I'm packing for a flight to Seattle this weekend, and one of the more important parts of packing is figuring out knitting.  (Well, that, and carefully calculating the number of pairs of underwear required for the time spent away.)

So, looking at knitting goals for the year:

-fornicating reindeer hat for coworker's brother-in-law
-fornicating ______ hat for coworker's husband - thinking horny toads? Not sure, may need to chart this
-socks for Tina
-socks for my sister
-socks for HWIA
-wrist warmers for ME, ALL MINE.
-wrist warmers for TSD
-sweater for me
-baby stuff galore!
-cowl for boss
-wrist warmers for A2
-socks for me
-repair all dying, holey socks on dresser

Fornicating reindeer hat would require the purchase of yarn.  No time for that, plus coworker's brother-in-law hasn't given me the money for said hat yet.

Fornicating _____ hat for coworker's husband:  I do have the yarn for this one, and I just spent quite a few hours figuring out the chart for the horny toads and toadstool(s).

Socks for Tina:  One done, about 2/3 of the way done the foot of the second.  These are toe-up, so I hate them.  Also, on  metal needles so not appropriate for plane knitting.

Socks for my sister: One done, dipped into second yarn ball to finish first, thus insuring that I will run out of yarn for the second.  Have yet to decide on solution, and also, on metal needles, even if I am very near the toe on the second sock.

Socks for HWIA: going to be modeled after socks knit for my father, so will be using same yarn/needles/pattern.  Again, that means metal needles.  ARGH.

Wrist warms for me: have yarn, have wooden needles, have idea of pattern.  Just not sure if I want to figure that out on a plane/train to airport.  Hrm.

Wrist warmers for TSD:  ALL DONE!  And even gifted to him already as well.

Sweater for me:  need to decide on pattern.

Baby stuff galore:  Hoping to pick up baby stuff yarn in Seattle.

Cowl for boss:  Boss got another pair of wrist warmers to replace the ones she lost.

Wrist warmers for A2:  ALL DONE! and gifted as well.  They've even been worn.

Socks for me:  One of the few projects already going AND on wooden needles! However, feel guilty for knitting stuff for me with all the above not done yet.

The other option is the second pair of Bayerische Socks, but I dug those out and appear to be missing a needle.  I have sock, I have yarn, I have pattern, I have only 4 needles and that pattern requires at least 5.

I'm Not Dead Yet!

Um.  Hi.

I am (finally) back from the dead.  Well, mostly.  I ended up rather sick over spring break, and ended up spending 3-4 days in bed.  Sleeping.  Eventually, I got bored enough of the view of my room to start sleeping with my head at the foot of the bed. 

As a result, spring break was kinda a wash.  I  basically got nothing done, other than a few fun things that I refused to give up, such as a trip into Philly with a certain person, nommy sushi with barn people, and my half/un birthday party.  Totally worth it, I think.  I shall continue to celebrate my half-birthday, as that one evening - still kinda sick, very very tired, and not drinking - was more fun than my last four birthdays combined.  And I didn't even get any presents! (although, Sister made me a PB&J sandwich the next day, which was awesome.)

I knew I was sick when I didn't want to go to the barn.  Or knit.  And fell asleep after every two or three paragraphs, no matter what I was reading.

I am back to knitting, now, though.  I have a completed back, two completed (and matching) fronts, one completed sleeve, and one almost-completed sleeve (only 18 rows to go, and decreases on most of those rows).  Soon, I will have to start sewing things together and then knit the collar.  I think I shall totally not follow the directions for that and just start somewhere.  Oh, and I suppose I ought to get a zipper or something.  Since I really kinda don't wanna do button bands and stuff.  We shall see, I suppose.

My sister ripped a hole in her Bayerische Socks.  Too big to simply repair, too central a spot to just mend and not care how it looks.  Thankfully, it is rather near the toe of cuff-down socks, so I was able to just unravel from the toe and re-knit.  I didn't bother to wash the yarn or anything, and it looks rather funky.  I am a little afraid, as I am ready to kitchner the toe shut again .... and I never ran out of yarn.  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?   I will need to check it against it's mate and make sure that I (mostly) did the same things as before.

Schroedie, playing fetch:

(it is hard to hold a camera steady and throw a fuzzy pink mouse.)

Of Mice and Men

What I planned on doing today:

• riding lesson
  
• clean bathroom
  
• clean kitchen
  
• take out recycling
  
• straighten room
  
• knit
  
• read three chapters of my book
  
• go to the gym and kick my own ass
  

What I will Most Likely End up Doing Today:

• read half a chapter of my book and fall asleep
  
• attempt to straighten my room and give up half way
  
• curse a lot
  
• attempt to knit and discover that your middle finger is really quite required for the whole process
  

And the reason my to-do list will end up so very NOT to-did?

But there's a valid reason for drinking before noon on a Thursday:

You see that line about a third of the way down my nail?  It was bent backwards - and STUCK - at that line.  I managed to rip off a large portion of my nail during my lesson this morning.

Doesn't it look pretty?

Good thing I went bowling last night, otherwise I'd be bowling left-handed.  Also, that happens to be my middle finger, so I've been walking around like I'm giving people the middle finger.

Yesterday, I was bucked off.  Twice.  By the same horse.  I had bruises by the time I got home.  They look funny (but don't photograph well - believe me, I tried) because the surface of the ring is uneven, so I have "dotted" bruises.  A couple scrapes as well and some really nice and sore muscles to boot.

I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow when I ride.

In knitting news, I tore out the majority of Sizzle.  I tried it on again and finally convinced myself that it is too short, too wide, and not something I would wear.  So, back to the seed stitch border to start again.  I went down a needle size, figuring that will help with the "too wide" part.  I also knit an extra inch before starting the decreasing darts and will knit an extra inch or two in the shoulder straps, I think.  Also, I knit that back when I was twisting my purl stitches by purling incorrectly for the way I knit (or vice versa, depending on how you want to look at it.)

I finished the sock I started while watching Knocked Up and offered the pair - once I finish it - to my sister.  I'm knocking around ideas for my sock pal's socks, but I want to start at the toes and knit my way up.  And use little to no lace.  I'm thinking of modifying the Bayerische pattern to use the two cable patterns that I really like.  I think I'd have time to finish them.  Right?

Catching Up

I still need to block Branching Out. I'm waiting for a day that I wake up (and GET up) early enough to be sure that it is dry by the time I go to bed, as I think I have to block on my bed. I'm uber excited though, since blocking lace is magic! After I block it, I have to figure out where it shall live. I'm thinking TheBoy's mother shall be able to find a good use for it.

I'm not sure about the color, though. I loved the color online, but now it looks rather ... blah. Maybe I'll knit a swatch with the VERY LITTLE I have left over and see how that works.

In other news, I've been given Timmy for the summer - the horse that can jump 4'6" with no problem. He's awesome and I'm having a blast, even though I'd rather not sit again for a few days. There's talk of doing an A rated jumpers show in July, which is already scaring me. Those turns are gonna be TIGHT and Timmy is either fast or nimble and both are needed to do well.

Tomorrow, I plan on attempting to find a sock pattern (or to create one) for my sock pal. I also need to figure out my next "big" project. I have to finish my sister's second Bayerische sock and I started a new pair of socks the other day - I'd finished the monkey socks and we were going to a movie. You know it's bad when you think you twisted the join during your cast on and PLAN ON CONTINUING to knit ANYWAY, just so you have something to do during the movie. (I didn't twist, but I did get some 4.5 inches of cuff done during Knocked Up.)

For now, to bed with my lap top and PSU's subscription to Practical Horseman.

Random Monday

Really, if I change the day of the week of my random posts, that means nothing, right? Right.

• Downtown is DEAD. And it is AWESOME. I love State College without all the people. Sadly, classes have begun and there are some more people around now, mostly those who will be freshmen in the fall and I'm remembering why freshmen are annoying. But oh well.'
• I've been knitting. A lot. I finally started the second Bayerische sock and am at the point where I need to start looking at charts again. Hopefully this one will be faster than the first, so long as I can dedicate time just to this sock. Maybe one hour of tv three nights a week shall be for this sock? I'd like to finish it uh, soon.

• I finished one sock with my awesome Claudia's HandPainted yarn. I am SO TOTALLY in love. The colors rock, the yarn rocks... Oddly, this is the first time I have EVER gotten 8sts/inch for a pair of socks. It seems very weird to hit gauge. I'm using Cookie A.'s "Monkey" pattern from Knitty. I really like it with this yarn. However, I'm in the middle of a swatch altering her pattern.. If I like that, I might use it for my Sockpalooooza pal socks. I can't decide if it is "overly lacey" though. Any input?

• Oh, yeah. I think I finally found a yarn for my sock pal. Now I just need to wait for a pay check to be able to buy the yarn. She likes very deep, saturated colors and I tend more towards pastels and the like. Picking a color has been HARD.
• I've decide to take only the Bayerische socks, the second monkey sock (I'm halfway done the cuff already) and the Branching Out Scarf home. Not that I ever have time to knit, but you know. That way I'll HAVE to knit on Branching Out. And then I might finish it.
• I went to the library today. Main Campus libraries don't have anything by Neil Gaiman, yet branch campuses have Nora Roberts. WHAT IN THE WORLD? Tomorrow, I'll stop by the library downtown, which actually has a contemporary fiction section.
• I got Guilliver's Travels, a couple of Jane Austen books, Weithering Heights by one of the Bronte sisters, I can never remember which one, and a few Philip Roth books, which for some WEIRD reason, the library actually had. I find it amusing that my "pleasure" reading includes books the average person would never think to read.

• And that's all, folks. Bed time for me.
  

Random Saturday

Yeah, so I missed random Thursday. We're gonna blame that on spending some .. 3-4 hours at the barn, a two hour Grey's Anataomy special, and Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which is my current book.

• the first Bayerische sock is completed!
• the second sock has been cast on. I'm still on the ribbing, but that's ok.
• I'm past the heel for the second waffleweave sock. Maybe I'll finish this thing by mother's day. Maybe not, given what I have to do between now and then.
  
• I have an 8am final on Monday
• I have a paper due at midnight on Monday
• I have another paper due at 5pm Monday
• I have not yet started either paper
• I have to be at work at 7:30pm on Monday
• I might be going to a paper chase tomorrow, early like
• I'm tired, my feet hurt, and I have to be at TheBoy's in an hour to go to a party hosted by his 70 year old proffessor. Apparently, everyone wants to meet me.
• I ought to try to work on a paper between now and 5pm.

Here's what I did for part of those 3-4 hours on Thursday:


It looks really easy, but that's cause Timmy is awesome.

Clearly, I need help:

This is what I currently have on needles:


Sizzle, Bayerische socks, waffleweave socks, and Branching Out.

I've got one row to go and then I can cast off the neckband for Sizzle. After that, I have a few ends to weave in and the sleeve trim to do - but I might not do the sleeve trim. The sleeves a little tight as is right now and I'm not sure how much of a problem adding the trim would cause. Though, I suppose finding out will only take an evening.

(The color, not so very correct in that picture.)

After a three hour long class and a few hours of television this evening, I'm working the toe decreases for Bayerische.

I need to stop and do some maths here - I have 46 stitches on the sole, as my sister has large feet. As a result, if I decrease as the pattern tells me to, the decreases will be in weird places. I think I might just put some of the sole stitches on the top two needles and decrease in pattern from there, so that the toe doesn't end up looking too funky. That, of course, means I need to tink back two rounds, since I forgot to think about that BEFORE I started the toe.

As I've finished Paradise Lost AND Paradise Regained, the waffleweave socks are kinda lagging behind:

(Six inch dpn included for scale.) I'm on repeat 12 of 18 before starting the heel. They move pretty quickly and I have a movie to watch tomorrow, so they should be near the heel soonish. Maybe even before mother's day? Nope, not gonna happen.

And no picture of Branching Out because I promise that it looks exactly the same as it did the last time I posted a picture. Whenever that was.

And here.. here is almost all of my stash.

From left to right in some sort of order: Louet's Gem in navy, KnitPicks dye-your-own dyed with koolaide, a skein and a small ball of Lorna's Laces, two cakes of Claudia's Handpainted yarn, some Sock it to Me Collection sock yarn, more of same, and some Opal.

The Opal is for my mother, the blue sock it to me is for Tina, the Claudia's is for ME, ME, ME, ALL MINE, MAY NOT TOUCH, and the rest is pretty much up for grabs.

And the rest of it....

I have enough yarn for 8 pairs of socks and 5 skeins of the yummy purple alpalca that knits up into the most awesome swatch ever.. About 1000 yards. AND NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH IT.

I really, really, really, really want to knit a shawl. A lacey, needs to be blocked to make the pattern beautiful shawl. Problem is, I would never use it. No one I know would ever use a shawl. I'm thinking that I might offer to knit a shawl and donate it as a prize for someone's drawing for something good, like Steph's Knitters Without Borders.

So, conclusions:
a) I need to buy more yarn.
b) I need to knit a few more pairs of socks for myself
c) I need to finish Branching Out
d) I need to decide what to knit next.

Any suggestions? (Donations of yarn also glady accepted. I might even knit what you want and send the knitted item back to you!)

This is not homework

Even though today's high was something in the 80s, I'm still slogging along on Blaze. I have 15 rows to go.. but with nearly 300 stitches per round, that takes a while. Maybe I can wear it to work over the summer, as I tend to freeze in air conditioning.

Soon, I'll need to pull Sizzle out and finish that. Then I can wear that one to work as well. I think after everything settles down a bit. One rough draft and a final paper for FR, one final paper for 301, one final exam for 301, one final paper for 497C, one final paper for 409Y, one book report for 176, one final exam for 176, one take home final essay for 303, and one quiz for 497C and I think I'm done for the semester. Of course, I also think I'm forgetting something.

The finished waffleweave sock:


For some reason, the sock does not lie flat. I haven't blocked it however, and it fits a foot perfectly, so I'm not too worried about it. You can also see that I've started the second sock. I'm about two pattern repeats into the 18 repeats that make up the cuff. I don't see it taking too long but I also don't see me having that much time to knit.

Bayerische is slowly coming along. See:

Because of the crossing of stitches every single round, I've had to distribute stitches in a slightly ... uneven and strange way. DO NOT LIKE. It is almost enough to make me consider two circular needles, but that will prolly never happen.

The sock is pretty there, but it totally blooms on the foot:

The color is close to true in the first picture, this one is a little washed out. It is seriously hard to get a decent picture of a sock on needles on the foot with weird numbers of stitches on each needle and NOT accidentally getting a corner of your drying rack which is currently home to some 14 bras and pairs of underwear from the last two weeks. Love the internets, but I'm not posting pictures of my underwear. (if you have other requests of things that I could also show my parents, let me know.)

I think I'm going to try to finish the waffleweave socks, then Bayerische. THEN, I can cast on a pair of socks for me.

That's part (and a small part, at that) of the windows in the Urmila's uncle's house. SO COOL.

Let's play Catch Up

Not this week, but next week, I have a paper due every day of the week. For five days of classes, that is five papers. I've avoided putting together a page count, because then I just might cry.

I started a new pair of socks, with the Austermann Step yarn, in a waffleweave pattern. I have no idea if I've blogged about these before and I'm too lazy to look it up. But here's the current state of the sock:


I've decided that I really love garter stitch short row heels. Somehow, the row gauge of garter works well with my theory of 50% of total stitches for the heel, and knit and wrap 66% of those, leaving the remaining third for the middle. I forgot to center the instep pattern with columns of purl stitches framing it, so after I knit the heel, I ended up ripping the whole heel out to center everything. I'm much happier now. (And actually, I think the foot is longer now than it was when I took that picture. In an inch or two, I should be ready to start the heel. YAY for Paradise Lost reading, which I'm currently avoiding by writing this post.) These socks are for my mother and I think she'll really like them.

I'm avoiding Blaze. I'm angry at myself for not finishing Blaze before spring arrived. (Then again, Spring HASN'T YET ARRIVED, so I'm still not late. But I don't think I'll finish in time.) Thursday night, I was knitting away on Blaze and discovered one fewer stitch than required. Well, one fewer going by the tried and true method of going around and checking to make sure there were four purl stitches between every two knit stitches. Lo and behold, I was missing a stitch. I checked and didn't discover any dropped stitches.. Ripped back a few rounds and didn't magically get the correct number of stitches. I don't know what happened, but since there aren't any dropped stitches, I really don't care. I just picked up an extra stitch in pattern and kept knitting.

Of course, I ended up ripping out about an inch worth of progress. In one three hour long class, I tend to only mange 5-6 rows of knitting and I tend not to raise my hand but just blurt things out. GAH!! I could have avoiding ripping, just added a stitch and kept on going.

While I had the thing on multiple needles, though, I did take the time to try it on. It fits! YAY! I really do need another 3-5 inches though, or the thing will become an off-the-shoulder- sweater and I just can't pull that look off.

Last night, the Boy and I were watching Firefly and I wasn't knitting, per usual. He asked why not and I replied that I just didn't really feel like it. He became convinced that I was about to fall over and die. Annoyance with Blaze, not being able to look at charts and knit Bayerische while watching TV, and not wanting to hurry my reading sock knitting along left me with nothing to work on. Also, my pinkies hurt from the double reins of Timmy's bridle and knitting really doesn't help the pain.

Now that I've wasted a good two hours, I'm going to go read ... something and try not to fall asleep. This week is going to be hellish and next week is going to be even worse.

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?

Alive.

So, um, this regular-posting concept?  Doesn't seem to have sunken in very far.

I haven't been knitting very much, in part because I'm not watching TV at home and in part because I don't have a lot of free time.

I have, however, mostly finished Ryan's hat.  I need to make the tassel for the top and snip off three already-woven in ends that I wove in before I found the scissors.  (Actually, I have yet to find the scissors, so we'll see when that happens.)  It is in the process of drying right now - I blocked it tonight and am shaping it on a stuffed Eeyore I have at home.

I'm also on row 4 (or 12, depending on the chart) of the Bayerische socks, which I am LOVING.  My sister is lucky that I dislike the color of the yarn or I just might steal the finished socks from her.  Maybe they won't fit and I can have them?  They are rather stretchy, though.  I keep messing up parts and having to rip and re-knit.  I've been just ripping a few stitches to the side of the mistake and knitting back up in that section, since I think I might curl up and cry if I had to reknit large sections.  (The whole sock, just small sections at a time, seems to be acceptable though.  It is normal to play mental games with oneself, right?)

I've been cranking out my sister's scarf as well - I think I have about a foot done now.  With the bulky yarn, I imagine that the whole thing shall go fast, if I were to actually sit and knit the thing.

And I finaly cast on for the Blaze sweater.  I only have the correct size needle to do the ribbing at the bottom though, so the major part of that might have to wait til I get back to school and can borrow needles from Julie.  Or I'll just break down and buy a pair.  I am loving the fabric made from the KnitPicks alpaca.  Softy and squishy!

I've also spent some $350+ on my car, what with new brakes, an oil change, and a new headlight bulb.  I think I need to replace a few other things, but I plan on waiting til the next oil change.  (Which will be soon, given that I've already put some 500+ miles on since I got home.  And need to drive back to school.  And may be driving back here for a doctor's visit after classes start.)

I think I might get around to dyeing the sock yarn tomorrow.  We'll see if I manage to drag myself out to the barn tomorrow or not.

And Blogger seems to hate pictures, so I'll continue to promise them and not deliver.  (At least you know what to expect from me!)

bits and orts

I want to knit these socks.  I'm not very good at reading charts, so that might prove interesting. But they are beautiful socks.  

Problem is that I owe a pair of socks to Tina, a pair of socks to my sister, and a pair of socks to my mother.  Tina's socks are about 3/4 of the way done and I've already knit my mother a pair.  So I guess I ought to make my sister a pair.  And she also loves the pattern.  I suppose that I can knit them for her first, learn the pattern, and knit myself a better pair.  That works for me.

This is our Christmas Tree Topper.  Somehow, it was deemed
fitting that he should have something up his behind.
That ought to give you some idea of our sense of humor

So, for break, I have lined up : Kool-Aid dying.  I've got some 400+ yards of fingering superwash yarn from KnitPicks to be dyed.  

I'll FINALLY get to start Blaze, with the super yummy alpaca that I pet before going to bed every night.  Luckily, the boyfriend doesn't even notice when I knit in public anymore, so he's gotten very good at ignoring all the yarn sitting around my room.  And my actions towards it.

And then, I'll start the Bayerische sock.  I'm thrilled to find a sock pattern with a gauge of 9sts/inch since that's my typical gauge with Opal and that's the yarn my sister picked out for her socks.

When I was little, I used to build forts under this bush.
The best part was that my parents could never see me.

So, you want to hate me?  I'm almost completely finished my Christmas shopping.  I need to run down-town and pick up a poster for a friend, but I know that the store has it.  For the Urm-dawg, I'm going to donate money to a charity in her name.  I just need to figure out which charity would best suit her.  Doctors Without Borders would let me help out the Yarn Harlot, but maybe I'll just end up donating a bit to them anyway.  I need to get the Boy one more gift, but that might be done through iTunes, so no big deal there.  And of course, I need to wrap those that I've already purchased, but that won't take long.

Clearly, I am a throne for the cat.  This is a scan of a print
my sister took, when I fell asleep reading one evening.

Yesterday, I stayed on campus until 9:30pm, working in various computer labs.  I managed to get quite a bit of work done - I only have two papers and a final exam left.  So, I've calmed down a bit and am rewarding myself for managing to hand in two finals today.  I managed to get about 3 pages of the 5 page paper done, so if I can finish that tonight, I have tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday to churn out 20 pages.  Totally do-able.

Right?