A bit of a hiatus

Classes finished last week, which means that exam season is in full swing. For the next 10 days I will be going MIA while I study and write my final papers. Assuming I keep to my rigorous study plan, I should still have time to knit, but I may or may not have time to update the blog. So far I am pretty much on schedule and decided to take a quick break to update and catch up on my message board reading. Also, looking at the clock, it is almost time for Knitty Gritty. My parents' basic digital cable plan includes DIY Network, unlike my plan up in Boston. Yay! Last year my cable company had a special going on the expanded package so I had the channel, but this year I wasn't too keen on forking over the extra money, especially because I am not usually home at this time of day.

So for now, I will sign off and catch you on the flip side of exams.

Another secret revealed

It is time once again to reveal a "surprise" project that has been on my needles the past few weeks. This particular project was a gift for a very dear friend of mine for her birthday. Before I post the picture, I must say that this project has been one of the most fun, most challenging, and most satisfying projects I have knit to date. It may even surpass socks in terms of how great my love is for this project. What could possibly take the place of socks you ask? This cute teddy bear:



And I could not be happier that he has a loving home in which to live and his new mommy will love him just as much, if not more, than I do! :-) (although I must admit, I felt a bit like a mother bird watching her baby bird fly away from home, in a sad, but happy and proud way)

Specs: He was knit from the "Thomas" body pattern in The Knitted Teddy Bear with Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4-ply and US 2 needles. He has a yellow T-shirt that is not quite finished because I had a few counting/sizing issues, but all that is left to do is sew up the seams.

When it rains, it pours

As you may notice, my yarn diet counter reset as of yesterday afternoon. I almost made it 4 weeks without a yarn purchase (exception for projects already planned...) In fact it was 27 days and 23 hours... Oh well. It was worth it. In the mad rush that was the Lime & Violet Etsy store update yesterday, I scored some beautiful hand dyed sock yarn in the Pickled Punks colorway.

Today I signed up for the Yarn4Socks.com Sock club for June. I received the April pattern and yarn, but have not cast on yet because I've had other projects that needed work. Plus that was yarn that stayed back in Connecticut. I have learned that I should only take a few projects up to Boston with me. Not only do more projects get finished, but I have fewer distractions from school.

And finally, I ordered two Jean Greenhowe Designs Booklets: Christmas Special and Christmas Treasures. Over the last few months I had been debating buying them and today, with Carlos's encouragement, I bought them from Frugal Haus. Eventually I want to have the whole collection of these adorable patterns -- they look like they will be lots of fun to knit and will make great gifts, too!

Happy Knitting everyone

In awe

Before stopping for lunch, I had to make another update. I just turned the heel of the Jaywalker and I must say that turning the heel will forever amaze me. Pure knitting genius.

Progress Report

I had set some rather lofty goals for myself to play catch up with my knitting this weekend. Let's see how I fared:

Finish one Jaywalker sock. Not quite. I am at the heel flap though, so not too terrible considering I was only 1/2 way down the leg a couple days ago...

Turn the heel on the pink ribbon sock. Not so much. Although, I did complete one ribbon repeat (out of 3 for the leg), which I am happy about.

Complete all of the pieces of the surprise so that they can be assembled. No, but I did assemble the three pieces that I did have finished and only have 4 small pieces to knit. So again, not too terrible.

It may seem that I have failed, but I still consider today part of the weekend, so there is still hope! School is not in session today because of the Marathon/Patriots' Day, giving me plenty of time to knit. That is if I can pull myself away from the computer.

Quick Update

The end of the semester is quickly approaching, which means knitting time has been limited severely. I am hoping to catch up during the long weekend. Monday is the Boston Marathon and I was thinking about having a little knitting marathon of my own during that time. If the weather isn't as terrible as they predict, I might even venture out to catch some of it in person. We shall see.

As for what I am working on, I have my 4 Socks a Season KAL socks, which are the Pink Ribbon Socks knit with Lorna's Laces Pink Flamingo. This pattern is probably more suited for a solid or slightly variegated yarn, but I love the way that it is coming out so far:



In the last week, I made progress on the Project Linus blanket. This is my "I don't have to pay close attention" project that I pick up if I'm on the phone (yay for hands-free ear piece) or watching TV. It is knit in garter stitch on a diagonal, with a YO toward the beginning of each row, creating a decorative eyelet border as well as increasing the size.



Also, I have my Jaywalkers OTN, but I have not worked on them much in the last couple weeks. They will definitely move to the rotation this weekend.

And as if that weren't enough I have a couple other projects that I'm working on, but they are going to be gifts and I do not want to ruin the surprise.

Secret.. Revealed

Well, now that it is finished and presented to the recipients, I can stop being so secretive about the gift I have been working on for the past few months -- It was an afghan for my parents for their wedding anniversary. In the off chance that they read my blog, I did not want to spoil the surprise. I do not have a picture of the finished project, but here it is with 3 of the 5 panels assembled.



I knit the afghan with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in "Green Heather". The pattern was also from the Lion Brand site -- Cable Comfort Throw. (note - if you are new to the LB site, you may have to register to view their free patterns). This was my first large-scale knitted project, and I really enjoyed working on it. Of course switching between this project on US13 needles with thick yarn and socks on US1 or 2 with thin yarn took some getting used to -- Two completely different experiences!

In other knitting news, this weekend in addition to my KAL socks, I also started the Corner-to-Corner blanket from the Baby Afghans book. When I finish, I will donate it to Project Linus. The pattern is fairly simple, and so far it is knitting up quickly and quite nicely.

Home Sweet Home

Today I came home for Easter weekend and arrived to a wonderful pile of presents on my bed. No, not an early visit from the Easter Bunny, but it was all the stuff I ordered over the last three weeks or so. Check it out:

~ Swift and ball winder from Joann.com. I had two 50% coupons and figured I'd might as well splurge. Now that I am obsessed with sock knitting and most sock yarn does not come pre-wound, it was a good investment.

~ Yarn4socks.com Sock Club April yarn and pattern. Don't want to give away too many secrets in case people haven't received theirs yet, but I like it!!

~ Lorna's Laces Flamingo Stripe. I believe I previously posted about my adventures in hunting down this yarn because I just had to have it. It is even prettier in person than it is on the computer screen. Used my new swift and ball winder to wind it up and began knitting the Pink Ribbon sock pattern with it since proceeds from the yarn go to Breast Cancer research. This will also be my first pair of socks for the 4 Socks a Season KAL

~ Lisa Souza Violet's Pink Ribbon Sock! yarn. I can't get enough of the Lime & Violet podcast and absolutely fell in love with this colorway when I saw it. The proceeds go to help Ms. V.

~ Knitty.com "I'd Rather Be Knitting" Raglan Hoodie in pink (of course)

I figure now I have enough to keep me busy for awhile -- at least until graduation at the end of May