Has it Really Been a Month?

A month is gone and I really don't have anything (knitting-wise) to show for it.



I started a baby blanket for my sister and restarted it. I have have finished the elephant pieces, but haven't sewn it together or stuffed it....and I still have to weave in the edges on the baby bootees....you know how I heart finishing :)



I have made some jewelry, but given it away before I took pictures. I made a metal bead and am working on a "mandent" for Matt, which is looking promising.

I also got the OK to run (finally!) and am up to 2 miles at a relaxed pace. I'm pretty happy to be able to run again, even if our Spring seems to have regressed for the time being, and I don't really have the time to do it more than a few times a week. I look forward to running shorts weather. Soon. Please?



My sister's baby shower is in about 8 weeks, so I really need to get on that elephant and blanket. I just really want to knit something simple that I don't have to consult the pattern every two rows or have to seam or put things together. Also, I'd really like to have time every night to sit down with some knitting, but that's my fault.



Instead of knitting, on the nights I don't have classes, I got sucked into The Cider House Rules. Books have a way of really been getting in the way of knitting...or accomplishing all of the things on my To Do List.



I was only supposed to have two classes to worry about; then the undergrad got me all excited about beer brewing, which is a really fun class. And as soon as I find someone to sell me their used equipment, I'll be having some beer brewing fun. All of my classes are really cool, it's just so much time.



I have about 5 weeks of classes left, and until then, there won't be many posts, or much progress :) I passed up the chance to read Stephanie Myer's vampire love story, The Host, in an effort to keep on keeping on.

Dreaming of Spring

Is Spring here yet?

Warmth and flowers and exercising outside without fear of falling on the ice....
all of these things I presently wish for even though I wouldn't really have time for them until classes are over...

Is it Summer yet?

Parade of Unfinished Projects

I haven't been blogging because there's nothing done.

I haven't yet finished the stuffed elephant that I swear people on Ravelry have been claiming to finish in a night (I do covet a faster knitting speed).
I had some issues with pattern wording. I tried to get help from Ravelry but the comments were all useful, for example: "pattern wording is confusing."
This is the first time Ravelry has failed me.
Luckily, my co-worker's mother is a knitting guru, so she helped me. (Thanks Jess's Mom!) So someday I will finish this, but not today.
They had you knit the arms in one piece and sew a seam. I figured out that this was unnecessary by arm number two...but man I do hate sewing seams.

Excuse the blurry picture, it's hard in the darkness to get a decent picture that allowed you to see the trunk.

I still have yet to seam and sew the buttons on Saartje's Bootees. I feel like the buttons make the booties, so I've been putting off the process of button searching. This pattern takes up almost more time sewing seams than knitting....have I mentioned how much I hate sewing seams? After I finished knitting and seaming the first one I, of course, found a seamless Saartje's pattern.

I realize the saying is live and learn, but sometimes I wish I could skip straight to learn :)

Speaking of learning, after 5 weeks of jewelery class (read as 20 hours in the studio) all I have to show is this silly pendant. I learned soldering, to make a bezel cup, and the process of finishing a piece. I am quickly developing a true appreciation for why any and all unique jewelry costs so much. The process is time intensive, even when you are skilled. Also, silver is expensive, and while I'm normally a silver/white gold person, I find myself appreciating the colors of the new gold (not gold, just golden in color) and copper...probably because of the relative affordability in price.

Matt's Scarf

I finished it awhile ago, but as soon as I wove in the ends, Matt took it and replaced his old scarf, which I have to make "disappear." It took a few days to catch him in the scarf with a camera, and I was not given time to properly arrange the scarf on the model, but you get the idea. It would look nicer blocked, but that'll probably have to wait until spring.

While I like to have options for accessories, Matt really likes to have one, and only one set of everything.

One pair of exercise pants.

One hat, one scarf.

One bathing suit.

A pair of black dress shoes, a pair of brown.

One set of sneakers for running/tennis/walking, which he will not replace until they are literally falling apart.

We've come to a healthy compromise where I sneak new shoes in the house. I remember putting all of my running shoes in the shoe rack when we moved in together and him staring aghast. Granted, there are about 6 pairs of running shoes in there, but only one has enough life for long runs. Another pair I use for short runs, another pair I use for tennis or the gym when I'm not running, another I use for walks, and the last pair I use for anything that's to get really dirty. OK, that's only 5...there may be an unused pair in there....but when you train for marathons, you go through 2 or 3 pairs, depending on mileage, and while they won't have enough cushion to run ten miles, they still feel fine for other activities.

I've almost finished a pair of Saartje's Bootees, but there's still the seaming and buttons to finish, maybe this weekend. I've also been working on an elephant for one of the many babies that will be born this year. It just doesn't look like anything yet.

This is my first week of all 3 classes, to 3hr + night classes on Monday and Tuesday, and it's really exhausting...and the weeks not over yet. Still an exam tomorrow, luckily it's on beer. No really. Wanna hear about the German Beer Purity Act? :)

The scarf grows on

I started classes last week. I'm taking beer brewing and jewelry making courtesy of the University of Vermont. I was never a big fan of beer in college, but Vermont seems ot have microbreweries every three feet, and I've developed an appreciation. As with anything I like or appreciate, I always want to learn to make myself.And in a few weeks my Master Gardener course will start, and the I'll be really busy.

For now, I'm just trying to get to knit every other night or so. I have another 6-12 inches to go on Matt's scarf. I forgot how monotonous a scarf can get, so to amuse myself, I knit the first of a pair of Saartje's Bootees. I figure that between my sister and two pregnant friends, odds are that one will have a girl. I wanted to take pictures for this post, but I lost my camera. I spent about 10 minutes "running" up and down the stairs trying to find it, but it will probably take Matt looking somewhere I checked multiple times to find it.

Speaking of which, I can start running this week according to my PT schedule. The past week has been so cold that I've been in a mild state of hibernation. I'm too stingy to turn the heat up much, and it was so cold, that it never seemed to get warmer than 62. Being that cold, and under that many blankets, has for some reason, never been a good motivator to get to the gym. I'm sure my physical progress hasn't been exceptional. But I don't care, because I can know walk to down stairs!
I don't know if I'm really ready for the running with my lack of physical activity in the last week, but I guess I'll find out at PT today.

Post Christmas Craziness

I'm back:
To Vermont.
To driving.
To work.
To Physical Therapy.
To making Matt dinner :)

During the holidays, we spent our time in Western MA among family and friends. It was nice to see everyone, but it is also nice to sleep in my own bed again; to make my own meals and keep my kitty smothered with attention to keep her from meowing and yowling (The brief attentions of my friend who took care of her while were away were not adequate.) And Myha is quite the yowler.

While I was so close to Northampton, I took the opportunity to pass a few blissful hours in the bowels of WEBS. The most exciting purchase was this:
Which I will start working to turn into this soon. And as much as it hurts my head to purchase the exact yarn used...I fell a bit in love with the purple. It has flecks of pinkish-ness and blueish-ness all over. Love, love, love.

And bonus, the awesome in-laws got me the ball wonder I've been on the precipice of buying myself for a good solid year. So I won't have to wind all sevens skeins by hand. And after the knotted mess that was the Purewool after my poor attempt the wind by hand, I feel deserving of the amazingness.
So have I been knitting anything at all in the meantime?

Little bit.

I'm working on Smariek's Triumph scarf pattern for Matt. This is the first thing I will ever finish knitting for him, so I'm working on it exclusively to make sure I finish before Spring and before I get distracted by the Tilted Duster and multiple baby projects that are piling up.

His request was for Celtic Knots, but I didn't find any patterns that appealed to me (in scarf form at least) and Triumph has some intricate cables that I figure is close enough. What I lack in actual pattern content, I will make up in pure number of times I have to use the cable needle....

Plus, I've been eyeing/queuing/printing Smariek's patterns for a long time, I just never seemed to be able to start a project with any of her beautiful, cable-y creations.

And the yarn is Laines Du Nord Cashsilk, which is half merino, and a quarter of each silk and cashmere. A great yarn to work with on a single project, for sure.

Pre-Christmas Craziness

I realize that I'm not presently working and I should be on top of, well, everything, but I'm not. I'd like to blame it on the not being able to drive or the ridiculously slow pace I meander at lately or the fact that I can't stand comfortably for more than 10 minutes. But really, I've been spending more time reading and watching movies than anyone should. Luckily, the continuous passive motion machine, my excuse for staying on the couch; as it pumped my leg to ever greater degrees of flexion, will be gone soon. And I made a list to get things done now, so no more excuses. I always get more done when I have a written list. I think the satisfaction of crossing things off helps.

I got a small project done in the past few weeks. This pattern was not difficult, but it very nearly defeated me. It was the having to pay attention all the way through each row. I have the attention span of a cat, on good days....
I'm pleased with how they turned out. They were all curly, so I had to block them...which seemed silly, but now they lie flat, which I feel is important in a coaster. The yarn had a lot more brown in it than it looked like, but it kinda matches my couches, so I can't complain. The yarn was also some Michael's special, possibly with soy or something interesting in it.