And I'm done...

...with school that is. Handed in my last paper yesterday. What a relief. Now I'm home in CT for a few days before the first round of Bar Review classes start on the 14th up in Boston. Then Graduation on the 25th and home for good.

Hopefully over the next few days I can take pictures of my knitting and update the blog a little more. Even though I was on a bit of a blogging hiatus during the last week or so, I did tweak a few things here and there. For instance, I added a link to the side bar to the Knit for a Cause post that I will update from time to time. You may have noticed the newest addition to that list a couple days ago - Crafting for a Cause. Aimee from the Fairie Knits podcast helps run this group. Their goal is to donate 3000 handmade goods to charity this year. If you already knit things for charity, you should come on over and join to help the group reach its goal.

Let's see, what else? Oh! Many of you out there in blog land may have heard about Ravelry. It is a new community for knitters and crocheters to keep track of all their WIP's, FO's, future projects, stash, needles, as well as meet up with other fiber artists. Last week I signed up to be put on the waiting list and yesterday I received my invitation and already started adding in my projects and pictures -- it has become very addicting. I am in the process of cleaning out my closet getting ready to move back home for good, so it's been really helpful to keep track of my yarn and needles. I do have an excel spreadsheet, but I haven't updated it in awhile.

And last but not least, I have a finished object! Or I guess you could say half of an FO -- Yesterday on the train I finished the first May Day Sock for the Sockamania Club KAL. I really love this pattern -- very easy to follow and quick to knit up. I used Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Blues/Greens. I'm really pleased with how the striping in the yarn came out -- no pooling anywhere. :-) Take a look:

Quick update

I am still in the midst of exams, papers, and other exciting end of the year stuff, but I decided that I'd take a quick break to do a little update. Despite the tight deadlines for papers, etc I have been able to knit quite a bit, and it has helped me to keep my sanity. Unfortunately though, I do not have the camera up in Boston with me. That just means there will be a monsoon of pictures once I get back home (which is VERY soon :-D). For now here is an unillustrated list of what I have been up to:

Wednesday I cast on the May Day socks for the Sockamania Club KAL, turned the heel on Friday and am about 2" into the foot already. Very fun and fast socks to knit. I chose Cherry Tree Hill supersock in Blues/Greens and US 2 needles.

The Pink Ribbon Sock finally has a heel flap and as soon as finals are over I will turn the heel. The foot should go rather quickly since it is straight stockinette.

The Jaywalkers may have to be frogged. I turned the heel and am well into the foot. I tried them on last weekend while I was home and they are a bit tight. An increase in the needle size should be enough to do the trick to make them fit.

I've been working on the Project Linus blanket when I can and am almost at the halfway point.

Carlos had given me his Borders rewards card and a 30% off coupon that was good for this weekend. Yesterday I went to hopefully pick up one or two of the books on my Amazon Wish List. I wrote down my top 5 titles, all of which were there last weekend when we went, none of which were still there yesterday. How sad! I did end up picking up One Skein Wonders, which was still on my list, just not in the top 5. Which is still OK because Amazon has most of them on sale with free shipping to boot, so it probably would be cheaper to buy from there anyway. I also picked up the HUGE Leisure Arts book Now You're Knitting from the bargain books section. It has 165 project patterns and 99 stitch patterns. None of the sweaters are really my style, but there are quite a few blanket patterns that piqued my interest -- well worth the $8.

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