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We Win Again!

Friday! We love it! MDSWool-ers, activate your charge cards!

While much of yesterday was spent whining and sighing heavily over Pearson's r, I did take a knitting break:

Not the much-loved Snail hat, but something equally mysterious and lovely. More on Monday!

In Garden News:

I constantly wonder at the color combinations Nature puts together. Beautiful bleeding hearts. Is there a fair isle in these colors? Should there be?

And in Pup News:

Jack declines the opportunity to be Today's Celebrity Dachshund.

Have an excellent weekend, everyone! Janet, if you're reading, you know what I want . . .

Eeek! Thursday Already!

Normally, I wake up Monday chanting for Friday to arrive. This week, in order to finish up the semester at NJIT, I wake up and hope it is yesterday again so that I can have just a bit more time to work on papers and exams. But no, it's Thursday.

On the other hand, it's hard to stay grumpy when you have dachshunds. There are good things about it being Thursday... MDSW is only a day away! Yeah! All-rightey!

Knitting as Xanax
What do you knit in times of stress or worry? My hands-down favorite is the wonderful Snail Hat by Elizabeth Zimmerman, from Knitting Without Tears. It spirals around into a funky shape and the knitting is mesmerizingly rhythmical. I think EZ was an Authentic Genius.

I mention it because late night nervous knitting on my new project has gone off. "Gone off" is Brit-speak for "it stinks." Any moment now I'm going to rip it out and then put it far far away until this hellish semester is finally over. In the meantime, I'm going to Snail-Hat my cares away.

In Other News

My handsome, clever, and charming cousin Zane has checked in from California with a photo of he and his friend Jerry meeting Rainbow Bright at Earth Day festivities.

Zane (on your right) says: "I think she made her dress, but WHY?"

Happy Thursday to all!

Midweek on the Parkway

Flor's knitting something pretty! Go look!

Flor's site has so much good information on it that I keep it bookmarked for handy reference. I think its amazing that there are resources like this for knitters with modems.

Flor's success in dyeing reminded me of some stash I got from Handpaint Heaven's potluck sale at the first of the year:

It's way-cool handpaint shetland wool from Handpaint Heaven, so I've been winding it into balls in preparation for something lovely. For some reason the yarn is very hard to wind; it seems to pull and tangle a lot. But I persevere.

I have an idea in the works using the handpaint...I'm eager for some time to explore with knitting needles. This week is crunch-time, though, at school, so I'm not sure how much knitting I'll be able to manage. Laura's buttons arrived in the mail yesterday, but finals loom distressingly large. Gack! Who's too busy to sew on buttons?

Happy Wednesday, everyone--hang in there.

Miles to go before I knit

Time spent on finishing a knit never seems like knitting to me; there are several knit items that only require buttons or ends-weaving or blocking, but I never like them as much as what's on my needles.

I learned a lot from the Laura's vest--button holes, steeked neckbands, centering fair isle patterns--so it seems I would be rarin' to go on a new and more complex design. Instead, there are those ends to overcast and buttons to wait upon. But I'm very happy about the extent to which the skull vest has made me a more informed knitter. And I know the knowledge gained will be helpful in finishing some of my stalled UFOs. So hooray for finishing tasks (I guess!).

Anyway, classwork and the commute permitting, I should get to cast on for something new tonight. Photos tomorrow!

MDSW

My guild, Jersey Shore Fiber Arts, is making plans for the trip to the festival this weekend. I'm holding Saturday out for myself as a carrot in hopes of finishing a term paper.
What a wonderful event! I don't have shopping in mind (Really!) but always love being at the fair and seeing what's new in sheep and wool up close and in person. Cross your fingers for me that I'll be there (my fingers are too busy this week writing and researching web aesthetics)! Might as well hope for a sunny cool day, too, while you're at it.

Busy Busy

Lots to accomplish today. Everyone please have a good Tuesday!

Mikey sends loving puppy facelicks to Wendy.

Gee! That's a Lot of Skulls . . .

I finished the knitting part of Laura's vest over the weekend:

Pretty snazzy!

Knitting the neck band in the round with steeks produced the best results I've ever had on a neck band, plus I only had to knit it once! I like it.

Here's a small portion of the cut steek stitches that remain:

As for the ends, of which there are an amazing number, I'm using Alice Starmore's recommended technique to secure them with cross stitches. I've got a very good description of that in the Fair Isle Knitting book. Next time, I want to learn how to crochet the steeks up, as that seems to be a very tidy finish, and which is described in Meg Swansen's Sweaters From Camp. Do any of you know of an easy way for a non-crocheter to crochet up the steeks?

Tonight is my Guild's knitting study group, so I'll get to show off the vest before the buttons arrive. Once the buttons arrive, then the whole skully shebang goes off to Laura, with love in every stitch. My Guild members, super-knitters all, will notice the uncentered bits of the pattern but will be too polite to mention it (in my hearing range).

Under the Weather?

Mike and Jack send Feel-Better-Fast vibes.

Have an easy Monday, everyone.