Not Knitting

I haven't knit in a while, really. But since I feel a tad guilty being so quiet here, I think I should share *some*thing. All I have are doodles though, sorry!

The first three are shamelessly inspired by some of Lisa's (http://www.monkeybrains.net/~dietrich/musings/) work. And the last is just a little fellow feeling the seasons change out here.

Tree!

-Am working on first sleeve of The Tomten
-Sock yarn is wound
-School has shifted from Open, I mean, Midterm Season to apparently mass freak-out time. Less than a month until reading break, we can do this! (despite the papers and exams before then, but shhhhhh). My point is, it's quiet around here. There is a lot of sleeping. And napping. Much more than there should be, I imagine.
-Has anyone seen my creativity lately? I have been perusing Lisa's old 'drawing a day' set on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisasolomon/sets/803513/). I am always [always!] hugely motivated and inspired by her work, and it usually gets me feeling like I could start putting some ideas together if I had the time.
-Have a tree?

A Knew Knitting Chapter?

The Tomten is now zipping along. I've finished one front and about half the back, and if I kepe putting off work tonight, I just might be bale to join for the hood this evening! (I'll grab some photos once it's more than a big hunk of garter stitch)

And is this not just beauteous? (and that spelling looks horrid, hmm)
It is Araucania Ranco Multy (colourway PT502, mrrrowr). At 344 metres, this just might become a pair of socks for *me*! I'm thinking toe-up (I hate to waste), with a reverse heel flap (always need to try out something new), and I might make up some simple patterning for the leg/instep.





I really do need to get a hold of a swift and ball-winder, because if this knits up as nice as it feels (75% wool, 25% polyamide) there might be more in my future.

Doodles

There are days where I just do not feel creative in the least. (This is one of those days) On those days, I usually end up filling a page with these funny little doodles. They originally started as greenmen (I can't find any of my old ones), but have since morphed into these squiggly, curlicue-heavy faces. They are all unique, and they all cheer me up a bit.





I have probably drawn a few hundred of these in the last few months, in all sizes and personalities.
I am thinking about mayhaps putting together some card packages (they are my standard gift accompaniments). At this point I am just a little bit curious if anyone would be interested in something like that.
Hopefully more news on that in the future.

I think I need to rip the Tomten. Serves me right for starting to knit before actually getting size measurements of the kid it's for. (speaking of which, what is a reasonable amount of ease for a toddler's jacket?)

The last thing I have tonight is a sketch of a discussion I had with a friend a little while ago.



(It was like there was an elephant in the room, smoking a cigarette and blowing smoke all about. He was wearing a purple leaisure suit, trackerd mud all over, and was humming a song that no-one else knew.)

(and yes, heavily inspired/partly copied from Gerard Hoffnung's 'Hoffnung in Harmony' which I love so much.)

Happy evening peoples!

Sniffle

It is cold and wet and nasty outside.
It is mucusy and sore in here.
It is also midterm week.

I am glad that I'm knitting garter stitch right now. (It's taking it's time, but should pick up once I get some academia out of the way)

Housekeeping

It is time for some housekeeping on this blog. I am going to playing around with some settings and layout, updating my blogroll and such over the next day or two, and hopefully I will be much happier with it when it is al done. I'm thinking about plunking in a haloscan commenting system, because blogger is starting to get on my nerves (I'm considering heading over to wordpress or typepad even, but it's not that bad yet). See you in a day or three!

Knitting Knews!

I have interesting things to talk about today! And photos!

Point the first: I finished knitting my Exchequeredesque scarf.


(sorry about the photo, I really need an assistant)

Time: About a month
Yarn: 4 skeins of Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000. 2 in colour 514 (red) and 2 in 518 (yellow). I used almost every last inch. I had maybe 90 cm left over altogether.
Size: ~6' x 4.5"
Verdict: I kind of really love it. It is the perfect size for me. Double knitting really is not that hard! But it might have convinced me to learn to knit continental, as my arm is a little bit worn-out after six feet of 1x1 ribbing.

I tried to show the pattern shift that I charted in the photos, hope you can see it! (This scarf is so very warm and cozy, as I said before, I kind of really love it)






Ok. Other knitting!
Since I cast off my scarf, I had no other knits going on, and since I felt like a break from the knit-purl sequence, my thoughts drifted to something decidedly Zimmermann... And you see, a good friend of mine has a neice aged 2 and a half years, and the Tomten jacket is only a little bit adorable so I found myself hunting for pink yarn (apparently the child likes pink, I am not propagating the colour-bias of my own volition). For now I'll just leave it at a few photos, since it is just a few rows of Garter stitch, and will be so for a bit.



(speaking of cute, matching needles!

Oh, what the heck, let's have one more!


Take care peoples!