ooooh... Favorite Socks!

I finally got around to ordering Favorite Socks today and I'm so excited! I'd love to do the Embossed Leaves Socks that my Sockret Pal made for me someday, and I've seen a couple of other patterns that will definitely make my queue. I'd love to move on to something more complex after the next couple of pairs.

So that was my tiny splurge for myself for talking myself out of buying anything at the Webs sale. (that was so hard... I had filled up my shopping cart at least half a dozen times and made myself just close the browser and walk away.) But with (hopefully) a move sometime in my near future once I graduate, I'm trying my hardest to keep my stash enhancement to a reasonable minimum.

Ravelry

I finally got my invite to the beta of a new knitting site called Ravelry and have spent a few hours playing with it. What a neat idea! The best part, for me, is that if I have a particular yarn I can see what others have made with it to get some ideas.

So far, I've queued up some upcoming projects and started to list out my stash (yikes). Then I surfed over to see other's WIPs and stash, then hit the discussion boards. After a while, I realized how much time I was spending doing this so now I am only allowing myself 30 minutes at a time, after I've made some progress on my homework! But eventually the entire stash and project list will be up there.

I have not posted much about my Sockapalooza socks- I decided to use Dusk but now I am looking for a simple cuff down (two circular) pattern that uses short row heels. It seems like a lot of the short row heel patterns I find are for toe-up socks. But I'm hoping to get started this weekend.

7 interesting facts about me

Well, I'm not sure these are particularly interesting... some of these were in the "wierd things about me" meme that came through a while ago but I've fleshed it out a bit.

My awesome SP spoilee from last year tagged me... here you go!

1. I love children's books and still read them often when I'm in the mood for a touch of comfort. Favorites include Little Women, Anne of Green Gables series, Narnia Chronicles, Velveteen Rabbit. No matter what, I always cry when Beth dies. You'd think I'd see it coming by now.
   
2. I always remove the jackets from my hardcover books and store them separately. I do not like reading a book with a jacket on at all.
3. The time in my life when I felt the most beautiful when my head was shaved a few years ago. It's since grown back but I sometimes miss being bald.... my face was made for it, I think. Actually, I miss it a lot but I don't think my employer would appreciate it as much as I do. For the record, I looked MUCH better than Britney did!
   
4. I always pick the magazine or book that is behind the front one. Especially magazines. The first ones are the ones people flip through and I prefer to have a brand new one instead of a 'used' one. Unfortunately, I am also a flipper so I realize this is a hypocritical quirk because I will readily flip through the front book/magazine, and then put it back and select a nice new one to buy.
   
5. I love doing math by hand. I used to doodle, now I just calculate figures in meetings (which is very impressive to whoever is glancing over to see if I am taking notes and sees a page full of math instead my horrendous doodles).
6. I was the only one in my family to speak with a British accent (since my parents put me in an English educational system). Most people meeting our family thought I was adopted.
7. I forget people's names easily but I remember little facts about them instead.
   

What I've been up to...

Not a great week for knitting... I've been too mentally worn out to do much. I passed my stat class with an A- and with my last class starting tomorrow, I've spent my free time looking at what I'll do after graduation.

But I did get some adventure in this weekend, perfect for an adrenalin junkie like me.

It was our first time whitewater rafting and we picked a great time to try it out- our recent rains produced some Class 5 rapids. I definitely want to go again before I move out of state- we have some of the best rafting in the country here.

Note to self: cute patterns to try

I've come across a few patterns I'd like to try someday.

Ariel Scarf
Sahara (v neck sweater)
Lace nightie
Silk Corset

A week of free time in the evenings :)

I mailed off my final project this afternoon and my next class (my last class in the Masters program- woohooo) won't start until next Monday. I've been just puttering around the house since I got home, feeling this odd sense of 'don't know what to do with myself'. So I'm putting together my assorted Dulaan projects to mail out, along with a package to mail out to a swap pal.

Hopefully tomorrow I'm going to sit down and take a look at my heel of my ampersand socks. I think I might have done something wrong and I have not had the time to sit down and fuss with it. The stitching looks loose (loose enough to see my fingers through it). I might need to switch down to a smaller needle to knit the heels.

sock yarn choices...

I'm on the home stretch... my final project is due this weekend (and it's only about 40% done!) I came across this cute pattern for baby socks and I have some scraps of leftover sock yarn. So I might do some baby socks for near instant gratification.

My Sockapalooza Pal mentioned greens, blues, purples... so I've narrowed it down to Cherry Tree Hill in Dusk (which I think will be my choice)







Green Mountain Madness








or Tropical Storm.









Or... maybe something handdyed by an indie fiber vendor and a little softer in hue.

I received an adorable postcard from my Secret Pal with sea otters in various cute poses. It was so nice to find something unexpected at the end of a long day- thank you!

Sockapalooza!

I've been matched and have been trying to come up with an pattern that will match my spoilee's preferences. She's not a fan of the heel flap which is all I know so that will be a fun challenge (and a good reason) to learn short row heels. All the patterns I'm finding for short row heels tend to be toe up which is also a new area for me. So I may be learning quite a bit with this!

It's a lot of fun to work with someone's preferences and find a project you think... you hope... will suit their tastes. I think I have narrowed down the yarn options to two different ones.

In the meantime, I'm anxious to finish up my current sock project but my finals are not making that possible. I am counting down to Sunday night...

I finally set aside to do some knitting...

For some odd reason I kept nodding off in my car on the drive home (which was NOT pleasant- everytime I jerked my eyes awake and realized I nearly fell asleep created this horrible knot in my stomach. I nearly pulled over but our highway shoulders are so narrow, I was worried about getting hit).

I wasn't feeling tired until about 4 pm today, and I thought I slept pretty well last night, so I'm not sure what gives. Doing the math, I think I ended up sleeping only 5 and a half hours last night but that is certainly better than the night earlier this week when I slept only 2. I really need to spend a week sleeping. I can't wait till my final project for my grad class is done... I haven't even had a chance to obsess over my Sockapalooza 4 Pal yet!

Instead of working... well, re-working.... my sock heel, I'm going to take a nap and hope I can still salvage some of the evening. Mostly because I can just imagine how I would screw up the heel if I was nodding off.

My knitpicks package arrived and I barely mustered up the energy to do a quick fondle before setting it aside. Wow- I think that is a record for fastest free shipping ever.

Reminder to self: Sockapalooza post next.

Hat in progress...

I haven't had time to work on my socks, but here's the child's hat for Dulaan I've been working on out of various leftover yarns from stash. It should be finished this weekend- double stranding the worsted weight is making it go by pretty quickly and it is mindless which is what I need right now.