Recap

For some reason, my computer does not like to associate with fiber-optic internet service. As a result, it ... doesn't. While at home, I'm forced to either use my father's computer or my sister's computer. My sister's has the disadvantage of being located in HER room. Getting to the computer desk is a feat of balance and flexibility, as there is no walk-way ... just piles of STUFF. My father's computer is not only in a common location of the house, but one doesn't need to warm up before attempting to approach the machine. However, his computer's main language is Swedish. No matter what program you have running - and even if you have an English version of the program - error messages pop up in Swedish. I don't know Swedish. (Neither, for that matter, does my father. That makes tech support quite fun.)

As a result, no blogging. As a result of lots and lots of stuff to do, not quite as much knitting as I would have liked. I did manage to tack on another 5 pattern repeats of Branching Out, for a total of 27, which the pattern calls for. I think I'm going to knit til I run out of yarn, rip back to the end of a full repeat, and finish the thing. Some year. No pictures because it looks like the other pictures, just ... longer.

I finished the one sleeve of Blaze and started the other:



This shouldn't take me too long, as there are only 4 pattern repeats, for a total of 72 rounds. (8 rounds of 72 stitches = 576 stitches. 7 rounds of 74 stitches = 518. 8 rounds of 76 stitches = 608 stitches. And 49 rounds of 78 stitches = 3822 stitches. For a grand total of 5524 stitches for one sleeve. [I'm on round 7 right now, after the 8 rounds of ribbing.] Clearly I'll be done in no time.)

As for my sister's sock,



I also turned the heel, picked up gusset stitches (um, 19 of them, rather than the suggested 16. Not sure what, exactly, I did there), and started the decreasing part. What with the plain stockinette stitch of the bottom, I'm kinda hoping that the foot of the sock goes faster than the leg did. I do have three hours a week to spend on it, though.

Here is Eeyore, modeling the foot of the second pawprint socks.


If they fit her, these socks will go to my mother. These are knit while I'm reading Milton's Paradise Lost.

And then... then I have THIS:



I'm quite sad, even messing around with light balance and color settings, I can't get the real color of this year. There is more green, more blue, more purple. SO PRETTY. That was the awesome part of visiting my mother - she lives in Harrisonburg, VA. So does Claudia, of Claudia's Hand Painted Yarns. As I had hoped, yarn stores round there tend to carry LOTS of Claudia's yarns. I got two skeins, so I'm hoping I might be able to pull off two pairs of footlets. Or maybe this yarn is meant to be a taller sock. Maybe even a toe up pair of socks, so I can knit as much as possible with this yarn. We shall see. I need to finish three pairs of socks before then - pawprint, Bayerische, and this....



The color is very close in this shot, actually. My mother liked the idea of socks with Aloe Vera in them and I can't say I mind the idea of knitting with it. I think I'm going to steal her pair of light cream Opal sock yarn for myself then... This will be her third pair of socks from me.

To completely change the subject, I made the ... mistake? Not sure if that is the correct word... of looking at working student positions for event riding. A found a few that pretty much provide everything I need, plus lessons, horses, coaching at events, a chance to compete.. I wouldn't be able to get one for this summer, but maybe that's what I'll do right out of college. I already know that this isn't the kind of thing that I am going to forget right away, so it can stew in the back of my mind for a while. Until tomorrow, for example.

I'm about to leave for a meeting with a faculty member to discuss the possibility of Holocaust Literature as a thesis option. I'm not sure where his office is, even though I've asked twice. Hrm.

Procrastination, how I love thee

I'm currently at the top of page 4 of a 5 page paper. So I need to come up with another 1.5 pages or so. Clearly it is time for a blog posting.

I spent very little time knitting this weekend, as I'm working next weekend and needed to get ahead to be able to finish everything on time. However, two three-hour-long classes really adds to the knitting time. Reading Milton's Paradise Lost also really helps.

I've been knitting Bayerische during Hist 409Y:

Six inch DPN included for scale

A close up of the pattern:

the actual color is somewhere between the two. For some reason,
this color is very hard to capture with my camera in artificial light.

And Blaze during Eng 497C and watching movies for Fr 497B:


That's actually the third attempt at Blaze. I didn't like how the pattern incorporated the increased stitches - purled until all were added, then a new zig-zag just started up - so I started those stitches in pattern a little early. Given that this will be the bottom of the sleeve, I don't think it will make much of a difference, but I like it. I'm really hoping the sleeves won't take too long, but I'm not holding my breath.



And when I remember, I've been working on the second PawPrint sock while reading Milton at my desk. So far, not too bad. I've finished the toe and have just started the majority of the foot portion, pattern included.



Other than the fact that I could be found at 10pm both Friday and Saturday still doing homework, the weekend was good. I managed to get a decent amount of work done, minus this paper that I have no desire to actually work on, minus the fact that I could then go to bed.

Signs of life

I'm alive. No, really. And now it looks like I might even be alive for a while longer.

I'm still coughing and hacking up nasty stuff, but much less often than before. And the sore throat has retreated enough that I'm off enough drugs to be able to go out for a friend's 21st birthday and not die if I forget and have a drink.

That being said, being sick has been good for the knitting. See?
I suppose knitting in class also helps... I need to finish a repeat and a half of the pattern, then start the sleeves. I'm not in a hurry, because I can't seem to find a set of US 6 DPNs. A friend has a set of 5s that I can borrow for the cuffs and might have a set of 6s. I don't want to tie up her DPNs for the length of time I'd be knitting two sleeves, so I attempted to purchase a set for myself. Wal-Mart and Michael's were both a bust. I could drive to the LYS, but they don't have cheap needles and I'm a broke college student. However, I am in a hurry cause I want to wear the thing while it is still winter.

I also finally got around to starting the other paw-print sock:
I wasn't quite able to perfectly match up the color repeats, but all in all, it is looking pretty good. And it only took me 4 tries to manage Judy's Magic Cast-On, rather than the 6 for the first sock. I do think, however, that these will be my last pair of toe-up socks. I hate attempting to START the sock and I hate FINISHING the sock. So I put those off and that tends to mean that I don't have socks. And that's just not the whole point.


And while watching a movie last night (Serenity, the movie based off of FireFly), I managed 5 rounds of Bayerische socks.
They aren't looking as clean and crisp as Eunny's but that's ok. Blocking shall solve the problem!

Wishful thinking, much?