right of passage... socks.

And, of course, I wasn't going to knit plain socks. Nope. Lace. (Through which I learnt that I was doing the ssk stitch wrong.) I was intimidated, though, by the thought of turning the heel (dun, dun, dun! That's the sound of doom, in case you didn't recognise it). But I had a good pattern, and I just followed the pattern, trying not to over think the steps. I mean, how is it possible? But, line by line you go along and then, suddenly, *bam!* you've turned the heel. Ta da! It's magic. I swear. I then learned how to do a heel flap and gusset, and then how to kitchener.

I then had Second Sock Syndrome for a month, but had knit a second, non-matching sock (which had SSS for 6 months, during which time I knit three other pair of socks) and have now knit five pair total, am working on a sixth, and have plans for several more... ♪ Hand Knit Socks! ♫

Then I knit hats for a few sibling-children:

I have recently finished my first shawl and am well into my second. Here's the finished shawl (something you haven't seen yet!):

The pattern is Bermuda. One of the other knitsters at Knitter's Anonymous had knit it, and we all loved it. I knit it in Mini Mochi "Beach Scene" and several others are now knitting it in Mini Mochi, which just has lovely long colour changes. I think I'm going to re-block it though and try to round out the bottom. It seems that my gauge is small; it didn't turn out quite as long as I would like, but the wingspan is a good length.

And here's the one in progress. It's not too exciting yet, but when it grows up it will be "In the Land of Oz" Lifelines are amazing, wonderful things... I've already had to rely on them twice! :

I've also finished two stealth projects which I can't show you. I'm sorry for you, because they really are lovely. I'm quite pleased. That means I have two more stealth projects in progress to finish by Christmas. Insert Little Engine that Could motto here. I take that back. Little Engine that Could is all well and good, but I prefer the mantra "Panic is Overrated and Unnecessary" that I picked up from a favourite professor. Besides, if they're not done by Christmas, what are the recipients going to do about it? Ingratitude simply gets you ungifted completely. But I'd like to have them done by Christmas.

Which means I probably ought to stop blogging about knitting and actually go knit!

Fell off the face of the Blogosphere...

2010-07-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

Been a bit, hasn't it? Now that I'm not in school, the days just blend together... It's actually getting to the point in the summer when I'm ready for school to start again, but I'm not going back to school in the Fall. Hmm... time to actually start looking for a job perhaps?

In the past month, I have finished one of my hibernating projects in time for Elder Sister's birthday and I am making good progress on a couple of my stealth projects. I also finished another pair of socks made with yarn that I received for my graduation from the woman who taught me to knit:

I'm also almost done with my first shawl! Yay! The pattern is Bermuda, and I'm knitting it with Mini Mochi's Beach Scene, which is wonderfully soft. The short rows and colour changes work together to create an amazing effect. I'll post pictures when I'm done. This week? Maybe next?

I've also cast on for another pair of socks. I'm addicted! My prof gave me Cookie A's Sock Innovation book (which has been on my wish list since I completed my first sock!) and I'm starting with the pattern named "Rick" which has fantastic swirls going around the sock (and the socks are mirror images of each other, which I appreciate). The picture doesn't pick up the swirls very well yet, but here it is anyway. The colour is called "Denim":

Such a happy colour. Speaking of happy colours, IcelandicGardener is giving away a hand-dyed skein of merino fingering yarn in an awesome pink on her blog, if you'd like to enter the contest!

Joyful & Bashful

2010-06-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

I now have completed three pair hand knit socks! Here are my completed Joy in the Journey Socks:

I loved knitting these... I finished them on Sunday, so I suppose you could say that I am now "joyful." They are mirror images of each other, which is fun. They are my thirteenth completed project; I have been a knitster for almost seven months now. Alas, with these finished, the only projects I have OTN now are stealth projects and hibernating projects... so I suppose that means that I need to start another project just for the sake of blogging, right? Hmmm... maybe something using the yarn I picked up at my LYS during Knitter's Anonymous last month? I still need ideas, by the way... if anyone has any...

In the interim, however, how about more pictures of the puppy? He had to wear the "Cone of Shame" for two weeks--he finally got it off today!

This one is my favourite. I love how he's using the cone to shade his eyes:

Not a Quilter

2010-06-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

My sister has something she calls her "I Don't" list. The creation of such a list for myself is something upon which I have been ruminating for some time, and today, I think I'll add this:

I don't quilt. In fact, as soon as I finish sewing all the skirts for which I already have material, I'm going to change this to "I don't sew." I'd say it now, but I really do love long skirts and in order to own them, I have to make them. I hate sewing. And maybe that's partially because sewing machines and I don't get along, but there are so many other reasons:

You can't fit a sewing machine in your purse. You can't take a sewing project on the go with you. You have to be at home (or wherever your sewing machine may be). You can, however, fit a sock in your purse. Just sayin'.
You're stuck at the table. You can't lay in bed or sit on the couch while sewing. It just doesn't work. Believe me, I've contemplated how to possibly make it work otherwise. Nope. Doesn't work.
It's loud! Ok, it's not that loud, but it's loud enough to become annoying. Loud enough that you can't really carry on a conversation. Loud enough that you ought to stop when people are trying to sleep.
Bobbins. I must be cursed when it comes to bobbins. My sewing machine won't wind them--the tension on them isn't consistent. Don't ask me questions. I don't have answers. And my little "SideWinder" has stopped winding them as well. And believe me-winding bobbins by hand is just obnoxious.

Why do I bring this up? Because back in, oh, December, I was given all the material to sew the "class quilt" for the second grade class in which I was student teaching. I finished it yesterday and dropped it off today. (What can I say... it's been a busy semester.)

Mum's the Word

2010-06-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged recently. There's not much to blog about knitting when one is knitting multiple stealth projects. I've added a new one... so in addition to

and

I have added:

Isn't that just so exciting for you? Yeah... that's all you get. Sorry. (Ravelry friends, however, can go see real pictures on my Rav page. Everyone else has to wait. Perks of being a knitter... Family: please do not go making fake Ravelry profiles just to see the projects. It defeats the purpose of them being stealth.)

I've turned the heel on my second Joy in the Journey sock and am meandering my way down the foot. (It's just not exciting to knit the same thing a second time. Not that it's exactly the same thing--I did flip the pattern so it will be the reverse of the first one, but the concept is the same.) And as it looks remarkably similar to the first one, I have no pictures for you at this present time. Once I have two (really awesome) completed socks, I will post pictures. Next week, maybe?

And I have frogged my Summer Fog Socks. They were biasing big time, taking forever, and I started the heel too soon making them too small for my foot. I decided to let them go. I'll try toe-up socks again some other time. Right now cuff-down is working just fine for me.

Well, since I'm not showing you any fun pictures of knitting, how about fun pictures of our family's NEW PUPPY!?

World- meet Bashful. We're calling him Bash. He's a Mastiff mix (we think) that we adopted from the Humane Society, and is a total sweetie. He lives with Mom, Dad, & Red-Headed Sister. He's about seven months old and is going to grow up to be a BIG DOG. He has totally charmed the whole family... well, the family he's met, anyway!

Oh, and I suppose I could show you the new yarn I bought last week at my LYS... I'm still trying to decide what to do with it:

Mountain Colors: Crazyfoot: Osprey

Mountain Colors: Crazyfoot: Spruce

I love the colours (click to embiggen) which is, of course, the reason I bought them. I'm thinking shawls, but need pattern ideas. Suggestions? Each skein is 425 yards...

So... blogging...

2010-05-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

It's been an absolutely crazy couple of weeks. I finished all my classes & turned in papers (including one I especially loved writing which I titled "Knit Two Conceptual Domains Together" and which was about the use of metaphor in knitting) and then I GRADUATED! That's right. I now (or rather will, once final grades are posted,) have a B.A.!

Here are pics from graduation. These were taken by my sister & friends. I'm shiny! (You know what the reason is for having tassels that hang down the sides of your face? Distraction! Something to play with during graduation (such as while the student speaker sites "dictionary.com" as a reference *serious eye rolling*)! The cords were fun to play with, too... but I digress... What can I say? I'm distracted by shiny objects...)

Sorry, photo vanished.

I graduated "cum laude" but I'm hoping that my final grades will nudge up my GPA so that my diploma actually says "magna cum laude"!
After graduation, we went back to my parent's house (we = Mommy, Daddy, Elder Sister, BIL, Niecelette, Husband, Red-Headed Sister and self) for baked potatoes & hanging out. Some old family friends stopped by--it was great to see them!

Pictured above you will see my graduation gifts:

150 crayons (I went and bought new colouring books yesterday.)
Sock blockers
Vogue Knitting Stitchionary, Volume 1, which has already proved itself very useful.
Self-striping yarn in the colour "crayon" (I've been wanting to try self-striping yarn!)
"Mint & chocolate chip" sock yarn... yummy!!!

And now... the pièce de résistance (I told you that I like shiny things, right?):

That's right, folks! I am now the ecstatic owner of a nook.

Now, as this is a knitting blog, let's take this time to review everything on the needles, shall we? All pictures can be clicked upon to embiggen. (Yes, Elder Sister, "embiggen." It is too a word. I'm using it as one, ain't I?)

1-Joy in the Journey socks: I have finished one and am working on the second pattern repeat of the second one. I even kitchenered the toe without having to look up directions!!! I'm completely in love with the Celtic knotwork that runs down the front, and am charmed that the lace continues along the back of the heel.

2- Summer Fog socks: Not much progress since I last posted about them, but here they are again. So many people want to say that these are blue, but they're not--they're purple and grey. (Grey, mind. Not gray. Grey and gray are different colours to me. Grey is darker and bluer-based, gray is lighter and yellower based. ...just smile and nod.) The yarn pools into stripes of a sort, but the yarn itself is not self-striping. Size 0 needles knit very slowly.

3- BIL's scarf: This hibernated during the semester. It's now been placed back in the "basket o' active projects" and is being added into the rotation. The colour is pretty true, and you can kinda see the texture. I can only get decent pictures of this one by turning off the flash on my camera, which increases the odds that the photo will be fuzzy... I can't win.

4- Giggle socks: another hibernating project added back into the basket. I've promised these to Elder Sister and it wouldn't take me long if I just sat down and did the second one. But this is a true case of Second Sock Syndrome... I haven't even cast on for the second one. Which reminds me: I need to put the directions for this sock in the basket... or they'll really never get done.

5 & 6- Stealth projects. Christmas is seven months away, so I feel it is prudent for me to get started... the red one is the one that uses my new stitchionary and I'm rather pleased with myself.

Well... I'm really not quite sure what to do with myself now that I've graduated... It hasn't really sunk in yet, as any other year, this would just be summer break. But I'm looking for employment, if anyone hears of anything...

It's half past noon. I suppose I ought to go do something else productive with my day (not that blogging isn't productive *laughter*, but I have years of paperwork to sort through and textbooks to put away... somewhere... and, of course, knitting to do!

End of the Semester Status Report

2010-05-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

"Give me a word, any word, and I show you how the root of that word is Greek." (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) Today's Greek word is Thesaurus. Not a dinosaur, the word "thesaurus" comes from the Greek word for a store, treasure, storehouse, or treasury, now meaning a treasury or storehouse of knowledge. That wonderful information comes from the Oxford English Dictionary Online. (One of the things I'm going to miss most about graduating... no more access to the OED online with the campus subscription. Deep, pitiful sigh.)

Today is Saturday the 8th of May. A week from now, I will participate in the graduation ceremony marking the completion of my BA! The only things standing between me and my diploma are a geography final on Monday, border studies final due Tuesday, and three linguistics papers due Thursday... Not a ridiculous amount of work, but nothing at which to sneeze either, but all the end of the semester work is why I haven't posted in a while (but apparently someone out there is reading my blog... somehow I get about 100 hits a month. So whoever you are, thanks for reading.) but here's the latest knitting update.

While at WAIL (which was Awesome!) I finished my Monday socks:

I love the pattern. And the colour makes me smile. And I find the picot edge charming. Now I need a cool day on which to wear them. They're knit with a rather thick yarn, which makes them quite warm.

I'm progressing nicely along my Joy in the Journey socks. One more pattern repeat and I should be ready to do the toe:

I love all the lace in these socks, and the Celtic knots on the front bring me great joy.

Nothing photos on the Summer Fog Socks, but I have started the gusset on those. They just still look like the last picture I took. Ah, size 0 needles... they take forever... and my hands don't like knitting with needles that small for very long. So I switch it up by working on my shawl, knit on size 10 needles, on which I have made some good progress, and which I have decided to call "Morning Oatmeal". (The top colour reminds me of oatmeal.) Here it is:

This is how far along I currently am. I did have to frog it back and start again at Knitter's Anonymous on Wednesday, but I finally have all the increases in the right places and it's moving along nicely. I'm planning on doing a whole skein more of the blue than the pattern says, but I want it to be longer than the dimensions given.

I really need to get to work on my final papers. On the plus side, as one of those papers is about the use of metaphore in knitting, doing research means reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's blog, "Yarn Harlot", which I absolutely adore... it tickles me..., and Franklin Habit's blog "The Panopticon"...again, a very funny blogger, and many others... Mwah ha ha ha ha... I love when research and procrastination are the same thing.

Sock Lessons

2010-04-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

So Husband and I went out to visit Mom & Dad yesterday. Husband and Dad finished the back fence. Yay! Mom took me to the LYS in Fallbrok: Labors of Love and bought me these:

They are Panda Superwash by Crystal Palace Yarns. The colour is called "Joyful." I absolutely LOVE it. The jewel tones are simply marvelous. And I was so excited that as soon as I got it home, I promptly cast on. The pattern I have chosen for this lovely yarn is called "Pablo." And I have thus far finished the ribbing and one pattern repeat. See?

I'm calling them my "Joy in the Journey" socks. "Finding Joy in the Journey" is the theme of Vista 10 Relief Society this year. It comes from a talk given by the Thomas S. Monson in November 2008. It says:

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life--here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey--now."

Each knitting project is a journey. You start with the cast-on and rely on the directions to get you to a finished project. Over the course of the pattern, just as you're really comfortable with the lace pattern, or you're feeling really confident that you know what you're doing, some new challenge comes up: a heel to turn, a gusset to make, a toe to kitchener. Each one is a bump or turn in the road. You can't just keep doing what you're doing...nor can you jump ahead to the parts you like, skipping the ones you don't. You have to follow the bend in the road and see where it leads you. Some parts you'll really enjoy, others will be ridiculously frustrating, some tedious. Sometimes you make mistakes, and you have to go back and correct them. But if you put your confidence in the directions you've been given and experience of knitters before, you'll learn new things and get to the finished outcome: a pair of socks.

This yarn is mostly that lovely deep aqua colour, but every so often there's a bright splash of something new that brightens the rest of the sock and keeps it from being mundane. It's a little something new that comes along that makes you notice not only how happy the pink or orange or yellow is, but allows you to appreciate the steady dependability of the aqua even more. If the whole sock was pink and yellow and orange, it would be too much for this pattern. But what is in this yarn is just enough.

The same with the lace pattern--you need parts that aren't lace to allow you to see the design that is slowly emerging as each row is added. There's a deliberateness to the stitches and the order in which they come. Without following the pattern and heeding the instructions, no such pattern would emerge after time passes by...the sock would just be chaos. But by patiently following the directions, time allows you to see something beautiful, made possible only through obedience and hard work.

I suppose that, in short, what I'm trying to say is that you can learn a lot from the example of a sock: how to trust in the design, how to appreciate each new thing as it comes along, how to face different challenges while anticipating an outcome greater than that with which you began.

Lazy Day at the Park

2010-04-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

I don't generally post on sequential days, but, behold! a second post in two days.

Red-Headed Sister and I spent mid-day at the park.

We fed the ducks and geese,

blew bubbles,

Sorry, photo vanished...

and played on the swings.

Then we came home and watched movies. Of all the photos I took today, this one is my favourite:

Sorry, photo vanished...

I got nothing done for school, but it was an excellent, relaxing day, and I did get the heel turned on my Monday Sock. See?

The foot of the sock is my least favourite part... alas. But that's what's next. Tomorrow Husband & I are headed out to Mom & Dad's--Husband is helping Dad fix the fence (they hope to finish it all tomorrow, I believe), and I've got laundry to do and need to revise my presentation. My Most Wonderful Linguistics Professor is going to let me rehearse my WAIL presentation for her on Tuesday, so that means I have this weekend to make revisions and get comfortable with it. Have I mentioned that I am second in the whole conference? (At least I'm not first. My other Wonderful Linguistics Professor is! Go figure. How did WE end up as 1 & 2?!) While I'm glad to be able to get it out of the way so that I can just enjoy the remainder of the conference, it really doesn't give me any opportunity to "see how it's done" before I have to present. It's both a blessing and a curse, I suppose.

I'm just flabbergasted with how fast the semester is drawing to a close. My last one as an undergrad! Well, it's third past 10, and Husband wants to leave between 7 and 7:30 tomorrow. Good-night, all.

Firsts!

2010-04-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Let's see... when I last posted ten days ago, I had just finished three hats for niecelettes and nephewito. While I have multiple projects in progress (ahem... hibernating...), I was in the mood for something new, and by new, I mean things I haven't done yet. So here's what I've recently cast-on:

Item Number One: My first ever pair of toe-up socks. I'm calling them Summer Fog Socks, and they're made using the Wendy's "Summer 2008 Socks" in "Lavender Topaz," making these also the first ever item not knit in a solid colour yarn, and is the finest yarn I've worked with yet, with the smallest needles. Size 0! The socks are biasing, but I won't know until I get farther along if that's going to be a problem. Other Ravelrians agree to the leans-to-the-right bias, but there was no clear consensus as to whether it will block out or not. But I'm contemplating switching the pattern for the other sock to use a k2tog where a ssk is used... just to see if it will bias the other way! (Then I'd have a right sock and a left sock.) Don't be deceived by the photo--it's only about 4.5 inches long. It's just hiding!

Item Number Two: Another pair of cuff-down socks. The pattern is Yuliya's "Rainy Day Socks." I began these on a rainy Monday, so these are called "Monday Socks." Red-Headed Sister and I listened to "Rainy Days and Mondays" on our way to school, so it just seemed so apropos. These are my first project knit using a bamboo blend. The colour is "Coral Lipstick" and it makes the socks just so cheery! (Kind of ironic, yes? But I love it!) They're also my first project with a provisional cast on and a picot-edge. I love how the cuff has turned out thus far.

Item Number Three: My first ever shawl, my first ever something knit flat on a circular needle (which is just so counter-intuitive to me...), and still needs a name. This pattern is Stephen West's "Colonnade Shawl" published in Knitty in Fall 2009. You would think that, after two and a half hours at Knitter's Anonymous last night, I would be further along, but I knit about 6 rows, noticed an error, tinked back to row 2, knit up to row 6, noticed a dropped stitch, and had to frog back to the start. So now I'm back on row 6. But the yarn is a beautifully soft nylon blend (Fantasy, Dark Horse Yarns).

In terms of non-knitting news, I presented my paper last weekend at SDSU. It went pretty well--my video and audio didn't work, which was disappointing, but I made it through. I got a lot of great comments from those in attendance. (They were very impressed that I've done this work as an undergrad!)

WAIL is two weeks away--similar presentation, way different audience. And I absolutely MUST have the video working for that one. Cross your fingers that it will work!

And then I graduate a month from today! It's going to be a very busy month... But, if the weather plays along, Red-Headed Sister and I are going to go feed the ducks tomorrow.

Niecelettes and Nephewito

2010-04-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

April. The fourth month of the year. It is designated as, among other things, Autism Awareness Month, Frog Month, National Kite Month (reminds me of Charlie Brown), and ... Stress Awareness Month. Fitting. Ask any college student.

I'm plugging away. Keeping very busy. (Would probably be less busy if I didn't go on Facebook. Oh, well.) I got my grant proposal and scholarship applications sent in and my prof and I got the big grant proposal done electronically... it was just waiting for signatures to go off in physical form. Cross your fingers when you get a chance and wish us luck on all of them!

My poster is done and ready for my presentation tomorrow, I just need to plug through some more audio files so that I have more than four examples...but I spent all day editing video and I'm kind of burned out. The forum on undergraduate research is tomorrow afternoon. My prof has actually cancelled class in favour of the forum.

As I said, I edited video today. Now I need to get the rest of my presentation ready for Saturday's colloquium on Hispanic Latin American Literatures and Linguistics at SDSU. Not too worried.

Add those to homework as usual, and that's my week. (Today was a furlough day, which was nice, since I spent hours in the computer lab working with iMovie.)

Knitting-wise I have finished hats for two niecelettes and one nephewito and as all hats have now been received by the designees, I can post pics here:

So... Totoro for the newest descendant of Husband's family, Lydia:

Yoda for her cousin, Tommy:

And a cupcake for sister-daughter Miss E (pictured in her cupcake pajamas. How well coordinated.):

That's what I have recently knit... going to have to pick something new to start at knitters anonymous Wednesday... hmmm...

Enough procrastinating, I suppose. Time to go edit audio files. Can I contain the excitement?

TIME IS A MOVING OBJECT

2010-03-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

Time keeps marching relentlessly forward and then races past, bringing April closer and closer. Deadlines for grant proposals and papers are looming nearer... I really should get off Blogger and get to work on my poster, because (insert severe sarcasm) thanks to furloughs (and spring break) I have to print it by Thursday of next week, even though that presentation isn't until the 6th of April. Sigh... But we're hoping to videotape our speakers on Tuesday for my presentation at WAIL.

BIL's scarf is progressing slowly, but I'm hoping to have it done by the 1st weekend of April as well, for BIL's birthday. (Act surprised, Sid!) But I have finished the unbloggable projects I mentioned... hope to get those mailed off tomorrow. Pictures soon!

And, thanks to the turning and tilting of the planet (which corresponds with the passing of time) we are coming up on the Vernal Equinox on Saturday. It's really been lovely the past few days. (Red-headed sister and I have pulled out the sunscreen.) Spring has come. I came home from school and threw open the windows.

Well, because time won't stop and wait for me, and because TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE and TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY, it's time for me to stop wasting it and use it wisely before it is all gone.

(Once again, if anyone manages to get their hands on a time-turner, time machine, cloning device, etc, please let me know. Any way to make the precious little time I have stretch out and last longer would be great.)

Ah, metaphor! Ok, ok, I'm going....

The Blame Game

2010-03-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

One required LING 300 class leads to...
A linguistic depth of study and minor, and to...
Not going into elementary education after all (not just for that reason, but it is part of it), which leads to...
LING 480: Field Methods, which leads to...
Getting involved with creating a tri-lingual click-and-hear dictionary, which leads to...
Submitting a paper to WAIL (the Workshop on American Indigenous Languages hosted at UCSB), which leads to...
Getting my paper accepted for WAIL (April 30th & May 1st), which leads to...
Submitting an application for a grant (Due April 1st) and to...
Presenting my research at a forum on "Advancing Undergraduate Research" at CSUSM on April 6th and to...
Submitting an application for a much, much bigger grant (also due April 1st. Go figure), which means...
A whole lotta work and research to do, in addition to the usual homework load.

So, as you can see, it's all my LING 300 professor's fault. If her class hadn't been so awesome, and linguistics hadn't become my passion, I would have been...

...STUDENT TEACHING THIS SEMESTER AND FRETTING OVER AND COMPLAINING LOUDLY ABOUT THE STUPIDITY OF TPEs AND TPAs AND CBEST AND CSET AND RICA AND...AND...AND...AND GETTING DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO SOMETHING THAT I REALLY DON'T HAVE TRUE PASSION FOR AND DON'T WANT TO BE DOING FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Ummm, no thanks. I'll stick with my über-crazy linguistics semester, thank you.

Really, it amazes me how things worked out... I came to CSUSM intending to be an elementary teacher, and one requirement put me in the right place at the right time to find something I totally love. Had I attended another university, been in a different program, started in a different semester, etc., I may never have been exposed to linguistics in the way that I was. But it did happen that way. And now I'm in a place where my professors are giving me responsibilities and opportunities that give me amazing things to learn and experience and will give me an edge when I apply for grad school (something I WILL do. It's only a matter of time!) and enter the field of linguistics. Think about it... as an undergraduate student I will have experience in field methods, done fieldwork in language documentation and revitalization, presented a paper at a conference, written grant proposals, been a TA, and been a student research assistant for a professor's cognitive linguistics research project. How many non-linguistics-major undergraduate students can say THAT?!

So that's where I am. It's going to be a very, very, very busy (stressful!) next few weeks... months...but I am determined. I do love it. I don't know if it's possible to convey that, but I truly do. (And I honestly hope that my classmates who are student teaching feel as strongly about teaching as I do about linguistics.)

It's 1 am and I've been up since 6 when I took my husband to work (I miss my car!). I then had class, which got cut short because of a completely benign suspicious package in the building (while I appreciate their caution, it was grossly inconvenient). Then there was an honours society meeting. Then doing the reading for Survey of American Indigenous Languages. Then I actually had that class. Then picked up the husband. Then went back to campus to talk about grants and presentations. Then had a couple hours of field work (which generates audio that will take hours to go through...) and now I'm home. (It was a long, busy day!) Tomorrow: sleep in, geography, pick up homework to grade (the class for which I TA has their midterm. Best wishes to them!), Knitter's Anonymous, and then a church event. So I think it's time for bed for me. Wish me luck in all of this!

Sleepytime with Socks

2010-03-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a triumphant day--I finished knitting my first ever Pair o' Socks!!

Yes, here they are... a matched set:

They fit divinely. Way better than store-bought socks. Y'all had no idea that your socks really didn't fit well, did you? Well they don't. So now you should all be dissatisfied with the fit of your store-bought socks and learn to knit socks that are tailor-made for your feet.

I finished knitting them at a women's conference on Saturday. It was fun... me knitting, the woman in front of me knitting, a woman in the row in front of her and off to the left was either knitting or crocheting... and that was just in my little section. I wonder just how many of us there were?

These socks are my 8th finished knitted item (counting paired things as one item). I'm simply pleased as punch with how they turned out.

Other than that I've currently got a couple of unbloggable projects on the needles right now, but I'll let you know what those are as soon as I finish them and get them to where they are going to go. Oh, and I went to Knitter's Anonymous tonight at my LYS which was a lot of fun. (And will be useful in collecting data for my final paper in cognitive linguistics: the use of metaphors in knitting. Mwah ha ha!!! It's all DATA...) And I actually managed to walk out of the store without buying anything, even though I really, really, really wanted to... Who can resist a beautiful variegated yarn? Or self-striping sock weight? Mmmmm....

On a non-knitting note, my paper was accepted to the Workshop on American Indigenous Languages at the end of April! I'm excited and intimidated at the same time. We (my native speakers and I) started recording voice files yesterday at our weekly meeting. We had a male speaker doing the Q'anjob'al recordings, another male speaker doing the Spanish recordings, and me doing the English recordings. One of the words we chose to record this week was the word for flower. Most of the sentences for that word were things like, "I love the man who gives me flowers" and "The man who gives me flowers loves me." We were all positively hysterical... We actually got 15 files recorded, though, which is great! Now we just have to decide what we want to cover in our presentation...

Well, my husband is claiming "sleepytime," so I suppose it's time to log off the computer and go to sleep. Busy day tomorrow, with the CSUSM teach-in and rally and classes... 'Night, all.

Oh... and husband titled the post. It's all his idea.

Valentines, Knitting, and 40's Hairstyles

2010-02-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

Very little knitting has occurred since my last post as the semester is now in full swing. However I have cast on for the second Creta sock (the one in taupe) and did get a few rows done on BIL's scarf. As it turns out, I'm going to be keeping the taupe socks and giving the multi-coloured ones to Older Sister.

The main reason for this post though is to show off my Valentine's day present. (I'm going to take this time to mention that I am married to the best guy ever. Y'all may contest that and argue that you have good guys, too, but mine is the best.)

This is my present: seven sets of four inch double pointed needles in Harmony wood from KnitPicks. Here's a close up of one of the sets:

(Sorry... picture vanished)

(I believe that you can click on the pictures to embiggen them.) Aren't they pretty? And they're only four inches. The one's I've been knitting with are seven, so I'm excited to not have to slide the needles every time I move from one needle to the next.

Let's see... in news other than knitting, Husband and I are going dancing tomorrow--our church is having a 40's/USO themed dance and Red-Headed Sister is going with her beau as well. I'm looking forward to it; I haven't danced with Husband since December. Sigh... I miss being able to dance all the time. I'm actually considering doing my hair in pin curls. The last time I did that (light... five years ago!?) I had no idea what I was doing and they turned out terribly. But I think it's time for another go. Besides, if I do it early enough and hate it, I can always re-wash it and do something else.

Not much going on in school:

I've corrected my first set of homework for the class in which I TA. They've now moved on to the fun-fun-fun of phonetics and phonology. (Truth. Not sarcasm. I love the IPA!)
We're looking to start adding audio files to the dictionary on Tuesday. Woo-hoo! (Note to self- tag files that are ready for audio.)
And reading, reading, reading to do.

Well, that's all for now!

Two socks do not a pair make

2010-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Well, after being a coward for many a month I have finally bit the bullet, so to speak. I have braved the knitting right of passage of turning the heel. I am now officially a SOCK KNITTER! I have in fact knitted two socks! And here they are... drumroll, please...

See? Socks! With lovely turned heels:

And I am loving knitting socks. There is something almost poetic about how you are knitting in a tube, and then you knit a flat panel, and then you follow a few steps and TA-DA! You suddenly have a turned heel! And then you make the gusset and it suddenly looks like a SOCK! (Well, missing the toe, but you get my point.) It's like magic...

Now there is something that needs to be explained. You see there is only one of each sock. Mmm hmmm. And yet I have two feet. (Last time I checked. Hold on... Yup. Still got two and only two.) There is, in knitting, a phenomenon known as Second Sock Syndrome. Socknitters.com defines this as "an affliction that prevents the victim from knitting the second sock of a pair." There are actually many funny articles and blog posts out there about SSS. And it's not so much that there is something "preventing" me from knitting the second sock... it just hasn't happened yet...

But that is what has been happening on the knitting front since school has started there isn't much time to knit, so it's nice to have the socks which are small and travel well in my backpack.

I'm enjoying most my classes:

Geography is a yawner... ah, well. It's easy.
The assigned reading in Border Studies has been really interesting thus far and it looks as though this will be the case throughout the semester.
TA-ing for Ling 300 is going well; I had my first opportunity to interact with the class as they worked on morpheme "shrubbery" today, and will probably start correcting homework next week.
Survey of Native American Languages should be very interesting: we got to decide what areas of American Indian languages interest us, and that is what the teacher is going to cover. (I'm going to end up doing one if not more presentations in this class because of my fieldwork with the Q'anjob'al speakers. She wants me to give the Q'anjob'al number presentation I gave last semester, and maybe other presentations.)
Along with that, I'm, as I said, finally getting credit for the Q'anjob'al dictionary that I've been working on for a year (including the semester that was just data-gathering). And my professor has had me submit a proposal to WAIL (UC Santa Barbara's Workshop on American Indian Languages) about the dictionary project and things that we have learned as we have progressed through the dictionary. If it is selected, I will be presenting my paper at the workshop at the end of April! (In front of ling grad students and real LINGUISTS. !!!)
And then there is independent Cognative Linguistics, which is just fantastically fun. The reading is awesome; One article that I read and discussed with my professor on Monday was about the development of colour names, and it was really interesting to see how my Q'anjob'al data fit in with the article. (In Q'anjob'al they have colour names for black, white, red, yellow, and green.) (As a side note, they also have a word that you put with a colour word that means that the shade of that colour is the wrong shade to paint a house. Fantastic. And it says so much about the culture.) I may be seeking data later in the semester for other things we study... be forewarned! Anything you say or type can and will be used as linguistic data! :-D

Well, I think that post is sufficiently long. I can't think of much else to say, as this pretty much sums up my life right now. I need to cast on for the mates of these socks and then knit while I do the reading for tomorrow morning's class.

Knitting right along...

2010-01-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I have finally finished all the Christmas presents! I showed you mom's mitts, and now here's Red-Headed sister's Hufflepuff scarf. Finished. Let me say that again. Fin-ished! Knitted, blocked, and fringed. (It took four months to complete. It's a good thing she loves it! I will never make one of these ever again.)

Wait--I take it back. There is one more Christmas present I've promised: a blanket for my husband (a Chocobo blanket). But crocheting all those granny squares are gonna take a while, too. But he's agreed to wait patiently.

I got several more rows done on BIL's scarf, and the texture is showing up beautifully. It looks awesome. I have almost one foot done, and would like to have it done in the next few weeks, so that BIL can wear it while it's still wintry outside.

Oh, and a picture I forgot to post from the trip to visit family. My knitting "helpers" decorated my pattern book for me. (I use whiteboard markers on sheet protectors to keep track of where I am in the pattern.) They each picked a marker and went to town. The whole book still looks like this. (Their moms appreciated that the markers were washable... their little fingers were pink and purple, too.)

Today was the first day back at school. I looked very cute, if I do say so myself (and yes, I'm wearing my hat!):

It rained like mad, though. But there was lightning, so it's ok. I love lightning...

Ends and Beginnings

2010-01-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I posted... School starts for me on Wednesday, so I'm trying to finish knitting Christmas presents.

I have finished Mom's mitts. I finished those yesterday and Mom loves them. (I like the colour combination, but knitting with the yarn itself wasn't the best.) (Photographed by Red-Headed Sister)

I also was able to get a significant amount of work done on Red-Headed Sister's Hufflepuff scarf. Several trips in the car and time sitting around allowed me to get almost finished. I'm now half way done with the last yellow stripe, then one more black stripe, then wash and block and add tassels. Older Sister got a picture of my niecelette "helping" me knit it.

And I finished my third star-crossed slouchy beret. This one is for me. I had help with this one as well--both from my niecelette and her second cousin, three-year-old Lucy. While knitting it, I didn't have a cable needle with me, so I ended up using the earpiece of my sunglasses. Ah, necessity... It looks just like the other two I've already knitted, so no pics of that one. But I'm going to wear it on Wednesday for my first day back at school. I hope it doesn't rain... (Remind me to check the weather forecast.)

I've also started a scarf by request for my brother-in-law. I like the texture. The color is kind of off--I couldn't get the texture to show with the flash on. The background is supposed to be pale blue and the scarf itself royal blue. The royal blue is also by request.

So that's where I stand. I'd really like to finish the Hufflepuff scarf tonight, block it overnight, and tassel it tomorrow. That will leave just BIL's scarf on the needles, and then working on a crocheted blanket for Husband. But I have some lovely peacock blue wool blend that I think is going to turn into a shawl... I have a pattern in mind, I think, but I'm still looking...

This upcoming semester I will be taking three typical classes: World Regional Geography, Borders and Regions, and Survey of Native American Languages. I will also have three classes via independent study: teacher's assistant for Introduction to Linguistics, independent study Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics, and credit for the Mayan dictionary project that I will have been working on for a year. I'll also be working as my professor's research assistant (and her project is linguistics and knitting related. Fabulous).

Ok, well, I'm off to go do more knitting (while watching NCIS and eating M&M's)!

Year's End

2009-12-31T20:26:00.000-08:00

Alright, let's see...

Christmas has come and gone. I'm still finishing Christmas presents... the only gift that was finished in time was the pair of mitts for my Sister-In-Law, modeled here by my husband:

Oh, yes, see that in the husband's hands? That is the present we were keeping hidden for Nephew #3. Yup- we got to be foster parents to a kitten for a week and a half. (She's cute, but I was pretty much over having my feet and fingers attacked... she'll be happier having lots of nephews to play with and a cat and a puppy for buddies.)

I still need to finish Red-Headed Sister's Hufflepuff scarf & Mom's mitts. One mitt and a few stripes (and then tassels!) to go. Here's how they're progressing:

We spent a few days up with my grandparents and some extended family after Christmas. It was interesting having four generations in the house, and a little confusing for the fourth generation, as the three little ones (two years old and younger) tried to puzzle out what people meant when they said Grandma and Grandpa or Aunt or Uncle. My Elder Sister and I advocated calling our aunts and uncles GrAunts and GrUncles (great aunts and great uncles), but we were outvoted, and that generation all got dubbed Grandma So-In-So and Grandpa So-In-So. Easier, I suppose, since they are somebody's grandparent (though I still like the GrAunt & GrUncle idea)... My generation (the 1st-cousins-once-removed to the little ones) were all aunts and uncles and the little ones (2nd cousins) were just cousins. And then there was Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. (And if you followed that genealogical chaos, good for you!) It was nice to see the family--it's been a few years since I've seen my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins... since my grandfather's 90th birthday two years ago.

Well, that's all for now, I think. I'm going to "ring in the new year" by going to bed early.

Look, No Hands!

2009-12-21T15:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas came early this year... I've already opened most of my Christmas presents...

One of the coolest things that I got for Christmas is Dragon NaturallySpeaking. That's right, at present I'm not touching the keyboard at all. The possibilities are endless... This gives a whole new meaning to multitasking. Just imagine... I can now be typing/blogging/doing homework while knitting/cooking/who knows what else! Isn't it marvelous?!

Here's where my nerdiness really shows... I am thoroughly enjoying being able to talk to my computer. It's like being a Star Trek character... Now, if only it would respond when I addressed it as "Computer"... Ha ha ha... seriously though...

On a knitting note, the secret is out. My unbloggable project is no longer so, which means I can now tell you what it is. The Unbloggable Project on which I have been working for the past several months and a Hufflepuff scarf for Red-Headed Sister for Christmas. In a nutshell, it's a black and yellow striped scarf. Actually, that's what my hands are doing right now! I am typing and knitting simultaneously and I love it!

I'm also working on mom's mitts. I'm hoping to have both of these done by the end of the year. I have 10 days to go!

No pictures just now, but hopefully soon... once I get both of these projects done!

Voted Most Likely to Knit in Class...

2009-12-18T22:47:00.000-08:00

Just kidding... (And yes, I know I'm blogging for the second time in the same day.)

The cohort party was tonight. It was... interesting... to see everyone in a social situation, and fun to have a chance to say good-bye to friends. I wish them luck in student teaching. (Well, except for us few who will still be at the university next semester!) And I was voted "Most Likely to become Famous!" (Actually the first "most" for which I have ever been nominated.)

The hat I knitted (one of the "unbloggable projects") was a success... The gifts were exchanged "White Elephant" style, and Kristy got it first, but Alisha stole it and then hid it so no one else would steal it. (Kristy still wants one, and so does Jackie... and I still want one myself! I may end up knitting five or six of these in total!)

I also got several rows completed on THE unbloggable project... still a significant amount to go... but for now, back to homework...

Knitting amidst the chaos of finals...

2009-12-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

I have almost reached the end of the semester... grades are in for two classes (same professor): both A's! Yay!

I'm working to finish the last class... I've written 13 pages toward a paper ("Discrimination: A Catalyst for Indigenous Language Death in the United States") and have four or so to go... I didn't anticipate the paper being that long, but it is, and I'm pleased with it thus far. (No page limit... that's just how long it needs to be to say what I need to say.) I still have a seizable amount of work to do before this class is done... tomorrow will be busy....

I also got letters from all my second graders... so cute. Many of their drawings made me chuckle--several literal second graders drew me with my crutches! They performed their musical on Tuesday and did a fantastic job.

But amidst the chaos, I have finished one unbloggable project... it's for the cohort gift exchange tonight... but the other is progressing rather slowly...

When it rains, it pours...

2009-12-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

In both a literal and figurative sense...

has been the forecast for the past week. It's been coming down quite significantly making it rather wet outside. (Wet crutches don't work very well on linoleum, just for your information.)

I have been without my car since Thanksgiving evening--it started acting strangely on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner, and DH and BIL are trying to decide just how much of a new transmission it needs. Naturally, DH's car started acting up this week as well. Very not cool. We're kind of frustrated with vehicles around here right now...

The last week of classes has past, and all final whatnot is due this upcoming week. For me this means papers, papers, papers... Sunday: Big Big Big paper due online. Tuesday: all homework due for morphology. Wednesday: TPA online. (Boo!!!) Thursday: Ling 100 final & Language Ideology paper. Next weekend: a whole bunch of who-knows-what that I'm really lacking motivation to do.

I'll also be saying goodbye to my second graders...

But after that, I am done! Which means I'll have time to do all the knitting I want to, and finally sew the skirts for which I've had material since the summer.

And I'm registered for next semester: World Regional Geography, Borders & Regions, and Native American Languages. I'll also be TA for one of my ling professors, finally picking up the 3 units of independent study for the Q'anjob'al dictionary project I've been working on since the summer, and possibly doing cognitive linguistics as independent study as well.

Progress to the unbloggable project is slow, for unbloggable reasons. I'm working on a second unbloggable project as well, so there's really very little to say on a knitting front. But these are helping me keep my sanity on the journey to the land of research papers...

But I really need to get off the computer and start sifting through massive amounts of research.

Knitless Procrastinator

2009-11-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

So here I am again... procrastinating doing homework (like writing the lesson plan for the lesson I'm giving tomorrow: 2nd Grade: Family Heritage)... I made myself promise not to knit anything today, so I was really unproductive! (See? I should have let myself knit! I would have at least accomplished something!)

As promised, however, here are pictures of the hat that I knitted for my friend, modeled by Red Headed Sister who now wants such a hat for herself, or for me to teach her how to knit. (I told her I'd teach her over winter break. Any suggestions on a simple beginner knitter pattern? She's a muggle at present...)

Well, I really ought to get back to lesson-planning... BAH...

Productive Unproductivity

2009-11-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

I've been off school this week for Thanksgiving (I'm a student and student teacher) and should have accomplished a great deal of homework. I've been procrastinating doing my homework... by knitting! And I've been rather productive, if I do say so myself. I have completed two, count them, TWO projects this week!

The first is my first ever pair of mitts (fingerless gloves) henceforth dubbed "Grinch Mitts". Fuzzy and green, these are the first things I have ever knitted and finished. Yes, this project makes me an official Knitster! (The pattern for these is Raspberry Mitts)

I'm going to be knitting up a pair of these (non-fuzzy and non-green) for my mom, so that's on the to-do list.

Secondly, I've made a hat for a friend of mine. The pattern is the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret and is my first experience with cables and knitted in a lovely grey. It was a fast knit, which was pleasant, especially in comparison to The Unbloggable Project that is still in progress... Pictures of the hat will go up when Red Headed Sister comes over tomorrow... (A thousand thanks to said sister for being my chauffeur while my car is out of commission)

So what haven't I been doing while I've been knitting? Essays, lesson plans, and boring reading. That's what. So tomorrow should be torture while I race to get done everything due on Monday... wish me luck. 19 more days in the semester, and a whole lot to accomplish in that time. I imagine very little will get knitted until the semester is over, which is sad, but then I will have the WHOLE winter break to knit and sew! Yay!