Thesis Monster

Haven't posted much lately. Haven't knit much lately. Last week I think I picked up the needles once or twice. It's that time of year again, that magically time when university students build nests in the darkened, out-of-the-way corners of libraries, from photocopied articles and discarded essay drafts. They retreat into the nests and only emerge, blinking in the thin winter sunlight, when classes are over. Some will remain in this caffeine-fuelled state of suspension for weeks longer through the exam period.

Finished one draft of a paper due next Friday, haven't even started writing a term paper for my seminar class, have ten pages of a forty-plus creative writing assignment finished, and my thesis, for which I have to rewrite my proposal and refocus my research, making the last two months of work I've done on it useless because my advisor is a douchebag who has been more hinderance than help.

Anyway.

Have four projects on the needles, two are in definite hibernation until after my papers are written. Exam period is, for me, three exams in a two week period with dick-all to do in between. Lots and lots of knitting time. It's the desert in the ocean that's getting me through right now. One has a deadline of December 3rd, so I've been plugging away on that, and the other is a new project I cast on Wednesday for Lumberjill. As part of the Selfish Knitter Destash Swap, she sent me ten sets of bamboo double-pointed needles - well, a couple are plastic, but sooooo nifty and shiny and pretty - and all she asked for in return was that I love them and hug them and call them George. And a pair of Evangline fingerless gloves.

No picture yet, but I increased the length of the cuff to keep tucked away more easily in sleeves and just finished the first cable repeat. Using the same Briggs & Little in blue heather as for my Highland Shawl. Gonna be sooooo warm. I kind of like adding the little regional touch of a Nova Scotian yarn with a Canadian pattern. The name 'Evangeline' never ceases to remind me of the Acadian regions of this province, either.

I have taken a long enough break from thesis. Back to the salt mines.

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Christmas List

It's getting to that time of year - Christmas gifts.

It's only thirty-eight days to December 3rd, I know (X-Ring!), which makes it sixty days exactly to Christmas.

. . . oh hey, it's the 25th of October.

My mind works in mysterious ways.

Anyway! Christmas knitting. It's the most wonderful time of the year. I have a small list of people that I knit for - immediate family, four close friends, and my girlfriend. And future mother-in-law. She bought me a Christmas present, apparently. Which is pretty amazing considering that I turned her daughter into a hell-bound lesbian.

The List! Yes, I have checked it twice.

Mom
Parrotfish. She loved the Nereid Fingerless Gloves I made for the Ravelympics, but she wasn't crazy about the idea of socks, I couldn't figure out how to adapt it to a scarf, and a sweater would make her look like Namor. So when I saw this pattern, it was perfect. A woolly forest green would look good with her red hair. Also working on a bunch of scrunchies for all that hair - just trying out different yarns and stitch patterns, seeing which ones I like.

Dad
Dad! Hard to buy for. Friggin' impossible. How many golf tees does a man need? He loves three things - golf, curling, and biking. He also likes socks. Thus, a classy pair of Diamonds in His Shoes. Good for work, nice little pattern. Already cast on. Using KnitPicks Essentials Tweed, in the Lumberjack colourway - green. If I have the time, I'll also knit a pair of bike helmet ear warmers, because he is just crazy enough to bike into cold weather.

Sister
My tiny, funky sister gets a bunch of tiny, funky hats. She only specifically asked for a Jayne Hat, but I'm also going to make a Brainmonster and/or Robot Hat. Was tempted by a penguin hant, but my attempt at instarsia ended in tears.

Girlfriend's Mom
Simple. Classy. Lace Stole in a multiblue mohair. Not a throwaway project, but not something I'm going to get very invested in, in case it's burned as effigy or something.

Friends
There are four of them, but so far I've only been able to come up with three presents. For my fake husband with aspirations of being a luchador when he grows up, Lucha Libre. More instarsia, I may cry. In acrylic. He doesn't deserve better. For the sistah from another mistah, Rose's Wrist Warmers. Yes, I am voluntarily doing more cables. For my future wedding planner and kinky biology major, Thwack. In red, of course.

Which leaves me with one of the friends and the girlfriend. This is almost harder than shopping.

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Yarn, glorious yarn!

I should be preparing for my night class right now. But I have a raging migraine so I'm going to go to my happy place. Knitting. It is a very happy place. Even happier now!



Yes, Christmas KnitPicks order came! It was a very, very large box, as it had three knitters' worth of yarn, books, and needles inside. I felt rather like the Pied Knitter of Hamelin, because I picked it up at the campus post office, and people just kept falling in behind me as I processed through campus. And lo, there were goodies for all. Maddie got the Sheldon costume kit and some Gloss for her Batshawl, and Caitlin got a bunch of the fairytale themed sock yarn that is pretty and I am jealous of. And a couple of books I will be stealing, and the Harmony DPNs, which I will be coveting. I got sock yarn in a red and blue, and a green tweed (for my dad's Christmas socks), yarn for a shawl for myself for X-Ring (42 days!), and a couple backup skeins for my yet-to-be-started Katelyn Cardigan. And I said that I wouldn't buy yarn just to stash, but the Cherry Cordial bulky handpaint was just too pretty. Will become a pretty scarf for me eventually. Also ordered longer cables for my interchangeables so I can make bigger shawls, and two 2.75mm circs to try knitting socks on them. Got one Harmony and one Options so I can tell them apart easily.

Have surprisingly few projects on the needle right now. And by 'surprisingly few' I mean 'one'. My curse still lasts. I don't even know if I'm cursed, or if Red Heart Soft Touch is cursed. I have cast on for a Harry Potter scarf at least a dozen times now, a dozen different ways, and haven't gotten past the first five rows. It's a friggin' stockinette tube! How the hell can it go wrong so horribly?

My first attempt at instarsia was thrown into a box in disgust and is current hiding in a box under my desk in fear.

I want to start Rose's Wristwarmers for Maddie, but Maddie has borrowed my needles so I can't start until I get them back.

So! The only thing I'm working on is my Highland Triangle, which I alternately hate and love. I will zip along for fifteen or twenty rows, and then hit one row that goes Chuck Norris on my butt. I'm eight rows from finishing the third pattern repeat of the centre triangle, with the border and edging knitted on after. I love it so much, but it's killing me every time I pick it up. Here she is after one complete pattern repeat:



Pretty, non? And squishy. And warm. To give a sense of scale, that top edge is about a foot and a half across.

Christmas knitting is upon us, but that's another post entirely. I have started to get my yarnducks in a row, though. I have a large woven palm basket in my room that's my immediate stash, backed up by a couple of cardboard boxes in the hall closet. Today I went through the basket and took out everything that I don't intend to knit with before Christmas, so I'm not distracted by pretties before I'm all done. Made me sad to put all my beautiful Fleece Artist and Noro away in a box, though. I wish I could just hang them around my room, like art.

Actually, that isn't a bad idea . . .

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Productivity is me.

Imagine me striking a heroic pose. I am productive!

. . . okay, not really. Not in the really important, oh-shit-I-have-to-write-a-thesis way. But in the knitting way! Cleaned my room and coralled all my UFOs in one spot. Realised that I've had my Girl's Best Friend lace scarf hanging around for the last month and a half waiting for the finishing touches, so buckled down and did them.

Lesson of the day: Tassels are so much easier using a crochet hook than a darning needle and fingers.

Twenty-four tassels later, and she is complete. Yay! The total length is in the area of eight and a half feet, because clearly I am insane and normal-length scarves are just too short. Yarn was the Grand River Yarns Rayon stuff that I got at the Knitter's Frolic. The colour is gorgeous, but I found that the yarn was really slubby and fuzzy, definitely wasn't the easiest to knit with. But with the blocking I did weeks ago, it really softened up.

This was the most challenging knit to photograph thus far, I think, just because of its massive size. I tried my best, though.





And you can see it in its strung-out glory. Can't wait to show this baby off at Knitting Society on Sunday.

I am looking forward to Knitting Society. As much as I miss my old groups, I like still having something. And I'm definitely going to need the break, sitting as we are in the middle of midterms. Wrote my Welsh midterm this afternoon - the Welsh for knitting is yn gwau. Dw i'n gwau, I am knitting!

So that makes it three projects on the needles now. Highland Triangle, Stashbusters, and Christmas scrunchies. My last post was the pattern for the Stashbuster fingerless gloves, on the request of some guinea pigs lovely ladies from the Selfish Knitters, who are testing the pattern for me. I'm about halfway through my second glove. It knits up quickly, I just don't have the time! I started something a little more portable for knitting around classes, though.

Was looking at my oddballs, which are all tumbled in an old glass vase, and the ball of pale green Misti Cotton-Silk was calling my name. Inspired by Jupe's fingerless gloves, I tried it out with a double moss stitch. Holy cow, Batman. Stunner. I'm absolutely in love. Knitting a big rectangle to turn into a scrunchie for my mom; plan on making a few different ones for her as part of her Christmas present, as she loved the ones I made for Rita. And the yarn's so soft, I love having any excuse to work with it.



Will post again by Monday. Yes, I have an Irish Bardic midterm. But Canada Post has told me that that is also when my KnitPicks order will arrive! I'm bouncing just thinking about it.

Yarn diet! I swear! Just start . . . tomorrow. Honest.

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Pattern: Stashbusters!

I'm making my first stab at writing up a proper pattern for something.

Who You Gonna Call?
I named these simple, funky fingerless gloves 'Who You Gonna Call?' with the answer being, of course, "Stashbusters!" They were designed to turn the leftovers of socks into something useful for paper-writing season. I used Noro Kureyon, and the pattern works best with this kind of striping yarn with long colour repeats, or with solid yarns. You could vary the pattern with thicker or thinner stripes, or use more than two colours.



Materials:
Approximately 90yds of Noro Kureyon or other variegated yarn, or 45 yards each of sock weight yarn in two colours. If using variegated, pull from both ends for Colours A and B, or rewind into two balls.
US 2/2.75mm DPNs, set of 4

Sizes: S(M,L)

CO 48(54,60) stitches, join in the round.

With Colour A, knit two rounds in K1, P1 ribbing. Switch to Colour B and knit two rounds in K1, P1 ribbing. Continue in this manner for 16 rows (or eight stripes) of 1x1 ribbing.

Continuing with stripe pattern (two rounds of each colour), knit straight for 10 rounds (or five stripes).

Next round: Knit to end. Turn. Purl back. Turn.

Switch colours. Knit to end. Turn. Purl back. Turn.

Continue in this manner, knitting back and forth to create slit for thumb, for 26 rows (thirteen stripes).



Next round: Knit to one stitch before end. Slip first stitch of next round onto working needles, k2tog with last stitch of current round. Continue knitting in the round until last stitch. Slip last stitch onto first needles. Using alternate colour, k2tog. Continue knitting in alternate colour for two rounds. Slip last stitch of second round onto first needle, switch colours, k2tog. Knit 2 rounds. Slip last stitch of second round onto first needle, switch colours, k2tog. 44(50,56) stitches remain. You have now decreased four stitches and reinforced the join between the two ends of the fabric. The decreases also make sure that the top of the glove doesn’t slip down.

Knit two rounds.

Next round: Switch colours, begin K1, P1 ribbing. Knit 10 rounds (five stripes) in 1x1 ribbing.

Bind off in pattern.

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Twitchy.

What's the reverse of startitis? Because I think I have it. I've tried to cast on for three different projects in the last couple of days and had to give up three times after only a few rounds. Managed to moebius a scarf, couldn't get a gauge I liked, wasn't sure about a pattern . . . just argh. Frustrating. And I know that I should be working on my Highland Triangle or my Noro fingerless gloves, but I just want to start something else. Twitchy. Feeling twitchy.

Might wind up the yarn and start on my long-anticipated cardigan. I've been holding off because I didn't have enough yarn - stupid mistake when ordering from KnitPicks last time. Math is hard sometimes. But! We communally put in an order a couple days ago, so the rest of the yarn is winging its way ever closer.

Between the three of us, we spent $200.

The internet is a terrible, terrible enabler.

So what's on the needles at the moment? Highland Triangle, stalled at row thirty or so. Fingerless gloves to use up the last of my Monkey Noro. The pattern calls for a thumb gusset, but I'm just doing a thumb opening. Also striping the yarn instead of knitting in one colour. I saw the Noro Striped Scarf and really liked the effect, so I thought I'd try it out myself. Almost done the thumb on the first one, they're adorable and funky.

Might have something to do with this cold I've been fighting off for the last few days. Spent most of today in bed, missed a couple of classes. I would have gone if they had been lectures, but one was a language class and one was my creative writing seminar. Both of them require talking and thinking and I am not so much with them at the moment.

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Lessons for the Day

Sock yarn doesn't count as stash.

Acrylic doesn't count as stash.

Ravtime doesn't count as time that should have been spent on homework.

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Holy Fast Knit, Batman!

I didn't expect to have another FO to show off so quickly. But I somehow blitzed through the Namaste Yoga Mat Bag in three days - more like two and a half, as I started it Monday night and finished Wednesday night. The pattern is a total breeze. At first glance it looks a little fiddly, but everything was set out, really easy to follow. Pretty fun too, and the lace pattern is very forgiving of mistakes.

It's for a friend of mine, who is just about the bounciest, sparkliest, chipperest lesbian you'll ever meet. She requested a bag for her yoga mat and offered to pay for the yarn, and I'd already had this pattern in mind and Noro Kureyon was the first thing that jumped to mind for the yarn. I used one needle size up for the whole thing, and almost two complete skeins (which is half a skein less than the pattern calls for). To compensate for the change in needles, I cast on 51 instead of 61 stitches, which still got me the circumference stated in the pattern. Going up a size didn't really have anything to do with gauge or drape. I just didn't have 6.5 mm DPNs.





Speaking of Noro Kureyon . . . I've become a yarn snob in the worst way, my God. A trip to my yarn source - can't really call it a LYS - is just depressing. The only non-acrylic you can get is Patons Wool Merino (if you're lucky) and Briggs & Little. Of which there is an entire wall, which is pretty damn sweet. Got some for a Highland Triangle.

The meeting of the Knitting Society was even sadder. It was acrylic and garter stitch as far as the eye can see. Man, I sound like a jerk. I don't know. We were all new once, but I think I've just been spoiled by being the young'un in the group so I have people to go to for advice. Part of it was that when I go to a stitch'n'bitch, I expect the conversation to be about stitching and bitching. I like talking about knitting and techniques and yarn and patterns and there wasn't really any of that. I felt uncomfortable asking what people were working on, and when I did, they always seemed kind of taken aback or defensive. I must be weirdly adventurous - one girl hasn't even tried to learn to purl yet. But I am going to help one of the RAs from Mac learn lace, which should be fun.

Still makes me miss the ladies (and gentlemen) from Linda's. I'm going to go again this Sunday, unless I'm busy with Homecoming shenanigans, and maybe next Sunday. Give it the old college try before I abandon it totally.

Speaking of Linda, she's awesome and helped me out with my Highland Triangle long-distance because she's awesome. And speaking of the old college try, I think the only way my swift could be even more collegiate would be if I had used cases of beer:



The beer was in the kitchen and I was too lazy to get up.

Now I have to go and clean my apartment like a madwoman because my parents are coming to town tomorrow for Homecoming. Well, technically they're coming to the province tonight, but are getting together with some of their old university buddies and getting their drunk on.

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Wifey!

Okay, I was going to talk about the Knitting Society and frustrations over lace and and yarn swaps and Noro Kureyon. But then I got a package in the mail and it totally derailed my day. I'm taking the Happy Train to Awesomeland.

My girlfriend? Is amazing.

Really, really amazing. In a number of ways. Right now she's at a funeral, and I can't be there for her and it really sucks. And sometimes I need her and she can't be here and that also sucks. But now I have my very own portable wifey for cuddles.





A handful of rainbow hearts, a new lacy scarf, a hat for Cain, a hat for my dad, and a wifey of my very own.

I love her.

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Productive Denise is Productive!

I feel very productive today. I finished two different projects last night alone! And I still have to show off the cabled mitts I mentioned in my last post (was that really just last Tuesday?), and the birthday muffin. So we'll start there and work backwards!

For my girl, the Cozy Cable Mitts.



I have to admit, this project wasn't as brutal as I'd feared. There were seventy-seven individual cables on each mitt. That's a lot of fiddly little cables on not-large needles. But it was a labour of love, and really, they went quite quickly. I used the Creative Focus Worsted Nashua Handknits that I fell in love with at Linda's, and I still have about a skein and a half of that green, and a skein of blue. Some of the green will be a hat for my mom. It was very . . . woolly? Is that the right term? But it was fuzzy and hairy, even after I handwashed it.

I really hope they fit her - they definitely didn't fit my giant hands.

I love her madly, but no more cables for a while.

The next thing I finished was a quick little project for my friend Michel. I posted part of the story on the Ravelry project page. Last year, Michel was part of a special Gaelic strike force that was being sent into the highlands of Nova Scotia to convert the school children to speaking Scottish Gaelic. How a Quebequois managed to get tangled up in this mission, we're not quite sure but we think it has something to do with the Auld Alliance. As they were heading out on an expedition after their requisitie coffee stop, Michel set his muffin down on the back of the backseat of the car. It was the perfect muffin, fresh and warm and perfect in every way which a muffin can be perfect.

And then the driver hit the brakes and the perfect muffin, as if on a wire, zoomed straight under the front seat, where through a series of twisting highways, bumpy roads, and sudden starts and stops, it became somewhat . . . less than perfect.



And Michel mourned for his muffin. It became a bit of a running joke with us, Michel's lost perfect muffin. So I used the cupcake pattern in brown and cream and added "chocolate chip" bobbles to the top of the muffin. The bobbles were an adventure and the Peer Gynt that I used for the top of the muffin needed to be held doubled, but it only took me about three hours to do start to finish. And the best part? He loved it. He showed it off to everyone before tucking it into his jacket pocket. And then kept stroking it and turned all Gollum on us. My preeeeecious . . .



So that's two projects for other people I've finished. Never fear, my Selfish Knitter brethren, the next two are all for me me me! Like socks! My second pair ever, I used the no-purl version of Monkey. I confused Maddie, who thought that Knitty pattern was called No-Purl Monkeys, and said to me that for a pattern which claimed to be no-purl, there was an awful lot of purling. No purling for me, muahaha! And damn, do they look good:







As for the pattern, without the purls it was super-easy to memorise. I used six lace repeats for the leg and another six for the foot before starting the toe decreases. Because I was knitting at a larger gauge, this got me a sock that fits my ladies ten foot. For the toe decreases, I made a rounder toe by decreasing every second round to 36 stitches, and then every row down to 16, then kitchenered eight on eight. The other change I made to the pattern was by accident, when knitting the heel flap. I knit a traditional heel, because that's what I did last time, and realised that the pattern called for just a plain stockinette heel flap.

I used Noro Kureyon Sock, my first time working with it - I'm in love! It was getting a little frustrating when everyone who touched it would give me this tentative sort of look and say gently, "But isn't it awfully rough?" What? It's rough? Really? I had no idea that this yarn I've already knit into a sock and a half wasn't as soft as a baby's ass! What a fool am I.

I did get lots of compliments on it from the older ladies in the hospital waiting room. All of them seemed utterly shocked that I had made it despite my age.

Okay, so I'm a little snappy today. I will just sit here and pet my pretty socks until I calm down. Pet pet pet.

Still feeling the bug after weaving in my ends, I picked up my Hot Head toque again and discovered that I only had about twelve rows to go. So I popped in Street Kings and knit away. Bound off just before the final showdown - it wasn't a bad movie for a cop drama. Not my usual sort of movie, but it had Hugh Laurie, who really really really needs to get back to doing sketch comedy, dammit, and Keanu Reeves. He's good in most of his roles - most of his roles are just poorly written for him.

Yes! Hat! Not Keanu! Ta da:



The pattern was incredibly simple, just row upon row of ribbing and then six decrease rows for the crown. It looked too narrow and too long when it was off the needles, but fits perfectly over my curls. I used Berroco Foliage, and I love the way that it striped. The bars are irregular and not in any set pattern (kind of like the original Hot Head pattern), I like it much better for this project than if it had striped. I have another skein of the same yarn (used up practically an entire one for this), so it'll probably be a matching cowl. But for now I am comfy and warm in my dorm room.

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ACK!

The ACK! would be beacuase of the thesis flail I'm currently experiencing. Honours thesis and grad school applications have taken over my life, most of my knitting is now relief knitting. I should start my second sock, but right now all my brain wants to do is mindless ribbing.

I did, however, finish one Monkey, Sunday night while I was working. Damn, this thing is pretty. I love the green-gold-brown gradients going on, and the pattern is just subtle enough that they aren't boring but aren't overly elaborate. I went up two needle sizes from a 2.5 to a 3 to make sure they actually fit. As it is, the one sock is a little snug around the heel of my massive manfeet. I modified the toe a little to make it rounder, and I tried a grafting method that didn't give me such a square bind-off. Enough babbling, pictures!





Now I'm trying to decide if I want to colourmatch the stripes, or just start knitting and end up with two different and equally funky socks.

I think I may go for the different socks. For my first Noro, I want to get all the colour I can out of them. Have I mentioned how utterly in love with this yarn I am? I'm waiting for a ball of it from one of my fellow Selfish Knitters. Keep obsessively checking my mailbox, but no sign of it yet.

Speaking of mail, I paid $1.30 in postage today to mail Natalia's finished mittens to her. To match the calorimetry I made her for her birthday, I knit a pair of simple cabled mittens. I used the Basic Cabled Mittens pattern, modified with an afterthought thumb instead of a thumb gusset. These things are tiny. I can barely get them on, which is perfect for her. I asked her to send me the measurements of her hand, because I knew it was so much smaller than mine. The cable turned out nice and neatly, but I misread the pattern instructions and did two or three fewer decrease rounds than I was supposed to. They didn't turn out too badly, except for one being a centimetre shorter than the other one. Shhh, don't tell her. She won't notice.




Check out this wicked pooling on the back. Using the same yarn on the calorimetry pattern produced a mottled affect, but I like the diagonal tiger stripes. Especially that thick band of gold and red horizonal stripes.



Ta da! Finally done. I hate cables in the round.

So, of course, I almost immediately cast on the Cozy Cable Mitts, for my girl, on her request. Taking a break from everything more complex with Hot Head from Stitch'n'Bitch. Not even trying the colour band pattern, using a striped yarn anyway. Berocco Foliage, in deep turquoise, cranberry, purple, and black. Looks and feels great so far.

Also, is a fast knit on big needles with chunky yarn and I only have to make one of them. That in itself is more than a relief.

Still ignoring the siren call of yarn shopping. Still missing my Bitch'n'Stitch group.

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Want. Cannot have.

I finally caved and went to fondle some pretties.

I don't have a LYS here in Antigonish, but I do have the Five to a Dollar. It's the old timey general store on Main Street, sells everything under the sun from camera equipment to chocolate bars to lingerie to hunting gear to toys to cookware. And yarn. A fairly decent sized yarn section, considering the size of the store. Mostly populated by Bernat and Patons, which when I left was the pinnacle of my yarn experience. One of the few sources of Phentex slipper yarn left, apparently. But! Today I discovered the wall of Briggs & Little. Including the heather blue I've been ogling for my Highland Triangle. Damn, that stuff is cheap. I could have stayed there for six times as long.

I also discovered the racks of On Your Toes! For pretty afforable a ball, in superwash and bamboo. And at least three colourways I want to knit up instantly. The bamboo is so soft, but is mostly heathered pastels. At least I know I can have socks whenever I want. A skein of Noro is winging its way up to me from California, and I can't wait for it to get here. A package of chocolate bars is sitting on my bed to be sent in return.

Speaking of Noro, I cast on for a pair of No-Purl Monkeys using my green-brown-gold-grey skein of Noro Kureyon Sock. Oh. My. God. I love this yarn. I never want to finish the socks, so I can just keep knitting with it forever. The shift in colours is beautiful, it feels just so right in my hands. I love it! I picked the Monkeys because I wanted a small pattern that wouldn't get lost in the colours, but something that would be a little different than straight stockinette. I prefer the look of the No-Purl variation, too. A picture!



I could not for the life of me get the colour to be true on the computer, though. The light green is more of a vibrant lime. I just finished turning the heel - my favourite part. I'm not sure how my friend Caitlin will do with it. Sock-knitting lessons were part of her birthday present from me, along with HiyaHiya DPNs and a skein of Fleece Artist Trail Socks in the Angel Fish colourway. I coached her through joining in the round, and last time I saw her she had an inch of ribbing. Waiting for the panicked call when she finishes the leg.

I'm gazing longingly at my own sock. I should really be working on Natalia's mittens. Got one done, it's perfect for her weetiny, allergic-to-wool hand. Pretty mottled autumn yarn, just a simple and classy little cable down the middle. Almost done the ribbing, but that's as far as I got. Noro so much prettier. It's singing my name.

Both projects are demanding time from me. Total distraction from everything else I should be doing. Like grad school applications, thesis research, and Medieval Gaelic Religious Poetry and Prose readings. I gotta work on reading while knitting. So far, I've only mastered knitting while watching movies and TV. Today's indulgence has been the Babylon 5 movies. Random Martin Sheen for the win, and Zack is one of the most underappreciated characters on this show. Bones tonight!

I enjoy communal living.

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Withdrawal

I haven't picked up the needles in two days, ack!

I have been ridiculously insane busy, moving back to school. The panic and flail started on Sunday, when I entrusted almost the entirety of my stash to a friend of mine to transport for me. Oh, the horror stories I imagined until I got my hands on it again. She didn't realise how much the stash was worth, or else she would have been way more nervous about it.

But it arrived safely! As did I.

So far, everything is amazing. The apartment is bigger than I thought it would be, the furniture is only a couple years out from new. Even my bed is exponentially more comfortable than last year. I have a bedspring! Small things can make me so very happy. We fit about twelve people comfortably in our living room tonight. We tend to trip over each other in the kitchen, but so far that hasn't been a problem.

All four of us are so terribly domestic, it's really quite sad. I'm living with three of my best friends. The last three years, we've all lived on the same floor in traditional style res. This isn't a big change, except that we have a living room instead of sitting in the hallway and we don't have to share bathrooms with twenty people. And we have a kitchen.

Here's a couple of pics of the new abode, and two of my roommates (the one looking out the window is just hanging out):









My courses are equally awesome. Welsh, Medieval Gaelic Religious Poetry and Prose, Irish Bardic Poetry, creative writing. So far, only had Welsh (phonetic! No cases!) and Poetry and Prose (Scottish prof! Awesome accent!), but I'm so stoked for the rest.

Will pick up the needles again this weekend. Have a weekend-long knitting, JAG, NCIS, and thesis proposal marathon planned with the Mad-ster. It's the cabled mittens that I'm working on, and they look great. The cable's just small enough that the pattern isn't driving me crazy, but gives the mittens a bit of class. After trying to make the thumb gusset increases make sense to me, I went with an afterthought thumb instead. Had to kind of guess at the placement, but I think it'll work out. We'll see.

And now, to bed.

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Why God, Why: The Whyening

As I said I would, I would try to knock the U off FO for everything I'm working on. And as of right now, I only have one project on the needles (not counting the Slippers of Which We Do Not Speak) - the second sock of my first pair. I maintain that I do not suffer from Second Sock Syndrome despite the fact that it was almost three weeks between binding off the first one and casting on the second. I needed the needles for the Ravelympics.

I just turned the heel, so I'm about halfway there. Tried to turn the heel while watching Timecop - terrible idea all around, I had to rip it back twice because I wasn't paying attention. As it is, there looks like there might be a weak spot right at the middle, I'll maybe just go over it a couple times in mattress stitch when I'm done.

Now, for the Why God Why: I finished the manthong. This thing is hideous. The rose pink straps are stretchy and crunchy, I cast on way too many stitches for the side straps even though I still cast on about two thirds of what the pattern called for. I don't think anyone's ever going to wear it, though, so it doesn't matter all that much. This is the first thing that my sister has ever flatly refused to model for me.

My good friend Mr. Pillow stepped in, though:




Merkin? Manthong? You decide!

You can see that instead of the stockinette stitch with crochet edging I elected to go with seed stitch so I wouldn't have to do any crocheting. Makes it slightly more uncomfortable for the hypothetical wearer.

And yes, I (and it) did get mentioned in an article/discussion thread on learnhub. You can find the thread and pictures from the game here.

The green Lacy Diamonds scarf I've been working on since forever and a day is finally bound off and is currently blocking on my living room floor. That was an adventure and a half. More and pictures when it's all finished and the tassels have been added, if I don't get fed up with the tassels after three and decide that tassel-less is fine by me.

I will admit that I started a new project, it hasn't all been wrestling with WIPs. Using the leftovers from my skeins of handspun, I knit a couple of scrunchies for my girlfriend.



Her mother spun the wool and gave it to me, and I dyed it in two batches, what I call Kool-aid and Sweetheart. The rest of the Sweetheart is waiting to become a hat. The Kool-aid striped nicely for this little project, and I didn't use more than a few yards, I'm sure. The pattern was so simple. Knit a rectangle, sew it around a hair elastic. I wanted to send a bit of it back to her, because it was really her mother's work, and because I wanted something little and special. No girlfriend sweaters until I can size them properly, so these will do for the moment.

I don't talk about my girlfriend here all that much, but she's amazing. She just came out to her family (for me!), and she's been kind of alienated since she did. They'll warm up again when they get used to the idea, but I just wish I could be there for her during this rough time. Long distance sucks. But the scrunchies are something she can always have around if she needs a piece of me.

Enough sappiness, dammit. Give me a vodka martini and shome asshes to shlap, Moneypenny, shentimentality hash no place here.

Heading off to my last knit night here shortly. Had my last Bitch'n'Stitch at Linda's on Tuesday, it was kind of sad. I'm used to the summers being rather lonely, with my friends either working long office hours with no social life, or spread over the globe. The knitting community has been such a sanity-saver, I'm really going to miss them. There's talk of setting up a webcam so I can still sit in. Linda's just made me feel so welcome, and she says such nice things about my work. Sadness to be going away.

There is a knitting society on campus, but from what I've heard it isn't really my scene. We'll have to see. And I'll always have Maddie. Every day is a stitch'n'bitch when we're together!

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Victory!

Da da DA DA, da da dadada, da da da DAAAA, da da DAAAA - that's supposed to be the Final Countdown. Looses something in translation.

I won gold! I could make a bunch of Cutting Edge II: Going for Gold jokes, but I'm not! My Nereids crossed the finish line with almost an entire twenty-four hours to spare. Okay, so it was more like twenty hours to spare. But still! I finished! Over the last few days, it's been moments of "I totally have time, what am I worried about?" to moments of "Ho shit, never gonna finish!"



That was fun. I've long been a believer in the power of online competition with no actual prize but a couple of cool graphics, and the Ravelympics didn't disappoint. There's just a sense of community and community accomplishment. Gives me warm fuzzies.

Now, for the beauties themselves:




They're current;y having a nice soak, as the yarn was a little grubby to start with and I didn't think to wash it beforehand. The Pomatomus stitch pattern is so simple and so intuitive. The only thing that gave me trouble was changing between pattern repeats, because I overlooked a line of instructions in the pattern. And then I reversed the pattern for the other glove. I'm actually quite proud of the fact that you can't tell which one is the reversed one. The thumb gusset was also a bit of an adventure.

Ooooh, they are so pretty! I loves them! Everyone who sees them covets them instantly. My mom keeps hinting that she'd like a sweater in the stitch pattern - firstly, no, and secondly, no. She'd look like Namor. And these already have a deserving recpient, which means I have to haul my ass down to the post office soon. Bleh. First will finish the little presents for my girlfriend and then will just make one big trip, yay.

Speaking of big trip, my next big challenges are getting all my WIPs finished so I'm not hauling them all down east with me, and finding some way to transport my stash. I may ask a friend to be a yarn-mule for me.

Speaking of yarn, my mom has this habit of calling all yarn 'wool' and it's kind of starting to bug me.

Speaking of bugging me, there was a moth in my bedroom the other night and I went all Rambo on its little mothy ass.

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Stubble Update: I look rugged and manly.

Olympic Update: Canada no longer fails at medals.

Ravelympic Update: A dozen rows away from the thumb gusset and plunging along. Had some major yarn issues, I ended up having to break the yarn and start a new ball, the last one was just way too tangled. It's going to be a race to the finish, but that was the point, wasn't it?

I reversed the pattern for the second glove so the swoops would go it in the opposite directions. I thought it would be harder, but I just screencaped the pattern and mirrored it before copying it down into my pattern book. Then I had to experiment with decreases to make sure they sloped the right way, and had to figure out that I needed to shift the stitches in the opposite direction between pattern repeats. They're looking good, though! I am hopeful!

My stash is looking better and better. It's like since my last SEX, there's so much more colour. I also dyed the second skein of handspun from my girlfriend's mother. I tried for a graduated effect and it didn't quite work, but I still like the rose-red effect. I'll have pictures up soon. I'm thinking of making a hat or something with it, and a scrunchie for her from the leftovers of the last skein. Shhh, it's a surprise.

On the school front, I got it all straightened out! Switching my major back to Celtic Studies, so I've registered for Welsh, Irish Bardic Poetry, Medieval Gaelic Prose and Poetry, creative writing, directed study and thesis. All Celtic Studies, all the time! The all-singing, all-dancing Gaelic revue!

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Selfish Knitting!

Well, my very large paycheque came in, and I have all this spare time on my hands, which is a dangerous but delightful combination. My final yarn splurge of the summer:



That would be three skeins of Peer Gynt for a naughty nurse hat, two skeins of Nashua Handknits worsted, two skeins of Noro Kureyon in funky rainbow, one skein of Noro Kureyon Sock in green and gold, one skein of Cadenza sock, and one skein of Fleece Artist Trail Socks. The Trail Socks is, I think, my favourite. The colours are just amazing.



To continue the selfishness, I picked up two sets of Hiya Hiya DPNs in weetiny sock sizes, so I should be good throughout the school year. I know I can get DPNs that small at school, but not five needles in one set. And (drumroll please) a ballwinder! Whoo!



I didn't really see the point in one, until Jupe wound up a ball for me. The cakes are so squishy and round and pretty and it's so much fun to play with. I wound up a few random balls hanging around just for fun, and then another ball of my Mystik DK - because I'm done one of my Olympic gloves!




The thumb is shorter than it should be, but I used up the entire ball and didn't want to dip into another one for just a few rows of ribbing. It looks gorgeous, but as always the start and end are a little wonky. It took me a week to do one, so I should be able to squeak in under the finish line. I'll put in a few more hours daily though, just in case, because I want to get the manthong done by the end of the month as well. I have to start thinking about how to shlep my stash back to school, it's kind of growing wildly out of control.

Speaking of school, a rather exciting update! The Celtic Department is offering Welsh! Of course, this completely throws off my whole schedule, I register for courses, and I can't find the form that will tell me if I can fit Welsh into my degree pattern. Argh. Small departments that fail at paperwork cause me much pain.

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They say football is a game of inches.

Wow! What a difference half a millimetre makes! I don't know if it's the change from Hiya Hiya to Clover (which would make me sad, I want to be a Hiya Hiya true believer), or if it is the jump from 2.25mm to 2.75mm, but it's made such a difference.

My fingers were starting to hurt, I'd completely messed up the last row, in a fit of frustration I frogged the whole thing. I moved up the needle size and I can't believe the difference it made in drape. And, especially, in ease. I've almost made it right back to where I was in half the time.

I can't believe there are winners already - I thought the point was to pick a challenging project. Then again, sometimes you can totally overestimate how much time something takes. There's been a lot of complaining about people starting before the gun. Then again, there's been a lot of complaining all around about various things. Wank wank wank drama wank.

Back to the Nereids!

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Baseball! Olympics! Baseball! Olympics!

What to start with! So many exciting knitting events, so little time to blog about them.

First, This Week in I am Actually a Preteen Girl: I'm going to murder my mother in her bed soon unless she stops rooting through my stuff and treating me like a child.

Okay, back to being a semi-adult.



Stitch'n'Pitch! It was awesome, fun was had by all, etc. There was even an article in the Toronto Star on it. Slight disappointment in the goodie bags, was expecting more yarn for all the hype - not that I'm complaining too much. I brought four non-knitters, I ended up with a pile of yarn even without raiding the swap table. I wound up with a ball each of Red Heart Soft Touch, Bernat Soft Boucle and two of Sirdar Country Style. And then the yarn gods smiled upon me and I wound up with a ball each of Mission Falls 136 Merino Superwash, and Natal baby alpaca. Whoo hoo! So thank you to my non-knitters:



To round off the collection, halfway through the game Linda threw a skein of Alpaca with a Twist Fino at me. To my credit, I caught it. Given my usual skill at catching thrown objects, it should have ended up four rows over in someone's beer. But it didn't! I'm considering buying a matching skein and trying my hand at the Heere There Be Dragones shawl, but it terrifies me. Of course, there is the matter of money.

I saw four people I know, not counting Jupehusband and Jupebaby, who were attached to Jupe, and I chatted with everyone around me. There was an adorable family behind us. The mom and daughter were both knitting away, and the dad was studiously untangling, rewinding, and organising yarn.



And here we have Jupe and the Jupebaby:



And the lovely ladies of Linda's (and a guy named Sweeney):





I ended up befriending a couple of people around me. A girl and her boyfriend were sitting one row down and she was new to knitting, but she's pretty into it and is writing articles about it for an online community.



She gave me her business card, which I have since lost. Which is sad, because I think my manthong would be making an appearance. Maybe some tactical Googling will pull it up. We introduced her to the wonder of Ravelry - she hadn't heard of it yet! She took this lovely picture of Jabba the Hutt knitting a green lace scarf:



My dad was amazed at the number of knitters who turned out. It was pretty cool, actually. Even just visually. Looking up and down the rows, and just seeing dozens, hundreds of pairs of hands constantly in motion. And if someone dropped a metal needle on the concrete, everyone's head popped up and started looking around frantically. Speaking of my dad, I think he was really getting into the swing of things. When Jupe and the lady sitting next to me orchestrated through some yelling and gestures a yarn swap and sent two balls of yarn passed hand-to-hand down the seats. A ball of Divine got to my dad and he smoothly cradled it against his chest and whined "But I want to keep it!"



And then the Jays were so good to us and graciously won the game. Bottom of the ninth, two up two down, and then wham! Two good hits, two runs, and we won! It was great, we were on our feet, there was cheering.

Speaking of sports victories, Olympics! They started today! I watched the Opening Ceremonies in pieces - caught part of the Parade of Nations live, then another part of Parade of Nations when it repeated on CBC West, and then the entire thing tonight. Wow. It was incredible. Just beautifully done, amazingly coordinated. And, of course, I cast on for my Ravelympics project. I've very excited for the games. I've never really gotten behind KALs, but this one should be fun. It's getting me excited for the Olympics, and the Olympics are getting me excited for the Ravelympics. Everyone wins! I'm competeing on Team Mine for the Selfish Knitters, and one of the mods is doing the exact same project I am, so I'll have a bit of support there, which I'll appreciate. I'm working on the Nereid Fingerless Gloves, which are a fingerless glove version of the infamous Pomatomus socks. The yarn I'm using is the Estelle Mystick DK, a cotton/viscose blend, on 2.25 Hiya Hiyas. I'm scared I'm going to snap the needles right in half every time I K2tog tbl.

I'm a little worried that they'll be too small, the rib's looking pretty tiny. I'm considering recasting on with 2.75mm, or the 72 stitch version. I think I'll do another few pattern rows and see how it looks before I do any ripping.

I have an unhealthy affection for fingerless gloves, I've realised. And for lace. This is the perfect project! I have two more pairs of fingerless gloves to finish by the end of the summer, as well as a pair of cabled mittens as part of a set, and a Shetland Shorty and Jayne Hat for my sister. My friend requested something warm and snuggly for the winter, but she's one of those unfortunate people who can't wear wool on her skin. One of my goodies was a ball of Red Heart Soft Touch in a mottled gold-green-rust, so I decided to donate it to the cause. There's enough in the one ball for a Calorimetry and a pair of Cozy Cabled Mittens.

Jupe very kindly wound it for me into a manageable cake, and now I'm wondering how I've lived without a ballwinder. Do want. And I worked an extra three and a half hours, so I can afford it too. Happy birthday to me! Only eight months early.

This post ended up much too long.

Good night!

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