A commemorative moment

Finally.

After over a year of thinking about it (May of 2007 to now...), and 8 months of writing, editing, writing more, editing more, and more reading than I care to think about, I turned in my Senior Individualized Project.

Which means, as long as I don't flat out fail anything in the next 5 months, I am for all intensive purposes done with my undergrad degree. I have finished my English major, all my pre-requisite courses, including but not limited to: two religion classes, several econ classes, three Spanish classes, and a stats course. Now, I need one more PE credit, and I'm done.

Life is looking a little less stressful!

But now, onto the thesis. 69 pages of literary analysis. 69 pages of the words "patriarchy," "Gothic heroine," "Ann Radcliffe" and "Maternal Figure." You don't know how lovely it is not to have to repeatedly type those words again. And again. And again. It was a labor of love, but the feeling of turning it in on Friday was wonderful. I simply couldn't stop smiling!

Kind of like this:

From Winter 2009

Or like this:


Now I might have time to do other things. Like knit, and run with my dogs, and play in the spring-like weather we are having!

Also, see that thermos? It's helping me a lot in the no-coffee-February. I just bring tea bags, and fill it with hot water throughout the day. It's lovely!

One more picture, just because I can. Look how confused Melissa looks as to why I am taking macro shots of my thesis...

Look how big it is!

Hard to beleive it's really done!

I need a drink...

*Pant, pant*

I'm here. Really. But only for a second. As it turns out, school is also (and always) here, just a step behind me, waiting until I let my guard down and think "oh wouldn't it be lovely to knit" and then it will snap me up in it's academic jaws and shake me until #2 pencils fall out of my pockets.

I'm here, but my knitting isn't. The pinwheel jacket is frogged. The Hemlock Ring Blanket is done, awaiting blocking. More chemo caps are on the needles.

I'm here, but so are 3 papers to be turned in tomorrow, a thesis proposal due the 14th, and all the reading normally due.

I'm here, but now I must go. Hopefully I'll really be here sometime soon. I sure could use a break to talk about some knitting.

Spring Fever!

It's been nearly two weeks since my return to the United States, but it feels like an eternity already! There have been a million things going on, a lot of lifestyle changes, and an insane amount of reading. And it's only the first week back at school.

Besides moving into my new apartment and getting back to K College, the biggest change has been the decision to not have internet in our home. Eric and I both have a propensity to spend too much time online, and when faced with the decision to order and pay for internet, we decided to see what would happen if we lived without it.

I love it. I've had so much more time for me, for knitting, spinning, cooking, and playing with the cats. Instead of surfing online at night, we walk to a friend's house and have a beer, or bake bread, or play a game. Or gasp read.

Of course, this has affected my blogging. It's been two weeks since I hurriedly said goodbye in London, and it's not that I haven't wanted to blog, I just have to put more effort into finding the time to sit down and write. I am going to keep blogging, but I think I shall continue to only blog once a week (maybe throw a few tidbits in during the week as they come up.) This way, I'll have more time to knit and spin, and actually have a nice post to show it off at the end of the week.

And now, a note on stash. It's a word knitters throw around. We either love the idea of stash, or hate it. People "stash bust" or go on "stash enhancing expeditions". We are obsessed with collecting the latest fiber, the luxurious colorways, and the expensive, indie sock yarn. On any knitting forum or board you will inevitably find some griping about a lack of room, a disgruntled roommate or partner, and some sense of guilt that we have too much yarn. And yet, we keep buying it.

I've always found the "stashing" mentality a bit silly. I had yarn I liked, most of it was intended for projects, and I never really felt guilty about how much I had. Until I moved. For the first time in about 3 years I had all my possessions under one roof. Books, yarn, clothes, scrapbooking supplies, cookbooks. All arrived in Kalamazoo and were unloaded onto my living room floor. It was at that moment that I realized a devastating truth. I have way too much yarn. It's not that I feel guilty about it, not at all, but I don't really feel that I need six boxes of yarn.

• I don't even like some of it. Why would I have yarn I don't like, or am indifferent towards?
• I do not want to live in a cluttered environment, and no matter how you look at it, six boxes of yarn is just clutter.
  
• I want to be organized. Bar covering our entire spare room in shelves, and stacking them with yarn, I will have to keep my yarn in boxes for now.
• I cannot feasibly knit through six boxes of yarn in the next 4 months (which is when our lease is up), so come August I'll be lugging the same six boxes to another living room floor, and again wondering as to why I have them.
  

Again, I shy away from words like "stashbust", or "yarn diet", but I think that for the rest of the academic year at least, I will try not to buy yarn. It was with this resolve that I ordered Eric to just drive by Threadbear, even though I wanted to stop. (I did press my nose against the glass the entire way, but the memory of the six boxes taking up the space where I wanted to do yoga kept me strong.) So:

• I will go to my stash and see what I have.
• I will organize it, and discover what yarns I have forgotten about.
• I will knit presents for people, and look in my stash before buying more yarn.
• If I can knit something, rather than buy it, I will.
  
• I will look on Ravelry to see what other people have done with the yarn.

This is the mindset that caused me to grab a ball of purple tweed someone had given me, stare at it, and go "A blanket! A Hemlock Ring Blanket!" For who? "For Carol!" (who had given me the yarn a year earlier.) I am knitting the blanket because I enjoy knitting lace, particularly heavyweight lace, and I am giving it to carol to thank her for all her help over the years. It's really a win-win situation. For me, for Carol, for the purple tweed, and for my stash.

It looks like a purple lump to me too. We'll have to wait and see.

Can't Stop

Holy mother of yarn, is it really February already? February 2nd, to boot, which means we're already about 1/14 the way through this thankfully short month?

Time is flying here in London.

I have about 7 weeks left before I head back to Michigan, and then I'll have just a short 9 days to spend with some friends and family, move in to a new apartment, and get ready to return to Kalamazoo College. That means I have about 8 weeks before Spring Quarter starts, and I am far from ready.

7 weeks is just enough time for the anxiety of returning to become a reality. I have lots to do! Paperwork to send, people to contact, plans to be made, and still while I'm here, books to be read, papers to be written, and most importantly, a list of things to see and do in this amazing city before I leave.

The last year has had a lot of ups and downs, and London has been a respite from them, but at the same time, being thousands of miles away from those you love during rough times is one of the hardest things I've dealt with while I was here. Financial problems, cancer diagnoses, depression, and my ever constant migraines have been a few of the things overshadowing my time here, and returning to it, while a relief in many ways, is also a scary thing.

And I just can't stop knitting. I've finished three different items since January began, cast on for two more, and find myself making substantial progress in this Japanese Feather and Fan shawl. (Since yesterday...it's a little scary how much I got done.) I'm halfway through the 2nd chart, and still going strong.

It's just been me, my music, and my knitting for the last few days, at least when I'm not wandering around London. I've downloaded Wuthering Heights from Librovix, and seem to have seem some sort of zen knitting state. All I want to do is knit and relax. Knitting seems to be the only way I can relax.


My third FO of January? This little hat, hopefully destined for my sister. I'm calling it
Madeleine Tam. I'll have more about it later, but for now it is just resting on my desk while I continue to work away at my zen shawl.

Rollin', rollin'...rollin' with the sweater

First, my amusing University anecdote, which has little to do with the fact that I am at Uni, but more with the fact that I am at this Uni.

Walking across New Cross Road the other day, (the main road by my flat), I caught the eye of a girl who looked incredibly familiar. So familiar that I nearly stopped in the road, to say hi. I caught myself, thinking "there is no way that is Jane!* I must be going insane.**"

Two days later, I get a facebook message from the aforementioned Jane, along the lines of "Saw you walking across New Cross Rd. yesterday...I'm at Goldsmiths!"

So yah...small world? I think so.

But now to the good stuff, the stuff that knitters dreams are made of. A sweater that behaves, and seems to nearly knit itself. That's what I'm talking about folks! After I frogged the Sirdar denim yarn about a gazillion times I was beginning to lose faith in the whole thing, and beginning to get quite bored of it.

But, (sadly) I do not have the funds to buy more yarn right now, or the room for it, and as I only have 8 more weeks in London, I really don't want to be shipping yarn back to the United States. I'm saving those boxes for more important things, like all the books I have acquired. ***

I let this sweater speak for itself. And I am always amazed at what you can produce when you throw plans out the window and just roll with it! A few increases here, some cables here, and voila! A sweater! I was so thrilled to be producing a fabric with the Sirdar denim that I didn't hate that I didn't really put much thought into the process. I started a top down raglan, and just let 'er rip!

What I ended up was a tunic-length sweater with cables starting right below the bust, and loose 3/4 length sleeves. I really love the detail of the sweater, as simple as it is. The cables are over 4 stitches, so they are quite small, and make the sweater really hug my curves (even the ones I'd like to hide...). It has sort of a Grecian flair to it that I love, and I am excited for Spring to come, because I think the denim will be a lovely spring-time sweater.


The sweater still needs to be blocked, and I want to get some "action shots" for y'all, but I couldn't help but share the loveliness! Even if it does clash like something else against that blanket! ****



*Girl I had European History with in high school...seems like ages ago. Oh,I am getting so old!
** I keep thinking I see people I know. 99.9% of the time I'm completely wrong.
***I may or may not have broken down in Waterstones, and bought "Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake. In my defense, it has his original etched illustrations, and Blake is one of my favorite poets. So there.
***BLATANT ABUSE OF ASTERISKS TODAY! WHEEE!

Just in case you forgot...

Just in case those of you who have graduated from College/Uni, and moved on to the real world have forgotten what it is like, I have a story.

See, I have a theory that the longer you are out of college, the more you manage to block things out. My mother looks at me in horror when I relate roommate catastrophes, Residential Life snafus, or other gems of college living, even though I am sure she herself experienced similar sagas. I don't think my experience is worse, I think she's just managed to slowly erase all the scaring memories of writing papers at 3 am or the massive amount of Ramen one can consume in just 4 short years, rendering one's self a walking salt cube.

So, let's recap a night or two over at Chez Skeins and Steins (if only there had been more beer, it might have been better.) I promise, there will be knitting at the end.

Wednesday night, around 11 PM. I enter room, fully intending to go to sleep since I have a 9 AM lecture on Modern Literature. I notice my flatmate has some people over.

Wednesday night, 12 AM. They are loud. Oh well, it's early right? I can still get a good 8 hours of sleep.

Wednesday night, 1 AM. I fall asleep. Yay sleep. I have been slightly sleep deprived lately. I suspect I may be either malnourished or developing an iron deficiency, since my cooking is mostly veggies. Too healthy for my own good? Anyways, yay sleep.

Wednesday night. Undetermined time. I suspect around 3 AM. WHAT? A PARTY? I HAVE CLASS.

Wednesday night. Another, later, undetermined time. Still partying. Loudly. Loud music + thin walls = no sleep. Even with ear plugs. I did not want to confront 20+ drunk people about the fact that I could hear their conversations through the walls. I pull the blanket over my head and dread waking up for my lecture.

Wednesday night. Still later. Some guy WALKS INTO MY ROOM. For serious people. Closed door + lights off+ 4 am. What could be in there? Possibly someone sleeping?

Finally, everyone left. I woke up about 3 or 4 hours later and spent the day really, really caffeinated.

So last night?

Thursday night: 12 AM. I go to bed.
Friday morning: 11 AM. I wake up.

Thank goodness the only thing I have to do today is laundry, and go to the gym.

Now, returning to our regularly scheduled knitting content. Lately I have rediscovered a skill I loved as a kid. A skill I seemed to have forgotten. It lay by the wayside, languishing, and I was so excited when I rediscovered it that I started mixing mediums like a mad woman.

That skill? Embroidery. I know it's a simple idea, embroidering one's knitting, but for some reason it never crossed my mind. Until a few days ago, when it sort of paraded across my mind, blowing horns, full fanfare, throwing flowers, and making a generally grand entrance. Embroidery is here to stay.

Exhibit one:

I wanted to knit a duck, since I love ducks. Every time I see them I am overwhelmed with the desire to pick them up and hold them. Sadly, the ducks find this idea not only extremely underwhelmed, but stupid.

Knitting a duck was much easier than trying to convince one to let me pick it up. First step, Google images. I found a suitable duck. Second step, plug it into knitpro to graph it. (The best website ever for those of you who haven't used it. Check it out.) Third step. Knit brown blob.

Step 3 is where it got a little complicated. I wanted to knit a male Mallard duck, but my gauge was too big to really knit fine details without it being a huge pain. I couldn't figure out what colors to use, where to switch, and the thought of fighting with several different strands of yarn on one little square made my head spin. So, I made it brown. And blob like. In the picture above, I started embroidering the head and beak, but you can see how brown and blobby it truly is.

Step 4. Embroider! This part was fun. After a few episodes of Buffy, and lots of chain and feather stitch, may I present you with...
A duck! He still needs eyes, and maybe a little work on his weirdly shaped feet, but overall, I am really quite enamored of this little guy.

Right...that school thing

It's been a week since we last chatted, and to be honest, I haven't gotten a whole lot done. After the whirlwind knitting weeks I described last week, I guess I just ran out of steam.

Part of it may have been that I was in Amsterdam for 3 days. I didn't want to risk getting knitting needles confiscated, so I didn't bring the. (No checked baggage for me, when I can avoid it.) I'm glad I did decide to leave my knitting at home, because two of our party were thoroughly searched. I was only patted down. Sigh. Clearly my life as a knitting delinquent could be so much more exciting. Don't worry, I'll put up some pictures of Amsterdam soon. Since we were there for such a short time, I don't really have much to say, except that I love the Dutch. And their bikes!

But now I'm back. It's reading week, and I thought I'd have a nice break from my (not so strenuous) classes. A whole week to knit, sit in the park, go to museums. A week in which I could shut off my brain and just enjoy myself.

Hah.
That right there is several THOUSAND pages of reading I need to do in the next week and a half. From bottom up, Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (for my Moderns class), Ulysses for the same class. (Joyce...not easy reading...), Jane Eyre for my idiotic Women's Lit class (don't get me started, the teacher not my favorite, and I feel my life is worthless after we discussed Frankenstein.), The Periodic Table by Primo Levi, and last but not least Middlemarch by George Eliot. Oh god. Typing that out made me hyperventilate a little bit.

If anyone would like to prevent a college student from going off the deep end, send cookies. And yarn. Mostly cookies though.

Because, yarn is not my friend lately. I managed to get up to the neck on the Sweater O' Doom
and I take back everything I said in the last post about how easy it was. You see, I have now put the front 48 stitches on a holder, and must work the next two inches flat. Which means purling the fair isle pattern. Okay, not a problem.


What is a problem is that the charts are all wonky. My brain hurts just thinking about it but I will try to explain. Take chart one. You don't need to know what it looks like. It's a chart. Checkers of black and white and all that. A cryptic language only we can understand. My row does not end at the end of chart one. It ends in the middle of a repeat, which is fine. It looks fine, it acts fine, it's fine. No hissy fits have been had by either myself or the chart.

Until now...
You see, now I must purl chart one, working backwards. Working the chart the other way. From left to right instead of right to left. Are you seeing a problem? I don't know where to begin. And I'm too peeved to figure it out right now, so Doomy Sweater O' Doom, bringing grey clouds of doominess into my life, is sitting on the floor. We are currently not speaking.

I will, of course, sit down and figure it out. It is reasons like this I keep a bottle of whiskey on my desk.

(I'm half joking about the whiskey.)