2010 down, 2011 to go.

Holy crap, 2010 is almost over. Overall, it was a pretty good year, despite the whole grad-school-isn't-taking-students thing. My tendency to avoid odd numbers has me a little skeptical about the potential quality of 2011, but we'll see. I graduated college both times in odd years; if I get into grad school this time, I will graduate in 2013. Perhaps that's a sign.

But I digress. I suppose I need to make new knitting resolutions for 2011. I did pretty well on the 2010 set. I finished 4 of 6:

1. Knit a fair isle pattern

2. Design my own pattern

3. Knit something error-free

4. Complete a sweater

5. Finish something entrelac

6. Learn to knit continental style

As for #5, I tried entrelac and hated it. There was never a chance that I'd finish the scarf I started. #6 happened briefly-I started a garter stitch swatch that ended up being about 6" wide by 4" tall, but I was distracted by something shinier coming along.

I have no idea what to do this year. I'm setting a goal of 22 FOs this year, but other than that there isn't really anything that I feel a burning desire to accomplish. I guess I'll just let my FO goal stand as my resolution/goal for the year. Do you have any knitting resolutions?

Done and done and done

Tis the season of FOs. In the past 48 hours (maybe less), I've finished 2 pairs of fingerless mitts and DH's Christmas cowl.

Exhibit A: Sleekit mitts
Yarn: Brooks Farm Acero
Production notes: These are so freaking cute. However, I've learned that I absolutely cannot stand yarn with rayon in it. It makes my hands hot and sweaty. I tried making socks with this once and didn't get very far because of it.
Verdict: I may still give them to my coworker as a late Christmas present (due to completion of exhibit C)

Exhibit B: Ribby Neckwarmer
Yarn: Bernat Alpaca blends (I actually didn't think DH would really like it, so why pull out the good stuff, kwim?)
Production notes: Quick, easy, and mindless, although I should have made it about 10 rows longer.
Verdict: He likes it.

Exhibit C: Endpaper Mitts
Yarn: Yellow=Shibuiknits Sock Canary, Blue=Tempted Goodgrrl Into the Blue
Production notes: Ohemgee I love fair-isle. It is so much easier than I thought it would be. This takes care of #1 on my 2010 Knitting Resolutions list (I guess I'll need to make another one soon).
Verdict: I think I'll definitely keep these.

Merry Christmas!

I think it wants to stay

I don't know what possessed me, but I decided that I want to give one of my nice coworkers a handknit gift. She likes blue, so I grabbed some aran-weight Patons Soy Wool Stripes (you know, yarn that I don't mind parting with easily) and looked for fingerless glove patterns. The smart side of me suggested that aran weight gloves wouldn't take too long to make, and therefore I wouldn't get stressed out by the deadline. All of the cute patterns I found were for sock yarn, but I kept on. And then I found the Sleekit Mitts pattern on Ravelry, and promptly fell in love. I happen to have some blue fingering weight yarn that I don't love (shocking, I know), so I pulled it out.

I ignored the voice in my head that kept gently reminding me that the reason I swore off handknit Christmas gifts forever is the stress that my procrastination combined with deadlines causes. After, I'm a quick knitter, right? If there isn't a complicated pattern or anything, it would practically knit itself, right? Of course it would. So I casted on and merrily knit my little heart out. I continued to ignore the fact that after 5 days I haven't even gotten to the thumb gusset increases. Here's what I have so far:

It's cute, right? While ignoring the whole there's-a-deadline-on-this-and-I'm-clearly-insane thing, I've begun to fall in love with the gloves. I don't know if I can part with it. I don't like the yarn so much because it makes my hands sweaty, but that was in the summer. It doesn't seem to be so bad now. The gloves are blue, and I have an unhealthy obsession with blue.

FOapalooza

I'm not sure if it counts as an -apalooza if I only finished one item, but I think this deserves a little fanfare. I finally (FINALLY!) finished my Central Park Hoodie. I started it in December 2008. For the last year or so, all it has lacked is seaming on the sleeves. I never worked on it because I hate the yarn (Berroco Comfort, if you're curious), and therefore I was determined to hate the sweater. Yesterday, I decided I was sick of seeing it in the sidebar of this blog, and pulled it out to finish it. Finally, almost 2 years after I started it (I blame the yarn choice on the fact that I was a new knitter), here is my CPH:

 

In other news, I finished the first Endpaper mitt. It's right purdy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Colors!

I finally got brave enough to try fair-isle (for any non-knitters, that's a type of colorwork, definition here). At first I was ambitious and wanted to make Edith the hat (rav link). However, I didn't trust my skills enough to keep from messing it up. So I decided to make the Endpaper mitts. I had initially decided to use white and a pale semi-variagated blue yarn, but then I discovered some wonderful Tempted Good Grrl in my stash. After I found that, I remembered that I still had yellow yarn left over from the duck feet booties that I made for Dragon. They were a match made in heaven. I ordered more of the yellow though, just in case.

I did a minimal amount of research on the Stranded board on Ravelry (dominant colors, anyone?) and cast on on Wednesday. OMG. I am in love with colorwork! I can't stop knitting it! I actually got up over an hour early this morning just so I could knit on the first mitten. Here's my progress as of this morning:

Yarn: Shibuiknits Sock in Finch and Tempted Good Grrl in Into the Blue.
Pattern: Endpaper mitts (see link above)
Size: Small

I refuse to knit on my citron shawl any longer.

But that's mostly because I'm done! I like it too. It was a good reading/watching TV knit. I took a picture of it while it's blocking:

I've never blocked anything in my life, so I hope it turns out ok. I guess I'll find out. The pattern is from Knitty (here) and the yarn is Malabrigo Sock in the Rayon Vert colorway.

Now I need to figure out if I'm going to tackle a WIP, UFO, or if I should give into my sometimes dormant case of startitis. I've had my eye on Edith the hat. The only problem with that plan is that I've never done fair-isle. I guess I have to learn somehow, right?

ETA: this fulfills my "knit something correctly" new year's resolution. It only took 11 months to get that one taken care of.

Baby stuff

(no, I'm not having one.)

One of my nice, sane coworkers approached me sometime in July and asked me for booties, a hat, and mittens in OU colors for his impending baby (due in late November). Being the procrastinator that I am, I put it off until about 2 weeks ago. Luckily, I got it done, but the baby was born last Thursday at 35 weeks (he's doing fine). I finished the writing on the second booty last night and delivered the goods today. I love to procrastinate. Now to finish a hat. Or play wii. Or read.

Progress is slow

I received a complaint that I'm not blogging enough (be thankful I didn't post your pic in retaliation Liz! I thought about it, and you know I have good ones), so I'll update you with the microscopic amount of progress I've made since I last blogged.

I picked up my Geodesic Cardigan today for the first time since mid-June or so. I'm still in the waist decreases.

I wanted something to knit that didn't require much brain power so I could read or watch podcasts while knitting, so I cast on the Citron Shawl from Knitty on August 21st. Ta-daa:

I've been trying to find something to do with that yarn (it's Malabrigo sock). I didn't want to use it for socks because it is so pretty (I think it would stripe, and that wouldn't be cute IMO). I really like the way this shawl is turning out.

And, finally, in non-knitting news, I am winning my fantasy football league. That is all.

I finished, and I'm preoccupied

My knitting has seriously slacked off lately. There are a few reasons for it, the main one being that I just bought a Nook. Now, it is very possible to knit and read at the same time, but I've been reading the Outlander series. I find it nearly impossible to turn away from the book long enough to watch what I'm doing when I'm knitting. So, the knitting has suffered. I'm also going to start Choctaw classes on Aug. 24th, so I've been preparing myself by studying a bit.

I did finish the stealth knitting project though! Finally, here is a picture:

They are the Duck feet from one of the issues of Knitty. While wholly adorable, they have been the bane of my existence since May. I can honestly say that I regretted starting them sometimes. However, Dragon loved them, and that is enough to make it worth the effort.

Geodesic cardi, new yarn, and a tease

I'm knitting the Geodesic cardigan (Rav KAL link), and it is very slow going. We started the KAL on June 1, and I just started the waist decreases. (BTW, if you're reading this and want to join the KAL-please do!)

I cannot for the life of me get a decent picture of the yarn. It is a much deeper, more vibrant purple than what the picture shows. Grrr. It's tempted yarn, so you know that it's right purdy.

I won some yarn for my Labyrinth socks from the May 2010 Wendyknits KAL. It is Lisa Souza Handtwist Petite sock yarn. I'll be honest-I'm not in love with the color. However, it was free, and I'll hang on to it for a bit to see if a suitable pattern comes up for it.

I also received my 2nd shipment of the Tempted @ 3am sock club, but I won't post a pic for another week or so. I don't want to ruin anyone's surprise.

I like to post teasers when I knit stuff for friends who read my blog. I'm not sure if she'll be able to read it because she's somewhat distracted by a newborn, but I'll throw the tease out anyway.

If you know what it is, don't tell!

Call me crazy if you must

I don't like wasting my time knitting a pattern if I don't like it. A while back, I decided that I would knit a pair of socks for my childhood best friend (Sarah) for her birthday. She's a big fan of the Lord of the Rings series, so I thought that the Aragorn socks in Tempted Good Grrl in Passion Fruit would be perfect. I quickly finished the first one:

That's when I realized that the sock fit me. It would all be fine and dandy except for the fact that I wear a 6 and she wears an 8.5-9. So, I abandoned the project and started the Skew Socks using Lorna's Laces in Purple Iris.

Before I was too far into the Skew socks, I asked my friend Muriel (aka bffofwendy) to try the Aragorn sock on her foot (the same size as Sarah's). It fit perfectly. I decided to continue on with the Skew socks because I'd already started anyway.

Fast forward to today. I just finished the heel of the first sock. Sarah's birthday was March 26, and I'm behind. Now I have a problem. I don't like the socks.

The pattern is ok; I mean, it's not my favorite but it is an good innovative and cute pattern. I don't like the way the yarn is striping. It just looks really dumb to me, and I don't want to waste my time knitting something that I don't like.

So, I'm going to let them sit in time out for 24 hours and then I'll frog it. In the mean time, I'm going to start on the second Aragorn sock and try to start on the sekret knitting. I've had an awful time trying to do the Turkish CO that the sekret pattern requires.

Now that I've had the Loopy Ewe Lite package for over a week, I'll go ahead and post a picture of the yarn. It is fantastic! It's blue! You know I love blue. Meet my first skein of String Theory Caper Sock in Bye Bye Blues.

I'm in love.

I'm finished!

I'm finished with my Labyrinth Socks!

The Labyrinth sock pattern (rav link) is available in Wendyknits's book "Socks from the Toe-Up." Here are the details:
Size: Small
Yarn: Tempted Luxe Grrl (cashmere!!)
Needles: US2.5 dpns
Started: May 6, 2010
Finished: May 23, 2010

I love them! I haven't taken them off since I photographed them. Next, the sekret knitting will commence.

Slap to the wrist

I can officially declare myself a terrible blogger. I'm sorry that I've managed to go 2 weeks without any new posts. I know, it's my blog and I don't have to post, but I feel obligated to because people actually read this thing.

I've finished my scarf and I'm almost done with the first sock of the Labyrinth socks. I've started some socks for a coworker hospitalized in ICU (he's why I've been somewhat absent lately), and I've padded my stash a bit.

I hate to leave  you photo-less, but I don't have much on my work computer. Thankfully, I uploaded some stash pics to Ravelry last night before DH hogged the computer until bedtime.

This is the Lacy Grrl I ordered from Tempted. The yarn is so freaking soft, it was really just what I needed to help take my mind off of my coworker's struggles. It's a much deeper purple than what I could photograph, but I could not get the lighting conditions just right. It is destined to become a beautiful Geodesic Cardigan. Gnome and I are going to do it together as a KAL. Let me tell you, finding a copy of Winter/Spring 2010 Knitscene was hard! Interweave is sold out of backissues, and no one seemed to have it in stock. Thankfully, I was able to snag 2 copies at L&B yarn in Norman.

Oh, and I get to do sekret knitting! The recipient reads my blog, so I'll be a mean tease and post a yarn pic. I'm not going to post any project pictures until it has arrived at it's destination. Meet Shibui Sock Finch:

I'm expecting the consolation prize lite sock club shipment to come from The Loopy Ewe today, but I don't know if I should post it this weekend or not. I don't want to ruin anyone's surprise. It's titled "Don't be blue," and I really hope it's blue. Ya'll know that's my favorite color. I love blue.

Knitcroblog day 6:

Sorry that I missed yesterday's blog post. I didn't see the point of blogging about the chair I knit in unless I could post a picture, and my camera is currently winning a game of hide-and-seek. 

Revisit a past F/O

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

The FO I'd like to revisit is the first (and so far only) pair of socks I made for my mom. For her entire life, my mom has been badly allergic to wool. I don't really like knitting with cotton, bamboo, or acrylic, so I figured socks for mom were out of the question. I let her fondle some superwash Madelinetosh Sock, and she told me that it might work. So, for the August Socks from the Toe Up KAL on Ravelry, I made the Seaweed socks for mom. Oh, and the KAL started on August 1, and mom's birthday is August 10. I tried very hard to finish them before her birthday, but I ended up doing the ribbing and end-weaving in her living room on the 9th. A full pair of fingering-weight socks in 9 days isn't too bad.

My mom is more of a fan of dark colors, so these really fit the bill. Also, she is not bothered at all by the superwash merino wool, so she'll get another pair of socks for her upcoming birthday. At my last sighting of the socks, they were comfortably keeping her feet warm:

Knitcroblo Day 4: Desired skills

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.


There are a couple of skills I'd like to acquire in knitting: continental knitting and fair-isle colorwork. I'd like to learn to knit continental so that colorwork will be easier when I try it. I got bored one day earlier this year and started knitting a continental garter swatch, but purling didn't come so easy. To be honest, I haven't had the time to seriously pursue either skill. Between captaining the Team Sprout Ravelympics team while knitting a cardigan in 17 days and trying to catch up on gift knitting, I just haven't found the time yet. I hope to start Stilwell some time this summer.


I made a change this week! It isn't knitting related at all, but I want some pictures in this post. I can't post my knitting until this week is over, so you get pictures of me instead. 


Before:

After:

Knitcroblo Day 3: An Enjoyable Knitter

I think today's topic is actually pretty difficult.

Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way.

I cannot pinpoint 1 single knitter that I can definitively say pleases me the most, so I'll list a few of my favorites and why/how they made the list. Please note that this is not in any particular order.

1. The Yarn Harlot. I'd bet money that she has made it onto several people's lists. YH makes my list because she's "real." She's not afraid to express her frustrations on her blog, and she doesn't pretend that she never makes mistakes, knitting or otherwise. I think she is a talented knitter, and  an overall nice person. She's also short. I'm 4'11" and she's 5'1", and that makes her even more likable in my book (lol).
2. Stacy Little of Tempted Yarns. Over the past year or so, I've not only had the opportunity to fill my stash up with her lovely yarn, but I've gotten to know Stacy as a person as well. She's smart, wise, and caring. I've gotten to go hang out at her house on several occasions, and there's a good reason I call Tempted Estates my "happy place." Stacy also taught me how to read my knitting, and, in my opinion, that is one of the most valuable knitting lessons.
3. Muriel. Muriel is Stacy's sister, and they share the blog, so I won't bother linking twice. Muriel has been a valuable asset-she motivates me to knit faster. She too has been there for me over the past year, and I'm so glad she's my friend. I <3 Muriel.
4. Wendy Johnson. How the hell can she produce patterns so quickly? Someday, I want to be as good of a knitter as she is, and I hope that someday my sarcastic abilities will rise to her level. :)
5. Sherry of SWAK. She's taught me a lot of knitting tricks/tips/techniques. I wouldn't be a good knitter without her.

The list turned more into a list of which knitters inspire me, but that's ok. 

Knitcroblo day 2: Inspirational pattern

Now that we got the less-than-joyous reason I started knitting out of the way, on to a happier subject.
Today's topic is:

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

The inspirational pattern that I have in the forefront of my mind right now is Stilwell by Jared Flood.

I have 2 reasons that it is inspirational:

1. Colorwork. Beyond making cute little mini stocking ornaments for Christmas presents last year, I have not done any kind of colorwork. It's more intimidating that this is something that will be worn in public, so if I screw it up, it's going to be visible.
2. Fit. I currently have a batting average of 0 when it comes to fitting sweaters correctly. My central park hoodie is still a vest because I'm too lazy to seam on the (finished) sleeves. My blackberry cabled cardigan that I made for the Ravelympics looks nice, but it isn't quite as formfitting as I wanted it to be.

I already have the yarn purchased (Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed), but I haven't bought the pattern yet. I was originally waiting for it to be available for sale individually, but now I just have too many other things I want to knit that don't necessarily require that I learn something new. I'm not scared of the pattern-I seem to pick up knitting techniques quickly. I'm in a lazy knitting mood these days, so it'll have to wait.

Why I started knitting

This is the first blog post for knit and crochet blog week! Yay!

Alright, so why did I start to knit? My mother taught me how to knit, crochet, and cross-stitch when I was around age 12. I remember hating knitting so much, mostly because I always dropped stitches. I continued to crochet and cross-stitch for the next several years, and even won some prizes at the yearly fairs while in high school. I didn't pick up knitting again until November 2008.

I really had to think twice about whether I'd be honest and broadcast the real reason or if I'd take the wildcard topic for this one. Now, the primary reason I picked up knitting was because I needed a distraction from another stressful obsession in my life. This isn't something I normally talk about in the knitting world; I try to keep my sets of friends separate because the topic can either be uncomfortable or leads to "advice" that isn't constructive or helpful. My husband and I got married on February 29, 2008 (hello, leap year!), and we decided to start trying to get pregnant in the summer of 2008. It's not as easy as they let on, folks. It's stressful, and if you add in my tendency towards obsession,  trying really sucks. So I decided to start knitting again as a way to distract myself. Little did I know that I was just adding another obsession!

I started out with a dishcloth and quickly moved on to the central park hoodie and toe-up socks. Right now I have no less than 7 projects OTN, and I have to fight myself to not cast on any more. As for the baby? We tried for over a year and sought infertility testing (inconclusive, btw) before stopping in October 2009 while I applied to grad school. I didn't get in, so we're going to resume trying again.

I'm now thoroughly addicted to knitting and I've gained a lot of friends in the process! Come back tomorrow to see the next post in the 2010 Knit and Crochet Blog Week!

Sucky day.

I just got an email from the program director. They're not accepting students due to "faculty and medical director changes." Why they waited until now to decide this, I don't know. I'm upset, angry that they waited, and really disappointed. This is why I don't allow myself to think optimistically. I've asked if I can resubmit my application as is, or if I have to pay the app fees again. I am going to do some volunteer work for a crisis hotline as the genetic counselor I interviewed with suggested.

Tonight might be a margarita night.

Finally finished

It stresses me out to have too many projects on the needles at one time, especially because I have a chronic case of startitis. Until this morning, I had 4 pairs of socks OTN. Four. I don't know what's possessed me to let it get that bad. I'm not even counting the non-sock projects. I finally finished a pair this morning.

This is my second pair of lace and cable socks from Wendy's Socks from the Toe Up. The yarn is Jknits (that's a rav link because I couldn't get the website to come up) and I won it as part of the August 2009 Wendyknits KAL on Ravelry. These socks are mediums and will go to my bff (who's a huge fan of green).

I've been slowly working on the Skew socks. I had a big problem with using magic loop. I kept getting a very noticeable ladder on the starting side of the sock, and I couldn't figure out if it was a magic loop problem or if I had CO incorrectly. After asking the pattern's creator, it turns out that I just don't like magic loop. I've switched to dpns for now. I'm waiting for 2 circulars to come in from knitpicks so I can try using 2 circs instead.

Finally, I'm very excited to participate in Knitting and Crochet Blog week (you can get info here at Eskimimi's blog). I've read through the topics, and I really think my blog will improve for it. I recently joined a group on Ravelry dedicated to blogging, and I've already thought of some areas to improve my blog.

DFW Fiber fest

I drove down to Texas to stay at Gnome's house this weekend so that we could go to the DFW Fiber Fest together today. I promised DH that I'd only buy 1 skein of yarn at the festival. I technically kept that promise! I bought some beautiful Malabrigo sock yarn from the Shabby Sheep's booth:

DH didn't say I couldn't go anywhere else that sold yarn, so Gnome and I went down to the Woolie Ewe to look around. I did so well, right up until we were at the register. Then I fell down:

They're both Mochi Plus, and I have 1 skein of the pink one and 2 skeins of the blue/green one. Hey, it was a sale-buy 2, get one 1/2 off. I just couldn't let that go.

On a side note, WTH can't I find an issue of the Winter/Spring 2010 Knitscene? No one seems to have it. I want to knit the Geodesic cardigan, and the pattern is only available in the magazine. I could buy it from Interweave directly, but then I'd have to wait for it to come in the mail.

Change of plans

My aragorn socks (rav link) that I had intended to be a gift for my childhood bff won't fit her. They do, however, fit me perfectly. I finished the first sock yesterday. I'll just keep them for myself and make the Skew socks for her with some purple/green lorna's laces that I have.

Here's the lorna's laces that I'll use for the Skew socks. The colorway is Purple Iris. Thankfully, the socks appear to be mostly stockinette, so they should go quickly.

On Friday, I'm going to head to Gnome's house so we can go to the DFW Fiber Fest on Saturday. I'm so excited! It'll be a nice roadtrip and I hope to get some yarn for the Wendyknit's KAL Swan Song socks. It's been a while since I got to participate and I'm looking forward to it.

It's a good thing I'm not a werewolf.

I can see the full moon outside my window right now. If I were a werewolf, we'd have a few problems for sure. I don't have much to show you in the way of knitting; what I do have isn't even a good picture.

I haven't been able to knit as much as I like this week because I have an interview for the Master's in Genetic Counseling program at OU on Friday. I've been trying to prepare myself for it. I have 6 (yes, 6. God help me) 30 minute interviews with various faculty, genetic counselors, and the program director. My attention has been elsewhere for the past few days.

In other news, did you see the progress bar thingy on the right? I love it! I'm so excited that I figured it out. I had some help from a ravelry group. It's sometimes ridiculous how the littlest things can make me happy.

We're headed to the ILs after my interview(s) are over, so this will probably be the last post until Monday or so. Happy Easter!

Aragorn

I'm about 75% done with the first sock. I really like these socks, but once again I think I might have made a sizing error. I'd love to get it right one of these times. As you can see in the pictures (sorry that they're crappy iPhone pics; I had a bad night that included 8 hrs of driving between 10pm and 7am), the socks fit me well. The problem lies with the fact that I wear a size 6 shoes and the recipient wears a 9. Hopefully blocking fixes all.

I'm sure there are dozens of jokes about the clap...

so I won't bore you with any more. I will, however, show you my clap. I've even managed to drop down one of the stitches. I'm about 3 rows away from dropping the next one. Dropping the first stitch wasn't as hard as I thought it would be-many of the project pages on Ravelry say that the malabrigo lace is sticky. I didn't really have any trouble.

You all know what my favorite yarn dyer is. Stacy of Tempted Yarns had a trunk show at the LYS on Friday, and of course, I went. I managed to snag some Good Grrl in the Deviant Behavior colorway (why do I keep spelling "behavior" with a "u?" I always have to retype it).

Isn't it pretty?

If I say I'll never knit something, chances are I will.

I said I'd never knit a shawl. I said I'd never make a sweater. I said that the clapotis is dumb and not for me. What have I done? I have a girasole, a blackberry cabled cardigan, and now, a clapotis.

I finally found a use for my malabrigo lace. This poor yarn has been knit into an ill-fated skirt (frogged), a featherweight cardigan (frogged), and now a scarf (still going strong). The trick with the clapotis is that you intentionally drop stitches so that it has cute gaps. The malabrigo gives it a very light, airy feel. I think it will be dainty enough to work well for professional wear if I get into grad school.

That's one item off of the list!

I've finished my sweater! I think it's a little bit big while wearing it, but in the picture it doesn't look that bad. Maybe it's ok. It still needs to be blocked to get the collar to lay correctly. I also get to cross #4 off of my new year's resolutions list.I learned several things while knitting this sweater.

1. I can successfully drop a section of the back down 32 rows to fix a mistake, but I should have done it when I only had to go down 7 rows.
2. I made a button hole for the first time.
3. It might have been possible to finish it during the ravelympics if I had learned lesson #1 a bit sooner.
4. I just finished my first sweater! (Not to be confused with my first sweater I've knit, which is my CPH and only lacks putting the sleeves on)

In totally non-knitting-related news, I got an interview for grad school. I've applied to a genetic counseling master's program, and my interview is April 2. My knitting might slow down a bit because I want to brush up on genetics stuff before the interview. :) One hurdle down! Now I just have to avoid making an idiot of myself in the interview and maybe I'll have a decent chance of getting in.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have... a blob.

My blackberry cabled cardigan is currently masquerading as a blob. I picked up the stitches again, this time doing 7 of every 8. I came up with 468 stitches, which is close to the number required for the small size. So, I'm taking that number and running with it. I don't know what else to do. I picked up the stitches with US6s (2 sizes smaller than the US8 I did the rest with), and OMG I literally bruised my finger and thumb when I knit the first row with the 8s. The side of my thumb was purple for 2 days.

I took the Aragorn socks to work with me the past 2 days, and I'm getting close to starting the gusset on the first sock. I'm making them for my childhood bff for her birthday (late March). I have a feeling I may be a bit late.

Acquisition

I'm still working on the Ravelympics sweater. I followed the directions: I tied a yarn every 2 inches, I followed the conventional rule of 3 stitches per 4 rows, I picked up with a smaller needle, and what do I get? 404 sts. I should have ~524. So let's not go there today. I may take out all of the stitches I picked up tonight, or I may not. But let's not talk about the sweater right now, mkay? I'm seriously contemplating just sitting here in my chair, petting my new yarn purchase and drooling. What's that, a new yarn acquisition, you say? My friends, my Wollmeise cherry has been officially popped, and it.feels.great.

You just knew it would be blue, right? If you didn't know that right off, then you don't know me at all. Of course it's blue. Kornblume is such a lovely shade of blue that I don't want to put it down. I may not ever knit with it. What's so special about WM, you ask? You know, I'm not really sure. Beyond that fact that the colors are amazing and that it sells out instantly, it could just be any other yarn. But it's soft, and beautiful, and lovely.

And it is allllll mine.

PS: Did you see what the yarn harlot knit for the knitting olympics? A-freaking-mazing. Go look. Now.

Ravelympics: Day 17

I didn't finish in time, but I tried my hardest. All I lack from finishing is a 2" ribbing border that goes all the way around; however, the thought of picking up 524 sts was enough to make me throw in the towel (with only an hour left until the deadline).

I'm happy with it, although I think it is a bit too big. I think it will work ok though for layers.

Please ignore the fact that it looks like I have a headless body. My face was in no shape to be photographed today lol.

Ravelympics: Day 15

Well, I'm pretty far behind schedule. This picture is yesterday's progress (day 15). I obviously haven't finished the sleeves, and they're taking much longer than I thought they would. But, it is only 4:30ish, so there's still time. Who knows if I'll get done? I don't.

Being the captain of Team Sprout has taught me some lessons on leadership. I've learned that you can do your best and still get complaints and nasty comments. I've tried not to take it to heart, but it's easier said than done. I guess all that matters is that I tried my best to make it fun for the team members, and if they aren't happy, it isn't entirely my fault.

I'm going back to knitting. I've got a lot to do.