Life has been crazy

I'm sorry I haven't posted since September. 

The last few months of 2013 were pretty crazy busy, and a lot of wonderful and not so wonderful things happened. 

My great grandma passed away in the fall. It was a hard time for my family, and she is greatly missed. 

But many good things happened as well. 

Wonderfullest of the wonderfuls: My niece Devlin was born on September 16, 2013

Christmas was wonderful, and everyone enjoyed their handmade presents

And, of course, Milo is adorable as ever (and is now ENORMOUS)

I don't have a lot of time to write details about projects, but you can find out everything on my project pages on Ravelry

Recently Finished Projects

1) Arabella Lace Shawl

2) Broken rib handspun cowl

3) Nature's Lace shawl

4) Not so recent, but here's my final drawing for my art class

5) Tons of Christmas presents (see above)

6) Christmas socks for me

Works in Progress

1) Toe up anklets 

2) Sock head hat

3) Toujours sweater for Molly

4) Singles of Malabrigo Nube

That's all for now, folks. I have to go get ready for class. I'm going to try to post more often, but they may be mostly picture based posts, like today's, since I'm going to be busy with school for a while.

-Nicole

Shawls, more shawls, and school.

School is kicking my ass. Seriously.

Classes started two weeks ago and already I've had two major stress melt downs and have
gotten sick once. NEVER TAKING TIME OFF AGAIN! I feel like I'm behind of everything, even though we just started school. I'm hoping that once I get more into the groove of homework and papers and tests I will be less of a nervous wreck. 

So far I am mostly enjoying my classes. 

I loooove my "Love and Work in 19th Century Literature" class. It is really interesting and the professor is a lot of fun,  but it is a senior level class so there is a LOT of work.

 I like my Lit. Analysis class, but it is a little boring sometimes because a lot of it the last couple weeks has been review.  I love my professor because she is French and has the best accent ever. 

I also really like my art class, just because I love drawing, but the professor is one of the hardest graders I have ever had for art. That class is the one that is kicking my ass. I am the only one is the class that is not an art major, and she expects us to spend at least 6 hours outside of class doing homework and working on projects. Gaah. 

Milo got his little kitty balls removed last week and he is just as rambunctious and silly as ever. It definitely has not changed his personality AT ALL which is good news. We have been supposed to keep him from running or jumping all week, which has been pretty much impossible. How are you supposed to keep a kitten from playing??

I have not had a ton of time to knit, so I've mostly just been busy finishing projects that I already had on the needles, BUT I did somehow find time to start and finish two shawls since the last time I posted. SPEED KNITTING! So, all the knitting I have to share with you are finished projects. 

I'm going to make the rest of this post quick because Milo decided it's time to try to take a nap on the keyboard. 

Finished Objects:

1) I finished my lovely Henslowe

I am so happy with it! It is squishy and soft and the color is lovely.So this is the Henslowe by Beth Kling. I knit it on size US 5 (3.75 mm) needles with Knit Picks Capretta in Celestial. 

2) I test knit a pattern for a designer 

A lot of times when an independent designer makes a new pattern they will ask people online to test knit it for them to make sure that it is written correctly and there are no errors. This is the Rosewood Shawl by Rose Jordan and I made it as a Christmas present for someone secret. I used size US 9 (5.5 mm) needles and Caron Simply Soft in Carnation. 

3) Last but not least, I knit shawl with some of my hand spun

This is the Gale's Art Polwarth that I finished spinning and plying last post. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this shawl. Oh my god the colors. GORGEOUS! This is the Holden Shawlette which I knit with size US 6 (4.0 mm) needles and my hand-spun. I am so pleased with how it turned out. 

4) I also finished Molly's shawl! 
I will add photos HERE after I am done blocking it.

I knit this shawl using Liz Corke's Storm Warning pattern with US 6 (4.0 mm) needles and Jo-Ann Sensations Cuddle in Lilac.

No works in progress right now, but I do have a sweater I am planning to knit. It's called the Troian by Vanessa Smith and it is lovely. I am planning on overdyeing some neon purple yarn to make it a sort of dark plum color and using that to knit it. 

Stashy Stash

Some of this was actually purchased before my last post, but hadn't arrived yet. 

TWO large sweater's quantities for only $15 each! WHAT!

I got this free with my purchase. WEEE

2450 yards of laceweight merino for only $15!

This was a gift from moutons on Ravelry

Another sweater's quantity for 12 dollars!
Can you tell I want to knit some sweaters?

Otherwise

I thought I would share a couple of my most recent drawings and sketches with you. Remember it's been a year since I've drawn seriously, so some of these are not my best work. And if you want to share these pictures, please be sure to credit me. 

Selfie

My hand

My hand again

in class model

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week, and keep your fingers crossed that Fall weather comes soon.

-Nicole

Getting ready for vacation

Only a week until vacation!

The last couple weeks have been really stressful at work, so I am very excited to have some fun next week. My family and I are going to stay in a cabin on a ski resort in upper Michigan. I can't wait. It's going to be fantastic! 

I've been getting some projects done lately and I am planning on bringing a few things to work on on vacation, so hopefully I will have a ton to show you next time I post. 

Here's what I've been up to lately. Sorry that the picture quality isn't that great this time, but I just wanted to get something up to show you while I have time. 

Finished Objects

1) I finished all of the knitting on my tank top finally! 

I still have to finish sewing it together and putting buttons on, and then it will be wearable and beautiful! I will post another picture here once it's completely finished, but here is what it looks like being blocked. 

Edit: Here are some finished pictures

This is knit with Queensland Sugar Rush in color 02 and size US 3 (3.25 mm) needles using the Versailles Shell pattern. I am so excited to wear this!!

2) I started and finished one sock. I was feeling kind of sad last week, so I wanted to make something bright and happy.

I am knitting these on size US 1 (2.25 mm) needles with Knit Picks Felici Sport in Southwest. I am using Wendy D. Johnson's Toe-Up Slip-Stitch Heel socks, but I am knitting them with a 3x1 ribbing and an eye of partridge heel, which makes the heel pretty and stretchy.  They are so bright and cute and they fill me with glee. 

Works in Progress

1) I am still working on my handspun shawl for Molly.

I am knitting this with size US 7 (4.5 mm) needles with Corriedale hand spun yarn using Jane Tanner's Dane Shawl pattern. The lace is going to be gorgeous when it is finished but I think the yarn might be a bit to scratchy for Molly. 

2) I am almost done with Brandon's second sock!

I just got past the heel on the second sock, so I'm not to far from finishing now! I am knitting these with Patons Kroy Socks FX in Camo Color with size US 1.5 (2.5 mm) needles and a combo of Hermione's Everyday Socks and Wendy D. Johnson's Toe Up Socks with a Gusset Heel.

Stash Enhancement

Ok, so I may have cheated and bought some yarn last week. But purely for therapy.

This yarn is normally around 9 dollars and I got it for 3 dollars at Tuesday Morning. I love deals!

So that's all that's going on with me right now. Tomorrow (or actually today, since it's late) is Brandon's and my four year anniversary, and I am excited to spend the day with him and do fun date things. I'll give you more updates after vacation!

-Nicole