Bulky yarn n'est pas pour moi

Ugh! I've been knitting up this bulky hat today and it's totally killing my hands!!! Maybe I chose the wrong needle size. I'm using Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Hand-dyed and size 11 addis. Seriously, my right thumb is having difficulty typing. I'm about to give up on this hat. I wanted to make one of Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hats for a xmas gift, and I found this beautiful yarn at Yarntopia yesterday, but this is turning out to be a huge PIMA!*

Mondays seem to be for blogging. This past week has been crazy. And this coming week promises to be just as crazy, if not more so. But one week from now, 1/2 the craziness will be over. One week from now I will be done with fall semester. Hard to believe. A little scary to think of the stuff I should accomplish in this week.

I've been having a bit of knitter's ADHD this weekend. Flitting between the plum cardi (almost done--one button band, arm pit grafting and buttons to go); the February Baby Sweater; the Embossed Leaves wristwarmers; a newly cast on pair of socks using Kaffe Fauset Regia sock yarn.

I saw an awesome movie last night--Enchanted. Oh did I ever laugh! Sorry no pictures today, I'm being lazy.

*Pain in my ass--I learned this term last week from a nursing student who visited our floor last week...hehehe :)

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Now playing: Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth
via FoxyTunes

in class...

Perfect time for words about those pictures. First, the progress on the plum tweed sweater. Cruising right along on the yoke. Not sure how I feel about the length of the body, but I'm just going to go with it. When I first added the sleeves and body together, I thought I would never get through the row--so many stitches! But the only way to make it less is to do it, so I'm chugging through.

Next: I've started a February Baby sweater as a gift for a friend's kid--I really hope it fits a 1 year old. I'm not sure....we'll see. The yarn is Classic Elite Provence cotton. So soft and shiny! I love it! And the pattern is fantastic, of course. I'm a bit worried about having enough yarn. We'll see how that goes.

Third project: Finally some pictures of the Embossed Leaves wristwarmers. Love these. The yarn is Socks that Rock mediumweight--too thick for socks, I think, but great for wristwarmers. These will be a great xmas gift, I think.

Lastly, it's snowing today!!! Can you see the snow? Look closely--you see those faint white streaks? Especially in the second picture. Earliest snow in my time here. Yea for snow.

Just pictures...words later

Sometimes things just work out

Like magic!! Today I had a clinical in the Bronx and I used the travel time there to get some knitting in on the second striped monkey sock. Lo and behold, the clinical was actually a conference, and my friends happened to choose a table in the very back. Rather than sit there and simply listen to the speakers, I decided to make the most of that time and continue work on the sock, and it's done!

Not only is it done, but look how the colors lined up perfectly in the foot. I soooo did not plan that. I didn't give a second thought to the striping pattern, figuring that the stripes were so random and thin that no one would ever notice if they did or did not match up.

But I'm so happy that they did! :D

Oooo! Pictures!

In an apparent case of the reverse-Mondays (trademark!), I actually took some pictures of my knitting this morning before school. Above you see a lovely trio of Noro Silk Garden hats, or Dirty Hippie Hats, as I prefer to call them. They are sized, roughly, large, medium and small. Below you see a duo of bright hats, Zeebees, for a couple of Heinze boys I know. They are, hopefully, sized for child and toddler. The yarn is Cascade 220 that I myself died, a color I call Un-Lose-Able in honor of its brightness. And what a delightful pattern!

I've had an influx of new music this week. Iron and Wine-The Shepard's Dog; Josh Rouse-Country Mouse City House; Old 97s-Hit By A Train; Beirut-The Flying Cup Club; Band of Horses-Cease to Begin; The New Pornographers-Challengers; Headlights-Kill Them With Kindness. All of it wonderful (of course!)

Above you see my progress on the never-ending-sleeves. Maybe it would have gone faster to do one sleeve at a time, but then I'm afraid that one would end up looser/tighter than the other if I was more/less stressed while knitting it. I think I have about 3 inches left to go on these before I can join them with the body and finally begin the yoke. Below, two pictures of another pair of monkeys I'm working on. The yarn is Trekking XXL. It feels softer than I remember previous trekkings to be--could this be? I think these socks are so lovely. But alas, they're destined for other feet than mine. I'm more than 1/2way done with the second one. Maybe I can finish it tomorrow on the way to and from clinical.

Happy Monday, hope everyone had a chill Veteran's Day yesterday.

Ummm...

I swear I've been knitting, but no photos to show, because, let's be honest--it's boring. No finished objects. At this moment, I'm finishing up dirty hippie hat #3, so maybe I'll have a pic of this sometime before the end of the year.

In lieu of knitting pics, how about this little bit of humor
It Makes Cappucino and Houses a Family of Five

UES trophy wife #1, in black dress: ... And the dress was only twenty-six hundred dollars!
UES trophy wife #2: Wow, that's fabulous!

--David Burke & Donatella Restaurant

via Overheard in New York, Nov 9, 2007

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Now playing: Headlights - Put Us Back Together
via FoxyTunes

Ah--life is crazy!

And I've been going Cast-On Crazy!!! I feel like I need a cool announcer to say that. Like it's a car sale or something--"Get down here right now, Robin's going Cast-On Crazy!!" Maybe I'm manic, I just can't focus on one project. Active projects on the needles right now: Dirty Hippie Hat #3 (50%), Xmas Monkeys (75%), Embossed Leaves Handwarmers (25%), More Striped Socks (5%), Plum Sweater sleeves (50%). And that's not counting projects that have been dolefully pushed to the back burner. I have so much great yarn, I just want to knit it all up RIGHT NOW!

Mostly I think all this casting on is just a thinly veiled study-procrastination technique. I did horrendously on my last exam, which means I really need to get my ass in gear and fricking study! But I just can't bring myself to sit down and crack the textbook (if I'm going to skip class, I'm resigned to doing the reading).

And OF COURSE I don't have pictures of any of this stuff. But I might have a picture somewhere of a recent FO...hrmm...Here's a (blurry) pic of Dirty Hippie Hat #1:

And here's one of adorable little Logan wearing his Two-Tone Cable Yoke Jacket--it fits perrrr-fect!! :D

So there you go, a couple of pictures. Maybe now I should get back to my homework? I've decided that the study is a Knitting-Free Zone so that I can come in here to do work without being distracted. This plan isn't working out so well, though, since MY WHOLE STASH is in here. Hrmmmm. I could really use some discipline right 'bout now!
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Now playing: Josh Ritter - Wait For Love
via FoxyTunes