A Little Something

I leave for Japan tomorrow! *gulp*.

Before I get to bed in preparation for my 5:30 train to Heathrow, here is a little something.
My Q socks are done, ready for a trip around the world!

Happy holidays everyone! I'll see you in the New Year!

Ways to enjoy a cold winter night

It's been quite brisk in London. Nothing like the ice storms I am thankfully missing back in the Midwest, but still pretty cold. This means I have done absolutely nothing worth mentioning in the last week, besides catch a cold (great) and eat a box of cookies (about as great as the cold. Sugar makes me feel gross).

But last night I had quite an enjoyable evening. Here are some surefire ways to enjoy yourself when the mere thought of going outside makes you panic.

1. Queue up a bad movie such as Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

2. Put on some handmade socks that you forgot you owned.
(I think these were some kind of Trekking. I made them last year, and the colors are so delicious I actually smile every time I see them. The whole time I was knitting them I just talked incessantly about how beautiful they were. I am so glad I found them)

3. Make a cup of peppermint tea.


4. Pop a Steak and Guinness pie in the oven. I've had Steak and Guinness pie about 3 times this week. It's bordering on an addiction. It's just such great comfort food, and the Guinness gravy makes it so delicious you can hardly stand it.

5. Need I even say it? Grab your knitting! I am alternating between finishing the foot of my SECOND Q sock and my super secret project. (For more on the super secret project, keep reading. I'm really bad at keeping secrets...)

And that, my friends, is a good night full of comforts. Bad TV, knitting, and warm, yummy food. a girl couldn't ask for more.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post was how I wrapped my dad's finished sweater. Keeping in the theme of free, recycled and interesting ways to wrap presents, I grabbed my ironing board and a huge stash of grocery bags. I fused them together while listening to a podcast, and voila...

...a sweater envelope. I love it!


I leave for Bath tomorrow at 8:00am and it will probably a long while before I have a chance to blog again. I'll definitely be back at the start of the new year (my flight into London will be on the 6th) with many stories to tell, but probably not too much knitting. According to Eric, Japanese yarn is cheap in Japan, but who knows what that means.

So I leave you with many well wishes for your holiday season, along with a revelation. You see, I'm no good at keeping secrets. And my super secret project most likely won't be blogworthy until I get back to the States and moved into a new apartment. The only reason it's a secret as all is because I don't want a certain someone to see it, someone who doesn't read this blog anyways. (I don't think). So, if you are curious, head on over to Ravelry.com. My username is chasingmyself. Within the confines of the knitting world, consider the cat out of the bag.

Christmas Knitting- Under the Tree

It's all done. Today I paid a truly painful sum of money to have my presents shipped back to the United States, but I can't complain because it's done! Now all I have to do is knit, read, and sleep for the next few days, before my travels begin.

Can't complain there can I?

As you can see, my dad's sweater, which I suppose needs a name, is also done. Finito, as they say in Italy.

Forgive the craptastic photo. You know how it is.

I am really pleased with the way this sweater came out. Rowan wool is a dream to work with - all squishy and warm and fuzzy. Apart from the time crunch, I was practically squealing with delight while I knit this.

The durrow cable pattern from Girl From Auntie is a wonderful design, and definitely my favorite part of the sweater. It should be across the chest, but since I am much smaller than my father, it sort of falls below my boobs. Imagine it's up a few inches.

The sweater itself was ridiculously easy to make. The body was knit on size 7 (US that is) Denise interchangeable needles, and the sleeves on clover DPN's, my personal favorite. I'm a big fan of bamboo, and use it whenever I can.

This sweater is also good for jumping on the bed, as you can see.

I am truly surprised that this has been such a low stress Christmas season. I thought that I would be running around London, cursing the weak dollar as I elbowed my way down Oxford Street. Instead, I have been knitting contently and gorging myself on Steak and Guinness pies.

Part of it has to be the fact that I really stuck to small gifts this year, a few pairs of earrings for one sister, a scarf for the other, and part of it has to lie in the presents I finished in August. Whatever it was, I am going to remember this and hopefully apply it next year!


I hope everyone else is doing okay on their holiday knitting. If you do not celebrate Christmas, or have not decided it's a good idea to knit for everyone you've ever met, then you are probably laughing at me and all the other crazed knitters. Humph.

Christmas Knitting - Keep on trecking...

Almost there people, almost there!

In 4 days I leave for a weekend in Bath, for some sightseeing and some hardcore Jane Austen worshiping.

In 8 days I leave for Japan! For Christmas! With my boyfriend! I am so excited. So, so, so excited.

In 16 days I leave for Madrid, from where I will go to Venice. I am so excited.

I am also, as a result of this, so broke. But, isn't traveling on the cheap what Study Abroad is supposed to be about? (Say yes...)

With the upcoming travels, I only have one chore left. That is, to ship my presents. Because, I finished my dad's sweater! It's happily blocking on the floor, taking it's sweet time to dry. But that's okay, because it's done. I am so relieved! I just really hope it fits, since I had no one to try it on. (Oh the woes of living alone.)

Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon it will be dry enough to properly photograph, then wrap up and ship. Whoohoo!

The finishing of the sweater also meant that I could get back to my own knitting.

I've loved this pattern for a long time, yet I can't remember what it's called. Some variation on a log cabin, I suppose. So, I made it up! (Which, I think you can tell). It's a bit uneven, the squares are not perfect, and there are many mistakes. But I had fun! I just knit a square, and started adding short row triangles to the sides. For my purposes, it works. This is square 3 of my super secret project, which I now have time to work on!



Sorry for the short post. I'm fighting off a migraine, so I think I'm headed back to my cozy bed, with a cup of tea.

Cheers!

Christmas Knitting- Let's wrap it all up!

Since I am pretty much an archetype for "broke college student living in London", Christmas has been on the cheap side this year. Which is fine, because I enjoy crafting much more than buying, and I am always looking for ingenious and inexpensive gifts to give to people. Hence the felted soaps I am giving to grandmas, aunts, and other loved women, and the knitted gifts for my uncle, father, and grandmother.

Then came the question of wrapping, which honestly, I have never stewed over before in my life. Being the daughter of a Martha Stewart devotee, previous Christmases have been a flurry of paper, scissors, and curling ribbon as far as the eye can see. One could also say I am a bit obsessed with presentation, whether food, gift, or just my life in general. (This rule does not apply to my wardrobe. I have been wearing the same pair of jeans for 4 days. mmm, all nice and broken in.)

But, the fact that I don't want to waste money on a whole roll of wrapping paper for about 3 gifts made me think, no pun intended, outside the box. And then I started thinking about the bags of wrapping paper we throw away every year, and how environmentally irresponsible that is. I mean really, it just started to seem wasteful. Armed with that mentality I scoured my room.

It's amazing what some newspaper, copier paper, and a pen will get you. I mean, it ain't fancy, ritzy, and it certainly wouldn't meet my mother's standards, but for this broke, London-living college student, I'd say I've done quite well. *Dusts off hands.*


In other news, I am working on the yoke of my dad's sweater. It's gone quite fast! You know, if you don't take into consideration that I had to rip it out several times, make a special trip to Liberty's to buy the damn Rowan, and bankrupt my soul frogging the last disaster of a sweater. Yes, it's going swimmingly.


And with all that delicious blue, you almost could swim in it! I'm hoping I can somehow get it done by the end of the weekend, and have all my gifts in the mail by Monday. But, my best friend is on a plane right now, headed from Madrid to Jolly Ole England. I doubt we'll have much downtime, so wish me luck on getting this damn thing done!

Good luck on Christmas Knitting everyone! Remember, it's supposed to be fun. Or something like that.

No Christmas during Finals

Phew.

Not much knitting today, but I did manage to finish two papers. After a week of tedious research, studying, and cursing my existence, my two essays are printed off, stapled, and sitting merrily on my desk.

So what will I do now that my life no longer contains 'Biography, Autobiography, and the "Narratable Self"' or 'A Woman's Reputation: Evelina, Jane Eyre and the Constructs of Society"?

Watch the episode of Desperate Housewives I've had queued in my Itunes all day, drink a big cup of tea, and settle down to some stockinette to ease my aching brain.

Here is a sneak preview of my dad's sweater, part the second. (Going much more smoothly than the sweater o' doomy doom doom that was the original Sweater 2007!)

1. A blinding shot of the color. Remember how I never ever get to take pictures in the daylight? The whole 5 hours of it?

Mmm. My favorite part. Luscious cables!

The whole kit and caboodle. Body of the sweater, patiently awaiting the company of arms.

Now, I am going to relax. And knit!

Family Love

Completely, utterly and totally off the topic of knitting, I talked to my dad tonight. He directed me to YouTube.



A fantastic duet by my father, and my sort-of-unrelated cousin who has literally quadrupled in size since I have seen him last (about 5 years ago?)

My dad's been singing and playing the blues since I was a wee thing, and I will certainly miss his serenades this holiday season.

Christmas Knitting - For my Grandma

22 days folks. Hanging in there? Cursing the Knitting Gods, your needles, and anyone who dares look at you, or even breathe in your general direction? If you, like me, seem to have fallen into a black hole consisting of coffee, Buffy (or insert favorite show, podcast, whatever, here), tea, Buffy, more coffee, Buffy, tea, all so you can maximize your knitting hours, don't despair.

22 days is longer than 3 weeks! See? You've got time!

I'm feeling optimistic because I've nearly finished the body of my father's fly by the seat of my pants sweater I started a few days ago. That's even with a false start which involved ripping out 38" of intricate cable.

Today's gift is destined for my grandmother, a woman I am very close to. The gift was not knit with her in mind. In fact, it was knit for me. I even wore it a few times. But, it's not my style, and it didn't take me long to realize she would probably appreciate it a lot more than I do.

I really do want my knitting to have a good home. On this note, I have given away sweaters, scarves, hats, all because someone said they liked them. Borrow something from me enough and it will probably end up yours.

But back to the knitting, which will undoubtedly have a very good home:

Sometime back in January, I picked up a ball of merino laceweight in the most beautiful rosy pink color. It sat in my stash for ages, until in a somewhat spur of the moment decision, I cast on for the Print O' The Waves Stole, provided graciously and freely by Eunny Jang. (Pre Interweave, that is). I had a mad love affair with it the whole time, and finished it around finals, wore it a few times, and then looked pitifully at it every time I opened my dresser drawers.
Clearly this picture was not taken recently. Mid-summer, I believe.

Sometime this year I realized I was never going to wear it. But I think my grandmother will love it. I hope she does anyways! She and I are close, and I love shopping for her and with her. Ours is an unconventional familial relationship,I am sure. It has to do in part because she's quite young - my grandfather married her when I was around 6. But regardless of the fact that we share no blood, she is one of the family members I am closest to. Over the years it's made me realize that "family", at least for me, has more to do with the people I surround myself with, and less with who I happen to be related to.

Of course, now I have a "family" spread over several continents,which can be quite frustrating and sad.

Happy knitting everyone!