Drained (Day 299 KEDfaY)

I knit a bit of a swatch today. I have a shawl design planned but I needed a swatch so I started that. Super exciting I know.

I forgot just how draining working retail is. I am so exhausted that it is difficult to even write this post right now since I know my bed is in the other room and right now, my bed is looking mighty tempting. Mmmm bed...

Volunteering (Day 279 KEDfaY)

I'm cruising right along on my test knit and as of right now the only thing I can say about it is that my cat really likes laying on it. I don't think that gives away what I'm knitting.

In other knitting news, I've swatched for a new project that I want to do as soon as I finish this test knit and that baby blanket which really should've gone in the mail today. I think the mother-to-be will understand though why her blanket might be late.

I've also been in contact with a local historical preservation group and have signed up to volunteer with them. The first two gigs are basic take tickets at events or count heads but once that's done, I'm going to be working on a big research project for them. I described it to the Boyfriend, who is alive and well and no longer flu-ish, and he said it sounded boring but I think it's going to be very exciting because I really like research projects. And maybe, just maybe, it will turn into a paying job at some point. Or maybe I'll meet someone who likes my research skills and will hire me. Networking! WHOO!

Right now though, I gotta tackle this test knit. I wish I could show pictures because it is ridiculous in all of the fantastic ways fun knitting projects are.

Swatch (Day 274 KEDfaY)

Day 40 KEDfaY

Best laid plans... (Day 39 KEDfaY)

I never used to be a fan of knitting swatches. I always thought that they were a waste of time and if something didn't work out right, I'd just rip the whole thing out. 

In recent knitting adventures though, I've thought that I might as well should at least see what it would look like. I'm glad that I've started doing this. 

The sweater that I talked about the other day was going to get another swatch today. I had already finished up the washcloth that is pictured above (and is currently sitting in my Christmas Present box to be gifted to someone random) and thought that I should take a crack at reversing that pattern so I can do what I wanted to do with it (top down raglan with the lace panel). Well that didn't work. Unfortunately the lace pattern that I chose and have my heart set on cannot be reversed, at least not easily so therefore not by me. My knowledge of how lace works is very minimal. It's a lot like baking to me. It's very precise and a science almost and if you are off a little then the whole thing could be a mess and I have no idea how any of it works. I know the basics of both but beyond that, I have to follow a pattern/recipe. This metaphor is getting a bit convoluted and not well described.

I wanted to knit it top down so I could make it long enough and then still have enough yarn for sleeves and not worry too much about running out but now that I have to knit it bottom up to get the lace panel I want, I'm going to worry about running out of yarn. It isn't a rare yarn, Loops & Threads Impeccable worsted, but I don't have money to buy more yarn if I need it. Being broke sucks, don't it?

Now I just have to be more conscious of how much yarn I use. Luckily I have some of that yarn in a different color that I used to knit the swatch out of (the swatch is grey where the sweater is going to be red). It's not going to be cast on for a little while though. I joined the HPKCHC so that I could feel more accomplished when I finished something and I'd like to make the sweater for the first term. I'm also hoping to finish up some other stuff laying around here before start of term so that I don't have as many WIPs just sitting around. Since a lot of them are blankets though, I think my goal is just to get some work done on a few of them. Maybe sort my scraps I have sitting on my desk. Maybe make a washcloth or two for presents. 

We'll see.  

I seee youuu (Day 36 KEDfaY)

I'm really bad about being a monogamous knitter. I have numerous projects right now in varying states of finished-ness. Most of these are blankets but those are hard to work on in the summer when you're sweating sitting still let alone with a blanket sitting on your lap. 

I had thought that I might've lost my knitting mojo and it has definitely decided to go on vacation and leave me behind. I've wanted to start a sweater for a couple of days now but the sweater I had planned for this yarn no longer appealed to me so I went down the pattern hole on Ravelry trying to find something new and exciting that caught my eye. The pattern that did it is Ginny's Cardigan from the new Unofficial Harry Potter Knits magazine that I want so much holy crap it's hard to describe how much I want it. I like the idea of the lace panel down the back but I wanted a sweater not a cardigan so I started looking through one of my knitting treasuries and sure enough, in the lace section was the same (or incredibly similar) lace pattern. I now know what I want to do and I even swatched for it, even if I did miss a yarn over and it's pretty obvious now but I was just trying to see how it would work up. I also want to do it top down which would mean how the pattern is written right now, the owls would be upside down. I'm going to try just reversing it and see how that goes. 

I started watching Once Upon a Time. I did it because I was bored and everyone who watched it says it's so great. I'm almost done with season two. It gets a hardy "meh" from me. The plots are a bit ridiculous and some of the characters have no motivation to their actions but it's fun and it does poke fun at itself every once in a while and I like that in a show. 

The Boyfriend comes back from his trip tomorrow so I'll finally have someone to talk to besides the cat who I believe thinks that I am the reason the Boyfriend is gone. I might be wrong but this cat is crazy so we'll never know. 

Better late than never! (Day 30 KEDfaY)

Almost forgot but then remembered when the Boyfriend and I were on our way back from our anniversary dinner (4 years! Woah!)

Keep keepin' on

This past week has been more eventful than I would normally hope for. Impromptu visits home, important phone calls, apartment searching, waiting. Waiting is the worst. I'm no good at waiting. I have a long list of plans that I would like to accomplish but they have to wait. Waiting is no fun.

So instead I've been keeping myself occupied, trying to ignore the laundry list of things that I want to be doing and instead working on things that I also want to be doing but are far less important in my mind.

A new swatch today. Tentatively called the Panty Droppers. Even if they don't become popular socks, at least they'll be fun. That's all I want out of life is to have fun and be happy. Something to keep me busy instead of worrying about waiting. Waiting is tough, have I mentioned that?

I also need to remember that this blend of yarn (45% Viscose, 40% Nylon, 15% Angora) is very fragile. I tore this yarn multiple times when it would get snagged on itself while ripping it out. Recycling yarn is the cheapest way I've found to get somewhat better quality sock yarn. Sure it's a lot of work and sometimes you end up with a pile of yarn that no longer looks like a sweater and resembles more of the aftermath of an atomic explosion but it's worth it for the good yarn you can end up with.

I've never really been a fan of swatches up until about a month ago. Now it seems the only things I actually finish right now are swatches. They're important too, just not as productive as finishing a sock. I have a lot more swatches planned for the future.

Something to keep me busy while waiting I guess.