I lied

Word continues to mock me. The cursor, it sits there and blinks, waiting for me to actually WRITE something. Sometimes, it gets bored and wanders off, much like my mind (or even me, for that matter). I am stuck on BOTH papers. 

For the one, I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of information I've found. I'm writing about the domestication and early uses of the horse. There's more than enough information to go on for pages and pages, so its not like I picked a very narrow topic. Rather, I don't know where to start. I THINK I've got a rough outline, detailing the major ideas I want to discuss and a basic order for doing so. Hopefully, I can write a large portion of that tomorrow, after discussing it with my professor.  

For the other.. I have ideas, but I'm not sure where to go with them, where it is POSSIBLE to go with them. I might end up writing about The Picture of Dorian Gray, discussing influence and evil and good/bad angels.  I like the idea, I think I could carry it out for 5 pages, and I found a quote I really liked in the text.  If I can get cracking on THAT paper, I can go to office hours on Friday and see what she thinks and finish the paper and then worry about the 20 page paper over the weekend, cause writing 20 pages in two days is SO the smart thing to do. 

I've been trying not to knit.  I keep ending up staring at my blank computer screen, so maybe I should knit and let ideas float around in my head.  Hrm...  And I lied, I did break open the alpaca and knit a swatch.  And oh, good lord, am I going to LOVE this sweater.  The yarn is soft and squishy and yummy.  I don't think it will be itchy, but we'll have to see what happens when I finish it.  Worst case, I have to wear a tank top under it.  No big deal.  I'm supposed to wash my swatch.. has anyone had Knitpicks Alpaca grow/shrink when wet?   

I've started the ear flaps of Ryan's hat!  Since I put the other stitches on waste yarn, I made him try it on.  It seems to be a little bit big for him, but I think it will work out.  The addis I ended up buying are NOT a US #2, but 3mm.  So the fabric with them has a bit more drape, which I think works with that section of that hat.  I like it so far.  See?

   

Tina's sock is kinda being ignored in favor of the hat.  I think Ryan is leaving on Wednesday or Thursday of next week and I'd kinda like to be able to give it to him before he leaves.  So long as I can figure out how to knit an applied I-cord, I think that's do-able.  Clearly I'm going to be avoiding my papers enough to manage that! 

In other news, I looked at the apartment I'll have next year.  It is small - an efficiency - but actually really cute.  Unfurnished, room enough for a double bed, dresser, desk, large table, and still space to move around all of that.  The kitchen is TINY, there is about 8 square inches of counter space (really, just the edges of the cabinet the sink is in), and the kitchen floor squeaks.  I'm fairly certain that I'll end up hitting both elbows on the walls when I use the toilet and the shower stall isn't much larger.  But - it will be only me and occasionally a friend or two.   I have  a balcony (which, actually, is about the size of the kitchen).  And it is on the second floor, which is where I always seem to end up - at home, freshman and sophomore year, at the apartment over the summer, this year, and next year. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite toys ever.  It's actually a doggie toy, but hasn't been touched by doggies.  There's a tube inside that makes squealing noises when you move it just so.  Mostly soft and gentle, this thing CAN cause bruises if you are tossing it back and forth with your roommate and kinda forgot to pay attention and caught it very close to your face, in fact - close enough to your face that the tube actually hit you on the nose between your eyes.  And then you might end up with a bruise that looks like dirt, judging by the number of people who asked me why my face was dirty that week.  But you know, stuff like that would never happen to me.

   

alpaca goodness

There's something about buying yarn that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I bought 5 balls of this in lavender. That's a bit over 1000 yards, should be more than enough to knit Blaze.

Of course, that means I have at least one sock and one hat to finish knitting first. Nothing quite like a little pressure.

I'm over halfway done the leg of Tina's sock and started the last big chart for Ryan's hat, having bought myself bamboo addis. I'm thinking I should have gotten the metal addis, to make this go a bit faster, but I'm pretty sure that I'll end up using the needle for socks later and I love the bamboo for the socks. Ah well, live and learn. It means I can buy more needles later, right? Or demand the knitpicks options set... for Christmas.

Here's Tina's sock, next to the first one. So far, they are matching very nicely. I'm not sure what, exactly, will happen when I get to the heel, but Tina won't care if they don't match. In fact, she would prolly enjoy it if they don't match.


And Ryan's Hat:

As you can see, the hat is starting to get a little big for even Eeyore. I don't have any larger stuffed animals, so I'll have to start taking pictures using Ryan as the model. We'll see how that goes.

I'm ready for Christmas break, minus the 25 page paper that is hanging over my head, making mean faces.

(Ah, I so love Opera as a web browser. Never mind that I have to check e-mail with FireFox, but if I look at a preview of my post and accidentally click on a picture, when I hit the back button to my post-editing window, all the text comes back! YAY Opera for not losing my text!)

In other computer dorky news, I discovered a new computer lab on campus today. All the computers in the lab run Linux. I don't really know linux, but I was able to log on, sign on Gaim, open firefox and bring up a website with the Middle English version of Canterbury Tales, and play a few games. Best part? The lab, with some 20 computers, was empty for most of the hour+ I spent there. The person in there when I got there left within 5 minutes and someone else showed up right as I was leaving. I have discovered the perfect spot to do homework and knit while on campus. Woohoo!

I supposed I should now do homework (and knit!) while at home, too. Drat.

Circular needles are not always your friend

I'm at the point where I need to do the increases for the next chart for Ryan's hat.

As you can see, the hat now fits Eeyore better than Sheldon. I'm only supposed to increase to 187 stitches, but I'm not sure that will fit Ryan's head. I've got the hat on circular needles now, but I still can't get a good idea of how well this hat is going to fit him. I'm thinking I'll increase to 204 stitches, enough for one more chart repeat, and hope that fits Ryan's head. Or I could just measure his head. Hrm...

I measured his head and checked my gauge. Gauge is 8sts/inch, his head is 23 inches. 187/8= 23.375.  So... If I follow the pattern, it should work out.  The math says it will.  Dare I trust the math?

I am HATING the circular needle I am using. It has a very NOT smooth join and I have to move every stitch over the bump. Plus, it is part of a needle kit and the tips keep unscrewing themselves from the cable which results in problems.

But, since I have circular needles for the hat, I have my dpns for Tina's other sock, which I cast on during Breakfast at Tiffany's which I watched, rather than the Eagle's game, since that game wasn't broadcast in this part of the state. NOT COOL. I figure the cuff, at least, will fit her. Right? Right.

I developed and ripped open a blister on Thursday, on my left ring finger.  Not too bad, but it healed a bit while my hand was relaxed, so stretching my hand hurts.  And also, knitting kinda hurts, since I wrap the yarn around that finger and the yarn keeps catching on the ragged bits of skin.  Ouch.

I need a bigger needle

Second, the knitting:

Hat looks like this:



Can you see the big, huge, not cool mistake? How bout now?


I'll go back and fix it with duplicate stitch or not, and see if Ryan ever notices. I'm thinking duplicate stitch.

I like the way my snowflake pattern turned out, even if it does look a bit like a cross. And Ryan's Catholic, so he won't be offended. Now, another band of the first pattern, then I have to create another snowflake pattern. Then... we see who/what it fits. The hat has gotten big enough that Sheldon's beak was one of the reasons it stayed on top of his head, but I imagine that made seeing a little difficult for him. Maybe Eeyore will be a better model next time.

And the sock, you ask?


And on my foot:


Plain, boring sock... jazzed up a bit with cat paw motifs that I keep messing up.

If it looks like a duck...

The problem with rechargeable batteries is that you need to recharge them.   My camera turns itself on when you plug it into the computer and I forget to turn it off.  Which wastes a lot of batteries.

Which I never realize til I turn my camera on and see "Change the Batteries" flash on the screen before my camera turns itself off.

I figured out the increasing for Ryan's hat.  I needed 34 stitches on each needle so I just spaced increases between three and four stitches and counted to make sure I'd have the right number.

And then I charted my very first Fair Isle pattern.  It's a snowflake, of a sort, and I don't think it obeys Fair Isle rules since I have stretches of 7-8 stitches of one color only.  But, I don't care.  It looks nice and Ryan didn't hate the pattern.

Here's Sheldon, modeling the hat. Oddly enough, the hat is still too small for a duck stuffed with PVC beads. I'd say this might be a problem, but I'm getting gauge and I have yet to finish four charts. And if it really is too small, I can just add another chart at the bottom. Or rip out a couple of charts, increase a bit more, fiddle around with charts, and so forth. It'll work.

And the sock, modeled by Sheldon:

I think it is a tad too small.  But then, he has big feet.

Ah, yes.  It fits Eeyore and he's quite a bit bigger than Sheldon.  Proof that the duck has big feet and that I'm at least somewhat crazy, since I have my stuffed animals modeling knit projects and so forth.

Perhaps bedtime is in order.