Open Minded Knitting

Yes, I'm still alive. Essays haven't destroyed me yet. And unsurprisingly, the forces of procrastination have seen me get a surprising amount of knitting done. I even tackled a mini scarf - a species of knitwear that I've always been profoundly skeptical about. I always thought cowls and neckwarmers and scarflettes to be something that I'd never really wear, for all that they looked seductively quick and easy to make when compared with normal length scarves. But then I saw the Bainbridge Scarf and it was just too cute to resist. I made it, and found that it definitely pays to be open-minded about what patterns you think you are "into", because I am very happy with the result.




Pattern: Bainbridge Scarf, by MintyFresh, made from Louisa Harding Grace (50/50 wool and silk blend), on 3.75mm needles.

The extended rambling: This is a really cute pattern! I modified (as some other Ravellers have done) it to have i-cord ties with leaves on the end, but the original pattern is just as lovely, and a little less precious looking. It was a fast knit too - I think I took about a week and a half to finish it, but you could do it in two days if you were pressed for time (and this would make a dreadfully cute gift). I have every intention of making more of these. I'm thinking perhaps with a couple of different variations on the ties, perhaps in red or gray... *muses*

I loved the yarn as well. I bought it last year, was gobsmacked by its gorgeousness, and then foolishly tried to turn it into a beret, a beret that ended up looking far too much like a showercap for me to be happy with it. So I frogged the misbegotten hat, and the poor yarn languished in a drawer until I picked it up for this. It's lovely though - the softness and sheen are amazing, and I would love to work with it again.




This pleasant little diversion having concluded, I am now back to working on that raglan shrug I've had going for the last while. It's nearing completion though - with a bit of luck, I might even knock it on the head this evening. I'm quite happy with how it's coming along, although if I make it again, I'll definitely make some alterations (note to self: picot bind offs and loose gauge are not good bedfellows).

When I'm not knitting, I'm fish gazing (I have guppies now, and they are cute as hell), essay writing, or travel planning. Particularly the latter: I'm off in a little over a week! This is terrifying and exciting all at the same time. I'm looking forward to it, obviously, but I've also never travelled overseas on my own before, so I'm a little nervous. Still, I am firmly of the opinion that it's does you good to push out of your comfort zone from time to time. Plus, my younger brother visited New York on his own last year, and if he can do it and not manage to drown or get eaten by squirrels, then surely I can too!

My rough itinerary is as follows: I'm spending some time in Boston, and then heading south to New York for a few days. Then it's down to Washington DC, where I'm meeting up with Rebecca (as made famous by last year's trip to Tasmania). Then we're heading back to her neck of the woods for some national park adventures (ignorant Australian that I am, I'm firmly convinced that I will be eaten by bears). I'll get to be in the US for the 4th of July - this will definitely be an experience, as nobody here really gets too excited about Australia Day (our closest equivalent).

After we're done letting off fireworks, drinking beer, or whatever else it is that you do on July 4th (hey, I'm sure I'll be educated), we're heading down to New Orleans for a bit (to hell with oil spills!), and then on to Texas. Then a very tired Anna will clamber back aboard a plane and head back to Melbourne, having effectively dodged nearly a month of vile winter weather. Win!

Hopefully I'll squeeze in at least another blog post before I leave though. After all, I have essays to write, so procrastination will definitely occur - I just have to channel it into blog form!

The last time...

Well, it's exam period again, which of course means that my life is now devoted to pouring over endless 30 cent notebooks filled with the usual scrawl - the above-pictured page, I believe, contains commentary on the Geneva Convention, though this time last week it was privacy law. It's rather hard to keep up - I know my brain always struggles. At least it'll all be over by this time next week. Not to mention, as alluded to by the post title, this will (notwithstanding me having some kind of epic freak-out and failing my remaining exams) be my final semester of law, my final batch of exams. So theoretically, I should be relishing it. So much for theory.

And of course with exam period comes the stress-relieving exam knitting. The above pictured cardigan is coming along quite nicely - I've only got a sleeve and a half to go now, so I'm very nearly there. Due to yarn limitations (some people would tell you that six skeins of Noro Kureyon is not enough to make a cardigan, but those people are quitters!) it's a little shorter than I might otherwise have made it, but I'm actually rather liking it this way. It's jaunty. I think I'll go with 3/4 sleeves and some bright blue buttons. Everyone I've shown it to so far thinks that it's ugly as sin, and I suppose they're probably right, but I don't care - it makes me happy, and stops me from feeling like all I've done with my day is write something bleedingly obvious about Additional Protocol II.

In other news, it's been far too hot to do anything particularly constructive, so I've resorted to my usual fallbacks for the small smattering of recreation time I do have - reading, playing woefully outdated computer games, and cooking. And buying things on the internet - have to make the most of the strong Aussie dollar. It would be simply irresponsible not to... On that note, I bought more yarn (curse you, Sanguine Gryphon, I just can't resist your charms), but that's perfectly all right, because in keeping with the Not-A-Yarn-Diet, I used up 300g of Berroco yarn and 200g of Noro before doing so. Hurray for me. And I bought less than that, so I'm still making progress. Of sorts.




Also, as I mentioned, I've been cooking, and I have pictures to back it up. This here is the makings of a very fine pumpkin, spinach and goat's cheese risotto, because I took it upon myself to buck the trend of living on breakfast cereal during exams. It never ceases to amaze me how spinach wilts down. I mean seriously, from the above, to this...




...in about thirty seconds. Crazy stuff. Crazy but delicious. I also made this cake, because I couldn't resist the pull any longer. For some reason, it's taken me a very long time to get into looking at recipes on line - up until now, I have been strictly old-school, preferring my cookbooks. But I think I'm finally beginning to get with the times. How astounding. Then again, cake tends to be very persuasive...

Procratination, pullovers, and cupcakes.

So, I should probably be writing my essay, but that's all right. All work and no play makes Anna a gibbering idiot, so it's really in everybody's best interests that I take a blog break, right? Besides, this is my reward for reaching 3500 words. When I get to 3750, I get to knit some more of my sleeve. It would be nice if I could work without lame forms of bribery, but oh well - the main thing, after all, is that the essay gets written.

Anyway, so what to write about in this delicious guilty pleasure of a blog post? Well, the wedding last week went off without a hitch (there's some kind of moronic pun there, I'm sure, but I'm choosing to ignore it). The weather was lovely, and everyone had a wonderful time. And I managed to brave two forms of public transport on a Spring Racing Carnival weekend and arrive with the cupcakes and shortbread still intact!




Since it was a wedding and all, I was well behaved and went in for nice pastel colours. Such restraint! I was very pleased with how they came out though, for all that I did have a momentary freak out when it occurred to me that I'd presented them to my friend without having eaten one for quality control first! What if they'd tasted like rancid baboon or something? Though I'm happy to report that they didn't... Also, my friend made some delicious spinach and feta muffins that I could have happily eaten all day. I have every intention of trying them in the immediate future - and the recipe is here, for all who are interested.


In other news, I've been very much enjoying my freedom from Sylvi knitting! I am still coming to terms with the fact that I Don't Have To Knit The Coat Anymore. Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to take advantage of this new found freedom with a million new projects, each more seasonally inappropriate than the last (it was 29 degrees today... ho hum), uni is not permissive on this front. I am hanging out for Monday. After that the essay will be in and I can knit merrily away to my heart's content. While, um, revising for my exams. Yay law school! Oh well.

I have been working on my Gathered Pullover though - you always need a bribery project (see above) when essay writing.




This one is now perfect for brain-exploded-essay-diversion because the only part that requires actual thought (i.e. those shiny nice cables that you see above) has been completed. Now it's just knitting sleeves in the round - hurrah! And I still really love the colour.

Anyway, I think that's all the time I can justify spending on a blog break. Back to the essay. I leave you all with tomatoes. I put them on my jumper to stop them getting bruised in my bag on my way back from the shops, and they just looked too cute to ignore.




Please let my odd obsession with foodstuffs slide. I think it's a product of the essay...
(that's a blatant lie, but it's a good excuse for the moment, and I'm sticking to it)

Silliness

Well, it's assignment time again. So, as usual, procrastination is calling...




On this particular occasion, procrastination came in two forms, as is made obvious by this very fine and not even slightly ridiculous illustration. Firstly, it came in the form of a renewed assault on Mount Sylvi (left front is now finished). Secondly, in the form of... well, let's just say that it is a mistake to keep charcoal on your desk when you have a coat to knit and an assignment on the Geneva convention to write. That and a cracked sense of humour (I didn't look scary enough at first, so I gave myself fangs, eyebrows from hell, and an evil genius goatee).

Anyway, back to the, erm, assignment. Yes, definitely the assignment, and nothing else. In other news, this is apparently my 100th post. Haha, I sure wasted that opportunity to say something auspicious, didn't I?

Reasons for Neglect, Part Two

As alluded to last entry, I did actually do a little bit of knitting during my absence from the blog. Not as much as I would have liked though - there are more demands on my time this semester than there have been in a very long time, so I really haven't had the opportunity to do as many things on the craft front as I would have liked.

Exhibit A: my Sylvi is still not finished. I think I've pretty much abandoned the hope of getting a lot of wear out of it before it gets retired for spring/summer weather - I'll have to be satisfied with one or two. Oh well - I'll live. Actually, I'm just looking forward to finishing it. While it's coming along nicely enough, and behaving itself perfectly well, I'm just not used to undertaking such large scale projects. It will feel really, really good to have it finished so I can move onto all of the other things that I want to do - right now it feels like they're all standing restless in a queue behind this bloody coat! Sigh. Little by little, I shall get it done.

At any rate, there have been side projects slotting in around the Sylvi - one can't work elaborate cables and moss stitch all day long without going insane, after all. Here is one such diversion:




First thing's first: Pattern: Cinnamon Grace, by Katie Harris. Yarn: Eki Riva Natal (alpaca/silk/nylon blend). 4mm circular stainless steel needles.

The stuff what I thought: This was the pattern that kept me sane while I waited endless hours in Hobart Airport (or some of it anyway, as I had to stow it away in my checked luggage - stupid Australian air travel with its stupid knitting ban). I originally started it as an antidote to Sylvi, as it's a very simple knit. This is a great pattern - it was undemanding without being too repetitive (until you got to the bind off anyway). Since I used to have a bit of a phobia of picking up stitches, I can't say that I really enjoyed picking up a few hundred (I didn't actually count - I figured that I'd get too depressed) for the ruffle. At least I had the Tassie SnB ladies to keep me company while I did it... Also, this project has the longest cast-off ever. Or it definitely felt like it anyway. Stupid picot bind off - we are talking hours here.

My juvenile whinging aside, this is a great pattern. The only mod I made to it was to use a slightly thicker yarn (DK - pattern called for a sport weight) and to make the ruffle slightly shorter as I was running out of yarn. I was worried that the pattern might be lost in the slightly thick/thin yarn I was using, but it ended up coming out just fine.




As it's sort of a shawl/scarf hybrid, you can wear it in a couple of different ways too, which is always good. I suspect that this pattern will turn out to be quite popular - I'm actually surprised that more people haven't made it, since it's been around for a few months now. Anyway, I'm very happy with how it came out, for all that I had a few moments of doubt while I was actually knitting it. I'd definitely recommend it, at any rate (note: pattern also seems to be blissfully error free - hurrah!).

Anyway, and that's about all I have to show for the last month, knitting wise. I've also started a hat for Richard, which will unfortunately have to be mailed to him, as he departed for Canada last weekend, before I had a chance to finish. And I've been swatching for a self-designed hat project using some of the yarn I acquired at the Bendigo show a while back. I don't normally do a lot of stripey things, so it's fun to experiement. I was amazed at how much difference a change in stitch can make to stripes - look it:




I was worried that the stripes wouldn't be obvious enough in stocking stitch, so I tried adding garter ridges as well - definitely the way to go, I think! Gives it a different look, anyway...

And now it's time for Anna to be off - she needs to get in a couple more rows on her Sylvi before heading off for uni and tai chi. Wish her luck... *sigh*...

Potentially nonsensical...

Okay - there is a very real chance that this post will not make a great deal of sense, because approximately five minutes ago, I was asleep. Ahh, the wonder that is exam period. Mind you, why I'm bothering to nap at 11:42pm instead of just going to bed is anybody's guess...

At any rate, I'm still busy, but definitely alive and kicking. Without the kicking part though. And I am posting for a reason - it isn't procrastination alone that's fuelling me. Because behold, I finished my second Terra:

And this would be: Terra, by Jacqueline Landry. Size XS (32"), knitted with several inches of negative ease, on 6mm needles. Used 3 balls of Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12ply (in colour "Red Currant"). No significant mods to speak of.

The part where I blather: I love this pattern, and I honestly don't know why more people haven't made it. It's easy, ridiculously fast, and the end product is awesome. The pattern suggests you pick a size with several inches of positive ease, and for my first Terra, that was what I did. The fit was good (and indeed I still love this jumper dearly and wear it several times a week), but because of the loose gauge, it stretched a little over time. It got me wondering about what the next size down would look like, so I figured that I'd find out.

It's always a little bit nerve racking knitting garments with negative ease, because they always look far too small before they're seamed and blocked. But this, as you can see, came out just fine in the end. It's rather close fitting at the moment, but I'm counting on it stretching a little like the last one did, so it should ease up a bit. I'm not complaining either way.


I'm very enamoured with the colour. Admittedly it does have a bit of a Little Red Riding Hood vibe to it, but red is really nice to wear in winter, and I can't quite bring myself to feel that the hood is anything less than awesome. It's lovely and warm too - I wore it out and about yesterday, and was perfectly toasty despite winter having well and truly set in. If we're being nit picky, some of seaming really could have been better - especially around the sleeves. And the armholes are a fraction too tight in this size. But I'm really having to scrape the bottom of the barrel, complaint wise. I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I plan to wear it quite thoroughly to death over the next while. Now I just need to convince myself not to order the yarn to make another. Given the fact that this is so quick to make, costs under $30AUS to make, and yields such a good result, I'm probably in severe danger on this front...

I have things to keep me occupied though. The yarn for my Sylvi finally arrived, so I'm swatching away busily on that:

That's rather a lot of yarn - I'll be busy indeed. And, you know, with exams. Those as well...

Feeling the procrastinatory pinch...

Well, more of the same around here. It's exam time again, so that of course means that I'm now feeling the wonderful burst of creative energy that I always get when I don't actually have time to capitalize on it... Figures. Not to mention the other things that have been leeching my time and mental/emotional energy. Just for the record - I really, really hate having to go to the police station. And paranoia and anxiety are really not conducive to study. But anyway, on to more pleasant topics...

Knitting front has been slow, since I haven't had as much time as I would have liked. I've started making another Terra - figured that it was a good investment since it's a fairly quick and mindless knit, and I wear the one that I have just as much as I possibly can. I'm using the same yarn (hurrah for Bendigo Woollen Mills), except this time I'm using red, and making a smaller size, as my existing Terra has actually grown quite a bit as I've worn it. So far I've knitted the front and part of the back, and it's all coming along swimmingly.


And, well, aside from my new Terra and a lot of baking, there isn't a great deal going on around here. Spending a lot of time with friends, trying to restrain myself from buying every single last piece of yarn on the Sanguine Gryphon website (and Aussie dollar, you are not helping my resolve by doing so well!), and pretty much just trying to get through exam period with my sanity intact - that about sums it up. I guess I could insert some pseudo-humorous remark about not having swine flu, but it's getting old already...

Guilty update...

Well, I'm quite thoroughly repulsive for posting now, because I really should be doing my Admin Law assignment before I go out making merry. But instead I'm indulging in the blog. For shame.

Anyway, in case you all hadn't noticed, I'm still alive. The crazy kind of busy, but definitely still breathing. Uni is running me down, but in a week I get a brief reprieve from it due to the Easter break, so hopefully there'll be some breathing space soon on that front. Japanese is still heaps of fun - I got embarrassingly excited yesterday because I could read some of the hiragana on the back of my packet of soba noodles. I was happy all afternoon because of that. I'm keeping up with my '52 Books' challenge and various creative writing pursuits too, as wordy blog will testify.

Anyway, here are the developments on the craft front:

1. I made reference to a silly knitted thing at the end of the last post. Well, ladies and gentlement, without further ado I give you... the engagement lobster!


The nitty gritty: Knit Lobster (Ravelry link) by Molly Lincoln. Knitted with a small amount of double stranded Lincraft DK acrylic yarn, on a set of 3.25mm dpns

The colour commentary: I was quite happy with how this little guy came out, even if the double stranded yarn on small needles was rather painful on the hands. I don't make toys often, but I enjoyed this one, or as much as one can enjoy knitting to a strict deadline (does tend to suck the joy out of the whole affair). Dodgy photo I know, but I finished this one with only a couple of minutes to spare, so there wasn't much time for meticulous photography. I didn't even have time to give the little guy his lobster whiskers! Oh well, the couple in question thoroughly approved of their lobster, at any rate. And don't worry - I do plan to give them a slightly less ridiculous wedding present...

2. Scarf!


The boring stuff: Basic mistake rib scarf in Dream in Color Classy (100% wool, about 1.6 skeins), 'November Muse' colourway, on 5.5mm straight needles.

The colour commentary: Not very interesting, I know, but it had come to my attention that most all of the scarves that I owned were kind of, erm, bright! Retina searingly bright. So this was my attempt at something a little more understated. I'm very pleased with how it came out. It's huge too! Over eight feet long, I'd say, as I just can't abide a stingy scarf :) If I did this one over I probably would have made it a little wider, but at least the fact that it's a little on the skinny side means that I can wear it in milder weather.

Oh, I've said so before, but I love Dream in Color yarn. So much. I've never come across any that was anything less than gorgeous... The fact that there is some more winging its way to me from the States as we speak makes me a very happy Anna indeed... Hey, what can I say? The planets aligned, the pathetic Aussie dollar rallied, and I got given an extra shift at work. Coincidence? I think not. If the universe wants to buy yarn, who am I to argue?

3. Hat!


The details: Vortex by Lee Meredith. Knitted with Noro Silk Garden (Colour 86, about half a ball) and Dream in Color Classy (leftovers from above project!) on 5.5 mm straight needles.

The colour commentary: I love this hat so much that it's embarrassing. This photo is testament to how much I love it. I am all of thirty-five seconds out of bed in this photo. Literally. I wanted a non-wet-hair photo of the hat, so I rolled out of bed, pulled on my dressing gown (see that suspiciously satiny looking black thing I'm wearing? Yep, that's a dressing gown), ran a hand through my hair (comb, what's that?), walked out into the hallway and took this photo (oh, and a couple more that don't bear speaking of). And I'm willing to post my eyes-glazed over looking, pre-shower self on the internet. Just because I love this hat, and couldn't wait any longer to put up a photo of it.

This design is constructed quite unconventionally - it's knitted side to side on straight needles, shaped using short rows, and then grafted together at the end. The pattern is genius - this is by far the funnest hat I've ever knitted. The moment I finished it I informed my brother that he would be receiving one of his own in the near future, because I wanted an excuse to make another. Fun and easy and quick - what's not to love?

The fact that I used two of my favourite yarns to make it probably doesn't hurt either, but the pattern really is great. The only mod I made to it was to wrap my short rows, because with my loose gauge it looked weird and gappy when I didn't. It's a forgiving pattern too - I think I messed up the grafting in a couple of places (hey, it was really late at night), and it hardly shows. Also, doing stripes by carrying the not-in-use yarn up the side of the knitting works so well that I can't believe that I've never done it before...

Now I just need to make one for Richard so that he can wear his own, instead of just filling in as a head model for me...


Now: off to go and do my Admin work like a good little law student (you know, one who doesn't have a terminal crafting fixation...)

Back to reality

I have officially been reminded of the reason why I'm always so tired during semester. Urrkkk. Of course, I can't really complain too much, because I doubt that the situation is really improved by staying up until 4:30am watching bad sci-fi with a friend when you need to get up again at 7am. Um, whoops... Ha, at least this shows how I'm still emphatically not one of the cool kids, even with the fashionable Monday morning sleep deprivation. Blake's 7 has not been cool since the 70s, and even then I suspect it wasn't as cool as my dad makes out...

I've been knitting away on my Liesl, but it's coming along slower than I had expected. This is mainly due to the general business of life and my younger brother corrupting me with computer games far more often than I'd like to admit, though can also be attributed to the fact that writing is currently trying to wrest it's title of "Anna's Procrastinatory Craft of Choice" back from knitting. I've written a colossal amount over the last few days. I'm nearly finished on the piece that I'm writing (I am hesitant to say book - it's not a book unless someone publishes it...), so now I've got some adrenalin going and it's hard to put down. Sigh. Poor neglected Liesl...


There's my dodgy work-in-progress snap to prove that I am still persevering. The body is done, and now all that's left are the sleeves. But I'm just having trouble biting the sleeve bullet for some reason. I think it's just a little bit of "I-can't-be-bothered-to-pick-up-stitches", because I'm generally quite happy with how it's coming along. Hopefully the laziness will pass - once it does I should finish fairly quickly.

I also did a little bit of dyeing on the weekend. On the rare occasions that I dye yarn, I tend to go mainly for blues and greens, so I decided to deliberately do something different for a change.


The goal was to try and dye yarn in fiery colours, and I'm quite happy with how it came out. The last time I tried for red, it came out orange, so this is a definite improvement on that front. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing to do with it (though with my nerdish/mythologically inclined leanings, attempting to knit a phoenix isn't out of the question...), but I'm glad that it worked out.


In other news, uni is making me lax on my recreational reading, and I really need to update my reading/writing blog. Perhaps I'll wait until I finish the piece I'm writing, and then do some kind of fist-pumping victory post...

I'm pleased to report that the resident critters are all doing well. Titus is still happy and full of beans in his tank. He's a greedy pig by betta standards - every morning I wake up and he's bobbing up and down in the front of the tank wanting to be fed. He's very cute though. And Alex, my dear senile old man cat, has discovered my bed. Because it's not the room I used to sleep in before I moved out, and because he's 19 and really not quick on the uptake any more, it's taken him a while to figure out the whereabouts of my bedroom. But a few days ago, he made a discovery...

Sweet sweltering Melbourney home

Well, I have officially returned from my blissful soujourn into New South Wales. Thankfully I returned just after the weather was vile and hot - pulling into Melbourne just as the cool change set in properly. I win.

Mmmm... beach. Crescent Head, to be precise. Holiday was blissful, as it always is when we go to this particular spot. It's one that I'm very fond of, to say the least. Only thing is that it's so nice up there that I always get very little by way of knitting done while I'm holidaying. This time I developed a very naughty habit of parking myself under a frangipane tree during the heat of the day, lugging all of my books and yarn down there (plus all the tea I could drink, and a Nutella sandwich for good measure), and then reclining in my delectable spot for hours, not knitting or reading. Constructive? No. Blissful? Yes.

However, there was some knitting done. I finally finished the summery type top thing (why yes, I am very articulate this evening, thank you for asking) that I started before going away. I basically made it up as I went along - it ended up being a halter top worked in an eyelet rib to the bust, with some waist shaping to avoid the dreaded empire waist shape that I dislike so much. I was quite pleased with it (not to mention my younger brother's friends who were along for part of the trip seemed genuinely impressed by the fact that I'd made it, after previously regarding my hours of knitting with a mixture of amusement and disdain).

I still need to do some crochet around the edges to neaten it up (I tried this morning, and can only say that I failed dismally - at first I was too tired and couldn't focus, and then the cat came and plonked himself down on top of the book that was reminding me how to do it), but other then that, it's pretty much done. And there's still plenty of summer weather in which to wear it - finally, Anna manages to successfully knit something seasonal!

Actual knitting aside, I did a lot of plotting while I was away. The place I went away to is the place that I nearly always make my way to around the new year, and it occurred to me on my last night there that while I don't tend to make New Year's resolutions, I do tend to decide to do things when I get home after visiting this place. Crescent Head sort of marks the point of demarcation between one year and the next for me. Anyway, so while I don't have anything by way of New Year's knitting resolutions, I do have lots of post-holiday resolutions... More about that when I'm not so tired though... My social life was... interesting... today and methinks I need sleep to recover from the rigours of it all...

Taking leave for a while...

Okay, this'll be short and sweet (and free of blurry photos for a change), for I have a 6am plane to catch!

Am heading off to gallivant merrily (i.e. freeze my joyful behind off) around the northern hemisphere, so things will be a bit quiet on the blog front over the next month (though you never do know - there might be the odd people out of me - it remains to be seen). Though I'll definitely have the knitting and the writing with me (as well as a truly impractical amount of books, and a large handful of sudoku puzzles), so things will still be carrying on as normal...

Heaven knows it'll be nice to get away for a bit - for anyone who hasn't noticed, it's been kind of a crazy year for me to say the least, and without a doubt the hardest I've ever had to wrangle in my admittedly not particularly long life. What with wrangling a law degree while working 35+ hours a week, helping run a business, being too broke to buy food on a regular basis, trying (and subsequently succeeding) to work up the courage to leave a relationship that, well, wasn't treating me well to say the least, starting a new job, screwing my head back on after moving back home for some much needed recuperation, etc, etc. Even the last few weeks have been crazy - what with exams and planning the holiday, as well as the somewhat recent appearance on the scene of a poor impressionable young man who is attempting to win my easily distracted favour by reading Baudelaire to me in the park...

What a bloody year... What was I just saying about it being nice to get away for a bit?

Anyway, Happy Christmas all, and take care of yourselves!

Sweet procrastination

My my, twice in two days - how utterly prolific! It really must be exam time - you know, just in case I hadn't already realised, what with the eye strain and the boredom and the revision classes and all. Anyway, in the spirit of procrastination, I was good on my promise and finished weaving in the ends on my raglan. Behold - I'm quite chuffed with this one!

Not the most flattering shot of me, but a good one of the jumper! There's currently a piece of wood sitting by my front door (I think it was originally part of the desk I was using before I moved back home again) that makes a most excellent platform for my camera when it's on self-timer setting. I must remember this for future shots - it can be bloody difficult to take a halfway decent photo of something you're wearing when you own a camera as cheap and dodgy as mine!

Um, I was talking about the jumper, wasn't I? I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. I was a little underwhelmed by it when I was knitting it, since I pretty much failed at jogless stripes, and my neckband was very sloppily done (picking up stitches is not my strong point at the best of time, and it was late at night and I was impatient and irked over something or other), but blocking did wonders and I'm happy with it now.

The breakdown: It was pretty basic really - just cast on about 40 (I think? I didn't bother to note) stitches and worked from there. Didn't do a gauge swatch or anything, for I am reckless and slovenly! Cast on 3 extra stitches in the arm holes after dividing the arms from the body (and picked up the same amount when starting to work the sleeves). Wrangled a little bit of waist shaping - I think I ended up decreasing 12 stitches total for the waist, knitting even for a few inches, and then increasing the same amount.

Worked 6 rows of garter stitch for the hem/wristbands/neckband. Striping was totally random - only attention I paid to it was to deliberately make the sleeves different (better completely different than matching closely enough that it looked like I was just lazy in trying to match, if that makes sense). Unlike the previous green raglan, the armholes were quite big already, so I started decreasing right off the bat. Decreased 2 stitchs 5 times from memory.

Yarn used was Patons Soft Haze. Not the greatest yarn in the world (but it was cheap, and according to my Dad I am genetically predisposed to tight-arsery, given the Scottish ancestry and all), but I quite like it here. Yes, there's a high acrylic content, but it doesn't worry me too much. It's soft enough, has perfectly adequate drape, and more to the point, it's not too warm, and I want something that I can wear at times of year other than deepest darkest winter. So there! I was really just after something to wear around the house anyway...

In conclusion, man do I love top down raglans. I already loved my green one, and this little number clinches it. They might not be the most interesting things I've ever knitted, but as far as wearability goes (for garments anyway - it ain't rocket science to knit a wearable hat/scarf), they are quite totally made of awesome. Wearability is something I'm thinking more about these days - yes I want to knit interesting things, but in my mind knitting something that you love wearing, and wear all the time, is more to the point than making something that is technically innovative but stays hidden away in the wardrobe 364 days of the year. Perhaps this is my boring-arse pragmatist talking, I don't know. Fear not, most of me will always be silly!

And now, after that pleasant diversion, it's back to the Constitutional Law revision.

Can never resist the opportunity to strike a stupid pose. I'll be fine in the exam - look how thoughtful and intellectual I am! If I had a goatee, I would so be stroking it...

Scarfy diversions...

Well, it's exam time again. You know, that wonderful time of year when I suddenly feel the urge to clean my bedroom, and can't seem to stop playing Minesweeper. The time of year when I get all these wonderful ideas that I don't have the time to capitalise on... The time of year when I get jealous of everyone doing NaNoWriMo and all the non-writing variations on it and feel chronically left out... And so on... Stupid law degree... What do you mean you expect me to work?

Anyway, I had a whole lot of Constitutional Law reading to plow through (still do, unfortunately), and some Noro Iro squirrelled away that was earmarked for a scarf. You can probably guess what comes next...

Please ignore how disgustingly messy my room (through the door on the left) is - what was I just saying about exam period?

I remember when I used to think that knitting while reading was something that only scary prodigies were able to manage. I at least thought that it was definitely out of the reach of my dexterity/concentrationally challenged self. But I managed! Yes, it was just garter stitch for several hours, but I managed! This pleases me greatly.

I'm rather happy with how this scarf turned out. I needed a new, toasty warm scarf to wear on the upcoming holiday, and this should fit the bill nicely. There was just the right quantity of yarns in the two skeins I used - the scarf ended up just wide enough, and just the right length too (length and width are both very important to me... and that's all the bad innuendo we'll have for this post!). It probably ended up about seven feet long - just about right, as few things frustrate me more than a scarf that isn't long enough.

I believe I've already gone on about how much I love this yarn - chunky and rustic and lovely! And in this colour. Yes, I admit it, it is exactly the same yarn/colour that I used for my Foliage hat - I loved it too much to only make one thing out of it. Don't worry, I'm not quite lame enough to wear them both at the same time.

The other works-in-progress are getting there too. I've resolved to weave in the rest of the ends on my raglan tonight and then get it blocking - it's languished for far too long already. And all that's left to do on my Corona pullover is the hood - all the rest is done. I've made a couple of small errors on it, and the cabling doesn't stand out all that well in the varigated yarn, but I'm still pleased with how it's coming along.

Behold! It might still be a little while before it's finished - the revision timetable for the next week is truly gruelling. But, we'll get there. On that note, off to trawl through the Boilermakers decision... I'll just have to hope I can concentrate - a little earlier my family and I were partaking in some celebratory beer over the US election results. Yay Obama! *returns to usual determinedly apolitical knitblog status*

Possibly still alive - haven't checked in a while...

Yes, I'm still knitting away. Unfortunately, haven't had as much time for it lately. Much like I haven't had much time for anything... like sleeping, writing, studying, and even eating... At least the desire is still there - I want to knit! - and I'm managing to get little snatches done here and there. It would be easier if I was willing to knit at the shop, but that's not something I want to do. It's probably a bit of a silly double standard to have; I'm happy to let my knitting kick around in my grotty unit (it doesn't do to think about how long it has been since I've vacuumed), but I won't take it to the shop just in case it gets dirty. I just figure that while it might be dusty here, at least there aren't as many greasy things around....

Anyway, I resolved this issue by starting a shop specific project: more tea-towel/bench wipey cloths, with that Cleckheaton Fiddle di Dee yarn that's been hanging around... They don't exactly blow my mind with excitement, but it's a lifesaver to have at work - when customers have gotten stroppy for no good reason, when the phone finally stops ringing for the first time in ages, when all the other staff are out on delivery, I can pick it up, hammer out a few rows and feel a lot better. Knitting = sanity remains in place. I suspect that this is a good thing.

This is what hangs around our living room: knitting and Warhammer 40k manuals. Unit of supreme nerdiness stikes again! Also, kindly note the amusingly pink needles - they're some of the batch inherited from one of my grandmothers (not sure which one), at least 20 years old, probably more. Amusing. Heaven knows pink objects are somewhat thin on the ground in this household.

Anyway, in other knitting news, the Basalt tank is probably about fifteen minutes off being finished, but I'm procrastinating because I know it's not going to fit, and this is discouraging. In happier news, the alpaca cardigan I've been making is coming along nicely, and should be finished within a week if I can keep up the rate I've been working on it. Pleasing.

Also, since Melbourne has been in the throes of its usual weird weather the last week and a bit, I've rediscovered the joy that is bed socks. The night have been bloody cold, and I've had a couple of pairs of hand knitted socks kicking around that came out a little on the large side because I was still getting the hang of socks and dpns when they were made. So, I put two and two together, and now I have the toastiest feet that ever toasted and have slept like a log every night since. I especially love my stripey ones. Just the sight of them makes me happy:

Something that may or may not have come up in this blog is that not only do I like to knit and write (both not all that proficiently at times), but I'm also, well, a little bit (okay, a lot) odd. Kind of eccentric, would be the nice way of saying it. Anyway, the other day I'd just washed the socks in question and was trying to finish the drying process off in the small smattering of midday sunshine that the fickle gods of Melbourne weather were kind enough to bestow on us. It was only until a person walked by on the footpath and looked at me oddly that I realised that I was singing a song to the socks (a song all about socks and how great they were). Hmmm... Probably not healthy.

Anyway, maybe next time there'll be finished objects. We can only hope. At least I'll try very hard not to be dead next time I post. Make no promises though...

Idiocy and new verbs

Stupid Melbourne weather. It decides to crank out a cold day to celebrate the end of summer, and what happens? We all get sick, that's what happens (and by all, I mean me and about three other people I know... so 'all' might be a slight exaggeration, but so what...). So, just before uni goes back, I'm all sniffly and gross. Hurrah.

Anyway, because I'm sick and disoriented, I'm being a little bit of an idiot at the moment. I should be writing, I should be wanting to write, but instead I would rather hexagon. Yes, I have proclaimed hexagon to be a verb. Perhaps that should be 'hexagonning'. I quite like that. I've started knitting the Basalt tank from Knitting Nature, so there's going to be a lot of hexagonning around here for the next while. It's lots of fun so far; it's one of those patterns where you look at it and are totally unsure of whether it's going to actually look decent on you. But it looks like it will be fun to knit if nothing else, and even if it doesn't look good on me, I'll settle for unusual looking. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, hexagonning:

Behold the fruits of the hexagonning! I'm liking the yarn as well (Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton); I went and raided Woolbaa (I definitely didn't buy Noro while I was there either) for it, and I'm glad I made the trip. It's nice to knit with, the colour is lovely (much darker in real life than in this picture), and it wasn't too expensive (comparatively anyway - much cheaper than the Rowan Wool Cotton the pattern suggested). Anyway, so all is well on the hexagon front, so far.

Right now it feels like there are so many things I could finish and get out of the way if I just bothered to put in a concerted effort for a short while. My mystery yarn bag only needs me to get the sewing machine out for about fifteen minutes before it will be done. The hat I'm knitting for the Pilchard only needs me to sit down for about that to figure out the top half of the colourwork, and then maybe an hour, or two at the most, of actual knitting to finish. And my story (I love my story, have I told anyone that lately?) only needs about 1-2 hours of sustained effort before the first draft is finished (not some stupid word count milestone but actually start-to-end finished!), but here I am blogging instead. At least I know what will be on my agenda if I leave work early today from being sick (which may or may not happen - husbandy type creature is a hard taskmaster - not to mention amusingly different in his views on when I should take a sickie now that he is running the place I'm working for).

Maybe I'll go hexagon some more...

Um.... oh no *sarcasm*

Finally a post where the poor bloggo is not forced to showcase my amateurish attempts at photography; camera is momentarily out of batteries, and at any rate I haven't made a great deal of knitting progress over the last few days.

The main reason for this is that shop is now up and running: today is our first day of actually being open (rather than messing around in there trying to set things up). So that hasn't left as much time for knitting, and all the other random stuff I like to do.

Writing is the exception to this. I've actually found it a very useful outlet for all the stress and anxiety that's come with getting shop going, so I've now sailed merrily past the 50k mark. I am pleased with this.

Anyway, so in minor knitting news, Wavy scarf is still coming along nicely, and I'm trying something out with my Moana yarn... And that's about it... Can we say uninteresting?