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No photo yet, but I finished the Breast Cancer Awareness scarf today. What a great knit; the pattern was just challenging enough to be interesting, easy enough to be a quick knit. Of course, the 37" length helps...
And the yarn? An absolute dream to work with. I heart Classic Elite Wool BamBoo.
I'm just getting home and watching the Bravo instant replay of Project Runway. We're in the judging and I have a Very Bad Feeling about Chris tonight, which makes me sad...cause I really liked his dress. I about fell out of the bed when they cracked on Chris's dress and then went on and on about Sweet P's, which was infinitely more boring to me. It's now 11:52 and I am pretty darn sure that Chris is out since I can't imagine they'd send Jillian or VictorYa home (and VictorYa created the most non-new looking denim item).
This is what I do when I watch this show. I spend the last commerical break popping Tums and working myself up into a frenzy. Sometimes I'm surprised, but usually I can see the writing on the wall...or in the editing, since that's where the magic happens. You know that if Tim Gunn makes a comment about something wrong with the garment in his workroom rounds, then that's going to be a bone of contention in the final analysis. It's like the comments I put in a student paper before I write my end comment and assign a grade; it all is pointing to that final outcome, and if you read well, you'll see it coming.
OK--I'm on pins and needles....
Ricky won a challenge. And they're going to sell his dress. Where are the tears, Ricky? Where are the tears?
OK...I see them struggling to get out.
And now for the loser...Whoa! Was I wrong there! OMG--could it be? YES!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad VictorYa is gone--I didn't see that coming!
Will the sun rise tomorrow? Ricky WON a challenge; Victorya is auf. Stay tuned...
No school today, so I'm playing catch-up: getting my grade book organized and populated, prepping for my campus visit in South Carolina tomorrow, arranging for teaching subs, washing dishes, doing laundry...
Wait. Sounds like any other day.
Yesterday I taught class one in my Top Down Socks class. I used to only teach the magic loop technique, but I've branched out and now teach socks on either circs or double points. I thought it was going to be rough, but things worked out surprisingly well yesterday--at least, from my perspective they did. I really enjoy teaching sock knitting and hope that my students enjoy learning!
And today? Well, I've cast on another project that must be finished by next Monday. It's Classic Elite's Breast Cancer Awareness Scarf. I purchased the kit from The Needle Nook at an AKG meeting last fall and am making it for an old schoolmate. I can get 2 balls of yarn knit up in 7 days, right? Especially when it's silky Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo.
Will this
keep me away from this?
Stay tuned...
ETA: Sigh. Concert is cancelled. I'm casting on for my red jacket instead.Yeah, I'm still knitting.
Darilee and I are teaching a sweater design class at the moment--we have 4 fantastic students--and we both decided to work on sweaters with the class as well. Darilee, wise woman that she is, decided to work with Noro Silk Garden Chunky. She's already swatched and is about halfway up the back of her sweater. One week after the class started, I finally got a swatch together.
I've been eyeing this particular shade of Galway Highland Heathers (color 746) for a long time. It's a gorgeous deep heathered red; it has hints of charcoal and silver, and it just makes me happy to look at it. I bought a bag of it in December for this sweater and started to think about the sweater I would make.
And I thought, and I thought, and I thought.
I considered making something really casual--a simple garter or stockinette cardigan that I could wear with jeans, or a cozy pullover, or a hoodie. Those would have been wise choices; easy stitch patterning, fairly quick knitting, simple finishing.
But hey, why go easy when you can go hard, eh? I picked up my needles and started swatching. I picked a stitch pattern that would make the kind of fabric I wanted, and proceeded to increase my needle sizes until I was using US 11 needles to get that worsted to 5 st/inch. While I did that work, I worked out a few other things as well.
So I'm working toward a linen stitch jacket, with set-in sleeves, a round neck, a slight bit of waist shaping, i-cord edging (in charcoal or the same red--I haven't decided yet), and some unobtrusive, but effective, closure.
Amazing what making a swatch can inspire you to do.
To my friends watching Project Runway: Why is Ricky STILL on?
I mean, I know Vincent was annoying last season, but at least he made decent dresses...
Thanks for the comments on my visitor; we're getting to know each other and having a lovely time! The weather outside is frightful, so I stopped off at the yarn shop tonight to pick up fiber provisions just in case...
The enchanting visitor who has taken me away from my knitting and blogging--
And the fruits of my labors--
Tired, but full; had a great dinner with friends tonight in Athens and am relaxing after a long day.
Confession: I haven't knit a stitch since Friday. Any idea why?
I disappeared! If you came looking and I wasn't here, sorry--I somehow missed the email to re-up my domain name subscription. Ah, that internet.
First day of classes was today. I'll be headed to bed with a hot toddy now...
Albany, NY--home of my new nephew!
A couple of snowy images, taken on my last day there:
Busy day in these parts. I've been trying to tidy my house while Steve has been busy photographing a substantial portion of my stash so that I can Sell It All. I'll be posting on Ravelry over the next few days (AnaNg in that world), but if you'd like to see what I've got for sale, check out the Flickr pics.
How about that caucus? I woke today to news of Obama's big win--not entirely unexpected, but I thought the Clinton machine would have done a bit better than 3rd place. New Hampshire will certainly be interesting to watch. The Huckabee win was another minor surprise. I suppose I need to start actually paying attention to the election now; it's been really hard for me to care much since it seemed the campaigning began 2 years ago and I didn't want to get weary. After 20 minutes of coverage on the Today Show, though, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Too many people to get to know too quickly...
In other news, entirely unrelated, I've got a visitor at home. More tomorrow...
I spent most of the day today at home, working on some school-related projects. I found a bit of time to finish watching the first season of Heroes on Netflix (love the streaming video feature), which reduced me to tears. That felt good.
Evening was a bit less sedentary; I attended the January meeting of the Atlanta Knitting Guild, where we heard a great talk on color forecasting. Best news? Gorgeous lapis blue in upcoming palettes, which made me really excited, cause I love a good blue. My fingers are itching now for some tasty blue yarn...
I went to Albany, NY. I walked through Chicago. I didn't feel nearly as cold in either place as I've felt today in GA.
More tomorrow when my fingers have warmed up.
Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, productive new year! I'm sitting on the couch in my pajamas (it's 3:16 p.m. EST) watching a Monk marathon and contemplating the year behind and ahead.
2007 was a really busy year. I finished my dissertation, graduated (for the last time) from college, set a wedding date, entered the academic job market, taught a bunch of knitting classes, knit some stuff (I don't think I have the heart to do a year-end post this year), traveled a bit (to Albany and NYC and Chicago and Detroit), got a new nephew, and just stayed busy.
In 2008, I'm going to get a job (God willing), get married (God bless), move into a new house (pending job/marriage), find a new LYS (see previous list item), teach some knitting classes, teach some English classes, travel (New Orleans only, so far, but who knows?), knit some stuff, and just stay busy. More of the same.
I'm going to try the Blog 365 thing this year. I suck at the everyday writing thing, but I need to try. I'll be splitting my blogging between here and Speak Lightning, a blog I started a while back to catch things I was thinking about my professional work. I'll have to work out a blogging schedule for the two; I need to write something, everyday, so that I can get back into the swing of regular writing.
I need to knit everyday too. It's been too easy for me to go for days at a time without making one stitch, and that makes for a very un-friendly, too-internally-focused me.
These are not "resolutions," though. They're more "nice-things-that-I-ought-to-do-and-will-try-to-do" for this year.
Back to Monk.