What's Doing

I am leaving for Columbus this afternoon; the test is tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday. I feel about as prepared as I am ever going to be, and I'm definitely ready to just take the damn thing. Thank you again for all your support and encouragement over the last two months! It's meant more than you know!

I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging regularly. Coming soon on affiknitty ... FOs! The Story of the Ugly Sweater! Stranded in Estonia! Yarn shopping on the road! The time-sucking, wallet-emptying qualities of indie music on iTunes! Yay!

And, because I can't post without pictures, some blue and white things for Project Spectrum.

Manos a Manos

Pattern: Grand Plan Mittens by Ann Budd, in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay, Wildflowers colorway

ETA: Hilary asked how much yarn I used, and I meant to mention that I used less than one skein! I had about a teacup-sized ball left over!

Needles: Knit Picks Options circulars, size US8
Thoughts: I gave these to my mom, who is the model here. They were a tiny bit too short for me and, plus, I just wanted her to have them.

Mittens may be the new socks. I loved knitting these. The pattern is so simple, but what possibilities! I look at my stash and all I see is mittens.

I am suffering from acute startitis as well. I have Kate's problem--I start something and then, just as quickly, toss it aside for something else. Then go back to the first thing, and then start a third, etc. I have two sweaters, one sock, one scarf, and not one, but two Estonian mittens on the needles right now. And I've swatched for two more pairs of mittens. Pathetic.

Less than two weeks to go before the Big Exam. It's serious short-term-memory-cramming time. I'm going to need more coffee.

Completely gratuitous picture of cute kid. I did knit the sweater, though, a few years back.

Blues for Project Spectrum

What can I say? I'm a joiner.

21st Century Yarn for 19th Century Feet

Pattern: 3x1 Ribbed Socks
Yarn: Patons SWS, about 1.5 balls in Natural Plum
Needles: Knit Picks Options 40" circular, size US7
Size: Fits my size 7.5 foot a little loosely

Upon further inspection and reflection, I love this yarn. It's really soft and silky. I love the way it's loosely spun, with occasional slubs. The colors are lovely. It's easy to find and pretty affordable (I paid $5.99 a ball). Just a couple of days from start to finish, and I have my own pair of wooly, wonderful house socks.

And a good thing, too. It's been darn cold here on Lake Erie. (Warning: following discussion may be TMI for some of you!) In the wintertime, I have noticed that the very ends of my toes can get really red and swollen and they HURT. But only in the winter. My mom and I were discussing this and she helpfully suggested Googling my symptoms.

(Do you do that too? Express complete mystification about [topic] and forget completely about the wonder of the Internets? I do it all the time.)

I was not optimistic about finding an answer to my query. I had never heard of anyone having this sort of problem. But apparently, it is not so uncommon. You can even get a t-shirt! The answer is apparently to keep one's feet nice and toasty. Looky there! I have medical dispensation to knit more socks!

Chillblains?! That sounds so antiquated. In fact, isn't it the sort of complaint you'd encounter in, say, a Decemberists song?

Second Son ... Second Sweater

Pattern: Seamless Raglan Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann in Knitting Without Tears
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, color 9621 (I think), less than 2 skeins
Needles: Knit Picks Options circulars size US 8
Chest size: About 26 inches
Thoughts: I may be a little addicted to stockinette in the round right now. Both the studying and the knitting go faster together. One happy surprise about this sweater was how little yarn it took. I really thought I'd be pushing it to make a sweater for a 4-year-old with only two skeins of yarn (about 400 yards). But I actually had about a third of the skein left.

Once again, I found the EZ percentages to work out fine for a child's sweater. I did take her advice (both for this sweater and S's) to knit the sleeves straight. I cast on one-third of the body stitches for the sleeves and did no increasing at all.


As I mentioned before, I'm planning my next Zimmermann sweater already. It will be in Cotton-Ease for my nephew who lives in California.

I finished that first SWS sock. And, once I saw all the colors in the skein, I decided it's definitely not hideous.

This and That Friday

So... sorry about all the not-new feeds ... affiknitty has officially switched to the New Blogger. I feel compelled to make up for it with a new post. And thanks, too, for all the nice comments about the Son and the Sweater.

The interview was a complete joke. I was there for, maybe, ten minutes. As I have little to explain in my past (frankly, I'm completely square), there wasn't much to talk about. I suppose there was that shockingly large stash of Wool-Ease, but I don't think the Bar Admissions committee is worried about lack of judgment in stash enhancement. (Thank God.) Anyway, my application is being approved and that means come February 27th, I will be in Columbus sitting for the exam. Gulp.

Monday night PCR and I went to a local venue for a little musical entertainment. We saw Asobi Seksu and they were fantastic. I highly recommend that you see them if you like shoegaze-dream-pop and they visit your hometown. Opening for them was a local band, Bears, who were excellent as well. They play a lovely, ever-so-slightly psychedelic indie pop reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian. The percussionist/glockenspiel player is the roommate of S's tutor, so I am especially pleased to let people know about them.

The knitting is going surprisingly well. I continue to be obsessed with knitting sweaters for small boys. Expect an FO post on J's EZ sweater very soon. I am already in the planning stage for sweater #3 for my nephew. Startitis has also set in. Yesterday, I toddled off to the big-box craft store, for the sole purpose of purchasing a large crochet hook to bind off the neck of J's sweater.

You can imagine how successful I was at buying only one crochet hook. They had Patons SWS (70% wool, 30% soy), a yarn which I have been wanting to try, so I picked up a little and cast on while listening to my Commercial Paper lecture. If Nona swatches, Laura can too.

The yarn is wonderful to knit with, soft and silky feeling. But ugh, this striping! This is the Natural Denim colorway, and the swatch measures 6 inches wide by 4.5 inches high. I was hoping for shorter color repeats and more gradual changes. SWS, take two ... this time with Natural Plum.

This is the beginnings of a house sock for me, knit in 3x1 rib. I'm not sure if this is hideous or beautiful. In any case, this is what I had in mind in terms of color changes and repeats. They will make warm and comfy socks and I think the colors will make me smile. Now, I really need to hit the books.