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

Our Very Last Dead Week

Well, our last Winter Study has come to a close. I won't lie and say it was my favorite class ever, but it was fun and I got some really beautiful quilts out of it. The following is my technique sampler, done mostly by hand to get the hang of quilting. Who's surprised that I chose dramatic Asian fabrics? I'm not. I think it's absolutely gorgeous. Even though I won't be pursuing quilting, I'm glad I gave it a try. The next one is my big independent project, done in the Native Rainbow pattern. The color selection was from Walker's suggestion of dark greens and purples that I expanded to a general bruise color scheme. It's not quite bed size, which is a little sad, but it will make a very nice throw.

So after quilting class ended, we has us a very relaxing Dead Week,but was it productive? No. But I did get a bunch of knitting done, including one of the mint-green socks, pictured below.
And here's a closeup of the scales.
Cool, huh? They'll make a neat addition to my sock drawer, once I knit the other one, anyway. And, as per tradition, I started a pair of socks for Walker with that nice yarn Christina and I got in Adams last week. The yarn is a lot smaller than last year's yarn so I only finished one sock and am I about halfway through the other one:
Man, boys have such big feet! Eleven inches is a lot of foot to knit and, oh goody, I get to do the same thing on the other sock. That's the trouble with socks--no matter how accomplished you feel by completing one of them, your jubilation is overshadowed by the fact that you have to make the other one, too. Oh well, he'll have some really nice merino socks once I'm done.

I do need to ease up on the knitting for the next few days anyway, since I'm taking the LSAT this weekend. Yuck. I've been studying and I'm a little more confident than I was last time, but you never know and I could get screwed. We'll see. And on top of that, classes start tomorrow, so that pesky reading should start eating into my knitting time. *sigh* So many projects, so little time. Once these two pairs are finished, I want to start on the Bella Paquita sweater and finally use up that yarn that Mary gave me. And then I can dig into that self-striping yarn that I also bought in Adams. Geez, I really do have too many projects. At least I'll never be bored, right?

Cheers,
-Allie

Last Week of Winter Study

*sigh*

The last Winter Study of my Williams' career is about to come to a close and then a nice, peaceful Dead Week, where I'll have plenty of time to work on this stash busting and studying for the LSATs, since that Feb. 2nd date is starting to look far too close.

Quilting turned out to be far more stressful than I thought it would be--it's a lot to accomplish in 3 weeks, but it looks like I will accomplish it by the end of this week. Or die trying. I don't think it's a hobby I'm going to carry on after this class. Knitting is my calling, after all. I will, however, provide pictures of those quilts once/if they're finished, which should be some time this week.

I spent last weekend housesitting for the knitting instructor's neurotic dogs--that was a chore. At least she paid me well for it and I had time to make this charming fellow:According to the pattern, his name is Francois. Funny name for a Maine lobster, but I think I'll keep it. Here's another view:

I also have not been true to the 'no buying yarn before you finish what you've got' dictum, since I went with Christina to a rather overpriced yarn store in Adams, that I don't think we'll be revisiting, and bought some really nice sock yarn for Walker and some not-so-nice, but self-striping sock yarn for me =). So many projects. Now I'm really not allowed to buy any more yarn until all of this stuff is used up. Okay?

I have been working on the rest of the yarn in my stash, though. That odd ball of kid mohair that I used for those socks earlier in the year is being turned into a really loose and lacy scarf for my mother. If she doesn't like it, I'll just have to donate it or something. I've also broken open a ball of fingering wt yarn that I've had in my bag since summer--I don't really know why I bought it, but it's going to make a nice pair of mint green socks for me.

Looks like fish scales, doesn't it? So cool. I'd say it's been a fairly productive and satisfactory Winter Study. The only thing I would change is the amount of snow we had. It keeps flurrying and not sticking and it makes me very sad. We had so much in December and now it's all gone. What's that about? Oh well, good thing we weren't planning on going skiing this year.
Cheers,
-Allie