This & That

I'm having a pretty difficult time getting back into my routine after the two knitting retreats I attended. Back to work, back to housework, back to...everything. I've had a busy few weeks including finally throwing a birthday party for Little A (her birthday is Christmas Eve) and a small group of her friends. Our apartment is too small for entertaining so I booked a sprinkle party at our local cupcake shop and crafted some party favors. 

Unicorn headbands!!! I used this tutorial for the horns and the flowers and they were a smashing success. Each kid also got a sparkly pinwheel to take home since decorating and eating cupcakes was sugar enough for a group of six year old kids.

I've also spent a little bit of time sewing some of my recent fabric purchases. 

This is Butterick 5526 and it's my first time sewing a button up shirt in a loooong time.  I have yet to purchase buttons but the fabric is from my trip to the sewing expo in Puyallup a couple months back. It's a cotton gauze which was kind of a pain to sew with since it's got a bit of stretch to it but on the plus side I don't really have to press it due to the crinkle texture.

Today I wound my skein of Reliquary II from A Verb for Keeping Warm to cast on a new project that will (hopefully) be a pattern at some point. I've got a rough sketch and some stitch counts and need to do a little swatching. 

In other news, I'm taking part in Me Made May this year so if you're participating you should let me know your Instagram name! Mine is erinbirnel.

Happy Things for a Tuesday

Photo courtesy of Misi Photo

I'm having a case of the Mondays... on Tuesday. I'm firmly convinced that Tuesday is the worst day of the week; no re-entry from the weekend, not a hump day, not even close to Friday - it's just there, being a Tuesday. Blech.

I thought I'd counteract the ickiness by sharing some happy things, like this pattern. It's the Graceful Pullover by Maria Yarley and it's a ballet-inspired fingering weight sweater guaranteed to make the little girl in your life pirouette. It's a $6.99 download via Ravelry and 100% of the proceeds go to a friend of the designer who recently lost her husband and has four children to raise.You get an adorable pattern and get to help someone in need, how great is that?

I've also started thinking about Christmas knitting (you realize it's next month, right?) and I'm happy that I started last month and have two projects done and another on the needles. Of course, that's not to say that I won't be furiously knitting up until the last minute trying to eke out every last minute and yard. 

Here's a sneak peak since I'll have an entire FO post about this project later in the week. I'm tempted to keep it for myself!

Finally, Colette just released a stunner of a pattern called the Dahlia dress. It looks like a wardrobe staple and I'm contemplating joining the sewalong but not before I bust out a top with this fabric:

I purchased this fabric from Spoonflower for Miss Crayola Creepy's Cat Lady Sewing Challenge. I'm planning on a Sorbetto top from Colette which I should be able to sew in an afternoon. Should. I have until the 9th to get it together and we'll just not think about the fact that Knit Fit! is this weekend and I'll be away from my sewing machine. 

Well, that pick me up worked for me and I hope it worked for you, too!

Summer Bucket

I love writing lists. I've been known to list items just so I can cross items out when I've completed them, but there's something about the phrase "bucket list" that makes me want to throw a tantrum. Why? No freakin' idea. But here we go - lists for the Summer!

Reading:

I'm currently making my way through His Dark Materials Series by Phillip Pullman. These are fast, and delightful, and all kinds of adjectives that apply to well-written YA literature. I can also recommend the Ruby in the Smoke Series if you enjoy mysteries in the same vein as Wilkie Collins and Arthur Conan Doyle.

I found this website that has lists for several genres with a synopsis of each book. I've ready many of the books from the Classics category and some from the Science Fiction category but very, very few from the rest of the categories.

Fun fact - I LOVE L.M. Montgomery and the Anne of Green Gables series. For years and years I read them every Summer but I haven't done since I had Little A. I plan on rectifying that situation this Summer. I always cry my eyes out when Matthew dies.

School:

I'm currently in two correspondence classes that end October 5th. If I can speed up my reading and writing assignments I'll be able to finish early.

All of my application requirements for Grad school have to be met this Summer for the October deadline. This includes: two tests, a writing sample, letters of recommendation, personal statements, 40 observation hours in a high school setting (that would be Summer school), and some other odds and ends that I'm surely forgetting. Eep.

Knitting!

I'm working on sample knitting right now and hope to continue getting sample work throughout the Summer to ease our personal finances a bit. While this isn't knitting I can share with all of you folk I still enjoy it and it doesn't actually feel like work to me.

 Continue the downward trend in my stash numbers.

Knit Christmas gifts early! I had the crazy idea of knitting socks for everyone for Christmas since the bulk of my stash consists of sock yarn. Is this crazy? If I start soon I should be able to meet that goal.

I'm pretty sure that's enough of a list to get me through the end of the year! My school anxiety will surely ease once my application is complete and submitted.


I'll have more knitting to share this week - promise! In the meantime, take a look-see at this gorgeous thing.

The Hard Places

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about frustration at work, and while that frustration is still present, I've begun to move beyond that and look to the future. Most of the time I try to keep the blog as a place of creativity, where I can share the things I knit and the things I love. I take solace in my craft, in being able to move forward with knitting projects when I'm stuck in the hard places of my day-to-day life. Two weeks ago I felt like I was stuck - my knitting projects weren't moving along, every day chores overwhelmed my personal time, nothing seemed to get done and stay done, my volunteer hours for my grad school application seemed unattainable, and work was the most stressful it had been in my almost two years at my company. I've taken a step back, taken action, and am moving along at a moderate clip on things I can change. Plus, I bought yarn.

 And it's pretty

Miss Babs Northumbria DK in Princess Peach.  Destined to be some sort of cowl for me although Little A showed interest in the "pretty color" and wanted to keep a skein for herself.

Craptastic

This evening caps off a week of the terribles. I mean really terrible. As in, blanket over the head in the morning, pretend the alarm hasn't been going off for 20 minutes terrible. Now that the weekend is here, I'll be spending some time doing a little resume updating and job searching so I can feel that I am taking a proactive approach to changing the terrible in my life, namely, work. My other cure will be picking up the needles and doing some self-soothing in the form of  knitting.

I'm using this lovely stuff to knit Aislinn by Amy Herzog. I had a teensy bit of a false start when I cast on for the wrong size but I cast on again in the correct size and am just about to start the waist decreases. I'm hoping to get a good portion of the back done this weekend so I can get some wear out of the cardigan before the weather decides to change for the better.

Think Pink!

A strange thing is happening and I can only blame it on the advent of Spring- I'm being drawn to pink! 

It started with some yarn I, um, stumbled across and before I knew it I had thrown it in my Etsy cart and placed my order. It came in the mail last week and I've been pondering a pattern that will make the most of the color shift between the light turquoise and bright coral pink. Suggestions? If I unhank the skein, half of it is coral and half is turquoise with little bits of white between the two colors.

I did some secret knitting for a swap (you can see it under the yarn in the back) in, you guessed it, pink. I'll be doing a full blog post after the swap and you'll be able to see the entire project. What I can say about it is that the yarn is lovely lovely lovely.

On my way home from work yesterday I stopped at the store to pick up some things and decided to treat myself with some new nail polish. I ended up with Essie's Pink Diamond and Wet & Wild Fergie in Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you're going to go pink you may as well go all the way and add some sparkle, no?

Little A is thoroughly enjoying my foray into pink and is making suggestions as to knitting projects and future polish purchases. We'll see how long this color obsession lasts.

The Rebound

Last week was a complete and utter wash. I had many, many things to do and although I gave focused time to each item on my list nothing seemed to get done or stay done. I was exhausted from attending Vogue Knitting Live Seattle and felt that there just weren't enough hours in the day for me to do what needed to be done. Do you ever feel that way? In any case, this last weekend was incredibly helpful in recovering my mental and emotional health.

I made some progress on my Diffraction shawl. The green stripes are getting narrower and the teal stripes are getting wider just as they should be doing. Each round of knitting is hundreds of stitches at this point so I only pick this up when I'm engrossed in a social activity or very good movie (or episode of Buffy).

I logged my newly acquired stash yarn into Ravelry and contemplated the future of this lovely gradient set I purchased from Melanie of Black Trillium Fibres. Do you have a favorite pattern for gradient yarn? I have 658 yards in this set.

I also managed to: change out bedding, clean the bathroom, vacuum, walk to the farmers market, sort and wash Little A's baby knitwear, make fingerpaint, do my nails, make potato and leek soup, complete 2 (!!!) homework assignments, and even fit in some knitting. I have a three day weekend coming up so I hope that this trend continues and I have more to show next week!

Thinking Out Loud

I've stumbled across a couple of blogs recently that have got me thinking about a myriad of subjects; apparently I've got more brain room for that since graduating from UW in December. Both of the blogs I'm reading deal with classism (among other subjects) and how, as a culture or as individuals, our particular station in life reflects our upbringing and also negates or discounts the upbringing of people of a different social strata.

Class Rage Speaks is a now defunct tumblr dealing with classism. I've found her posts to accurately describe, sometimes painfully so, what it's like to grow up poor and be immersed in a social and educational environment where people have absolutely no clue what poor means. This post in particular struck a chord with me. As someone who grow up poor and continues to struggle financially I've become very observant of the nature of classism in different spheres of my life - it's hard not to do so when confronted by it on a regular basis. Posts are thought-provoking and relevant to everyone, no matter the class you come from or inhabit.

This Ain't Livin is a blog that covers a variety of topics and is written by a fellow Northern Californian (same county even). I found this post on Period Fantasies entirely fascinating along with this post on class and information. I've found her book reviews to be engrossing and entertaining.

Generally speaking, I try not to get too political on the blog but I've been thinking long and hard about class issues and education and class issues in education due to recent developments in the Seattle school system. I hope you take a moment to read through some of the linked posts and start thinking about it, too.

Happenings

The past few weeks have been busy, busy, busy. I don't feel like I got much of a break from the holidays even with being quite ill for about a week and not having class in the evenings anymore. Life continues to happen whether I'm ready for it or no and there are groceries to be purchased and work to do and travel plans to be made (Stitches West anyone? Let's meet up.).

 

I was contacted by a certain designer to do some sample knitting under a tight deadline for a new line of yarn. The yarn is lovely and tweedy and soft and round and even after knitting with it for about a week straight I'm ready for more. The photo shoot was Sunday so as soon as the whole shebang goes live I'll share them with you!

 

My bestie came to visit and attend the ALA Midwinter Conference at the Seattle Convention Center. We've been spending as much time as possible together between her all day attendance at the conference and my having to, you know, work and spend time with the family. In fact,I worked a half day Monday in order to spend some quality time with her which may or may not have included the eating of cupcakes.

 

I'm feeling encumbered by my smallish hoarde of WIPs left over from last year. For whatever reason I'm not able to shut them out of my mind like in previous years and it's driving me a bit bonkers. I like to start off my knitting year with a clean slate and even though I'm not starting a ton of new projects I don't feel like I'm making much progress on the current projects. Everything feels a little stagnant and I'm not sure how to resolve that feeling except for casting on a new project which only exacerbates the problem. Any solutions for me?

Humbug

Now that we're firmly ensconced in the holiday season I've got a few suggestions or tips for people on how to get through the madness that is the HOLIDAYS. People who know me well will know that I don't care for Christmas music, or crowds, or shopping, or waiting in line, or or or. But there are things that I do (or don't do) that help me enjoy the season. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of blog posts like this out there but this is what works for me and might work for you, too. FYI, this is a long post since I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

Preparation

Set a firm budget. Make a list of the people you need to shop for and rank them by importance. Your immediate family and significant other go at the top followed by other family and close friends. If you have a smartphone make this list on your phone so you always have it with you. As you make purchases you can write your purchase in next to the recipient (reminder of what gift is for what person) and the dollar amount (to subtract from your budget). I opted to knit gifts for my family this year so I started back in September by making a recipient list and then creating a queue in Ravelry with projects I decided on, the stash yarn I wanted to use, and a deadline for each project. I'm happily working on the last two items from my list with plenty of time to spare. One suggestion, if you are planning on knitting gifts that have to be shipped to a different state or country you should get those out of the way first.

Also, recognize the fact that not everyone has the same monetary resources. If you're shopping with a friend be respectful of their budgetary constraints. Comments such as "it's only X amount of dollars" aren't very helpful to someone who is already stressed about money. Map out where you'll shop and if you'll eat out before you go so as to save embarrassment and time. There's nothing worse than sitting down at a restaurant and realizing the only item you can afford is the soup while your friend blithely orders appetizers, drinks, and an entree. If you're budget-minded be open about the amount of money you can spend on your meal say "I can do 10 to 15 dollars for lunch, but no more than that, and preferably less" or something in that vein. In most cases it's better to state this outright than try to dance around the subject, plus it'll help you choose a place to eat.

Execution

Take advantage of extended store hours and do your shopping really early or really late, especially on the weekends. Most stores seem to get really crowded between about 10 or 11 am to about 3 or 4 pm during the weekend and that means you'll have more trouble navigating shops, finding parking, and checking out with your purchases. Consolidating your shopping into one or two trips and one or two places will reduce the amount of time you spend fuming over that jerk who took your parking spot.

Shop local when you can do so. I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of my area's shopping district and I plan on taking advantage of that to support independent businesses and avoid getting into the car and going to the mall. You should try to just stay away from the mall during the holidays since that way lies crazytown. Really.


If you've been searching for a specific item and can't find it now is the time to go to the internet and have that gift shipped directly to the recipient. Done.

Visitors and Family

   I love having people visit during the holidays since I usually have some time off of work and school but I know that not everyone gets along with their family so try to keep your head. If you head out as a large group to do shopping or other group activities and you'll be out during a meal time try to make reservations at a restaurant beforehand. If you can't make reservations try to check in at a restaurant a good amount of time before your normal meal time to put your name down since wait times can be long during the holiday season. Make sure everyone knows where the restaurant is if your group breaks up and what time they are expected to show up. If there are lots of kids in your group try to make sure the child to adult ratio is fairly distributed so no one adult is stuck with all the kids, unless they're okay with that.

Don't overplan activities for your family, your visitors, or yourself! One or two scheduled activities (with tickets purchased beforehand, if necessary) can be a welcome distraction for visitors but I've found that most people from out of town like to have time to rest and relax. It really is okay to sit down with company and just chat like normal people, especially if there is hot cider or wine involved.

Take breaks from your guests and family. If there are other adults around to watch the kids ask them if they can keep an eye on the kids for a few minutes so you can grab 10 minutes of quiet time. Go in your room. Close the door. Read a book for a few minutes or knit a couple rows on something while you clear your head.

Keep your normal schedule for meals and bedtimes as much as you are able. Everyone should get the sleep they need so they're in good spirits and pleasant to be around.

Finally...

Time and shared experiences are going to make a far stronger and more lasting impression than a generic gift. Every year my family asks for a membership to the zoo - we don't have to store anything except our membership cards and we get to visit over and over again. Have a good friend you haven't seen in a while? Invite her or him out for a pedicure as their Christmas gift. You'll get pampered and have time to catch up. Is everyone in your life traveling away for the holidays? Send knitting friends a pattern via Ravelry with a note saying you'll take them out for coffee and a knitting date once they're back in town, or just set up a group knitting night where everyone can come knit and hang out and catch up. Everyone is busy during the holidays so giving your time to your friends and family is just as important as giving gifts. When you focus your energy on the experience rather than the purchases there is a lot less stress involved in navigating the holiday season.

Do you have a strategy for the holidays? Dealing with finances, family, and visitors? Do tell.

Final Countdown

Brief update - had plague, recovered, homework, final papers, final novels, sock knitting, more writing than I can ever ever ever ever accomplish before due dates. Back in a couple of weeks!

Countdown

I've got one - ONE! - paper to write by Friday and then I'm done for the quarter. If I had been a smart girl I would have taken myself to a coffee shop on Sunday to get started on it but instead I ran many many errands and then promptly fell asleep for an hour in the afternoon. Now it's crunch time and I've got a timeline set up for myself in order to get my 5-7 pages written, edited, and edited again for Friday's deadline. Don't you wish there was some kind of app for ordering your thoughts into a cohesive paper outline? It would be fab. Oh, yeah, there is one! It's called my brain! Unfortunately it's on the fritz from staring at this damn computer screen for three hours. Time to call it a night.

Knitting coming soon! I've got to take pictures sometime before 4pm when it starts getting dark.

Finish Line

Just a quick note to say that I'm still here, still working like crazy, and trying to sneak in a little knitting time as I'm wrapping up the final few weeks of the quarter. I've got two papers and a final in the works with what feels like precious little time. Did that stop me from going out last weekend and last night? Um, no. Last weekend I hit Gainsbourg with a couple of knitting friends where we exchanged our Malabrigo hat swap items. Jen knit Ripley for me in some pretty Malabrigo Twist in the grapes color. Love it! I ate some yummy cheese and bread and ended up with poutine - it was an epic starch frenzy with the pleasant accompaniment of booze. Hooray! Last night I headed over to iknityouknot's place to eat more bread, cheese, nuts, and fruit and booze it up with some dark & dry cider while watching fairly crappy tv and knitting. It was exactly what I needed to blow off a little steam before hunkering down for paper writing. I've also been working on this pretty thing: 

It's Clockwork by Stephen West in tosh merino light Flash Dance and Steam Age. It's pretty perfect for knitting in class since the pattern is easily memorized and knit in plain old garter stitch with some slipped stitches for interest. I'm really looking forward to the finished piece which I plan to finish some time over the winter break.

Huh?

So somebody flipped a switch and it's Fall. Just like that *snaps fingers* and I'm already planning oodles of hand knits. Oodles, I tell ya. I've got a sweater in the works - the Bailey Cardigan by Amy Christoffers. This baby is knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca and I have to tell you, the yarn is so smooshably soft that it doesn't even bother me that I have to knit 16 inches before splitting off the fronts and backs. It's that good.  I have pictures to share but not enough time to do it tonight, but soon, I promise!

My mom is coming to visit this weekend and I have an actual full weekend to hang out and be with my family. Hurray! Can you believe that? Two. Full. Days. Someone bring me my smelling salts! I feel a fit of the vapors coming on.

My first night of class is tomorrow. I got my dates all mixed up and thought the first day of class was Thursday but, no, it's Wednesday. My emotional readiness is lacking but it's only one night so I can deal.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback on the new Fall cornucopia of patterns. I can't wait to get started on some of them. And Chris? Thanks for saying that you love a certain designer's work so much you want to punch him. It made me laugh out loud and feel glad that I'm not the only one that has such a, ahem, violent reaction to awesome knitwear.

Wrapping it up

I've been a little lackadaisical about posting recently but I feel like the past couple of weeks have flown by. There has been lots of knitting as my stress level has risen with the last couple weeks of the quarter and I'll post that stuff soon. A couple of weeks ago I had evening social engagements for five nights in a row and tonight marked the end of my second quarter of Spanish. Woohoo!! Spring break! I celebrated with a trip to the bar to drink German beer and eat far more than is good for me. Tuesday I have an appointment for a massage and facial - I've never had a facial done and I'm excited. The following weekend I'm going away for the first ever Purlygirls knitting retreat at Fort Worden near Port Townsend, WA. If you read my birthday post from last year you'll know that there will be a lot of beer drinking on my part and eating of poutine. Oh, and knitting, too!

Really, there will be more knitting posted soon. I've finished a sweater and a shawl and started another sweater since my last post.