One is the Loneliest Number

I may have said it before, but I have a little crush on Eunny Jang (who is about to become the newest editor of IK, congrats!). Before her, I had never felt the need to try colorwork. I also never thought about making mittens, let alone fingerless ones.

But then along comes Eunny with her Endpaper Mitts and suddenly I NEEDED fingerless mittens, fingerless mittens knit in Fair Isle.

And hence my Endpaper Mitt was born. It was so fun to knit - even given my dislike of dpns - and went quickly. It was extremely gratifying with relatively little effort. A perfect project.

There's just one problem - the pattern is for Endpaper Mitts - plural, as in you need to make more than one in order to not unintentionelly mimic Michael Jackson. Usually, knitting another wouldn't have been a problem, as the first was so satisfying. Berkley, however, had other plans.

Before I could even finish the thumb on Mitt 1, he stole both balls of yarn, and proceded to wind them around the condo. I eventually retreived the yarn and re-wound the balls, which should have been enough. Unfortuantely, Berkley REALLY liked the yarn. No matter where I hid it, he found it, and I returned home each day to a freshly decorated condo.

In the end, out of busyness and laziness, I gave up. The mangled pile went into the trash upon the arrival of the new roommate (who aparently didn't find the yarn maze terribly decorative), and the last little bit of purple was locked away.

So the mitt is all alone, but will remain for now if only for bragging rights.

What If?

What if I didn't finish my program?

Would life fall apart? Would I ever get a good job? Could I still accomplish what I want to? Do I really need the extra initials after my name?

I'm tired. I've stopped going to all but the most necessary classes. I do not want to finish this paper, and it's for the only course I even like.

I'm burning out and I'm not even half way done.


Pictures coming, promise.

Bizarre

Yet oddly mesmerizing.
At least Pathophysiology was useful for something...

Bad Girls Don't Have Time

That's what they say about journaling, and I think it applies to blogging as well. I've been busy - with work, school, life, etc., and I've been neglecting this space.
I have been knitting. Taking the time to write about what I'm knitting takes time away from the knitting itself, which is usually more important to me. I do, however, like to have my progress documented, and it's nice to be able to look back at what I've done before. I also love to stalk other people's blogs for advice and inspiration, and I would love to think that others could be inspired by me (that's assuming anyone other than me reads this, which isn't always the case...)
But enough about my inability to consistently blog!
I've been knitting whenever possible - less than I'd like due to the fact that I'm pretending to have a real life, which includes spending time with other humans and away from the needles. As a single twenty-something, hermiting isn't necessarily the best idea, and going out is pretty essential. Because I am trying, I've found myself in places such as "Necto" which is where frat boys and law students go to prey on barely 18-year-old girls. Not really my favorite place, but potentially the best dancing music in the area, so as long as you can fend off creepy sportcoat-and-pinstriped-fedora-wearing men, it can be a decent time.

Check out the hat action behind me!

My attempt at a social life is also why I found myself coming home from the bar at at 1 AM on Thursday. Again, nice time, but all I really wanted to do was finish the sleeves on Sahara. Flash forward to 3ish and me on the couch finally binding off the last stitches of the left sleeve. Twenty or so minutes of end-weaving and it was officially finished, but so was I - crashed shortly thereafter. This morning (afternoon actually) was for blocking, and photo-taking.

I soaked Sahara in some warm water and Euclean. Don't mind the "products" lining the counter. My friend and I have a pact (similar to men's porn pacts) so that if one of us were to die, the other is to go and remove most all of the deceased products, this way we won't have to be remembered as so girly and self-absorbed.

Soak!

The water turned a very pretty shade of fuscia

Hand for emphasis

Due to the color leakage, I was afraid to lay Sahara out on a white towel on my white sheets, so I found a big red beach towel. Unfortunately, it sheds like crazy

From the front

And the side

Neckline detail

And, of course, Berkley was there every step of the way.
Actually, he's helping me right now...

Finished!

Not only is fall semester over, but some of my projects have also come to completion.

more on the way. I love having the ability to switcWhen school began in September, I decided that knitting was going to be my main creative outlet. As such, I gave myself permission to start whatever I wanted, independent of the state of my other projects. And now, four months later, I have something like six things started, andh from project to project, though it is also nice to occasionally finish something. Here are my most recent finished objects, Christmas presents for the family.

Odessa (the original)

Yarn: Malabrigo, I don't remember the color, one skein, from a LYS
Comments: This was the first of what would ultimately be four Odessa's. I like the pattern, with and without the beads. Consistent with what I've heard others say, the Malabrigo is fabulous to work with. It's squishy and soft and I think I have a thing for single-ply. This was a gift for my aunt, she requested that I leave her face off of the internet - so instead you can see the back of her head. The color is most similar to that in the first picture.

Odessa (take two)Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK (I think) a seafoam color, one skein

Comments: This was actually the fourth hat I knit, but the only other that I remembered to photograph. The beads are pearlescent seed-beads, I think size 6 (?) . I used this method, which is great in that it doesn't require that the beads be pre-strung, but slightly difficult given the thickness of the yarn and the size of the beads.

Odessa (three & four)

I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of these, I'm hoping their recipients will send me some action shots. #3 was made in a dark purple Elisabeth Lavold Silky Tweed with rainbowish purple beads. It was much easier to use the beading technique with this yarn, it was slightly lighter than the Cashsoft and readily threaded through the beads. I gave it to my cousin's wife, Amy. #4 was made just like the picture, in the Bella Donna Cashsoft with pearl beads. I gave it to my former roommate, Nikki.

Twinkletoes

Yarn: Rowan Calmer, oatmeal color, one skein

Modifications: I didn't knit the ties as directed. My mom isn't the type of person to spend time tying strings around her ankles. I added straps across the top, but she took those off too. I also sewed on leather slipper bottoms as they were super-slippery on their own. I had to stalk the LYS's for weeks to find them... aparently two-pieced adult-sized bottoms are in high demand.

Comments: This was my first attempt at foot-shaped knitting (see my first post for reasons why), and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I have a sort of crush on the Calmer, it's so soft and springy.

For Christmas, I received a spindle and two types of roving from my fabulous mother and aunt. I haven't spent as much time as I'd like with it, but I'm really excited to have one. Hopefully I can practice more once some of my other projects are finished.

Overall, the holiday went very well, especially since it was the first one we haven't spent as a whole family. I got to see the booger (Bogart) for the first time since he and my mom moved to Minnessota. He was my only child before Berkley came along.

(sorry about my poor attempt at photo editing)

My aunt's dog, Gabby, also got into the action:

And I learned that I look terrible when making seductive kissey faces. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I'm halfway into a bottle of wine...