Oh, the joys of college!

I am clearly not a very on-top-of-things blogger, but I do have a pretty good excuse: COLLEGE! Sophomore year has been crazy busy, but in a good way, and with a lot of fun in between the mounds of work.
Unfortunately, I have very little time to knit; I spend my time at our knitting club making squares for Warm Up America, and I catch maybe 20 minutes a day during an episode of Arrested Development on DVD - when I have time.

Somehow, though, progess has been made:
These are my finished Cafe Curtains socks, in knitpicks sock memories. I really like the colors, and they are very comfy!
I've also made progress on Orangina: the front and the back are both done, I just have to do about 6 more inches of ribbing then seam it. Maybe it'll be done by the spring? I exaggerate, but not by much!And I started a scarf for a friend in our school's colors (roughly); it's 1 by 1 ribbing. I think I deserve a good friend award for this one! It's in Lion Wool and Paton's Classic Merino.And, because I'm proud of myself, here's how much stash I brought to college:


Yep, that's it! Just a little sock yarn, a little for a start on Sunrise Circle (once that scarf is done!) and the MS3, which I optimistically hope to finish by the time I graduate.
Irony of ironies, my fall break is ONE WEEKEND before Rhinebeck. (P.S.: I live in Rhinebeck.) I can't justify going home two weekends in a row, what with work and stage managing and editing a newsletter for Amnesty International, etc. Oy vey. It would be fun, but it's probably good that I'm not going: I absolutely don't need any more yarn, and I definitely don't have money to spend (especially if I want to go abroad!).
Maybe I should just resort to knitting in class instead of taking notes. Any thoughts?

Sockpal!

This morning when I woke up, I was greeted by an exciting package! I have an amazing sockpal.

These socks are gorgeous! I think they are monkeys, made from Socks that Rock (a yarn I desperately want to try). The colors are amazing, and I absolutely love them!

My amazing sockpal included lots of beautiful loot: a keychain blocker with the leftover yarn to make a matching sock, two (two!) skeins of sock yarn, chocolate, lotion, needles, and one of the amazing monkey sock bags! There are even polka dots on the inside.

Sue, thanks so much for being an amazing sockpal! Everything is perfect!

Project Update

As the month changed from July (there's so much summer left!) to August (wow, I go back to school soon!), I found myself wishing I had a little more summer just on behalf of my knitting. Once I get back to college, my knitting time will be greatly reduced. I'm in the knitting club ("Knit Happens") and have the coveted role of club stash enhancer, but we like to use our meetings to work on charity knitting projects.
On with the show, here are some WIPs:

Orangina:

The back is just about finished; I hope to finish the front on vacation and then finish up the ribbing before I go back.

My pathetic progress on Mystery Stole 3:

I shouldn't call it pathetic, but I'm not even halfway through clue 1 (there are 5 clues out so far, and the entire length is much longer than this). It's sort of an advantage in a way, because I can read about other knitters' problems and solutions on the message board. I must say, although this knit it challenging, it is also very rewarding and I feel so accomplished looking at the progress after each row. It's my first lace, so I'm decently impressed with myself.

I mailed my sockpal's package yesterday and completely forgot to take a picture before I sealed it up, but it should get to her soon! If my upstream sockpal is still out there, I'm going on vacation for the next week and a half and while I'll have internet, I won't be able to see if the package arrived. Meanwhile, for my downstream pal, please let me know if you got (and liked) your socks and package!

Harry Potter!

In celebration of all of the Harry Potter festivities this month, I made myself a hat:

This is the hat that Ginny Weasley wears in the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I harbor a secret desire to be Ginny - we both have red hair, but she is much more kickass than I usually dare to be. This style of this hat is very out of the ordinary for me, but my Harry Potter obsession will allow me to overcome the qualms I have about its color and bow.

Meanwhile, I've been making a stuffed pig from a free pattern at Knitpicks:

The pattern calls for bulky, thick-and-thin Spinnaker and the lovely Shine Sport. It's been a lot of fun to knit so far.

I've also been working on Orangina:

It's going kind of slowly, but I'm really enjoying this knit. It's relaxing and I love the yarn (3/2 pearle cotton). I'll be very excited to finish this, because my summer wardrobe could use another black tank!

And finally, I too have joined the throngs of knitters working on Mystery Stole Three. My yarn and beads just arrived yesterday, so I am quite far behind. This will be my first lacey shawl project, and I've been color-coding and highlighting my charts to get them ready for my attempt!

Luckily, these are actually my only WIPs for the moment. Between working and spending time with my friends, I haven't had as much knitting time as I'd like, but hopefully some new movies from Netflix (these ones aren't foreign language, so I can actually knit while watching) will help me get these projects into gear.

Finished Socks!

My socks for my sockpals are finished - yay!

spring prairie socks in their natural habitat

I'm so happy with the way these turned out - and I think my sockpal will really like them!

Just as a recap: Knitpicks sock memories in spring prairie, Cafe Curtains sock pattern

Now that these are finished, it's time for a new project: some lovely, light, summery cotton just arrived for an Orangina!

This is my first sock exchange (or knitting exchange of any kind), and so far it's been so much fun to watch everyone's progress and learn about so many interesting blogs, gorgeous yarns and fun patterns. Yay for sockapalooza 4!

For some reason, this picture reminds me of France. When I visited Paris, it was springtime and everything was so green and beautiful! All things French have been dominated my life lately - starting to plan for study abroad, the original soundtrack of Les Miserables (yes, in French - it's gorgeous!) and some simply fabulous cinema. Lately, I've watched Indochine, Chocolat (set in Cameroon - not the Johnny Depp/Juliette Binoche movie), and the just-released La Vie En Rose, a biopic of the ever-lovely Edith Piaf. The best part: Mlle. Piaf was a devoted tricoteuse - and there was a lot of knitting in the movie. Girl is totally my idol.

a second sock...and a winner!

The winner of the yarn contest is Gail! Congratulations!

Many commenters asked what pattern I used. It's the Cafe Curtains sock with 2 repeats for the leg, in Knitpicks Sock Memories in Spring Prairie (I'd link, but the sale on sock memories apparently wiped out their stock of this colorway! I must have grabbed it just in time.) By the way - is there any way to directly respond to a commenter with blogger?

And, just to ease your minds that second sock syndrome hasn't taken hold, here's the beginning of the second sock:

Yay!

Success!

I'm so excited to have finished my first sock for my sock pal!
Because my sockpal's feet are much longer than mine, I enlisted my placemat sock blocker (made using this fabulous tutorial) as a model. I'm very happy with the way this sock turned out - the colors, the pattern, and everything! My grafting has much improved since I started knitting socks. However, I'm still not completely satisfied with my grafting skills - anyone have any tips?

To celebrate the finishing of my first sock, I will be giving away this lovely skein of yarn:

Andes brand, 165 yards of 100% worsted-weight wool.

Want in? Just leave a comment by Wednesday June 13 at midnight and this fibery goodness could be yours!

socks and spring awakening

Before we get to the socks...I saw Spring Awakening this weekend!

Some absolute genius (and very kind person) once came up with the idea of student rush, a wonderful policy many shows on Broadway have. Basically, you show up at the theatre on the day of the show with your student ID and get a ticket for a very low price (usually about $26). My friends and I showed up at the Eugene O'Neill at 7:30 on Sunday for the box office to open at 12 - and by noon, the line was long. Spring Awakening is a popular show! However, we passed the time by painting our nails, catching up after a year apart, and, for me at least, knitting. Our seats ended up being incredible - fifth row orchestra - and all in all we had an amazing time.

What did I knit, you ask?

This is the Falling Leaves sock in that same cherry tree hill supersock yarn. It's still pooling, although not as badly as before. I personally don't mind the pooling, and I know a lot of people don't mind it, but I just don't feel comfortable sending it to my pal (who may be the type of knitter who avoids pooling at all costs and would therefore resent that I didn't take more care in her socks). So what's a girl to do? This yarn had been frogged so many times I couldn't bring myself to do it another time. So, while thinking about it, I finished my sock memories cafe curtains sock:

I LOVE this yarn (knitpicks sock memories) and this pattern, so I decided to order some more sock memories and make a pair for my sockpal:

This is the spring prairie colorway, and I like the way it's turning out. With my netflix queue ready to go, these babies should be no problem.

In other knitting news, I started my sunrise circle jacket - yay! No pictures because as of yet there really just isn't much to see, only a little beyond the turning ridge for the hem.

I hope other sockapaloozers have been having more luck than I with the socks - judging by all the gorgeous finished socks on the pligg, you've all been doing quite well!

Sock Drama

So, I got a very long way (nearly done) on the sock with the swirling rivers pattern. The yarn was pooling a little but I didn't realize how unattractive the pooling with the stitch pattern looked until I tried on the sock. Honestly, it was so bad that there will be no pictures.

So I tried again, and it's apparent that this pattern and this yarn are just not meant to be :(. I'm going to be trying again with Knitty's Hedera, fingers crossed that it will work!

I had a revelation this weekend in terms of knitting - I literally should never be anywhere without a project. I was away this weekend and when I was packing, thought "oh, I'll be so busy with the beach and visiting and stuff I won't even have time to knit." Turns out I've never missed my knitting more - my hands were itching for the yarn!

Now I must be off to watch The History Channel's Star Wars special - I love Star Wars and a professor from my school is going to be talking about its mythological roots. The nerd in me could not be more excited!

Sock started!

I started the first sock for my sockpal:

After "deciding" on the Hartshorn cable socks, I ended up changing my mind to the Swirling Rivers sock from the same designer. My pal requested an anklet length, and I'm just past the heel. I love the way short-row YO heels turn out, but most of the time I don't enjoy doing them - especially on these size 0 needles! The smallest needles I've used for socks before are size 2, so these feel really thin. I love the fabric they're creating, though.

I also ordered myself a few skeins of sock yarn:

From the top, that's Cosmic yarn from freshyarns, Iris yarn from lauriegator, and Knitpicks Essential in burgundy (to make some Baudelaires).

I really need to go on a yarn diet - I have yarn for a huge number of projects! There are so many things I want to make, but I really need to focus on these socks so I won't be down the wire knitting them.

And finally, for some cuteness, here's a treat for my sockpal - a sheep tape measure!

It's so cute, I wish I didn't have to give it away!

Sockapalooza

I'm participating in the sockapalooza 4 - yay, I'm so excited! It's my first exchange.
I just finished picking out yarn and a pattern for my sockpal (I'm a little behind most knitters, but I've been taking finals and writing papers). Like me, my sockpal has wide feet, so I'm pretty sure I'll be going with the stretchy Hartshorn Cable Socks in Cherry Tree Hill supersock, the African Grey colorway. I really think she'll like it, and of course it gave me a good excuse to buy sock yarn.

Summer, for me, means a ton more knitting time! I can't wait to spend my homework-free evenings making beautiful handknits and making socks for my sockpal!

Hello!

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to join the knitblog community. I'm a college student, majoring in comparative literature and theatre, but every spare moment goes to knitting!

Here are some of my recent FOs and WIPs:

Calorimetry in Lion Wool from Winter Knitty 2006

Koolaid dyed Knitpicks fingering bare

Cafe Curtains socks in Knitpicks Socks Memories, Morning Glory colorway

Jack Sparrow socks in Scout's Swag death eaters and Knitpicks Palette

1x1 rib scarf in Plymouth Boku