Support your local library
...Because it took me 4 days, from requesting to receiving, the entirety of Fawlty Towers on DVD from my library. I could have gotten it yesterday, but it was closed - I'll refrain from any remarks on the subject as I'm a bit averse to being struck by lightning. Anyway, the point is, go to your local library and be nice to the librarians. Oh, and whatever you do, don't mention the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.
Running in Reykjavik
I know I haven't written for a while, but things have been hectic* lately. Just wanted to pump for a good cause. My mom asked me to mention here (to all of my eight readers) a really great thing her coworker Waleah is doing. Waleah, in addition to being quite a nice person, is running a full marathon to fight diabetes along with her SO, Michael. You can read the full 'origin story'
here. It's going to be held in Reykjavik, Iceland this August (not June. My bad)!
Iceland!
Anyway, they need $12,000 in donations together. So if you can spare it - every little bit helps. C'mon, people! Diabetes! You can follow them on their
blog, and/or make a direct donation right
here.
(If you don't get the fascination with Iceland, you need to read more Princess Diaries books.)
*Where 'hectic' is the variable, let 'hectic' equal any of the following: exams, back pain, money, work, scholarships, parents, and falling off the Use What You Have wagon.
Hard.
Procrastination is useful
After all, if you're knitting, you can't be writing!
Note the Niagara Falls of ends hanging out. That was . . . yeah, that was sad. You should really check your knitting carefully to discern between those ends that need to be trimmed after being woven in, and those that are attached to your working yarn.
Yeah.
I may have said a few unladylike words.
So close!
This was yesterday after my mid-day break. I've bound off the bottom now and just have the sleeves. Expect to finish today.
They come running just as fast as they can
I'm loving making my Minisweater. I keep imagining wearing it over a light tank in the summertime when I get back home. Behold, after starting yesterday afternoon, here was the progress last night:
And yes, the colour is so off I cannot believe it. It's really not blue at all - more like the green seen
here. I love it. And I think this is just the right project for this yarn. It's about a million different plies that come apart at the ends, so it's a good thing this is a) seamless and b) that I'm weaving in all the ends as I go. The texture is hard to describe. If you've ever knit with Red Heart Supersaver (unclean! unclean!), you may have noticed that this single plastic ply is a bit irregular in width and feels roughly textured. Well, Frederika (I just realized I hadn't mentioned the name of the yarn!) is similar. Except it's not irregular in width, it just has the same some of bumpy texture as it slides through your fingers. In a nice way, like going with the grain on corduroy feels.
Yeah, my descriptions suck.
The fabric has a chenille-y look to it. I love this, because it's got that rich depth of colour without having to knit with chenille! Yay!
So, I suppose the pertinent question is, which button to close it with? Well, you know what any smart girl would do. She would knit up the sweater, after making a careful gauge swatch. Then, after blocking and allowing the sweater to dry, she would bring the knitted item to the store to pick out one single, incredibly appropriate button, that would both blend in and stand out.
I am not a smart girl.
I did not swatch. (Somehow I am still getting Stephanie Japel's gauge. This astounds and astonishes me.) I had not started the sweater. I didn't even bring any yarn to the store with me. Did that stop me from buying lots of buttons? Come on now, I am my mother's daughter. Of course I bought buttons!
The big ole green one is for the boobholder. (Oh, come on now. I know my dad is probably freaking out a little bit here. But when you have the choice between minisweater and boobholder, which would you choose? And minisweater connotes cropping to me. Eeeeek! Cropped sweaters!) The pewter ones are for my cardigan of my design. Adorable, aren't they? Yeah, I have no idea whether they'll fit. But they're adorable, and I'm saving the receipt, and also they look like you could transfer the design into a really bitchin' circular lace shawl.
In other news, I've joined
Use What You Have Month (via
Emmie). I buy way too many craft supplies. So even though I bought the above buttons yesterday (April 1) I am now officially buying no craft supplies this month! Go me!
Besides, I only have two more days of classes. Then
EXAMS.
so scared. But luckily crafts help keep me sane (when they're going well, that is. Like now. With the boobholder. tee hee). This was really a case of "shopping the stash" and I have to do that more often now!
So, I guess I'd better stop procrastinating and actually do some schoolwork. Au revoir!
Secret Pal 8
I'm so excited - I just signed up for
Secret Pal 8! I've never done something like this before:
Sockapaloooza and the
Knitty SPs frankly seemed a bit daunting. But heaven knows I've done enough
Craftster swaps, and I heard about SP8 on the latest episode of
Cast-On* and thought, to heck with it: I'm going to bite the bullet. Wheeee!
Oh, and I finally decided what I'm going to do with
that green yarn I bought. It's going to be doubled and become a
Minisweater. I didn't think I could wear stuff like that, but after seeing how great
Emmie's turned out (and since we're the same size), how could I resist?!?!?
And I'm nearly finished with the waist decreases on my
Picovoli. It looks terrific so far - a little loose, but I'm hoping that'll clear up in
machine washing and drying blocking.
*Mom, have you listened yet?
