Ruminations

It's 6:19 am central standard time, and I'm sitting here in the Austin airport, waiting for my 7:05 am flight. I arrived in sunny central Texas on the 16th, and have been enjoying the weather (ok, not the wind so much) and the sun. I meant to post earlier, but, well, things just got away from me.

On the 16th (a Wednesday) I sat in a much different airport, nearly as early in the morning, knitting away (the caffeine had kicked in, I'm still waiting for this morning's tea). By the time they called for boarding, I'd gotten this far:

That is a good start to Traveling Woman by Feministy.com. The yarn is Sunshine Yarn Luxury Sport in "maroon bells" that I got as part of a swap with the NCIS Knitters group on Ravelry. By the time I landed for my 3 hour layover in Pheonix, it looked like this:

That is the completed stocking stitch portion of the shawl. YAY!!! However, by this time I was a little brain fuzzy from having been up since 3:30 am and flying all morning (which always makes me extra fuzzy). That's as far as the knitting got for the day. On my second flight I read Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs, and at one point I tried to sleep (which didn't work).

I had a busy time once I got into Austin, and my knitting time decreased so that I didn't finish my shawl until the 22nd. I've worn it every day since. I love it. It's soft. It's smooshy. It's warm. It's maroon. Basically, it's knitting perfection.

It needs to be reblocked, and I'm going to steam the ever loving life out of it to see if it will help hold the block. Regardless, I love it. I modified it sligtly due to a smaller yardage of my yarn than what was called for. I used 250 yards of sport weight instead of 385 yards of fingering, so instead of starting the lace section with 11 repeats, I started with 9. I also used US 5 needles instead of US 6 needles because I like my 5s better. It makes it a little smaller overall, but I'm not known for being a big person so it fits me perfectly.

After this I ended up doing some impromptu last minute Christmas knitting at the request of my mom. She saw my Sand Dollar Hat and loved it, so she bought some Patons Silk Bamboo in Sapphire and I knit her up one of her own. I finished and blocked it yesterday, and neglected to take pictures of the finished product.

In addition to being busy, I was also distracted from my knitting by this:


This is Girlie, by parent's 18 year old blind cat. Everything she does is cute beyond all reason. She slept with me almost every night. She sought me out when she wasn't asleep. I doted on her. I miss her already.

Ok, they just called the start of boarding. I've got a short wait, I didn't log on to get my boarding pass in time (even though I was awake, cleaning up after Girlie who'd had an upset tummy).

And Relax

I turned in my last term paper this morning, which means I am not enjoying some well deserved FREEDOM!!! As promised in the previous post, I'm here with lots of pictures to share with you.

First off, I have an update on my ant infestation. They're still infesting. Despite the multiple locations of poison put out by the maintenance person, against my better judgement since it's never worked in the past, I have had 0 decrease in ant activity. In fact it's gotten so bad that I can't turn on the light above my desk anymore, because that just draws them out and then they fall on my desk (and computer, and in my food, and on my head).
















I took the above three pictures after I'd had the light on for 10 minutes. See all those little black dots all over the light and cieling in the above right picture? Ants, each and every one of them. I've got the creepy crawlies on my head just thinking about them.

The giant crack in the light cover that you can see has been there since last winter, when Jesse took it down to put (ineffectual) bait in it, and the plastic broke. He broke the one in the kitchen completely, I've had a bare bulb in there ever since. I took the cover down a couple of weeks ago to try and super glue it back together. It worked...somewhat. I had to hold the split together with masking tape, and some of the masking tape got super glued to the cover. The ants are still coming through.

In less icky, more yarny news, Thanksgiving Santa (aka Sidnee) visited knit night the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and brought yarny giveaways. I picked up 7 skeins of recycled sari silk.


No clue what I'm going to do with this, but I compulsively accept free yarn. Plus, it's very lovely, so many yummy colors.

The hand warmers that I spoke of in a previous post had to be restarted. These are the ones knit out of Jasmine yarn for a friend of mine. The first one was just a bit too snug on her, so I started over on size 4 US (3.5mm) needles. I got the first one re-knit in short order, but the second one got put on hold until I'd finished another two pairs for her that are meant as Christmas gifts to her nieces.


This is the first (now completed) jasmine wrist warmer. I knit this one from the top down, so that I could monitor the length more closely and hopefully have enough yarn for both (it's going to be close, very close).









I got a lot of knitting done on the gift hand warmers over the Thanksgiving holiday, in addition to lots of work on my term papers. I celebrated Thursday night with macaroni and cheese, which might not sound like much, but this is my great-grandmother's recipe for the dish and it's delicious. I snapped this picture right after taking it out of the oven. I at the last of it for dinner last night. I miss it already.



The first set of gift mitts I knit were in a mystery fiber variegated dark pink fingering weight yarn, on size 2.5 US (3 mm) needles. I loved working with this yarn. I know it's got silk in it. I've got a matching headband to knit up, and I'm saving it for last.





















I finished these on Friday, and started the next pair (blue variegated wool, fingering, same needles) on Friday. I just finished them up today on the bus to the library, and have cast on for the matching headband in this color. I don't have any pictures of these, but I'll try to remember to get some (I gave the finished pink ones to their gifter before I could snap a finished shot. I'm prone to doing that).

Now I'm gearing up for a weekend of relaxation, fun, and possibly some mild cleaning of my home (like dishes and putting away school papers, nothing drastic). I've got DVDs from the library, and a paper back sci-fi for bed time reading. I'm hoping to finish up the headbands in short order so I can get back to working on my Hot Pink and Vintage cardigan, and I'm going to start a pair of Prarie Boots by cocoknits for myself. I've got the pattern printed and the yarn all lined up, and I'm so very tired of having ice cubes for feet at home.

That's all I've got for now. I'll try to stay on top of posting regularly during winter break.

Check In

Just wanted to post a quick note so no one thinks I've fallen off the face of the planet. I'm still here, I have been knitting (a little bit) but mostly I'm working on finishing up two involved term papers. My last one is due a week from tomorrow, after which I'll have 8 days of FREEDOM before I fly south for my annual winter flee (during which I will also have lots of knitting time).

I do have several pictures that are just waiting to be uploaded. Suffice it to say, the next post is going to be a monster.

So Good

I finally managed to finish a project! I got the earflap hat (lovingly named "!@#$%^& hat" on Ravelry) done today, ends all woven in and steam blocked.

I like how the yarn knit up in a stripey pattern. The yarn is red, blue and yellow, but with the double stranding I ended up with a "green" section and a few spots that look "orange." I would love to work with this yarn again and make something for myself.
























In other news, I also have progress pictures of my Hot Pink and Vintage sweater. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the front right section of the sweater. It goes quickly when I actually work on it, but it will sit idle for days so this sweater is really taking longer than in should.

I'm really liking how the cabled button band is knitting up, even if the 12 stitch cable is a bit arduous to execute. The yarn is also knitting up wonderfully well, I think it was just the right pick for this sweater.

In other yarn related news, I finally broke down and got a big clear plastic bin to corral the yarn that doesn't fit in my hanging organizer, storage ottoman, or in my "wall of yarn" decoration. My yarn stash has gone from looking like this:

(It's not just my yarn stash, but also where I keep my mending and some random fabric that I end up with.)

To this:

Not all of the yarn fit in the box (obviously) but at least it's nice and neat, now. If I'd just get out my sewing machine I could drastically clean this up, since most of the mending is easy stuff, like hemming or easy seam mending. Also, that plastic bag has an empty shoebox that I need to deconstruct and put in the recycle.

Now it's time to go warm up dinner. I'm having tacos, which is all part of a Day in the Life.

Stupid Batteries

I was planning on doing a longer picture update, but my camera batteries died before I could get all of the photos taken. Stupid dollar store batteries (but I can afford better now, so I'll get new batteries tomorrow afternoon).

What I do have so far is an update on a couple of projects that I've never photoed before. First is the !@#$%^& hat (that's honestly the name I gave it on Ravelry) that I am making for one of my roommates. He purchased the yarn (Jojoland Melody) and payment is still being hammered out.

His specifications were for an earflap hat, and that is what I am making.

This:
Is being magically transformed into this:


That's the last picture I got before the batteries died, or I'd have managed more detailed shots. It keeps rolling up on me like a slap bracelet, though.

Second is a project that I started tonight. A friend of me provided yarn to make two hand warmers and head band sets for Christmas for her nieces, and a set of hand warmers for her. The yarn got lost in my yarn mess, but I cleaned that up recently and refound the yarn. These things knit up almost faster than Superman so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge to get them done before my annual flee to warmer/sunnier climes at winter break.

The yarn is Louisa Harding "Jasmine" which is 48% cotton, 39% bamboo, 10% silk, and 3% polyester (in the form of a silver thread), and the color is a lovely "Cinderella" (the Disney version) blue. I'm using 3.00 mm needles.















Lastly, I'm almost done assembling the kits for my class this weekend. I'm teaching crochet wire buttons at our annual regional ASG meeting, and I've got a whopping (and probably record) 15 people enrolled. I just need 1 more reel of wire for the kits and one for my demos (I'm not about to use my expensive wire for a class I'm teaching pro bono). I'll pick those up tomorrow (the wire section at Joanns won't be the same for weeks) and whip up some samples. I got some great beads for my attendees. It should be fun.



I haven't worked on my Hot Pink and Vintage sweater since Wednesday of last week, and there are no new photos. Mostly I'm sticking to small portable projects that are good for bus knitting and a few stolen moments before class. It also didn't help that I had a horrible migraine last night and spent 4.5 hours in bed before I went to sleep. If nothing else I'll have plenty of time to work on it during my southward fleeing in December.

That's all I've got right now, so I'm going to log off and turn in (still tired from the migraine).

Keep stitching, and stay tuned for more A Day in the Life.

Random Thoughts

If the Yarn Harlot can do this, so can I.

1. Working 3 hours over a four hour stretch means that I was bored and stuck on campus for an hour.

2. I read faster than I think I do, which is saying something because I think I read fast.

3. It smells like gravy down here in the computer lab.

4. I now want gravy. And meat. I wish there were Luby's in Oregon.

5. I neglected to bring the !@#$%^& hat that I'm working on (yes, that is the official name I've given it. I love the yarn, I love the needles, but I hate knitting hats at such small gauge.)

6. Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine rocks my socks (even though I don't have hand knit socks on today, they were all in the wash).

7. Graduate school is not conducive to knitting time. Or yarn budgets.

8. I got my floor stash of yarn organized into one bin so it isn't collecting dust and leaves and tripping me anymore. Pictures forthcoming.

9. I need a knitting project that is knit on needles larger than size 3 US. It'd be nice to feel like I was making progress in some aspect of my life.

10. This gravy smell is getting out of hand.

I almost forgot!

Knitpicks is having a promotional contest where one lucky person will win the contents of their wishlist, up to $150. I filled mine up, and am keeping my fingers crossed. Although I think I might got switch out a few things, and see if I can work in a set of their nice bamboo needles since I love the HiyaHiyas so much.