Monday, March 11, 2013

Crazy Week

I was planning on posting last week but, unfortunately, some sad and stressful events got in the way.

Brandon's grandpa, who had been struggling with his health for the last few years, passed away Monday morning. We were all very sad to say goodbye, but thankful that he was no longer suffering. With work, attending the wake and funeral, as well as looking at apartments, it was a very busy and stressful. 
There was also very little knitting time to fit in, but I did manage to get some stuff done.

On a more positive note, Brandon and I found an apartment that we will (hopefully) be moving into at the end of this month, and we sent in our applications today. It will be a two bedroom apartment on the opposite side of town. This will be awesome because 1) we will no longer have to drive half an hour to work and 2) we will have a lot more space than we do now- allowing me to move my yarn stash out of its closet-of-shame. 

In other, very exciting news, Brandon and I purchased a SPINNING WHEEL! It will be going out in the mail tomorrow, so I will hopefully receive it by the end of the week. I am SO PSYCHED!! 

This week I also emailed an adviser at my school, and talked with her about meeting up so she can help me decide on a major and make my schedule for next semester. I have been stressing out over making this decision for a while now, and I have come accept the fact that I will be graduating a year or so later than my friends. It stinks, because I just want to graduate and be done with it, but, at this point,  I am only about halfway done with my necessary credits. ARRRGH.

I'm sorry that my knitting content has been a little lacking as of late, but life has not allowed for as much crafting as I would like.

Works in Progress:

1) I am still technically working on my Boyfriend Hat and striped afghan, but I have not touched either project in weeks.

2) Tonight I started working on a hat for a friend. I am using the Molly pattern by Erin Ruth, and knitting it on size 3 and 6 needles with a mystery yarn from my stash. I am not sure about what kind of yarn it is, but I know that it is wool (or at least partly wool). I just started it about an hour ago, so I do not have much progress to show, but I have a feeling that it was be a quick and fun project.

Finished Objects: 

1) I FINALLY FINISHED MY EFFING STRIPED SHAWL! AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!
I cannot express how happy I am to have this damn thing off my needles. Towards the end I was really starting to hate this yarn and doing the stripes, but I am in love with the finished shawl.




























I used Sylvia Bo Bolivia's Sunlight Shawl for Sad People pattern with elann.com Peruvian Baby Silk in aubergine and parchment on size US 4, 3.5mm, needles. Although I did not love knitting with this yarn, the finished fabric is very soft, silky, warm, and very light weight. The yarn was a little splitty, not very stretchy, and very slippery and soft, so I kept dropping stitches, and they were a nightmare to pick up. The picot bind of edging looks awesome after being blocked, and I really think it was worth the effort. 

2) I also started and finished an adorable little elephant this week for my future niece or nephew.






















This is Percy the Pachyderm (as the boyfriend christened him), and I loooove him. I used Susan B. Anderson's Elefante pattern with size US 2, 2.75 mm needles and Premier Yarns Serenity Garden yarn in the color Gem. I wanted to make a very dense fabric so that I could feel comfortable using safety eyes and not have to worry the baby chewing them off. I slightly modified the pattern, using Ravelry user freestarling's knitted ears pattern, and positioning the head facing up. 
I have never considered myself picky when it comes to yarn, but lately I have discovered that the two things that I just cannot stand are splitty yarn and yarn with no stretch or give, and this yarn has both qualities. And it also feels strangely greasy when handling it, which I am still not sure is because of the dye or the fiber. I will use up the rest of the skein for some Hamsterbeans, but I will definitely not buy this yarn again. 

Stash Enhancement:

I have made some purchases that I keep forgetting to post about.

1) I bought another grab bag from The Sassy Sheep on Etsy. I really really love her yarn.

Bamboo Sheep in Tropics

Panda Sock in Lipstick Mafia


















 
 

I have yet to be disappointed with any of The Sassy Sheep yarn. They are gorgeous, and the mystery factor makes me love them even more.

2) I also bought two skeins of Skacel Merino Lace from Ravelry destashes recently. I bought them from two different people, thinking that the variegated skein would have the same shade of purple as the solid colored one so that I could knit a lace weight sweater from them, but they ended up being waaaay different. Oh well...they are still pretty.




























3) About a month ago I purchased two skeins of Knit Picks Capretta in Celestial but I keep forgetting to post about it


























I specifically bought this to make the Henslowe shawl by Beth Kling.

4) Finally, in preparation for my spinning wheel, I bought a pound and a half of wool from Paradise Fibers ....Because I have no restraint.

8 oz Merino and 16 oz Portuguese Wool


Just as a note, most of this yarn and fiber was bought using tax refund money. I made myself a budget so that I would not go too crazy, and I am not allowing myself to buy anything else for the months of March and April (we'll see how that goes).

That's all from me for this week. The next couple of weeks will be a little hectic, since my friend Sophy will be visiting and Brandon and I will be moving, but I will try to get some knitting and crocheting and SPINNING time in.

Time for bed!
-Nicole



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