Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Is there a sock shortage that I'm unaware of?

Because, seriously, there must be. (Though my overflowing sock drawer seems to indicate otherwise.) When I make an honest attempt to knit something other than socks, I feel completely uninspired and the only thing that could even remotely satisfy me is another pair. How crazy is that?

It may have something to do with the fact that every time I pick up the sweater to work on it, I feel like I really don't have time to knit a sweater, after all, I have a million school projects I could be working on instead....I mean should be working on instead. But socks... well... they're just little projects. They can easily be picked up and put down. I don't feel I'm about to be bit in the ass by that monster when I knit socks. But the sweater..... I might as well have a sign on my butt that says "Bite Me."

Here's the newest pair in the works. It's this pattern. It's simple and it looks great. I first tried it out on 2's but it was just so flimsy, I couldn't stand it. So I went down to the 1's and went up a size.

I feel so much better now that I'm working on another pair of socks. Maybe I should just make a bunch of socks and give them away for Christmas. Seriously, I have no more room for socks!

So I'm officially on Spring Break right now. Gabe flys in tomorrow and words do not describe how excited I am! This will probably be my last post until after he leaves. (I know I've been sporatic with the posting but I've just been so busy... I know, I know, broken record over here)

One more thing I wanted to mention. My friend Jill makes awesome needlecases. If anyone is interested in one she has a little online shop set up here. Go check it out!

For now, I'm off. Have a great week and weekend!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

All I've been doing!

Finally blogger is working and I have a few minutes to post. Well, here's the haircut I got last week. Like I said before, it's pretty much the exact same haircut I had, only now it's shorter and all those evil split ends are gone!
There's nothing like a good haircut to put you back in the right mood. Don't ask me why, maybe it's symbolic. Cutting off something that's weighing you down... eh, who knows?

So there is now exactly one week, that's 7 days people!, until Gabe gets here. Can you tell I'm excited? Of course, I have three days of school left, each of which has either a test or a quiz, then three (or four depending on how they schedule me) days of work and then I get to drive to the airport and pick him up. I actually think it's better that I'm going to be busy before he gets here because if I wasn't I'd be driven insane by the anticipation!

Oh, right, knitting. I've done a little bit of that. Remember me throwing caution to the wind and starting a sweater? Well, here's what I've done so far.

It's a pattern out of Rowan Magazine #30. I thought it was fairly appropriate because the pattern's name is Erin! I've been wanting to make this sweater forever but I just haven't gotten around to it! This is what it's going to look like when I'm finished, though I'm planning on tweaking the arms a little bit.

Just click on the picture to see it a bit better. White sweater against a snowy background doesn't exactly make it easy to see.

Yesterday I had so much to do. I made a list of all the things I need to work on and I just sat down for hours and got a ton of it done. There's something about making lists and crossing things off of them that feels so gratifying! Anyway, I rewarded myself by doing something I haven't done in such a long time.... I spun! Woohoo!

This stuff may look familiar to you if you've been reading my blog for a long time. That's because it's the exact same stuff I bought at Rhinebeck the first year that I went and made some nice yarn out of, which I then made a pair of nice socks out of. Well, my friend, Jill
bought the same stuff last year because she liked how mine turned out and I agreed to spin in for her.

Well, I'm off to class now! Ta Ta!

Monday, March 20, 2006

Short update

I was going to upload pictures of what I've been knitting and my new haircut (which looks almost exactly like my old haircut only shorter) but blogger is being not so nice right now.

Anyway, I've been busy (what's new right?) And yet, even when I have some down time I feel restless. Not even knitting helps. I'm excited to hear about the internship. By the way, thank you to everyone who wished me luck, I really appreciate that so many people are rooting for me! I have no idea how long it's going to take to hear about it though. I'm also excited because in a week and a day, Gabe will be here! That might have me the most excited I think (shocking, I know.) I've finished the project I wanted to have finished before he arrives. I can't believe I did it with a week to spare. Don't you worry though, I have plenty of projects I can start on to get ahead!

Hopefully blogger will start working again and I can show some pictures!

Monday, March 13, 2006

I did it.

I can't believe it. Let me explain...

Gabe suggested awhile ago that I should look into doing an internship at the Denver Zoo for the summer. Apparently he wants to see me for more than just a week at a time (go figure!) Almost immediately I shot down the idea because I could think of about a million reasons why that wouldn't work, all of them revolving around money. Not to mention I might not have a job when I get back. I hadn't really thought about it again until this past weekend.

I was talking with a roommate of mine and something about our conversation made the idea pop into my head again. And not only that, but it inspired me to look into it. So Saturday morning I used the wonderful, glorious internet to see what kind of internships the zoo has. I found out that they have paid interships!!! I immediately reworked my resume, wrote an awesome cover letter and e-mailed my professor to see if he would write me a letter of recommendation.

Apparently I really like to cut these things close because the deadline for applications is Wednesday! Nothing like doing it last minute huh? My professor was great and had his recommendation all set for me today. So I went to the post office and spent an obscene amount of money to send it all guaranteed next day delivery.

I did it. I sent them and it's in fates hands now. Wish me luck!

Friday, March 10, 2006

I live in a fantasy land.

I think most knitters do. You see, we sometimes greatly overestimate the time we can spend knitting. We put off things that we'd otherwise get done were it not for the draw of some new and exciting project. But here's the problem, our time management skills, though great compared to some, may not allow for those things we've put off until eventually they come and bite us in the ass.

Oh no, I haven't been bitten in the ass.... yet.... But I'm constantly turning around to check and see if something is poised and ready, teeth barred, mouth open in the classic ass-biting position. Why you ask? Well, despite being so busy I can barely keep up, I finished these:

They didn't quite make it knee-high, but they're close. And they're COMFORTABLE!!! The past two days I've worn my socks-that-will-not-be-named and these and my feet have never been so warm. I'm in love with this Knitpicks sock yarn. It's great.

Anyway, back to my fantasy land where I have decided, even though I have many school projects to work on, that I am going to start a sweater. After all, I only have a good month left where fuzzy, mohair/wool is suitable knitting. After that, the sweaty hands are a little more than I can handle.

Hey, did anyone see that little monster just now getting ready to bite my butt?

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Being busy is not good for blogging.

I'm sorry it's been a week since I've written. There are really two reasons for this... 1. I'm busy with school and work. If I'm not doing one, than I'm most certainly doing the other and 2. When all you do is school and work, you don't have much time to knit and show off your knitting. And aside from even all of that nothing really interesting has been going on that I could even blog about... (this, of course, excludes my lovesickness and extreme missing of a certain person in CO.)

Right now I'm focusing on getting a ton of projects at least halfway finished so I don't have to work on them when Gabe is here during my spring break. Hopefully I'll find some time to pull away and do something interesting that you all would like to read about! Until then.... have fun knitting without me!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

I have been knitting... I really have!

It's been a week since I've been back, but it seems like so much longer. Lucky for me a plan is in the works for Gabe to come back east at the end of March/beginning of April. That is, of course, if everything pans out. If it doesn't we're just going to have to wait until the end of the semester. I can tell you right now that that is going to be extremely difficult. My only saving grace is that I'm going to be so busy with school and work that the time is just going to fly.

My friends and I just realized today that next week marks the first half of the semester being over. If the second half flys by as quickly as the first did, I'll be seeing Gabe in no time!

So is this a knitting blog? I know it might seem questionable, but I promise it is still a knitting blog. I finished the socks that will remain nameless while in Colorado:

I'm very happy with how they turned out. I finally got the tension right so that I can actually fit them over my heel, but at the same time making them tight enough so that the leg is not so loose that it falls to my ankle.

I wore them yesterday and I'm extremely pleased with how comfortable they are. I bought this yarn from KnitPicks. It's one of their merino sock yarns and I'm telling you, you can't even tell you're wearing wool on your feet. (My feet are pretty sensitive and anything slightly itchy are just too uncomfortable).

I finished the socks-that-will-not-be-named while Gabe was off giving a lecture. Luckily, I thought ahead and brought some more sock yarn to keep me occupied. (Don't ask me what is up with me and socks right now, I think it's because they're small and quick and I can pick them up whenever. This is important for a college student/waitress with no time on her hands). They are also made from KnitPicks merino sock yarn.

It may look to you like I'm finished with this one, but I'm not. I'm planning on knitting the leg up as far as the skein will take me. I guess I'm in the mood for some knee-highs! I knit the toe-up method for the first time with these socks and I love it!

I'm starting to feel like I could knit socks in my sleep...hmmm, that's either a really good thing (more time used for sock making) or a really bad thing (I'm really not sleeping at all!)

After these socks I'm either thinking about knitting another pair of socks (shocker, I know...) or starting a sweater. After all, I only have so much time left until the weather turns warm. I don't have a huge stash, but what I have in it is mostly wool and unless you have an air conditioner, wool is just too warm in the summer!