Without further ado:

Mystery Socks! By now it’s just tradition to do these every year. I do really like the cuff and heel details, although the main pattern isn’t something that would have caught my eye otherwise.

‘Course, they’re still some of my favorite socks to wear. I think the color has a lot to do with that, too.

Well, not much to say about these except that my sock mojo has waned. I have too many socks in my drawer and not a lot of other people to knit them for, so I’ve turned to shawls. Tune in sometime the week of May 16th. ;)

mystery socks, part 3 (Ravelry):
Pattern: TTL Mystery Sock 2010 by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select Semi Solids in Burgundy
Needles: 2.5mm

On May 14th I’ll walk across the stage and receive my diploma. What a ride it’s been to get here. I’m both looking forward to the future and freaking out a bit about it. After all, most of my friends are moving away (to other countries, even), no plans to see them again. Yesterday, to celebrate being done with finals, a friend and I went out and spent the day shopping and walking and having a girls’ day. It was lovely: great weather, sunny and warm, and I got my hair chopped off for Locks of Love. I’m ready to embrace the future, whatever it holds.

Before I go on to the subject of this entry, let me announce that I am graduating college on May 14. I have one full week of classes, then finals (which in my case are two papers and a Japanese final, no sweat). I’m stressing out a lot about making everything perfect, which just goes to show that my habits do not follow my code of beliefs. How many times can I tell myself I don’t care that much and then come out and stress out like crazy about a 12-15 page paper on a subject I love and which I still have plenty of time to complete? Also, I’m a senior and I have been getting pretty good grades in my English class without doing too much (except obsessing, I’m good at obsessing), so why do I care so much? Is someone going to shoot me if I get a B on this paper instead of an A-? Is my mom going to die? I thought not.

I already got asked to join the school’s chapter of the National German Honor Society, so really, what do I have to worry about again? Besides getting a job and figuring out what to do with my life now.

ANYWAY – the point of this post! A couple of weeks ago a friend and I went off to have an adventure on a Saturday, and I wore my Vestvember vest which has been finished for a while. I got her to take a picture of me in it, then later took some pictures of the details.

Ta-da! On a stunning background.

So, that’s it. I was not the happiest camper with this pattern. Some of the measurements didn’t make sense, and the schematic didn’t fit the pattern. (It started the neckline above the armholes, which absolutely did not happen in the pattern.)

I did like some of the details, like the tubular cast on and off:

Though I spent the first half of a button band doing it completely wrong. Oh well.

The pattern has you do your decreases two in from the edge, which I realized I really like and might co-opt in future garments.

Also, I love the look of seams. And I realized I love picking up stitches. Although since I’ve stalled on Twisty’s button bands, it seems I don’t love picking up stitches if I also have to place buttonholes on them. More things to think about. Ick.

Overall I would say this isn’t my favorite garment, but I learned some things I really do like from it. Like how nice stockinette is. Another thing is that I like more fitted clothing in my style repertoire. This is nice, but it’s not going to be what I wear on dress-up days.

Also, really not going to recommend the pattern.

vestvember (Ravelry):
Pattern: Blustery by Anna Bell
Yarn: Cestari Traditional Wool 3ply, which I’d like to use again someday
Needles: US 4

Things I am terrible at: Writing about my knitting. I still enjoy knitting and wearing WARM sweaters (and socks and hats and scarves…) but my desire to talk about it on my own blog has waned. Patience has been finished and these pictures of it were taken in January. But I’ve had other things on my mind. Perhaps when I joined the knitting blogging world, I wanted more the sense of connection with others that I thought I saw in it. Connection is a great thing in the world.

I do still want to show off what I’ve knitted, but the knitting is fairly slow going. I’d rather be comfortable writing whatever I’d like here. Today, what I’d like is to post these pictures and get this off my chest. ;)

It’s not the most stylish sweater I’ve knitted (that would be the Nantucket Jacket which you may have noticed my wearing in the previous post), but it’s thick and warm and I’ve been switching it out with the Nantucket Jacket pretty much daily. One thing I know now: I really do have a long torso.

It’s all about what I learn.

Please ignore awkwardness.

I think this was my second time ever sewing buttons onto something, and they’re pretty awkward, too. If I don’t button enough of them they don’t stay buttoned. I’m not sure if that’s because the buttonholes don’t hold well enough (I followed the pattern’s directions rather than trying some TECHknitting trick), or if it’s a little too tight, or… what. Gauge lies, friends. Gauge lies. And no, I haven’t measured it since finishing it… I don’t seem to play well with measured numbers. I get different ones every time.

But hey, it’s done, it’s orange, and it’s warm. That’s really all that matters here in the Deep Freeze that I’m never going to stop making fun of.

Patience (Ravelry):
Pattern: Forecast by Stefanie Japel
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers, just over 3 skeins.
Needles: US 8

My roommate isn’t a knitter but was sweet enough to take these pictures for me. Thanks, roommate!

Toe-up socks. These were supposed to be my socks for when I needed a break from school, but near the end that happened rarely. I didn’t have time for many breaks! So they took ages and I never really replaced them with another sock-in-progress. I think I realized that I have enough socks, which is a downer. I love to knit socks.

On this pair, I tried Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off. It’s so stretchy, I keep wondering if it’s going to stretch out. And it doesn’t look all that bad, either:

My only modification was to substitute the heel from another sock, I think. And maybe the toe. I find that toes and heels can usually be whatever you prefer. As I dislike short row heels, I tend to avoid them in favor of gusset heels. They fit better, in my mind. My favorite instructions for toe-up gusset heels are in Baudelaire.

The yarn was great AND pretty cheap for sock yarn. Wish I had found it in my local yarn store instead of on vacation!

it’s all good (Ravelry):
Pattern: Farnkrautsocken by Silke Pieper
Yarn: Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock
Needles: 2.5mm

(Tinted orange by the lightbulb in my room.)

I mentioned yesterday that I started this Wednesday, making it a lovely 3-day endeavor. Saturday morning I finished it with sewing in the ends and washing it. I really hope my friend likes it! The reason I did this in such a short time is because my friend’s birthday is tomorrow and I realized on Monday that I wanted to knit her something. Also, having a job right now makes it so much easier to not feel guilty about spending money on yarn. It’s as simple as: do I want yarn? Yes. And then I have it.

Not that I go overboard but I also am not slowing down my knitting because I don’t know when I’ll next have money for yarn in my budget.

Also, it almost freaks me out how much I fall in love with Cascade 220 every time I use it. I mean, look at those cables! They pop! And twist! And they’re so squishy! How can I resist? Dear Cascade 220, I will be your loyal minion forever.

oatmeal hat (Ravelry):
Pattern: Habitat by Jared Flood
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in 8012.
Needles: US 6 and 7, I believe. I did not make a gauge swatch as suggested but rather went down a needle size since I’m fairly certain I knit more loosely than average. The cables look great and it’s still a fairly loose-fitting hat, so I think I did well in that decision.

Yep, pajama pants. I don’t really have enough, especially for the lounging I started doing last semester. And they’re cute and have ladybugs! There are so many cute fabrics at my local fabric store and it’s sooo not funny. I want everything.

So, one thing down. Since we have another four-hour class, I’m planning on cutting out pieces for a more complicated skirt pattern to begin constructing next class. Then I might have more confidence to step out and do more on my own. I hope so. Sewing is actually kind of fun, once I’m not freaked out by the instructions.