oops?

*cough*
Er, hi. Again. Ok, I know I have been unfairly absent this past week. It has included a few days of cathartic doing nothing, a few days of crazy work (which there will be much, much more of), a little bit of knitting, and some cooking and stuff.

As for the knitting, I can't show you. Sorry. It's a gift, and it is so small that it should have been done ages ago... but right now I can't find any darning needles for some neccessary seaming and stitching.

I have been reading though! Take a look, won't you?



I am currently reading Gulliver's Travels, as I had never read the original, and now that I have the time, I'm enjoying a little Swiftian indulgence. (Anyone ever been driven positively *mad* by Swift's over Excessive Capitalization?)
Fear and Trembling and The Sickness Unto Death is a compilation of those two works (originally published separately), and I have had it open for almost a year now. I'll get through it soon, I promise! (Kierkegaard is heavy reading.)
Dracula. Also, another classic which I have never read in the original. I have yet to start it, but I will get there once Gulliver completes his travels.
And finally, some eye candy. I have a friend who works in a fahbulous local quilte shoppe (It's called Satin Moon, they have a website, check them out). And I went to visit her and now have an urge to... expand my textile repertoire... (Because I can afford another stashable hobby?)

Ooh, another small knitting note. I am looking for a new project. I am kicking around a ton of cabled designs and will likely make a big (BIG) pieced cabled afghan over time, as it's going to be just too darned hot to make one big blanket.

I also would like to maybe play with some lace this summer. Does anyone know of any good, not complete beginner, but obviously not Orenberg lace patterns? (Be they scarf, shawl, or whatever. I will probably just find someone to give it away to, since I have no personal need for lace, I am all about the technique and process with this project.)

More post sooner, I promise!

Freedoooooooooooooooooom!

And the school year is over, whew. And it is an incredibly beautiful day, to boot. I met up with some accomplices who also finished today and we went out for lunch. There is this tiny nook of a restaurant in town that serves... I think it is called Mayan somethingsomething. Anyway, traditional Mexican food. And just let me say that it is possibly the best thing I have ever eaten. We ordered 30 tacos (3 varieties) for the three of us, and they all disappeared. I'm not gonna say more, since I can't do it justice, but a dollar apiece for one of those tacos? I felt like we must have been completely ripping them off! It was astooooounding. I will go back. And hopefully get photos.
Anyway, when I get home, there is a package waiting for me! I ordered this on my last day of classes as a little treat for myself, and it showed up the day I finished exams. Serendipitous, no? I have been itching for some of Diana Fayt's pottery for ages now, but I can't really justify buying a big bowl or platter (cost and space reasons). But this little gem of a teabowl is worth every penny. Go check her site out, she does absolutely astounding work.
I'm just gonna give up some photos here. Knitting talk later.

checking in

I'll post once exams are over in... well, a week today. Sorry for the very sporadic posting, much studying and very little knitting/crafting going on, but I'm still around, just busy for another week!

[EDIT] It's not that I don't WANT to wear Dimples, or that I am not happy with it, but rather some completely unfounded fear of somehow ruining it. I wore it tonight to meet a friend for coffee. So far, so good.

Dimples, I presume

Well it's certainly no Skye Tweed Aran Cardigan,but Dimples is done! I even have some (pretty poor) photos of it. (What do you want? It's exam season, my brain is chained to my Latin textbook currently)



Name: Dimples (thanks Ellen!)
Pattern: Elizabth Zimmermann's percentage-based seamless saddle-shouldered sweater (I took it from The Opinionated Knitter)
Yarn: Mandarin Soft Cotton, about 17 balls
Needles: Aero 5mm, 80cm circulars (and some of my random assorted metal 5mm DPNs for the sleeves)
Knitting Time: Februrary 10th (give or take, there was some ripping a few days after to restart smaller), until April 10th (sewing on the last button). Not bad for a sweater in my size, I don't think. I watched A Lot of Battlestar Galactica and Heroes. I was tempted to name it something BSG related, but I really like Dimples.

What do I think? It's soft as all get out, mrowr, it fits (I am a shade leery of the stress that I think is on the back corner of the underarms, but I have no idea what I could even do to remedy that), I like the colours, I think it's fairly flattering, the shoulders worked out pretty well (I was sort of winging the colourwork at that point). I am however absolutely freaking paranoid of wearing/caring for it. I am afraid that it is going to wear out spontaneously or combust or fall apart when it has to get washed, Help!

I did some math, and there are nearly 30,000 stitches in the body below the arms alone (might figure out all the rest once I have some time for fun). But i'll toss up those photos, because I don't want to sit here and type (or study), I'm going biking, woo! (I will try to get good photos of it on me at some point, but it's kind of unlikely without an aide to assist me)

Milestone

So let's see...
Sweater is joined and am working on the yoke. I tried to buy longer circs for it (using 80cm) but Aero doesn't make them longer! (And Aero is the only company I have found which makes the actual needles (not the cable) long enough for me to use (semi)comfortably) Here's hoping I have enough yarn... (If anyone has any Madarin Soft cotton in 093 and/or 008 (grey and green), I would like to hear from you, just in case. But let's hope it doesn't get there...



I bought some yarn. Commercial, superwash, and purple. I owe a good friend something, so this might be a portable project, or at least my next one (might go super-fast).



That's all for knitting, but I have some art/craft stuff to show (maybe) once I get photos.

Ooh, Trompe-L'Oeil by Malajube. Fun album! So Fun!

Excuse me while I go look up kinesiologists at the local gym.

Oh, and the 'Milestone'? This is my 100th post. Rawkk. With two K's.

And one last thing. If you've got me linked on your blog, or blogroll or whatever, let me know! I will most likely be very happy to link back to you! Now is the time to de-lurk!

progress!

So, you may be saying "Hey Boy, you sure talk plenty, but I see no proof of knitting!" Well, fear no more, I found the camera. Had to rough up a pair of gremlins, but they had it coming. I think I only need about another 5" on the body, then I can join for the yoke!



Also, a quick technique question. When I join for the yoke, I inted to split it down the front, because a) I like that kind of neck and b) I will need to work intarsia to keep the two colours, as they wouldn't work in the round. Anyway, my question is do I need to do any kind of edging/border now, or would crocheting around the neckline later (or something) be enough to keep it from curling? (the closest I have seen is Knitty's Saranac, and that has a zipper in after, which I was planning on avoiding)

Popping in

No photos today. Camera is hiding. I suspect gremlins.

However, I like what Ellen said a few posts back. I think I shall call this sweater 'Dimples'. Speaking of the sweater, I am about halfway through the second sleeve (should only be a day or two of knitting when I have time).

The reason that is taking so long is school. It IS March after all. My brain is pretty much gone. Ask anyone, I have not been myself. But I am getting itchy knitting fingers, so I think I might treat myself to a good few hours of knitting tomorrow, provided I get this assignment in.

To help calm myself down, I bought a copy of 'Mantras for Madmen' by Harry Manx. Mr. Manx is an incredibly talented musician who combines the American blues with some enchanting Indian influences (he resided there for 12 years). He now lives on Saltspring Island (small, just up-island from me!) Anyway, this album is less bluesy than some of his other work, and I was so feeling like some blues today, but it is brilliant work regardless. It also bears some of the most appealing album artwork I have seen in a long time. Harry Manx. Check him out. If you like blues/folk and a little experimentation, you will not be disappointed.

This Boy, logging off. (I'll post a photo update of Dimples as soon as I find the camera)