Buzz.

I'm a very busy little bee right now. I am getting ready to make a long list of all my to-knit items. It's getting longer everyday! Today, I received a few requests for custom items. That's nice!

I'm almost done with the scarf I've been working on for a friend. She ordered something a while ago and I sent her a test knit hat from my pile. She liked it, so she asked for a matching scarf. I knit the hat a really long time ago (I basically did it to learn how to do slip stitch faux cables), so I couldn't remember exactly how I had done it. I looked at a few pictures I had of it and was able to guess what I had done 4 years ago.

I originally had the cables running up each row except the ends. It looked very nice, but after about the 18th inch, it started rolling in on itself. I decided the easiest thing to do was to drop the stitches from the 3rd row in on each side to see how it stopped the rolling, that helped, but it needed a little more, so I did 5th row in as well.  I really love the way the plain rows make the cable rows pop.

I'm looking forward to knitting another copy of this. I have some really nice dark olive green/brown Cascade tweed. It's good stuff. I made a great scarf out of it last year. Knitting it again will help with writing out the pattern since my brain can't really seem to translate my scribbled knitting notes into something that anyone else could ever read. It's like I've never read a pattern before when I try to write my own out!! I'm just going to have to sit down with my big file and study how they are written.

I've been planning a hat using the small cables too. I am leaning towards a sock weight yarn since I have so much of that in the stash. I think the variegated yarn will really look nice.

F5 - Crush

When I blogged a lot on LiveJournal, I used to love doing the Friday Five, so I think I'll start doing it again. Maybe then, I'll blog at least a few times a month!

So here is this week's from RevGal:
1) Did you ever have a crush on a teacher?
I don't think so.

2) Who was your first crush?
On TV, it was David Bowie. Then Simon LeBon. I really like(d) British singers.

3) Have you ever given a gift to a crush?
No.

4) Do you have a celebrity crush?
My nerd crush is Ira Glass from "This American Life." My singer crush is Damien Rice.

5) Have you ever been surprised to find yourself the crushee?
I can't think of it ever actually being a big deal. I think a few friends have drunkenly confessed crushes at some point, but nothing surprising.

In knitting news, I'm still working at a snail's pace with anything that matters... I just finished an order of four dishcloths last night. I have an order for two Christmas stockings that I really need to work on. I want to get them done before too long. We'll see though, the next few weeks are going to be insane. I also have a hat to knit for a friend and 2 sweaters I'd like to finish (one just needs sleeves [3/4 length with worsted and size 10 needles! It should take an evening!] and the other needs sleeves and the yoke).

I honestly have no idea what to do for the Christmas gifts this year. I have no money at all... I have a few things taken care of already, but I have nothing for quite a few people. I'm just going to look through my stash and see what I can come up with.

I have a lot of reading to do and papers to write. I have a 12-15 page paper for my Tudors class due on Wednesday. Somehow this week of Thanksgiving break really slipped away from me. I got nothing done all week. I don't really know what happened. I started doing some reading last night and I'm happy with the subject I've chosen, but I just have so much research to do still. I have a big paper for my Women's History class, as well as two 3-4 page essays. I have no idea what to write my paper on for that... I've been watching Mad Men, so I was thinking about something with women in advertising in the 1960's. Then a paper for Japanese History. Just a little bit of work...

Beached

Happy New Year!

We have been busy, busy, busy. First was finals, then the end of the quarter at work, then driving all over the United States. We have been to nine states in as many days! It's been a whirlwind.

I got to see a lot of friends and family which is always nice, but I'm exhausted and ready to head home! We got back to Ohio from North Carolina tonight. We spent a few days at the Blockcade Runner on Wrightsville Beach. It was lovely and I really needed some beach time. I took about a thousand photos, but haven't had a chance to upload all of them yet so here are a few.

Our view across the inlet (Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway)



Our room


Another view from the room


I'll have more photos in a few days. We'll be back in Colorado Sunday and I go back to work on Monday.

Mindless

Between work and school, I've been completely swamped and haven't had much time to focus on knitting. I was working on Vince's scarf and first realized that I had made up my own stitch pattern, then I mis-counted my stitches and am going to have pick out the entire row. It's going to take a long time to do it right because there are YOs every 4 stitches. I honestly just don't have the concentration right now to do it. I really need to finish it up in the next week or two before it gets too chilly here. (This is a old photo, but it's a scarf so it's not going to look all that different...)

My mindless knitting this week has been dishcloths. I have quite a stash of cotton built up so I decided that I should get a jump start on my random gift stash. I might use them as Christmas gifts or whatever. I might end up using some of them myself or listing a few on etsy. So far I've finished 5 and will have another one done tonight. They are good idle knitting for me.

I'm going to use the dishcloth pattern to make a few squares for Grandpa's blanket. I have 9 finished and just need to get a few more done soon. I thought that some easy garter stitch ones would be good.

I have put the laptop case on the back burner for now. I bought a nice bag at Target with a laptop case in it. (I just hunted all over their site for a picture of it and can't find it... Weird.) It's large enough for me to put books for school in there, my laptop, some knitting stuff and my little purse. I really like it. It has a chartreuse inner lining, very cute!

Exhausted.

I'm working my butt off right now between school, work and life. I'm really enjoying my classes, but since I only have so many hours in the day, my knitting time has taken the biggest hit. I just don't have much time to devote to knitting. I need to develop a good way to knit mindless things while I read.


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