Blast from the Past

This weekend at home has been great so far, even though the weather has been disgusting. I’ve had lots of knitting time, and we may have stopped at another yarn store on the way home… It’s official. I’m addicted.

But since I’ve been home, I took a little break from the knitting to look through some old photos. I found some great ones so I thought I would share.

Fall is beautiful every year, including in 2004

This is where I come from

Me & my old dog Oden in the bush on a walk

Winter is also pretty

That’s probably not w you guys were hoping or expecting to see today, but I’ll have a post up tomorrow about these crazy mittens I’m making… The lady in the yarn store was right to call me brave!

Dreaming of Mittens

Before I went to bed last night, I did a Ravelry search of stranded mitten patterns.

When I woke up this morning, I thought about stranded mittens.

When I walked to school, I thought about stranded mittens.

I may have looked up yarn to purchase to make stranded mittens.

It’s an obsession and I have to stop! I have too much other knitting to do… For starters, basically an entire sweater, as well as all of the Christmas presents that are left.

Speaking of, I’ve made some good progress on my Dad’s socks. I’m at 4.5 inches out of 7 inches for the cuff/leg. I’ll be finished in no time. Tonight may not be the night though… I have a midterm tomorrow in my Agricultural Production Systems, Health, & Industry class (I know, it’s a mouthful). I’m hoping it won’t be too bad, as its my first midterm this semester and I’m totally out of practise.

As I write this, I’m sitting in the library, about to start studying, and I’m reminded of last year. It was first year, and I mostly knitted baby hats and socks.

I haven’t knit a pair of mittens in over a year.

I think I’m going to make mittens next.

That Certain Shade of Yellow

Today was one of those perfect fall days. I was walking to school, admiring the leaves, when I realized that I needed some mittens. Not thick winter mittens, but some fussy fall mittens. I have a number of patterns picked out already, I just need yarn…

And some self-control. I have to stick with the plan on all of this Christmas knitting. I’ve been working away on my Dad’s socks, and I’ve realized that I would like to make him another pair, with plainer yarn and a little more of a fancy pattern. Just to add something else to the list… However, they are staying at the bottom, and I’m only making them if I decide that I have enough time!

So what about this post is yellow?

Well, there’s the mustard shade in my Dad’s socks…

Dad’s socks

There’s also the colour of the leaves today…

This was actually last year on campus, but it looks the same today

There’s the sunset that I can’t wait to see this weekend…

The sunset from the farm… Hopefully it won’t be too cloudy for this

There’s the colour of my cat’s eyes, in photos that I found on my computer…

I realize that this is black and white so you can’t see the colours, but you know what I mean.

And then there’s something else. Something that isn’t yellow at all. This something is purple. It’s called Rett Syndrome. My sister has it, and it Awareness month. There’s a great blog that I read called Grace for Rett about a young girl in the UK who also has it. Her mom is a photographer, and she’s amazing.

Read it. Learn.

I’m sure tomorrow will be another yellow day.

But I’m secretly hoping that it will be purple.

These Socks Are Killing Me

I swear. This is the fourth time that I’ve ripped them out. This time, it was because I didn’t have the right size. Apparently, my father has extra-large, extra-wide feet… According to this pattern anyway.

I am beyond frustration, but these socks will be finished. They are coming with me this weekend, and I’ll finally get them going properly. No more ripping out, no more re-casting on.

I don’t know if I’ve ever done this much frogging on something so small and simple. I guess there’s a first time for everything! I’ll be glad when they are finished and I can start something else.

Now, back to packing. I thought I had everything in the two bags I brought, but it turns out that I forgot to throw in the knitting. I don’t know where I’m going to put it, but I’ll find a place. I’m sure of it.

I probably won’t be able to post until Tuesday, so until then, enjoy the weekend. For all of my Canadian readers, happy Thanksgiving!

The Smell of Flowers

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Like socks, for instance.

Those socks are out to get me. I swear. This morning, after finishing some of the cable section of the leg, I realized that using self-striping yarn for cabled socks isn’t too intelligent. I couldn’t see the cables at all. The sock pattern is really beautiful, and I didn’t want it to go to waste.

So what’s a girl to do? The only thing she could in a situation like this. We had a breakup. I ripped them back, completely and utterly. I’m planning to use that pattern for some yarn that I have for my brother for Christmas.

I re-wound the yarn and did a little gauge, and I’m planning to cast on for some vanilla socks for this wonderful yarn. I hope my dad doesn’t mind. Somehow, I don’t think he’ll notice too much.

In other news, movies and sweater-knitting nights are my favourite.

The sweater!

There it is (although apparently it turned out blurry). I’ve got 9 inches done so far! I love working with the yarn… It’s my favourite kind for a reason. It’s squishy and warm. I can’t wait for this thing to be a sweater. The pattern is just mindless enough for me to get really into a movie and yet still stay awake.

I love it.

As a result, I’m totally undecided as to what to bring home this weekend in terms of knitting. It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, which means a long weekend. I’m actually going to Toronto to compete at the National level with Pony Club. I’m excited, though not as excited as last year. That was my first year and we travelled to Calgary. I got to go to Spruce Meadows, and it was definitely a very cool experience. This year it’s a little closer to home, but I’m sure it will be a lot of fun. I’ll be heading home for Monday and most of Tuesday. I’m glad – I miss my family and of course my horses.

This begs the question… What to bring with me? I won’t have time to knit while I’m at Nationals, but I will have time when I’m at home. I’ve actually been thinking about it for about a week! You can tell where my priorities are…

Now. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go and do some studying for Nationals this weekend. There may be knitting. But most of all, there will be the smell of flowers.

Flowers from my boyfriend, just because. He’s the best.

A List

It’s Monday, and I’m already resorting to lists. School does that to my brain.

1. Let’s see… I made homemade hot chocolate tonight with milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, and cinnamon. It was good stuff.

2. It’s October first! That means fall!

3. My boyfriend and I had a mini Harry Potter movie marathon last night at my place, which means I was reunited with the knitting.

4. There was sweater progress. Unfortunately, it looks exactly the same as the last time I took a photo of it, just slightly longer. It’s not photo worthy yet.

5. Today was the beginning of riding lessons for the team here at my University. It was nice to be back in the saddle after a month away.

6. Though it was nice, I got put on one of the crazy horses who did everything in her power to get me off of her.

7. I still had fun. I’m like that. As long as I’m on a horse, I’m happy (no matter how scared I am inside).

8. I have a few more bits of homework to do tonight, but I can’t wait to be done so I can sit and knit.

9. I’m torn between quick progress on the socks, or progress towards a very coveted handknit sweater…

10. Eating popcorn and knitting is nearly impossible. The difficulties of a University student.

It’s Sweater Season!

Today was one of those chilly fall days in which a handknit sweater would have been the perfect thing to wear. Unfortunately, mine is stalled. I wanted nothing more to come home and find it finished, folded neatly in my closet, but I have no such luck.

My observation of the fall weather was only accentuated by the field trip I took today. For one of my classes, I had to visit a fish farm. During the entire drive to and from the farm, all I could see was the fall colours flashing by.

As if that wasn’t enough, I came home and made this.

Roasted vegetables

Delicious roasted vegetables. They tasted amazing, and I clearly made a ton, so I have lots of leftovers. It definitely made the house smell like fall.

I’m thinking that, despite my fall fever, the knitting progress may be a little slower in the coming weeks as midterms approach. I can’t believe that they are already (almost) here. I swear I just moved yesterday!

Alas, back to the books, before I do some knitting and turn in for the night. Wednesdays tend to tire me out, with 7 hours of class. By tomorrow I hope to have some sock or sweater progress to show for myself!

Finally some Fall!

It’s finally fall! I’ve got a big photo post coming up tomorrow, with lots of photos of the knitting. As I mentioned, the Hat-Heel Socks are officially finished, and now I’m working away on the Fuzzballs… I’ve actually already finished the first sock, in three days! I can stroke another thing off of the 101 things list (finish a sock in a week). I realized that I could have called them confetti for all of the different colours.

Today was a chilly but sunny day; typical fall. I came home from school and made applesauce and brownies. Last night I made chicken curry; I’ve become such a cook! It’s strange but also gratifying to cook for myself. I like the independence, and knowing that I can completely take care of myself.

My school work seems to be much less than last year… So far anyway. I’ve had lots of downtime to work on the knitting, and I’ve already been scoping out projects for my next pair of Christmas socks. The Christmas knitting is going to be done before I know it! I opened the yarn box for the first time last night since moving back to school, and it was exciting to rediscover what yarn I brought with me.

I know that its seems as if I’ve totally forgotten about the sweater. Don’t worry, I’m still committed to it fully, I just haven’t been working on it lately. I like to finish the instant gratification socks first. Soon I’ll be working on the sweater once again. The back is already at 6 inches or more, meaning I have around 11 to go.

I can’t believe that it’s already September 24. Soon the snow will be flying (funny, I had a dream about a blizzard last night) and the horses will have their furry winter coats on. I’ll have even more of a reason to be cozying up in handknits!

 

Photo-a-Day: The Life of a University Student

Wellingtons

Today is a cold and rainy day, in which I have already done a number of things wrong. It was spitting when I left my house, so I didn’t think to put on my rubber boots (aka wellingtons, hence the title). Instead, I wore my moccasins, which are now thoroughly soaked through. I also grabbed one of my rain jackets out of the closet before running out the door, and it didn’t occur to me until I was standing at the bus stop that none of my rain jackets have hoods. Who makes a rain jacket without a hood?

Of course, it started to pour as I walked to the bus stop.

In other news, I love my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I have the best classes.

I have done a number of good things regarding the knitting as of late, however. The sweater continues to progress, though it’s monotonous and boring. I can’t wait to start a sleeve, because I think that means that I get to use straight needles instead of those pesky circulars. The things that I get excited about…

But I digress. The entire point of this post was to talk about the Fuzzballs. They have taken a bit of a back seat lately, and it’s not because I don’t love them (though I can’t post a photo, since I’m at the library at the moment). I’m merely just concerned about the amount of yarn I have left versus the length that they need to be. My brain is convinced that if I don’t work on them, the amount of yarn will increase. It’s magic.

So, last night, after a few too many beers and a lot of dancing at the local country bar, an idea came to me. I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while, but hadn’t come to a concrete decision. I’m going to be frogging them. I’ll rip them back, then start over with larger needles. This means I’ll have to do gauge again, which is unfortunate, but it’s worth it. The knitted fabric is also a little too dense for what I was envisioning anyway, so it will work out perfectly.

I don’t know why I had to be intoxicated to come to a decision about this, but I did. My only worry is that the yarn won’t frog well, since it has a lot of fibres/fuzzies coming off of it that tend to stick to one another. If worst comes to worst and I can’t frog it, those socks are going to turn into something else.

I’m heading back home to the farm for the weekend, so hopefully I’ll be able to get some knitting done there (as well as some amino acid memorizing!). It doesn’t feel like I’ve been gone for very long, but in reality its been 2 weeks! I feel as if this semester is going to fly by and I won’t have a chance to finish all of that knitting I’ve got planned…