National Knitting Month

Today I have classes and a proposal essay to write in between with whatever free time I can spare, but I'm procrastinating cause I don't wanna. (Can you hear the whiny tone to that?) Actually, my first professor cancelled class after giving us candy and bonus points for showing up today, because it's Halloween and she didn't have a voice to lecture with so I have a little bit of extra time and I thought I'd update the blog. 

I have no new projects to share, but I was excited to announce that I'm gonna participate in National Knitting Month (NaKnitMo). I actually really wanted to participate in National Novel Writer's Month, but I realized I'd be sidetracked by my knitting, and I really do have to get DM's afghan done. (It's just shy of 90%, with only 2 pattern repeats left, and the 8 row moss stitch border). Anyway, I decided to look and see if there was a knitting equivalent for NaNoWriMo, and there was! I joined a Ravelry group for it, and pledged to do 30,000 stitches in the next month, beginning tomorrow. That's about 1,000 stitches a day, which is about 3 rows on the afghan. I've been known to do 9 or ten in a day, so I knew I could manage the number of stitches. I was worried about what I would do when I finished the afghan, because I know that at that rate, I would be done in less than 2 weeks, and probably sooner because I'm an overachiever when I want to be, so I committed to actually start Juliana once it was done (using the yarn frogged from the Owl Sweater).

My overall plan for this challenge is this:

• Knit 30,000 stitches for the month
• Finish DM's afghan, using it to complete a part of the challenge
• Work on Platypus socks at school, making sure to keep track of the number of stitches knit for those as well, because I'm not sure at-home knitting will make the cut.
• Finish up my stitch count with the Juliana sweater, hopefully getting a large percentage of that project done so I might be able to use it while it's still cold.

I've decided to get Benji's teddy bear done next month unless I finish the challenge early. Because it isn't a knitting project, I doubt my ability to actually count the stitches and I actually really hate crocheting toys (sorry to you amigurumi lovers, but I suck hard core at it) so I'm putting it off until I absolutely have to do it.

Anyway, that's pretty much it. And since this post looks really boring without a picture, let me give you this:

That's my arm where mom and I played hangman while waiting in line for early voting. In our defense, we aren't actually crazy, we were just really bored and we only had a pen to entertain ourselves (I had only brought DM's afghan to knit, which I couldn't very well do in front of her). 

I haven't really got a clever name for this post

I have an FO to showcase:

I've finished DS's Harry Potter Hufflepuff bag. I'm entirely not happy with it, and I've already told her that if she doesn't like it, I'll make her some socks or something. The tension on the checkerboarded part is horrible, the yarns weren't the same weight and it definitely shows.I am happy with the lining though. It took me a couple of hours, and there was a day where I started it and had to completely pull out all the stitching because I didn't have any pins to keep the fabric lined up straight (yes, I sew by hand, I really need to learn how to use the machine I've got cause I've apparently lost all talent for the seamstress thing since those costumes for Drama Club in high school). Today I went digging around in the boxes and finally found my sewing kit, and voila, pins! Anyway, there's that.

I've also got a go-to-school project since the only other Christmas projects are an afghan (which is too big to take with me) and a crochet bear (which is too fiddly to take with me- don't start with me, I know it's only crochet but those amigurumi things throw me for a loop, no pun intended, every time). So I started a pair of socks with the yarn from my Georgia vacation, which comes with a coordinating color for the heels and toes:

 I'm doing an afterthought heel on these because they're for me and I like the look of the afterthought heel better than my short-row heels. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but mine don't look as tidy as they should. The colors remind me of Perry the Platypus, thus the Ravelry name. It astounds me how much I've gotten done just at school. Well, there was that movie I watched with mom and I couldn't work on her afghan, but mostly this is just what I've gotten done in the last two weeks of school. I blame Astronomy lectures and poor scheduling which caused about 2 hours worth of gap time between classes.

Mostly, my life lately has been this monstrosity:

It's about 75% done, and has only about 4.75 pattern repeats before the moss stitch border. It looks like it'll be wide, but not that long, which is good for mom cause she's short but she likes to wrap blankets around her shoulders. I'm hoping it'll be finished by the end of the month, but it might spill over into November. Regardless, I've got plenty of time,  which is really nice. I still haven't looked into what I'm working on next but I really should. I fear startitis, but I think I've ever really had a problem with it.

We Can't All Be Mad Hatters

I finished Michael's Beanie last night. It was kinda out of the blue but I remembered last post that I still had to make that, and it was the perfect size project to take to school, so I brought it for classes yesterday. It started the day like this:

 After my Astronomy lecture, the two hours of breaks between classes because of poor scheduling, and an extra hour because my statistics lab was cancelled, it looked like this.

At home, I only had to add maybe an inch (which flew by on my size 7 needles) before I began increases, and it was finished before I knew it:

Sadly, though, that was the last Christmas project I could fit in my backpack and take to school.

The Hufflepuff bag is flying by, and I'm studiously ignoring the very obvious tension problems, mostly because I think they're due to a difference if yarn weight and nothing I can do short or tearing the whole thing apart, buying more yarn and starting over will help. I don't think my sister will mind, so there's that. And you can clearly see the badger, and that's the most important part.

I also worked a little on DM's afghan, and I'm excited to get back into that once my sister's bag is done. I'd forgotten how much fun the pattern was. And it goes so quick, I should be done in no time. Then maybe I can start on something for myself. I'm thinking of making myself a pair of wristwarmers like Renee's, or a bolero like Erin's, or maybe the Julianna cardigan on ravelry. Plus, I still have a skein of footprints sock yarn from my stay in Georgia that I think I'll take to school for something to knit while I'm there, since I can't bring an afghan or a stranded bag (the bag isn't that big, but the pattern isn't simple enough to work on during the Astronomy lecture, and my biggest goal for school knitting is to stave off the boredom during that class).

Also, Howl's Moving Castle on audiobook finally came in and I've been listening to it for the last few days. It's been super awesome. I think having watched the movie made it easier to understand the setting (since this author is notorious for lack of context). Anyway, I've got nothing but praise.

Relieved

So today, I dealt with a personal problem that's been dogging me for almost a month now, and I'm very happy to see that worry put to rest. To celebrate, I'm gonna update the Blog (and watch Avengers, cause that's how lame of a life I have).

I started and finished (today!) another Christmas present since I last posted. Renee's Fingerless Gloves (for Renee of course), a super easy and fun project, and I seriously don't want to give them away. They'd definitely come in handy in my Astronomy lecture, where I swear if the ceiling were inclined to pour water, it would turn to snow and we'd all make snow angels, it's that cold. But, alas, they have another destination. Actually, that puts paid to the entire set heading to Virginia (Salt River Socks, A Manly Sunset, and Spicy Turmeric Bolero are also headed there, all to the same family).  Oh right, a picture would be nice:

Sorry about those pictures, but seriously, I defy you to get a good picture of your own arm while holding the camera in the other hand. And of course, I couldn't get a pic of both at the same time. Anyway, there's that.

Also today (well actually yesterday but I frogged that one) I started a new project. A Hufflepuff bag for my sister, using some truly craptastic stash yarn. It's going really quick actually, which makes me think that the finishing is going to take a lot longer than usual, because nothing just goes well for me. Anyway, pic for that:

So it's October now, and I have exactly 4 Christmas projects left to finish, including this one. A hat, a crochet bear, and half an afghan await me once this bag is finished, but I might have to concede to starting a pair of socks to knit at school since all of those are either too big or too complicated for that. Anyway, I do expect to finish on time, and maybe a lot earlier than originally slated. I should probably plan for that eventuality and have a project ready so I don't develop a case of Startitis. 

Anyway, Avengers awaits. I'll have an update when I'm done with this bag probably.

Nauseated

Since I'm not really feeling my very best, I'm gonna do this post in list form:

1. Check out the Avengers chalk art I discovered at my campus on Monday:

I saw this, with the arc reactor and Tony Stark quotes, plus a bow and arrow with Clint Barton quotes. I'm sure there was more, but since I don't live on campus, I didn't really get a chance to wander around and find the rest.

2. Apparently I have lost the ability to spell or pay attention in class. I tried to take notes in my English class today but couldn't even manage to spell beauty (I just had to spell it out loud to make sure it was right for this post), and my notes ended up covered in a badly drawn doodle of a scene from Courage the Cowardly Dog:

3. I did finish knitting something! Joe's Zombie Socks are totally finished, which leaves only one more pair of tardis socks and maybe a pair of socks for my sister or maybe something else, I haven't decided yet. Then the sock knitting portion of the Christmas knitting is over. Of course, then I still have 40% of DM's afghan left to do, plus a pair of wristwarmers and a hat. But I keep telling myself that it's only nearing the end of September. I can manage. And hopefully I won't be up til 3 in the morning on the 24th if I keep to my schedule. Oh, here's a picture of Joe's Zombie Socks, since I totally lost the thread of what I was originally talking about:

And that's all for now. I've got some homework to be getting to anyway.

Socked

This post is full of socks and sock-talk. For FO's today, I only have one. Rose Tyler socks, so named because they are rose-colored, but they also have a nice strong dark pink, almost brown color, which makes me think of Rose Tyler and her beauty, but also her strength and steel. Just a simple pair of stockinette socks, but one more pair toward my seemingly never ending list of Christmas presents:

These will go to Jen, and I know they'll never repay the amount of kindness she and her family showed in housing me for the summer, but I hope she likes them all the same.

I'm working on a pair of socks for Joe (Jen's husband) now. They're a 3x1 rib. I settled on that pattern because I wanted a simple pattern, nothing as boring as stockinette, and nothing as complicated as lace. The colorway reminds me of zombies for some reason, thus Joe's Zombie Socks. The yarn is slate gray/blue and green and orange marbled. I didn't notice until I looked at the photo, but the socks are knitting up with a nice spiraling color pattern. Check it out:

 They're definitely a lot more orange than this photo implies. It seems that my new city new stops with the clouds and rain though, so good pictures are hard to come by. I had to get a new phone and I upgraded for a better camera on it, only to find out that it doesn't really matter here because it never stops raining long enough to take a stupid picture.

Anyway, other knitting news. I got a new set of needles in the mail last week. Knit Picks circulars, size 0 for magic loop Tardis Socks:

I was all excited to start the minute the needles came, but they took too long and I cast on for Joe's socks in the meantime. I'm trying to keep the WIPs down to 2 with Christmas coming up, so I'll be able to see each finished present and know where I stand, so that meant I couldn't cast on for the second pair of Tardis socks til Joe's socks are done. I'm making steady progress though, and I definitely thank my astronomy lecture for that.

I've left DM's afghan alone, as promised. It's in the deep freeze for now, til at least the other pair of Tardis socks are done.

Anyway, that's the update. I hope to keep the Blog in the loop, but I have a hard time justifying blog entries for stockinette socks. Now that my room's all set up (we finally re-did the floors, so I was able to move furniture in) and I have a desk to work at, maybe I'll be a little more productive.

TARDISed

Yesterday I finished my first pair of Tardis Socks, The Doctor's Wife on Ravelry. They're blocked and everything!

They look so very lovely, I don't even have words for how well they turned out.

I got sick of working on DM's afghan, and I wanted to be sure I got all the other Christmas projects done on time, cause DM knows she'll get her present eventually. Anyway, I started another pair of stockinette socks for Jen (NS's mom, who so graciously hosted me this summer):

I ordered a set of size 1 circular needles from Knit Picks for the second set of Tardis socks because I've found that the way I hold my dpn's causes my hands to ache a lot, and I'd like to do the second set two-at-a-time. I found that doing them one at a time was frustrating. I didn't think I had a problem with second sock syndrome (and I guess I don't because the second was completed shortly after the first) but the repetition wore on me, especially because it involved colorwork.

Aside from Jen's socks and NS's tardis socks (the finished ones were for NB, who conveniently wears the same shoe size as me),  I still need to make a pair of socks for Jen's husband Joe, a pair of wristwarmers for Renee, a hat for Michael, and I need to decide whether DS gets socks, a bag, or a hat this Christmas. I really wanna do the Harry Potter fair isle bag for her but I really don't think I'll have enough time. I might have her give me an extension on that. I hope next year I can afford to buy more gifts because this is a whole lot to knit while also taking full time classes and looking for a job.

Frogged

It's been waaaaaay too long since I've posted. The beginning of a new school year has been a little annoying, despite being pretty easy (gen ed courses are all retarded) and I've been in the process of moving in and unpacking all of my things (which all fit nicely into my closet). This, of course, is made all the more difficult because I can't move any furniture into my room until the floors are re-done. The wood has to be chemically sanded and re-varnished due to the damage done by the previous tenants.
I did get the opportunity to locate all of my yarn, which is a pitiful stash, let me tell you. I have a filing box full of acrylic nastyness, which is destined to become another stupid crochet chevron blanket- I really thought I had gotten rid of all of the leftover Red Heart crap, but I guess not. I don't actually mind acrylic yarn, though. Being a relatively poor person and a college student has made it difficult to be picky about my yarn, and I have a deep and abiding affection for Caron Simply Soft because of it's sheen and rich colors. In fact, that's what DM's afghan is made of. I just don't like Red Heart, I guess.
I also had a milk crate filled with WIPs, excluding DM's afghan and all of the materials for the Tardis socks, which I have re-started. In that bin, I found my Harry Potter scarf, (so close to being finished that it's laughable), and my Owl Sweater.
Thursday I spent the day working on DM's afghan and making these two lovely Christmas gifts:

They are a modified version of the Chain Loop Circle Scarf. I just chained until I got the right length using my yarn and preferred hook. They look really cool, despite being just about the simplest and quickest FO's I've ever made.
 I had classes on Friday, and I spent the evening at NB's apartment about an hour and half's drive away. I sometimes wonder if I'm a dim person (lightbulb not on and all) or if I'm just really absent-minded. I forgot my knitting, and so lost a lot of time I could have been working on it. Luckily though, I was prepared for this eventuality, since it has happened more than once. After that, I decided I needed to keep an emergency project at NB's place, so I gave her the second skein of the yarn I used for DS's birthday hat and an extra hook so that I could make another. I got about 80% of the hat done while I was there, so I guess I should remember to pack more emergency yarn to keep at her apartment.
Saturday morning I visited NS at her new apartment, which happens to be in the same city as NB's since they both attend the same school. We hung out for a bit and I headed home.  Once there, I went about doing some more organizing (I think that job has made me a bit OCD- about every 10 minutes I had to walk around and straighten chairs or clean tables or sweep or mop or clear off counters or clean up toys). When I encountered my Owl Sweater I decided it was high time to frog it. I like the yarn a lot, and I was never going to actually be able to fix the problem with the sweater. So I spent the night frogging and reskeining, and came up with this:

I think I'll be able to make a nice cardigan out of it, owing to the fact that my sweater was about 3 times too big from the collar up, and about 4 inches too long. The yarn is Cuddle by Jo Ann sensations, in Lt Green. It's DK weight and it will make a lovely cardigan one day. When Christmas knitting is over.

I did restart the Tardis socks, but DM and I don't spend too much time together, so I've mostly been working on her afghan and my homework. The first sock still looks like this:

The day before I moved, I took one last trip to the LYS and bought a second skein of this yarn so that I would be able to make another pair of Tardis socks once I finished this one.

DM's afghan is over halfway done, so as promised here's a picture:

It really looks a lot prettier than that, but there's only so much that can be done with a camera phone.  The afghan is wider than a standard twin bed, but that's good because DM likes big afghans.

Accomplished

I guess it would be appropriate, now that the Ravellenic Games are over, to review what I accomplished. I only produced 3 items:

 Yarn dyed with turmeric for the Hand Dye High Dive event

 Erin's bolero for the Sweater Triathlon and the Holiday Hurdles events

And the Manly Sunset socks for the Sock Put, Holiday Hurdles and Single Skein Sprint. 

So even though I only produced 3 items, I was awarded a total of 6 medals. I think that's not bad for my first time participating in the Ravellenic Games. I'm not super impressed by the amount of items I completed. I think I should have given myself harder goals because I definitely did everything I said I would do. I just didn't do anything more than that. I think part of it was that the WIP Wrestling event requirements weren't conducive to me finishing DM's afghan. It had to be something you hadn't worked on for at least a couple of weeks. I think if that hadn't been a requirement, I would have given myself the goal of completing the afghan instead. And I probably would have done it- I mean, there was that time I completed an afghan in under a month, and this one's already more that a third of the way through. Well, maybe I couldn't have done it, but I think it might have been more productive. On the other hand, I did get some holiday projects done. 

Speaking of which, I have one other FO to show off, as promised. Salt River socks for a friend for Christmas. Actually, these are for the wife of the friend who'll be receiving the Manly Sunset socks. I finished these last night and did the weaving in ends and picture taking this morning:

I adore these socks! The colorway is just so awesome, and I have to say, they did a really good job perfecting the colors in a salt river. I also like that it's stripey, but not too stripey. And they match. This pair, of course, didn't qualify for the Ravellenics, but getting it off the needles means that I only have one active WIP. Everything else on the needles is hibernating until such time as it decides to stop pissing me off, or I have enough time for it, or both. I will now be devoting a good chunk of my time to DM's afghan. I'll probably start another pair of Tardis socks next week so I have something to work on while DM's around, but I plan on getting at least 1 pattern repeat done between now and then.

Reviewed

Today I purchased a book at the Goodwill bookstore in town: At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot. I sat down and read the entire thing today, with no distractions (NS is at a friend's house and so is her sister, and her parents enjoyed a lazy day as well, reading and generally keeping the noise level to a minimum. The t.v. hasn't been turned on all day.) It's a lovely, quick read and super funny. The book is set up like a quote book. There's a quote from a famous person, book or movie, followed by some knitting-related information and some snarky comment of the Yarn Harlot's. Much of the book is dedicated to sentences that begin, "I will remember... when..." and there are plenty of funny anecdotes about knitting mistakes. It was great to spend the afternoon reading the Yarn Harlot's words, especially considering that I love her blog so much. And I was just thinking about how I should have more knitting-related books. I think I own 4 now, 3 of which were picked up at second-hand shops for like a dollar or two.

In other news, I completed my final Ravellenic Games entry, a pair of socks for a Christmas gift:

They are awesome-looking, though they don't match at all (I really did try though- the toes match up to the third stripe). I call them A Manly Sunset, but DM thinks they look more like autumn. I'm inclined to think she's right, but I've renamed them twice now.
Since DM was visiting, I didn't get much of a chance to work on her afghan, so I worked on the Salt River socks a bit. They've only got about 2 more inches left til the ribbing, and I really want another quick, gratifying project to finish before I get back into DM's afghan. Besides, her afghan is so big and I was liking carrying a smaller bag around. I should get some quality knitting done on the afghan though, because school starts the 20th of August and I'll be moving in with DM and DS on the 19th, which will severely limit my ability to work on it. I'll be trying to find a job to replace the one I have to leave here, and I'll be going to school, and I can't exactly knit DM's Christmas present in front of her.
Anyway, the next few weeks will be a bit hectic as I get settled in and start classes, and I may not be able to update the Blog often. I'll probably post some FO photos of those socks in a day or so, but I don't anticipate much knitting or blogging time in the near future. Not looking forward to that at all.

Gamed

So far, I have completed two tiny projects for the Ravellenic Games:
In the hand-dye high dive, I dyed another skein of Patons Wool with turmeric for Erin's bolero. I was so excited to have this finished before I realized the yarn colors were off. And I had run out of turmeric. And I had no intention of re-dyeing the yarn. So I left it. It's exactly one pale shade of yellow lighter than the first skein.
Here are some photos of the dye process:

I also completed Erin's bolero using both skeins of hand-dyed turmeric yarn. I absolutely love the pattern and the FO. It's super adorable and only took me 8 days (which is a lot longer than it would have taken if I hadn't been working every day. I mostly did it during naptime because by the end of the day I was too exhausted to do anything at all). The place where the two different shades of yarn are joined is just noticeable but I'm not going to worry about it:

I also started another pair of socks for the Ravellenic Games. I'm not sure whether I'll finish them in time, but I figure that if I don't, at least I'll be half a project closer to another finished Christmas present:

Once the Ravellenics are over, this channel will return to its regularly scheduled programming, beginning with at least one more pattern repeat on DM's afghan.

Checked

So my idiotic self decided I didn't need to check the fit on the Tardis socks because I'd done a gauge swatch before I started. I didn't really deem it necessary to try on the WIP until this point:

where I determined that my first foray into intarsia didn't go very well and my tension was off, and the socks were so tight around my ankle/calf that my foot went numb. The lettering is almost unreadable and the sock itself is definitely unwearable. I think part of the problem is that the white yarn was mystery stash yarn and was a bit thicker than the black and the Tardis blue yarn that it was contrasting. That meant that the spaces between white letters were way too small to be noticeable. And to give myself some credit, it was my first try with intarsia and I thought it looked great...when I wasn't wearing it.

In other knitting news, I've done 6 pattern repeats on DM's lacy throw (and my nerdy self calculated that this is exactly 29.54% complete). It still looks pretty much the same though, so I think I'll post another photo at the halfway point. It's coming along nicely- it isn't taking nearly as long as I thought it would.

I also started a pair of plain stockinette socks for Chris for Christmas (try saying that 3 times fast). The yarn came from Tuesday Morning of all places. I had heard they sold good yarn, but when I went in to check I walked every aisle and didn't see any at all. Then I wandered in with DM looking for something entirely different and the yarn just materialized in front of me like magic. And it was all awesome. Anyway, it's Wisdom Yarns Marathon Socks Phoenix (I think they specify the city in which the colorway was dyed) in the colorway Salt River. And it really does look like a salt river when knit, check it out:

I also picked up some more Marathon Socks, this time dyed in the Twin Cities I guess, for Jeff, Chris's husband:

He'll also be receiving a pair of plain stockinette socks. One day, when I haven't got quite so many gifts to give, I will make a pair of patterned socks in the two-at-a-time toe-up method. I'll also make myself a Haapsalu shawl, or maybe try Ravelry's Queen Susan shawl. One day, you know when pigs fly and all my dreams come true and they finally come up with fat free cheesecake that doesn't taste like crap.

I tested out some turmeric dyeing for Erin's bolero and the smell seeped through NB's entire house (she and I collaborated on this experiment). Here are some photos:

Not my favorite color, but definitely Erin's, so it'll do. I'm planning on dyeing the other skein as part of the hand dyeing competition in the Ravellenic Games, then entering the bolero as part of the sweater competition. Maybe I'll do a pair of socks as well, but that might be overstretching my abilities.

Motivated

So this is the game plan for Christmas:

1. DM's afghan

2. 3 pairs of Tardis socks, one each for me, NS, and NB

3. A pair of socks each for Chris, Jeff and Jen. I've looked into a few different patterns, but if I'm pressed for time I might just give them all plain stockinette socks.

4. A pair of wristwarmers for Renee (I might send a pair I already made for myself last year that turned out a little smaller than I meant them to. Fortunately, she and I share the same favorite color).

5. Bolero for Erin using yarn dyed with tumeric

6. A hat each for Michael, Katie and Stevie

7. A toy for Stevie's baby boy. I haven't a clue what kind of toy yet though. Something monkey-related probably.

And here are my goals for July:

1. Finish one more pattern repeat in DM's afghan. (I've already done almost 4 this month and had to start carrying my gigantic knitting bag to the daycare for naptime knitting) because by my calculations, I need to do at least 3 pattern repeats a month to finish by December, which would probably mean casting off at 11:59 p.m. on the 24^th.

2. Cuff and hopefully a whole leg on one Tardis sock. Dream big, right?

3. Stevie's hat (crochet) probably in Caron Simply Soft colorway Ocean

4. Dye yarn (Patons probably) for Erin's Bolero. Maybe knit a swatch.

5. Simple knit beanie for Michael. Also in Caron Simply Soft in the colorway Ocean. Can you tell I'm trying to get rid of that?

I guess I just wanted to post this to motivate myself to get through these presents. I do tend to underestimate myself, so I'm sure I could manage all this in this month. I'm excited to see how many FO's I can get done so I don't have to worry about them at Christmas time. 

Sorry about the depressing lack of photos. Until my phone or my camera decide to cooperate, I can't really upload anything. I'll try and work it out and post some of those photos tomorrow

Sunshined

So a few weeks ago now, I was nominated for the Sunshine Award. And of course, I had absolutely no idea what that meant, but have since found out that anyone nominated should write a post about it, answer some questions, and nominate others. For those who don't know, the Sunshine Award is given to bloggers that inspire others so needless to say, I'm thrilled to be nominated! Thanks to the amazing gings for nominating me!

So here are the questions:

• Favorite Color – Green
• Favorite Animal – Cat
• Favorite Number – 3. I was born at 3:33 A.M.
• Favorite Drink – English-style tea or lemonade
• Facebook or Twitter –I use Facebook, but I'm not really a huge fan of social media. I also have a Tumblr that I rarely use.
• Your Passion – Knitting, friends, Doctor Who, not necessarily in that order.
• Giving or getting presents – Well I love both, but I think I prefer to see that look on someone's face when you've given them exactly what they wanted but never expected to get.
• Favorite Day –I think I like Saturdays best. Sundays are a close second.
• Favorite Flowers – Oriental lilies and magnolia blossoms

I'm supposed to nominate 10 other bloggers for this award, but (no joke) every one of the blogs I've read has already been nominated, so I'll just say that nearly every blog inspires and brings sunshine to someone.

In other news, I finished DM's birthday socks on Wednesday and they were all ready for her birthday. NS's mom Jen requested a pair of socks for her birthday in July so I'm working away at those- two at a time, toe ups again since that's my new favorite method- but I really do have to start working on DM's Christmas afghan and the three pairs of Tardis socks I'm supposed to finish by Christmas as well. Plus all the Christmas gifts I'm meant to be giving. I really should take an inventory again and set some goals for myself. Next post, maybe. I promise pictures and maybe July's monthly goals since I never did one for June.

Vacationed

So this week is my family vacation. I write to the Blog from the porch of the cabin we rented, overlooking a beautiful river.

River

Cabin

Top of the state park where we hiked

which is also a part of the Appalachian Trail

DM, DS and I are the only inhabitants of our cabin. We had meant for a few family friends to come along, but disaster struck last week and a deer hit their car (I'm actually more inclined to believe the driver hit the deer, but that isn't the way the story was told to me). Don't worry, their all fine, including the deer, which ran off just after causing the accident. The only casualty is the car, which meant that they couldn't drive to meet us here. Anyway, I've been really excited for this trip for a few reasons.
1. No work. That means no screaming children, no annoying boss, and no coworkers or parents who seem bent on ruining my relationship with NS by pointing out how much of a better teacher I am than she was.
2. I get a room to myself at the cabin. Sharing a room with someone is difficult. DS and I did for about 2 years, right up until we all moved, but we managed it by not ever being there at the same time except for sleep. NS and I are managing because we're good friends, but I'm really a recluse and I like to be left alone most often, so it's hard for me.
3. Knitting/Crochet time. The drive was 9 hours, which gave me lots of time to work on NS's crochet afghan. I chose it for a driving project because the other projects I had were DM's afghan, which I couldn't work on in her presence, and my Green Katniss socks, which had 5 dpns that were looking a little sharp to be working with on the mountain roads. NS's afghan was in hibernation for a while, but at last measurement, it was a little over 2 feet long:

It's now a little less than 5 feet long:

and I've chosen some really intense colors for the last few random color stripes. I'm running out of purple yarn for the stripes between random colors, though. I decided to replace the light purple with a slightly darker purple and the dark purple with a brown in order to finish. I think one more white/purple/white combo should be long enough. It won't be a very large blanket, but it won't look out of place either. The goal here was to use up acrylic stash yarn, and I've definitely done that. There won't be any more of that purple, and very little will be left of the white, along with all the odds and ends I used for the random colors. I still have about 1/2 a skein of that dark deal and 3/4 of a skein of a wine red that almost, but not quite, matches DM's Christmas afghan. I think I'll turn both into Christmas hats to be gifted at random.

In the time that we've been here at the cabin, I've waded in the river, hiked part of the Appalachian Trail, hiked some more to see a waterfall (that was worse than the Appalachian- it was like a 45 degree grade and that's insane for a Florida girl who's never known hills), intertubed down a different river, gone to the local yarn shop and bought yarn locally spun and dyed (I spent waaaaay too much money there, but vacations are always more costly than you expect), and got lost multiple times. Did you know that a car with a shoddy transmission has a really hard time going uphill? Well, we did, but we drove it anyway.

The yarn I bought is called Footprints by Blue Ridge Yarns, a Superwash merino sock yarn, and comes in two skeins: 300 yarns variegated yarn, and 100 yards solid yarn in a matching color for the heels and toes of a sock. Brilliant idea, isn't it? Mine was one of the last two at the shop, and it appears to have no name for the colorway, just the number 028. It looks like this:

The shop owners were very kind, and spoke to me about a few techniques while I was there. We discussed blocking socks and sock blockers, tricks and tips for modifying a pattern if your gauge doesn't match, and various yarns and patterns in the shop. DM kindly shut her cakehole while I spent more than my fair share of time there, and way more than my allowance's worth of money there.

While we've been here, I've also had some knitting time. I've worked on the second Green Katniss sock, and I've just turned the heel and begun the gusset decreases on that. Today DM and DS went horseback riding, and I didn't have any interest (citing the excuse that horses are big and scary and smell bad), so I started DM's birthday project. I only have 8 days left to finish it! I cast on for two-at-a-time toe-up socks and it's my first time using either technique. I'm hoping that doing them two-at-a-time will make them go faster, but I'm no stranger to math. 2 is still equal to one plus one but I'll let you know if this new method involves magic. Here's a progress photo of that (keep in mind I started today, and had to frog them twice before I got the hang of it and managed to figure out the right number of cast on stitches):