Christmas Time!

Yay, I finished all my Christmas gifts! Here are some pictures of the gloves I made for Mom. I tried at first to figure them out from pictures I found on the internet, but I couldn't quite get it right, so I had to buy the book, but it was worth it, I think: And the palm:

I didn't get any pictures of Dad's scarf because I wrapped it up before I remembered that I was supposed to take a picture, so I'll just have to do that after I give it to him. So then I didn't really know what to do with myself or my leftover yarn until I found a gaping hole in the gloves I was using. And what better way to replace them than with another pattern from the new book I had to buy? Here's the first glove I've completed.And the palm:I haven't finished the other one, mainly because I messed up by starting to make another right-hand glove and had to start over. Whoops. I'm sure I'll have it done in no time and then my fingertips won't be so cold anymore. Dad's scarf had some considerable leftovers, too, so I'm going to make Walker a nice pair of gloves, so his fingers will be nice and warm, too. I have a whole bunch of fingering weight yarn that I don't know what to do with, though. Any suggestions?

In other news, Christmas is in less than a week and I couldn't be more excited! We're leaving for Maine tomorrow afternoon and I'll get to introduce my new fiance to friends and extended family, yay! We also have job interviews with a staffing agency on Monday, so wish us luck!

And here is the customary picture of Jericho wearing his adorable Christmas collar that jingles when he moves. How cute is that?

Merry Christmas everyone!

-Allie

Wedding Bells

Of course you all already know our big news, but I wanted to share it again: we're engaged, yay! We haven't set a date yet, but if I get my way, it'll be in early October, so clear your calendars! I even have a date to try on some wedding dresses while I'm home for Christmas. It's really happening now, guys. :) I'll let you know as more things progress and fall into place.
Some less exciting news: I did hear back from that job and they have a hiring freeze right now. Awesome. They think they should have an opening at the beginning of the year, but I'm not so sure that I really want it anymore. Now that Walker's stint at the Penn library is almost over, Walker and I are seriously considering moving to Maine and have been looking for jobs there. We even have interviews with a staffing agency next Monday, which will hopefully result in a very positive change in our financial circumstances. Wish us luck! The interviews also mean that Walker will be joining my family and me for Christmas, more yay!
Having only a part-time job has given me lots of time for knitting, both for me and Christmas presents for my family. Here's the Stardust cardigan/Christmas sweater I made for myself:
Note the lack of awful applique reindeer. It's a little smaller in the bust area than I had thought it would (which is a really weird thing for me), but I think if I tighten it at the tie joint, it should look at little better. It's still cute. Because we're a little short on funds this Christmas, my family's getting gifts that don't break the bank, but are made with lots and lots of love. Walker's getting another pair of argyle socks, which I think are even better than the last pair (that I accidentally shrank). The cuffs are looser, which means they're easier for him to put on and I like the color scheme better than the last ones. When I asked my sister what she wanted, of course she had to ask for the most ambitious of projects, a sweater. And since she didn't like any of the patterns, I could find, I actually wrote this pattern for her. I really really hope it fits her okay. It might be a little shorter than she would have liked and the neckline may not hit where she wanted it to, but I'm fairly confident the torso measurements should fit okay and the yarn is super soft. So regardless of how short it is, it'll still be really comfy. Now I only have my parents' projects to finish. Dad's getting the Triumph Scarf in jade green and I'm about halfway through with it. Mom will be getting some Nordic-inspired gloves, once the book Selbuvotter arrives. They're going to be in some combination of red and white; I'm not sure which will be the background and which will make the pattern. I'm leaning towards red bg and white fg. I'll post pictures when I finish those. Yay, Christmas!
And here's a gratuitous picture of Jericho in an empty box of propel. Too cute!

Cheers,

-Allie

Hats Galore

It's picture time. I had a lot of time to knit while I was in GA, so here are a few completed projects:
First, I made a hat with some of the leftover blue mirasol yarn based on the blue mirasol pattern and added a flower. I kind of made up the pattern based on a few different ones. So I didn't really write it myself, just had a lot of inspiration.
Cute, huh? I gave this one to Mary (Walker's sister) to match the gloves I made her (below) and she was excited that no one else she knows will have a similar hat. Yay, original handmade gifts! Speaking of which, the punkin hat is also completed:

Awww. I didn't get to make this one in cotton as I would have liked because they didn't have a suitable orange, but it's in a washable merino from knitpicks, so that's almost as good. I'm going to ask my mother secretary to send me a picture of her little Charlie in the hat. If she does, I'll share it with you guys =)

Jericho thought it was relevent to his interests as well. He's so helpful with picture-taking. =P

I also made little Charlie a froggy with the leftover yarn:

I thought about keeping it for Jericho, but he really has enough toys lying around our apartment, so I mailed it to Charlie with the hat.

Un/fortunately that Blue Mirasol hat wasn't enough to kill that yarn, so I made some gloves for Mary, using the Cable News Gloves pattern. They were fairly complicated--I had 7 needles going on them at once--but they came out nicely and fit her very well.

Now she'll be super-stylish and warm when she gets cold at the football game.

But I had SO much of that yarn leftover that even these gloves couldn't finish it off, so I'll be trying to make another of those Blue Mirasol hats for Walker's Mom so mom and daughter can match. Yay! And then I can finally get to that Stardust Cardigan, after all these little projects and after that yarn accidentally got shipped to Reno.

News on the job front: no word yet. I'm going to call them tomorrow and hopefully I'll get a favorable answer. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Cheers,

-Allie

The Waiting Game

So I had my job interview last week and it went really well. In fact, I don't think it could have gone any better. They said they'll let me know if they're going to offer me a job in about another week, but I think I'm going to call this week anyway because this waiting thing is driving me crazy. Ugh! At least I should be distracted for the next couple of weeks since Mom is coming to visit this weekend (no, we're not going to homecoming. sorry) and next week we'll be dog/sister sitting in Georgia.

Knitting:

I finished Jericho's yarn mice:

and we've been having a great time dangling them in front of him. I didn't even have to put any catnip in them; he just loves them. What a great way to use up orphan yarn balls! Here's another one:

And a gratutitous Jericho picture:

I've also finished the Blue Mirasol sweater. It fits really well except that it's kind of short. I'll just have to compensate by wearing longer shirts underneath it. It's also a little bit see-through so those shirts will have to be dark colored.

And from the back:

The patter was also a little vague on the amount of yarn needed, so I had about 500 yards of fingering weight yarn left and I didn't really feel like making socks, so I'm working on a hat (that I actually designed myself) based on the Blue Mirasol pattern and I'll probably add a knitted flower to it. I sure hope it turns out okay. This probably won't use up all the yarn, though, so I'll have to come up with another way, like maybe some gloves. That might use up some of the other leftover fingering weight stuff I have, too.

I still don't have much interest in working on the seascape shawl right now, though, so I caved and ordered more yarn. You guys remember that cute little blueberry hat I made for my mother's secretary? Well her little bundle of joy has outgrown that hat, so she asked me to make him another one and I'm going to make him this punkin hat! So cute! I've also been eyeing the Stardust Cardigan for a while and had even picked out the right yarn to go with it, but when I was indulging in some yarn ogling yesterday, I was shocked to discover that that yarn was our of stock on most websites! I could only find it in the color I wanted on eBay and at a reduced price! So of course I had to order it because I have no willpower. I'll look awfully pretty this holiday season, anyway.

Cheers,

-Allie

Meet Jericho

So things have been going a lot better since my last post. Firstly, we adopted a new kitten, Jericho! He's about the cutest thing ever, but is super busy and super curious. I absolutely love having an affectionate little furball in the house, even if he wants to destroy the wicker furniture. We'll just have to buy him a scratching post. More play pictures:

So cute they melt your face off, don't they?

In other news, I finally have an interview scheduled for next week, which will hopefully end in a job. I'm really excited!

In knitting news, it's been a little cold in Philly the past couple of weeks, so I made myself some fingerless gloves to keep my delicate fingers warm:

I mixed a couple of patterns to make these babies. I got the shape from Marnie Maclean's pattern for which she used a self-striping yarn and a couple of the patterns from the Sea Mineral Mittens. For the yarn, I used some of the leftovers from those argyle socks I made for Walker a little while ago with good result, I think. They're warm anyway.

Some bad news, though: that yarn is apparently not machine washable, despite what the label said and Walker's lovely socks have now shrunk to my size. So boo for him, yay for me. I'll just have to make him some new ones later.

I have also finished the torso of the Blue Mirasol sweater. I really love the yarn, which is Berocco's Ultra Alpaca fine--a fingering weight yarn with a wool-alpaca blend. The problem, however, is that the pattern wasn't written very well and the lengths are a little off. I had to improvise a little and the cabled waistband is a little lower than I would have liked. I still think it looks nice, though:

Now all I have to do is make the sleeves and add a neckline and it'll be all done hurray! I've also been working on a couple of toys of Jericho, but they're not quite finished yet, so no pictures yet.

So now I've got all kinds of new things to keep me busy.

Keep your fingers crossed!

-Allie

Real life is no fun

Hey all,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I haven't been making much progress with either knitting or life in general and the reason I haven't posted is because I didn't much fancy blaring that my life is still going nowhere, but it's been a long time since my last post, so here it is:

Knitting:

I finished the danica scarfAnd it did not take as long as I thought it would. Could be that I finished it as quickly as I did because I didn't have much else to do with myself. I know I said I wouldn't do entrelac again, but I think it looks pretty cool. I don't think I'll keep it, though. Any takers?

I also had a bunch of that dark purple yarn leftover that I used to make a hat:It's a little tough to see in that picture, but there's a purl row spiral going around the hat. It's a little too big for my head, though, so that's up for grabs as well.

After I finished that hat, I've been trying to bust the stash a little more with that remaining skein of bamboo lace. I checked the gauge on the clapotis wrap and it's a little off, so I'm working on the Seascape Shawl instead. Progress isn't going very quickly, though, since it's a little too similar to the cleopatra wrap and I'm just not very excited about it.

I'm trying to remedy this problem by moving on to another project. I know I said I would work on the Goddess Top next, but sweater season is starting to sneak up on me and I changed my mind to the Blue Mirasol Top and ordered the yarn for it yesterday. Maybe this'll restore my fervor.

Life in General:

So I'm still waiting around for an interview. After 2 months.

I called my most prominent prospect last Tuesday and she asked me for my schedule for this week and the next. I was really hoping that this meant I would get an interview soon, but she hasn't called me back yet. And neither has my other prospect--a friend of my landlady. I'm going to call them both tomorrow and hopefully I'll get some good news.

Right now I'm getting a pathetic number of hours at a local clothing store. Really, if they want me to buy the clothes, maybe they should give me enough hours to pay my bills and then buy clothes. Silly people. I'm trying to stay hopeful, but it's a little difficult when I keep getting put off, week after week. Keeping that little flame of hope alive is tough, but well worth the effort. I refuse to despair about this anymore.
So there's your update. I'll let you know more as things progress, both with the sweater and the job market. Keep your fingers crossed!

Cheers,

-Allie

At Last!

The Cleopatra Wrap is finally finished and blocked! I am extremely pleased with the results and was pleasantly surprised with how well bamboo holds a shape after blocking.
Those points came out rather nicely, don't you think? The finished measurements are 75" x 16", which is a lot more than I thought I would get out of one skein, but it'll make a lovely shawl when/if fall comes to Philly.

I'm not quite sure what I'll do with the other skein of bamboo yarn I bought when I was panicking about the length of this shawl. Maybe I'll turn it into the Clapotis Wrap, which will make a lovely shawl, but will be somewhat less taxing than Cleopatra. Maybe Miss Christina would like it as a transition piece into the lovely world of shawls?

I also took some pictures of me in the seed-cabled cardigan for your viewing pleasure:

(That little black spot is actually a snap, since the pattern didn't allow for any closing device--it's not a bug or anything) And here it is from behind:

A few days ago I came to the conclusion that I no longer liked that wine-colored sweater I made back in December, so rather than waste the yarn, I took the thing apart and turned some of it into the Talia Vest:

I'm not as keen as I thought I would be on the finished product. Perhaps part of it is because I couldn't find any silver-colored buttons and had to settle for white, but it still looks pretty good so I think I'll hang onto it for a while. It looks better from behind, in my opinion:

This vest leaves me with about 300 yards of both this color and the dark purple, so they might be transformed into the Danica Scarf, which, while cool, doesn't entirely suit me, so if you'd like that scarf or want something in those colors but in a different style, speak up. I want to use the contents of my knitting bag (except for that little bit of fingering weight yarn) so that I can order the yarn for the goddess top without feeling bad about it.

Hope you all have a wonderful end of summer!

-Allie

Philadelphia!

Wow, it's been an awfully long time since I've updated this thing and so much has happened since then! For starters, I finished all my schoolwork (on time, I might add) and we all graduated June 2nd with much pomp and a slight hint of rain. They were so concerned it was going to downpour that they even gave us plastic baggies to put our diplomas in!
Of course I also finished all the graduation gifts I'd planned for the girls and they've all received them, but unfortunately, I am not able to locate the images I took of them. I really have no idea what I did with them. Perhaps they didn't make it to this new computer after the old one broke. (Yes, again.) So I don't have any pictures for you of those and you'll just have to imagine how pretty they were.
Then after graduation, Walker and i made the move to Philadelphia and are finally all settled in. Everything is put away and the stove (finally) works. There are still some things that need to get patched up around the place, but those are supposed to happen today. I am still unemployed and getting rather anxious about that. I did find a job, but that basically required me to waltz around Home depot and harass their customers about getting their cabinets refaced. It was awful and I quit that last week. Fortunately, however, I had an interview at a law firm on Monday for a paralegal position that would allow me to actually handle cases and not just run errands or do boring research. The woman seemed to like me and when I called her on Tuesday, she seemed optimistic about having me come in for a second interview sometime in the next couple of weeks. I really hope that works out because I would really love that job! Right now we're surviving on savings and Walker's job at the UPenn manuscript library, which is all the more reason for me to find a job and fast (which I promise I will do once I finish this post).

But back to knitting. Since I am unemployed right now, I've had some time to work on some knitting projects, like the seed cabled cardigan, which is pictured below.Even Walker tells me about how much he likes this one! I got the pattern out of the book Sensual Knits and used Knitpicks CotLin yarn, which is super-comfy! The only thing I changed (apart from the yarn) is the width of the ribbing on the front; I made it a little narrower and am very pleased with the outcome. Maybe I'll get a picture of it on me in a later post--my camera always seems to be on the fritz when I'm wearing it.
Because Walker's been so nice to me, I decided to reward him with another pair of socks, but I couldn't bear to make another boring forest green pair, so I made him some argyle socks!

I got this pattern out of Mary's book Never Knit Your Man a Sweater until You've Got the Ring! and used Knitpicks' Essential sock yarn, which means these babies are not only more interesting, but also machine washable. The only thing I don't like was that the pattern was so complicated that it required me to knit the leg portion flat and seam it afterwards, which means there is a moderately uncomfortable seam at the heel of the sock, but Walker says he doesn't mind, so I guess it's okay.

So now all that's left in my knitting bag is the Cleopatra wrap and its yarn and a some red and blue yarn from those socks. I don't know what to do with those partial balls of fingering-wt yarn, so I think they'll just hang out until I make another fair-isle fingering-wt project. But I don't know what I'll be working on once/if I finish the Cleopatra wrap. I've only got about another 2 feet to put on the thing (I have 4 1/2) and it'll be finished. I've been thinking I want to make the Goddess Top by Stitch Diva Studios in a mulberry colored bamboo yarn. What do you guys think?

I should probably scoot off now and do some more job searching.

Cheers!

Crunch Time

Wow, so we only have two more weeks left of school. I've got about 42 pages to write by next Thursday for four different projects and a final exam in another class. But at noon next Saturday, I'll be all done with school. At least for now.
My life is beginning to take more shape than it had been before--I'm definitely moving to Philadelphia and I've applied to jobs in a law firm and the Philadelphia Art Museum, hoping to explore the potential for a career in either of those fields. I have only about 150 pages left of Les Miserables, which I plan to finish Wednesday morning. I'm starting to get really excited about graduation and the next chapter of my life. I'd be a little more excited if I had an apartment and a job lined up, but you can't have everything.
Yet through all this, I have found the time to knit, as always. I finished all the graduation gifts I had been planning, but no pictures--it's a surprise! I'll put some up after graduation, though, as I am quite proud of them. I have also managed to finish off that lavender yarn with a lovely reversible cable scarf for my sister:I think she'll like it. The trick is really quite simple: it's just a K1, P1 rib all the way across. It took forever and it's only about 4 1/2 feet long, but the effect is rather neat. Detail below:
I don't think I'll be making another one of those any time soon, but it was an interesting thing to try. So now, apart from about 2 half skeins of red yarn, 1 worsted, one heavy worsted, my stash has been emptied. If anyone wants those half skeins, there's probably enough in each of them to make a hat or something. If you don't want them, I might try to make up a phoenix pattern for Caroline (for which I might need to steal some of Jodi's yellow) with the worsted and...I don't know what with the heavy worsted.
And because I managed to burn my stash down to this meager pile, I allowed myself to refill it a little, with some lovely pine-colored merino, with which I will make the Chapeau Marnier, and some turquoise-colored cotton, with which to make the Seed Cabled Cardigan from the Sensual Knits book. Once those are finished, I promise I will get back to the Cleopatra wrap. I think by that point, I'll have had a sufficient break and be able to make some more headway.

And maybe I'll work on my school projects too =P.

Cheers,
-Allie

Over the Hump

So this last week has kind of been the week from Hell, what with huge papers, presentations and poetry recitationt to memorize. But I still managed to get a few projects done, including finding a use for that yarn Mrs. Matthews gave me:I made some lovely, and festive cabled mittens that I really have no use for. Does anyone want these (who has hands about my size) or know anyone who does? If not, I'm going to donate them to charity so that at least someone will love them.

A few weeks ago, one of my mother's employees gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, so to celebrate the occasion, I made him an adorable little blueberry hat (yeah, yeah, I ordered more yarn...) that is accompanied by matching booties:

Too. Cute.

After that, I'll set to work making Jodi's graduation gift and after that a scarf for my sister, using the final remnants of that lavender yarn. I found a neat reversible cable scarf that my sister can enjoy and than I will finally be rid of that pile of purple yarn. Yay!

And then who knows? I'm sure I'll find something to do when I really should be wrapping up my final projects. =P

Cheers,

-Allie

Home Stretch

So we're in the final stretch of college. No more breaks before graduation, just lots and lots of work. That's why I haven't posted--because I haven't had much time to knit. I've been too busy trying to throw this research paper together for Monday that there hasn't been much room in my schodule for knitting, which is really saying something as far as I'm concerned.
I don't even have any fun pictures for you this go-round. Just changes to the project line-up.
Remember how pretty that Latvian mitten pattern was? I thought it was perfect until I learned it's a children's size. Oops. So I took that apart, as well as the gift I had in mind for Jodi, which I no longer think she'll like, and I'm going to use the yarn from both to make her something entirely different that I think she'll like better =).
I haven't really made much progress on the Cleopatra wrap, either. It's just taking too long and I'm getting bored with how slow it's going. Maybe if I just do one other project I'll be able to come back to it. Right now I've got about 2 1/2 feet of wrap, which is not even half. Maybe I'll finish it by the time I'm 30 and then you can all bask in its glory...maybe.
I also still need to figure out what to do with the rest of that lavender yarn and stripey yarn. No suggestions? Maybe I'll make some hats and mittens and donate them if no one wants it.
Well, there's my meager update. Back to the grindstone with me.

Cheers,
-Allie

Spring Break!!

Yay, we're on Spring Break!
This is the less exciting of our two weeks off: hanging around with Walker's family in Athens. I can't complain, though, since it has been a relaxing and worry-free several days. Flying down here was relatively painless. Our flight was on time, but the "tornado" weather in Atlanta prevented us from landing promptly and we had to circle around in a holding pattern for about an extra hour. I would say that it would have been a good time to work on my knitting, but I was working on a hat made from the leftovers from that last pair of socks I made for Walker and there wasn't quite enough to finish. It was really cute, though, so I think I may get more yarn and make it anyway--I can get it for cheap at knitpicks ;-). But since we've been here and hanging out in their basement, I have finished off that stripey sock yarn, making a pair for Sunmi's little feet: Aren't they cute? I don't have a picture of the pair I made for me, since I figured it would be redundant, but they're just as cute =). That yarn went really fast. I know you all aren't shocked by how fast I cranked out those socks, but I am! Anyway, Sunmi and I each have nice new pairs of Williams-y colored socks.
In between hanging out with Walker's family and visiting with his friends (this evening we went bowling and I threw my best game yet: 114!), I've started on that delicious Cleopatra wrap with the bamboo lace yarn.Pretty, huh? It's a little hard to see the definition, but the color came out clearer without the flash--that made it look much too orange, ew. Oh, I love this yarn. It's sooo soft, but it's also sooo slick and I've accidentally dropped a few stitches and made several mistakes. Hopefully the holeyness of the pattern will make them less noticable :-/. It's going to take me forever to finish this (comparatively), but it'll be so worth it. It is so full of pretty =).
In other news, I've figured a way to use up some of that lavender yarn and some leftovers from graduation gifts (which I also finished right before we left for break). I'm going to take a stab at these lovely Latvian-Inspired mittens. I don't yet know who will be receiving them--perhaps with their purple and red colors they'd appeal to Jodi ;-). One would think I would be doing well with the stash-busting, considering I'd have all the yarn in my stash planned into projects (just the wrap and mittens, plus one more lavender ball), except that when Walker's mother saw me working on the self-striping socks, she remembered that she had some stripey yarn that she'd bought a while ago and probably wasn't going to use:So now I've got two balls of that plus one ball of lavender yarn to plan out--no buying more yarn before the 4 projects I've got left. I mean it this time. Anyone have any thoughts for the remaining yarns? Want me to make you something out of them? No reason to feel guilty since neither cost me a dime.
To finish off this super-long post, I thought I'd throw in a picture of the Valentine's Day surprises that I forgot to post back in February: a little Valentine's bear! Isn't he cute? He's about 6 inches tall and has two brothers that were also distributed on Valentine's Day. No grad gift pictures, though. You have to wait for those--keep you in suspense. So have a wonderful second half of spring break! I probably won't update before we get back since we may not have internet in Florida (leaving Georgia on Saturday) plus I won't likely have anything to report--this shawl is not going very quickly. It's gorgeous, but slow, and I should be out in the sun anyway, just as the rest of you should =).

Cheers,
-Allie

Bella Paquita

...Is finished! Okay, so I finished it a while ago and am finally getting around to updating, but to be fair, it's been having problems since the moment I started it and I only resolved the last little hole on Monday, but here it is in all its glory:I am very pleased with the way it came out--a lovely sweater for the spring that can't decide if it wants to show up or not. Snow-rain-snow-rain--pick one already!

So despite the busy (read: intensely hectic) semester, I've still managed to find time for my favorite hobby (read: obsession). I've been working on some graduation goodies for the girls and have finished a couple of them, but you just have to wait to find out what they are ;-). I also made a pair of fingerless gloves for my Walker whose delicate hands get cold when he works at the computer.

A nice masculine way to keep his little fingers warm. I wasn't too crazy about the way the yarn feels, but the tweedy look is rather attractive, even if you can't really see it in this photo. Next up, if I make it to spring break unscathed is a pair of socks using the self-stripey yarn in glorious purple and yellow. Nothing to get excited about, but at least they're machine washable, which is something I cannot say about most of the socks I've made in the past. I'm going to change that in the future. Handwashing is no fun. Don't do it. And then after that, who knows? I'm open to suggestions as to how I might use up those last 3 balls of lilac yarn that Mary gave me =).

'Night all,

-Allie

Senior Spring: Not as cool as you'd think

So it's been a really long time since I've updated and I'm sorry about that, but there have been some minor crises and adjustments that took place in the last few weeks. Not the least of these crises was the LSAT a couple of weeks ago--just awful. I'm still awaiting the results, but I already know they're not going to be good. My relentless (and often invisible) optimism was the only thing that kept me from cancelling the scores, which in retrospect, I probably should have done. Too late now. I'll just have to deal with the shame and grief when it comes. The other major crisis was my computer crashing and the OIT people having to reinstall EVERYTHING, which means that I'm still missing a lot of data and many of my programs are either non-functional or not present. So rather than losing a best friend (on whom I greatly depended), I have to deal with one that suffered a severe blow to the head and now copes with acute amnesia. Awesome.

But now that I've got my drivers mostly reinstalled, I can at least upload pictures again and update my blog! I should also add that I've been neglecting my e-diary because of the rather intense reading workload this semester, much of which is in French. With fewer art history classes comes fewer pictures in the reading, which makes the reading longer and considerably more boring. I know that makes me sound like an elementary school student, but isn't my love of pictures why I'm taking art history in the first place? It makes sense to me anyway.

Anyway: knitting. As I mentioned, the increased reading load seriously cuts into my knitting time, so I don't have much to show for my near 4-week absence. But being the accomplished knitter/procrastinator that I am, I have managed to make some progress.

I finished both the pairs of socks that I'd been working on. I like the way Walker's turned out--he even wore them the other day! But the elasticity of the yarn leaves something to be desired, so not quite perfect socks. Yet another reason not to go back to that shady yarn store in Adams. I don't really like mine, though. They look nice there, but they kinda look stupid on my feet. Could be something to do with the Walmart yarn, could have something to do with the pattern. Either way, I'll probably be donating them unless someone really takes a fancy to them.I also have been working hard on the Bella Paquita sweater with the yarn that Mary gave me. I started it a few weeks ago, but didn't read the instructions clearly enough and started it from the wrong direction. So I got about halfway through the thing before I realized that it was all wrong and I had to take it apart and start over. Now I have about half a sweater worked in the correct direction and should be finished with it pretty soon, especially since the correct first half was the harder half and the rest should flow fairly easily--just some K2, P2 ribbing. All that will be left once I finish that (which I should be able to accomplish during the ridiculously long screening of Les Miserables this week) is to adjust the neckline lace to it sits right. Woohoo! I'm really excited--this one's going to be pretty.

And now to bed, so I can punish myself with more pictureless reading in the morning.

Cheers,

-Allie