SNOW!

It's actually snowing here! Woohoo! Too bad I can't stay home and knit!

Socks!

What is it about me and socks right now? SHEESH. The desire to knit socks kicked in right after the election and still has me firmly in its grip.

Last week the Yarn Harlot wrote a tribute to Nancy Bush. Since I am a Harlot-wannabe, I dragged out my copy of Folk Solks after reading the Harlot gush over gussets.

You know what? She's right. I DO want to call the Harlot up to have a deep, meaningful conversation about gussets!

Anyway, I read through all the history and technical info in the book and am even more enamored with simple handknit footwear than I was before. I want to knit socks forever!

I'm waiting for the sock fever to pass.

Yes, I am still procrastinating on my homework. You are so lucky I have blooger. Otherwise, I'd be a straight-A student and you'd never hear from me.

Thank heavens it's Thanksgiving!

I have had a delightful couple of days. YAY! Pictures later in post...

First off, some things I am thankful for this year, in no particular order...

• Friends, new and old. Especially CC, my oldest friend- here's to another 14 years!!! (PS- update your blog!!!), N, my newest friend- yay knitting! and to Katie, who doesn't have a blog, but who is my law school buddy.
  
• The fact that the Texas beau seems to have come around. This time last year we were not in a great place and it's wonderful that we've both been able to open up a little bit. I feel very cherished, which is great.
  
• Being near my family. My Mom's brother and his family are in town from Michigan for the holiday and we have had a GREAT visit. I taught my aunt and my 8 year old cousin to knit. They're both monsters! My cousin is amazing- she picked it up really fast and has done NOTHING since. My aunt is astounding- every single stitch was perfect, even.... Incredible.
  
• Knitting time! See pictures later in post...
  
• Study time! I had an incredibly productive day yesterday and got a ton done on contracts. Which is why I'm writing to you now- I don't want to do the work I need to get done for tomorrow! :-)
  
• Family health. Mom is doing great, brothers are both in great shape. This is such a blessing given some of the bumps on our road in the last year or so.
  
• Finances. I'm so grateful that I haven't had to worry much about money this semester. Whew!
  
• Law school. I love it. So much better than my stinky old job. I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be and it feels so great to be challenged and engaged!

So pictures....


Boy Sox. These are the Fluted Bannisters from the 6 sox knitalong. Have I mentioned yet that I love this pattern? It's stretchy, easy to remember, and just interesting enough that I'm still loving it, 1.3 socks later.



My socks. These are the Making Waves socks from the 6 sox knitalong in Lorna's Laces. Yes, they're loud. I like them. These are the socks I'm doing for the CABLE ALONG. Have you signed up yet????



And finally, a progress shot of the scarf I'm making for my brother. It's the Lion Brand Landscapes yarn, which is pretty darn cool. Pattern at Sheep In the City, found via Creazativity.
This is a great pattern that produces a really spiffy effect!

Anyway, I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend!

I think I have a cold.

That cruddy runny nose, cough, burning eyes achiness is going around the law school and I think I got it yesterday. YAY NYQUIL! I feel decent today and am about to take some DayQuil to get me through.

I turned the heel on the striped mansock, which is cool. The Fluted Bannister pattern calls for an "eye of partridge" heel, as opposed to whatever the normal slip stitched heel is called. The heel feels HUGE for some reason... Maybe it'll look better when the sock is done. Maybe the heel IS huge since these are men's socks... I dunno.

Anyway, it's a gorgeous day here. We had an insane electical storm last night and the sky today is crisp and clear.

Pictures! Of a finished object, even!

So, here she is:

I really like it.
Details:
Biker Jaacket from Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed book.
Yarn: Katia CotoLan, 50/50 cotton/wool blend.
Needles: Addi Turbo Circs, size 6.

I think the yarn was a bit too drapey for this jacket. Ah well. I worked the sweater at a smaller gauge and am just so relieved that it fits. Whew!

Other pictures:


Current state of my scribble lace scarf (which Mom doesn't want) and my sox.

Mom has decided that she would like a Charlotte instead of either of the scarves I originally planned to give her. DARN! Charlotte was only my all time favorite project. I'm sure making another will be as much fun if not more so!

Anyway, I'm at knitting night now. YAY! Perhaps I'll post a photo later....

FINISHED!

I finished my sweater this weekend! Hurrah! The zipper was a pain in the kiester to install. Can I just say, THANK HEAVENS for BONNE-MARIE! The lovely ChicKnits TEKTalk archive is an incredible resource. I relied heavily on her Zipper installation write up. THANKS, Bonne-Marie!

I do not have photos... Couldn't get a decent one to save my soul. Perhaps tomorrow?

Anyway, the jacket fits perfectly through the waist and is really, really comfortable.

In not so knitty news, finals are fast approaching. At this point, I'm kind of excited. Ask me again in a week how I feel about it.

I think I'm going to be cutting back on knitting and therefore on posting over the next couple weeks. Sorry! But, I AM paying out of state tuition for the priviledge of this suffering, so work with me....

Ooh! Ooh! A cable-along!

YAY! M is hosting a cable along! Hurray! Don't tell anyone, but I'm thinking of splurging on some more DB Cashmerino to make myself a cabled sweater. Just what I need, right????

Nuthin but socks.

I am a sockaholic right now. I know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Unless you're on a dialup connection.

So, I joined the 6 Sox Knitalong a few... months?... ago. Button/link to the left. And this week, in my memo manic moment, cast on for 2 pairs- one of the "making waves" in my hot pink and yellow Lorna's Laces, and one of the "fluted bannister" in a manly-toned sockotta.

I was really nervous that, like my previous attempts with the loud loud Lorna's yarn, I would hate the result. My other try looked like TV static in neon colors- not good. I realized that working on size 2s or 3s was producing a fabric I really didn't like- LOVE the look produced by size 1s. The Making Waves pattern is also perfect for this yarn. It uses cabling to create a really wavy diagonal look- quite cool. Anyway, it breaks up the TV-static like appearance and gives the skinny stripes great character. (Note: I just tried to take a picture but the color defies capturing- it looks like neon TV static.) Trust me- these socks will be great.

Just realized- both M is doing cables, too... Must be something in the water. I hope it's not related to her recent spate of pregnant friends...

I am in luuuuuurv with the fluted bannister socks. I'm making them for the Texas beau. This pattern looks so cool when completed. It's really, really, really easy to memorize, too, which is great. I also love that I can tell exactly where I left off without much pain just by reading the stitches. (Dang, someone, somewhere in blogland had an AWESOME post on this way back when. I want to say it was Yarn Harlot, but I can't seem to find the post....) Basically, by looking at which way the stitches are positioned on the needle, I can tell which row I'm supposed to be doing. It's pretty cool! I'm totally not explaining this well! Point is, this is good knitting for me right now because I can put it down and pick it back up without a hassle, I don't need to carry a pattern with me, it's really easy to do while focusing on something else, and the result looks pretty dang spiffy.

Some sock thoughts.
WOW, I bought a set of Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs- 6" length and I LOVE them. I was using 7" or 8" Clover bamboo needles before. The Crystal Palace needles have nice pointy tips, which makes working stitches in this insanely small gauge rather pleasant. Also, the 6" length makes working the sock way easier as there is a lot less needle to push through the stitches- the needles just sit in my hands much more comfortably, and switching between needles is much easier.

Another thing... I don't know what happened, but I am not having issues with ladders forming at the DPN joins... I used to have MAJOR trouble with this, and I can't figure out what changed. I'd say it was the shorter needles, but I'm using the older longer ones on the Lorna's socks and there are no ladders.... Hmmmm.

Phew!

Done with the stinky memo. Now the last push through finals. Yikes.

I missed knit night last night, and what a night to miss! M got some buttons from a fellow knit groupie. The groupie's sister has one of the best jobs on earth- apparently she gets to go into fabulous old houses in and around Chicago scouring for cool fixtures. She then rescues the fixtures for resale. The sister also scored the buttons that were shared at knit night last night.

No zipper on the Biker Jacket yet. The LYS is going to charge me $60 to put one in, and the woman sounded unsure if she could even do it. WHATEVER! I'll do my own hack job for free rather than let them mess up my sweater. My family friend who used to own a yarn store is apparently retired from finishing as well as feeding knitting habits.

I've started another pair of socks, this time for the Texas Beau for Christmas. He liked my rainbow socks so much it was a little startling...

I'm also taking M's suggestion of hitting an LYS while I'm up in Santa Fe on Friday morning for a few more balls of DB Cashmerino for my cherry scarf.

Mom and I went to TJ Maxx today and she bought me two killer sweaters. Alas, my birthday is in a few weeks so the sweaters are languishing in her closet until then. One is an offwhite fitted zippered cardigan with really, really cool flared cuffs. The other is my favorite- a blood red 100% cashmere cardigan with an asymetrical zipper. It is way cute, and VERY CUDDLY. I think I will live in this sweater.

Anyway, I am obviously feeling a bit more like my self now that this blasted memo is done. YAY!

Crap.

I only bought 2 balls of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino for my scarf. 200 yards should do it, right?

WRONGO. I can tell you right now it ain't gonna be enough, and now my LYS is out of that color. CRAPOLA! I may have to frog and make something else out of the 2 balls I have... Dang dang dang.

Memo still sucks. Misery will be over at 5:00 Wednesday when the @#@%&$ is due.

Tee hee! Fun with Google and Statcounter...

I love Google.
I use StatCounter.com to track site stats and stuff. Great site.

Anyway, apparently my little rant about Christmas decorations emerging too early makes my blog the #1 Google hit for "outrageous christmas decor albuquerque."

My last post got me thinking about all my knitting failures. I knit 2 different socks that were both SO BAD that I ended up just throwing them away. I think I have learned a TON by jumping in to projects that are way over my head, muddling through, and then destroying the evidence. :-)

Anyway, freaking out about the memo. Catch me in a couple days and hopefully I'll be a tad more sane.

Miscellany

I finished the biker jacket! It is blocking as I speak! The only thing left to do is find someone to install a zipper...

I know I probably should have blocked all the pieces before I sewed them up, but I was so excited! I also felt relieved that I didn't have to face all that seaming- once I sewed on the last cuff, I was essentially done. Pre-blocking, it fit almost perfectly. The neck seems a little wide, which looks kinda strange with the moss stitch band, but oh well.

I really like seaming. On this sweater, I learned mattress stitch- stitch to stitch, row to row, stitch to row. I also had the challenge of seaming moss stitch trim to much smaller gauged stockinette stitch... Interesting.

Dragging this thing out of the washer (I spun it dry, didn't actually WASH it) was interesting, too. The wet fabric felt really delicate and stretchy- I hope it isn't too deformed! The yarn is Katia Cotolan, a 50/50 wool/cotton blend. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it dries. In hindisght, this yarn produced a fabric that is probably a bit drapey for the pattern. As a jacket, it should be somewhat sturdy and stiff, especially since the neckband is supposed to stand straight up. My version is much softer and really cuddly. I'm dying to see how the final product looks....

While this is my first COMPLETED sweater, this is not my first attempt. When I first started knitting, I decided to knit a sweater right off the bat. I picked a simple cardigan pattern, the cheapest Red Heart tweed yarn I could find, and off I went. Boy, was that an education.

First off, I had somehow started knitting through the back loop every stitch, twisting the stitches and making a much firmer fabric than intended. I also had a death grip on the yarn, leading to uber-tight gauge. I got through the back and I think one front before I was so disgusted I just gave up and threw it away.

Anyway, I'll post pictures of the utlimate finished zippered sweater as soon as it is totally complete- hopefully in a week or two.

Legal Memo. Sigh.

So, I'm in the middle of my first open research memo. I think my outline is pretty good. Actually, for the first issue, it's way too detailed. But I don't have a great grasp yet on what's important and what I can ditch. I need to just start writing now so I can get past the initial writer's block and get cranking. Once I have something on the page, I'll feel a lot better about it.

UPDATE: Only 6 hours later and I have a 12 page draft. WOOHOO! Having a really, really detailed outline helps me write relatively quickly. There was still some last minute research and futzing with organization, but the outline allowed me to more or less hunker down and write. I highly recommend writing a detailed outline that puts your thoughts in the right order.
For the record, I also spent about 45 minutes making dinner, and about 45 minutes on the phone to a friend. Not that you should care, but for some reason half an our per page seems kind of lame to me, so I'm fudging my numbers. So there.

Photos... At last!

Yay! Photos!



First, angora babie booties. I think these are just adorable. They're for a prego friend in Austin who is having a girl. They look kinda deformed- will try to correct that before shipping them off... I only have 2 babies to knit for- I hope I don't face a deluge like poor M, who has had 5 friends in 4 weeks announce their prenancies....

Second, the FO! My Squiggle scarf- love love love it. The colors here seem pretty accurate....

Third, the jacket with waistband. I need to finish up the neckband and cuffs, then sew snaps on the band points and get that zipper installed. Almost there... Don't know what the heck is going on in this photo- the color and definition are bad bad bad. Oh well.

Finally, no picture, but I started the cherry scarf. I won't bother posting photos because it's just a white garter stitch rectangle- how boring is that? I will say, however, that I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurv the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. It feels wonderful in my hands- very very soft and a little squooshy. It also has a slight sheen to it- the knit fabric is really nice. I will definitely want to use this again and again and again and again.

In other news, some fellow law students (including one who came to knit night!!!) and I are going to Amerasia for a dim sum lunch. I do love dim sum, and I do love Amerasia.

After Amerasia, I need to get back to healthy body patterns. I've gained 4 pounds since August. Not appalling, but not a good trend. I had lost almost 30 and want to get down to about 150, 155. This is by no means a supermodel weight, but it is 10 pounds smaller than I was in high school. That means, as of today, I have 14-19 pounds to go. I can so do this! I know South Beach is a way of eating that is healthy and that I can do- it's really enjoyable, actually. And it works for me. I also need to start working out again. Good stress relief. Plus, after my knee surgery in 2000, I need the leg strength if I want to ski this winter, which I DO! I DO! So, my goal is to eat South Beach style both days this weekend, and to get in at least 30 minutes of cardio.

I also need to get cracking on my open research memo, due Weds. I have some good cases and a few more to read. I think I'm almost ready to start drafting. I cannot allow myself to sit down and knit during the day- must save it for a reward for the work I need to get done!

Um... I bought more yarn yesterday.

Yep, a little consolation stash enhancement.

I decided that 1 ball of the squiggle and oceana whatever stuff was enough for my scarf, so I returned the second balls of each for a $20 credit. With that credit, and some minor additional cash outlay, I bought 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in off-white to make a cherry scarf for ME and 2 balls of pink Belangor Angora to make the Angora babie booties from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts." The booties are freakin adroable. I'm also making a bonnet with bunny ears attached lined with the pink angora. That's my plan, anyway.
So, 2 balls of cashmerino and 2 balls of Belangor, minus a $20 credit. Not TOO bad, considering that it was the day after the election. I didn't even eat everything in sight, either. So there.

I finished the waist band for my Biker Jacket while watching election returns and am about to cast on for the neck band.

I do have a real, legitimate FO, though- I finished the Squiggle scarf last night!!! I need to pick the wormies out of the knit fabric and weave in ends... Plan to wear it tomorrow.

Yes, I recognize that I am now WAY past due on some photos... Perhaps tomorrow?

And now for an off-topic rant.

WHY, oh WHY is Christmas stuff up already? It's hardly past Halloween! I am offended that eBay has already broken out the Christmas decor. I am offended that Starbucks has already started with the holiday cups and the Peppermint Lattes. (Which I LOVE, for the record).

Christmas, in my mind, is wonderful because it is over the top and outrageous. Decoration, food, cheer, magic... All good things. But these things are special because they occur for 3 weeks of the year in December. Starting Christmas in mid-October makes the whole affair tiresome and boring.

So bah humbug!

Yikes...

There are LOTS of 1Ls or others looking for information about how to write a legal memo. More people, at any rate, than are interested in knitting. Sigh.

All of you people looking for memo writing tips- SORRY! You will probably be very disappointed by what I have to say on the topic. In case you haven't noticed, this is primarily a knitting blog.

Anyway, knit night tonight was good.

I am now nervously watching election returns while pretending to research for my... legal memo!

A very knitty patriot...

I voted this morning. I wore my Charlotte around my neck as a big scarf and took the waistband of my biker jacket with me and knit for an hour and some change in line. I got LOTS of comments, all positive. The guy behind me was convinced he could sell Charlotte's for $500 each... Um, not so sure. But it was nice to get such positive reinforcement!

HAVE YOU VOTED YET? If not, WHY ARE YOU READING THIS??? GO VOTE!

Knit night is tonight for all you Albuquerque knitters...
Tuesday Nights
Winnings Coffee Shop
111 Harvard SE (across from the University of Central)
5:30 - 7 ish.

Not a stitch.

No knitting. Zip. Zilch. Zero.

BUT, I did get an e-mail about my memo post from a fellow 1L- GOOD LUCK on your paternity memo due today!

I have FINALLY started the research for my open memo, and the @#$($*@^ Westlaw printer keeps jamming. I think I'm going to give up for the day and head home. I have plenty of cases to read as it is.

Had a wonderful weekend with the Austin guy. Kinda confusing, actually. He was amazing- he is REALLY WORKING on all the things I pointed out as bothering me about the relationship, which is great! But he's there, I'm here... He is looking for jobs here, but so far it's not looking good. I guess we'll just see how it goes. Looks like the next visit will be over Christmas, as Thanksgiving is right before finals and is therefore a bad idea. At any rate, it was great to see him and it felt really good to be able to talk about things.