Sadly, Miss Mags has stopped blogging, and as hers was one of the blogs I really enjoyed, I’m a bit down about it. Probably that has something to do with why I’m thinking about shutting down my own blog. Still, we’ll see. I’m focusing on writing this year, and I think that might mean I’ll write more to the blog! Perhaps.

Shall we wrap up my 2011 finished projects?

Nine projects in 2011. And, as it turns out, that seems to be my limit for knitting in a year. Granted, I knit two sweaters in that year, two sweaters that I am insanely proud of. I’m getting there, it looks like.

Do I have any knitting goals for this year? Yes. Try not to go weeks without knitting. It really helps me relax, and I’d love to have more lovely handknit things in my life. My brother would like real fingerless gloves, and my aunt has commissioned a sweater from me (which is coming along! I’d like to finish the first sleeve soon, then I’ll be able to say I finished a sleeve in less than two weeks and that’s an accomplishment, right?). I would like to knit up more of my yarn for sweaters.

Hopefully knitting will keep keeping me sane.

As it gets cooler, though, I will have longer nights and more time to sit in peace. Perhaps I’ll knit more. (If you thought this was a knitting blog… well, even if you thought this was a blog at all… you might’ve been mistaken.) At the moment I’m eyeing light sweater patterns and wishing life weren’t going too fast.

I had truly believed that life would slow down once I was officially unemployed. Now I know better: I am not sure if I thrive on having a bunch of activities, but I certainly feel better about myself if I have a lot of plans to be out and about. But, as an introvert, it’s tiring and leads to more passive activities when I’m home, such as reading and watching TV.

Pepper and I have been meaning to show you this.

Well, maybe that doesn’t give you a good idea of what it is.

That’s better. Unfortunately, shawls are in the class of things I Cannot Wear between June and early September. As are most knitted things. It’s just too much for me. I’m too hot all summer.

But come cooler weather (mid-September maybe? before I know it it will be freezing again, I’m sure), this will be just the thing.

A closer look at the feather and fan.

fly away (Ravelry):
Pattern: Multnomah by Kate Elsa
Yarn: Araucania Ranco Multy. I’m hoping wearing it isn’t quite as scratchy as knitting with it was.
Needles: US 4

Knitting is something I can do for people, so when I was staying at the hospital with my mom for a week I was itching to make something for her. Something to convey the warmth and love I feel for her even though I moved 1,500 miles away. Something like

So far the pattern is pretty easy to “read” while I’m knitting, so when I make a mistake, I figure it out pretty quickly. It’ll also take a long time but not be too heavy, which is a great thing to work on in this weather. I know I have sweaters and things to finish, but when the temperature dips below 80˚F, then I think it’ll be a good time to get back to them. For now I’ll stow those away and work on this.

Because I really couldn’t resist the yarn cake, either.

(Complete with fuzzy cat in the background!)

And that yarn accident I had?

There won’t be any more this summer. Promise.

Firefox 4 is also pretty shiny.

While waiting for the computers to transfer I threw some of my nervous energy into finishing a shawl I’d been working on over the semester.

Aaaand I knew I was going to run out of yarn at the bind off. I had about a quarter or maybe a bit more of the stitches left when I thought about melting and ranting and raving and putting this project away never to see the light of day. Then I calmly walked to the corner of my closet in which yarn leftovers make their home and found this storm purple/grey yarn. I had a quick argument with myself: am I the type of person who will finish the bind off in another color? Am I the type of person who will rip back and take out a row or two in order to have enough yarn? Am I the type of person who will blog about this first and ask other people’s opinions before doing something drastic?

Before fully committing myself to the realization that I just needed something off the needles, I asked myself if I wanted to rip back a row and knit two rows in storm grey so that there’s a cool border of light purple. And do I want to give this to someone. No, it didn’t work out that way. This knit was solely for my comfort in a time I was grieving. Therefore it needed to be off the needles, and it couldn’t belong to anyone else, and I am totally okay with the fact that part of the bind-off is in a different color. Surprisingly, it fades in fairly well. Watch this space for FO posts, hopefully coming this week!

At the end of April I was searching for a temp agency in a confusing area with a friend and we found a yarn store as we were on our way out. We were sooo excited that we practically ran to the store, which had this lovely yarn. This lovely, inexpensive, squishy, variegated yarn, which is Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet. Oh yeah, these socks are going to make someone’s feet happy. As I knit this I realize that I’ve missed variegated yarns lately! Good variegation, that is, which this most certainly is. Happy stripes of color. This sock is knitting up far too quickly for my enjoyment.

I decided that I have more than enough socks, so any pair I knit from now on will have to go to friends and family. This pair is going to my roommate, who has been a great person to have around, and she hasn’t gotten anything knitted in the last year since living with me. It’s time! ;) It’s funny to me that I think of myself as primarily a sock knitter, but in the last year I’ve stopped knitting socks so much to the point that I almost forget what my favorite methods of knitting socks are. I guess life really does go in stages.

But sock yarn is still a good yarn to get me as a present. Because as the first picture reveals, I am not above making more shawls… At one of my knitting club meetings last semester they said they attributed shawl knitting with me. Must be my current knitting phase!

Sadly, no cute modeled pictures, but at some point I’ll get better at those…

I would like to point out right now that this has been my shawl of choice ever since I blocked it, which is how it should be. It’s beautiful, it’s soft, it’s way too cold in Manysnowta still and I need something to cover my summer clothes which I got out on the one day it got into the 80s. I have about a foot left of yarn.

This pictures gets a much better idea of the colors in this shawl. I really like the lace pattern, and the fact that it combines garter with stockinette stitch. There is NO curling in this shawl, not one bit. It’s beautiful and soft and, well, I just love it to pieces and I’ll keep wearing it forever and ever (while I hopefully will get a chance to PUT AWAY my winter clothes after this week).

The lovely generous katie m. of brokeknits sent me this yarn last year, and it’s lovely. A taste of luxury while I’m still bumming around as a broke college student. :)

Some details:

magnifique (Ravelry):
Pattern: Hamamelis Shawl by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: Yarn Pirate Merino Bamboo (which is sooo silky and smooth!) in Daffodilly
Needles: US 5 and 7

I realized, possibly yesterday, that my shyness in photographing what I’m knitting is really not working out for me. (Also the automatic camera is not working too great. It’s superb for picture taking around the city, but not so much for good posed shots.) I’ve spent the past couple of days waffling around and not sure what I’m doing or knitting, what needs to be finished and what’s been finished. Duh, I have a blog for this—I just haven’t been using it. So it’s time to start using it. Next up: the sweater I finished in time for the cool weather of graduation week and the totally fun socks I’m working on.

I can’t seem to stop writing. And this is a very good thing. :)

I started this shawl about 36 hours after I received the scariest, no-good, completely awful-rotten news of my entire life. That was 9am on a Thursday. This picture is from the next morning. Tomorrow will mark two weeks living with that news, and I think I can make it to go on living. I have had amazing support from my friends. “What do you need?” they said, and then they supplied: helping me make dinner, going out in the evenings with me to keep my mind off of it. Hugs and letting me vent. The first 48 hours, really, all I could do was knit and read poetry. And now, unfortunately, it’s two weeks until finals and I haven’t really held myself together enough to have everything done like I’d like to.

But in the long run, what’s important? That I get straight As this last semester or that I realize what’s important to me (my family, my friends)? I’m starting to get really anxious about what I’ll do after I graduate, but in the meantime I’m focusing on the fact that in three weeks I will be able to wrap my arms around my mom and squeeze as tightly as I can. Hey, maybe this shawl will be done and she’ll decide she wants it, so that even when I can’t be there in person, I’m there in spirit.