Florence? January 30, 2008

So, last week while I was walking to my art history class (that I am no longer in), I saw a sign for a study abroad opportunity in Florence, Italy to take a class with two school faculty and another class at the school in Florence. Reading the poster, I got the impression that the deadline was way back in December and I had missed out. Oh well, I went to class and thought little more of it, other than a note to myself to check with one of the professors going to see if it may be an option to go the next summer.

Well, today I stopped into the professors office to ask her about Florence NEXT summer, and when I said “I think I’ve missed the deadline for this year, but what about next year?” She replied with “No, you haven’t missed the deadline. There are still a couple of weeks. Go talk to the off campus office about an application”. WHAT!!?!?! I could go to Florence this summer for 5 weeks and take classes and get credit? So I went to the off campus office, and now have an application.

Now, I am not sure if I am going. I’ve look at the cost of the program, the cost of flights, how much the recommend bringing for spending money and all that. I even spoke to my academic adviser who thinks it’s a great idea. So, the next step is figuring out how to pay for it, and finding out more about the class.

This is what I’ve been thinking about all afternoon. Dude. I might go to Florence and learn Italian (a thought that’s crossed my mind a bit over the last couple of years…). Dude. That’s really all I can say.  But for now, I have to do homework and get ready for rehearsal. Life is sweet.

… Florence… wow.

progress at last! January 29, 2008

I FINISHED SOMETHING!!!!! It feels like it’s been ages since I finished a project. I had so much Christmas knitting and finished it all at once, so one night I cast on a ton of projects, and most of them are going nowhere fast. The project basket is practically overflowing. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it gets overwhelming at times. So, as a solution to the “I-have-a-lot-of-projects-going-but-I-can’t-decide-which-one-to-work-on” problem, i cast on Wisp. Times like this, instant gratification projects are wonderful. They don’t have the long term commitment that most large lace projects, and Wisp is not as brainless as most socks (knitting a tube… dude, seriously!?!?!). And now Wisp is finally finished.

Yes, that is the finished Wisp draping over my mini-fridge. I’ll have proper pictures once I block it (along with the many other things I need to block… but lets not talk about that). It’s very pretty and very fluffy and very orange. I have most of the second skein left over that I don’t know what to do with. I’m thinking if incorporating it into a bag or something. Who knows. I’ll figure that out later.

As a reward to myself for finishing Wisp, I have decided to cast on MS3 – a.k.a. Swan Lake. I know, that totally defeats the purpose of an instant-gratification project by casting on another large shawl to replace it. I know it sounds crazy, but oh well. MS3 is pretty and I’ve been waiting a while to work on it.

I’m still on the first chart, but it’s looking beautiful already. The beads are a bit of a pain, but they’re few and far between enough that I don’t mind them (yet, anyway). They’re so shiny! I love them. I’m using Alpaca with a Twist Fino. The colors a pretty sea foam/light green. I’m in love. This will be beautiful once it’s done (but then again, so will the Wing-’o-the-Moth, Catalina, and… I don’t want to talk about it any more).

I also have a picture of my desk, which is pretty cute.

Some things have changed since I took this picture. There are a lot more books next to the printer and the lotion has moved. The diet Pepsi has been replaced by a can of Diet Coke (as it should be…), and there are more books and papers on top of the shelf. Hopefully there will be pictures there someday, if they are ever freed from the garage at home. For now, there are books to read for fun, a book that has to be sent back to an online seller, and the college year books from the last 2 years. Good times, right? I thought so.

Well, I should probably go get some homework done *coughms3cough*. Have a good night, and happy knitting!

so, I want to talk about some knitting… January 25, 2008

And this can be a problem when my two best friends are far away, not at college where they are glued to there computers or, better yet, right down the hall. This makes finding people to talk about knitting with somewhat difficult. You generally can’t talk to non-knitters cause most of them a) think you’re crazy, and b) don’t understand half of what you say about knitting anyway. I met a knitter today through a friend at the theatre and he had no idea what we were talking about when we mentioned things like “Ravelry” and “I have simple, mindless lace in my bag“.

So, I’ve recently thought about designing patterns, most likely sock patterns, to tryout and possibly submit to knitty. Now, what I would normally do would be go to Mouse and borrow her stitchenaries for inspiration and then talk about patterns for hours and stare at pretty pictures and laugh at funny names for things, and then I’d think about socks. This would probably be followed by a panicked phone call from me going “MOUSE!!!! HELP!!!! I (insert more foul and inappropriate word(s) for “screwed”) it up! How do I fix it?!??!”. And then another long evening of fixing my arsed up sock and then watching a movie. Probably at the same time. Chances are, this would happen a few times before I finally finish something MONTHS later, and then make her knit it (Mouse: this is a warning. I assume you’ll be a test knitter. Even when you are kind of far away at school…You too Wifey, if you’re interested) and then tell me what I’ve done wrong in about 3 days (she knits fast). This sounds like tons of fun. Though maybe a little insane…

Well, at the moment no one is around to talk about knitting and designing sock patterns. Alas. I’ll just have think about my sock designing on my own… But hey, maybe I’ll find some stitchenaries when I’m home (we have a pretty sweet library. Maybe they have them there…). Then who knows… may the sock designing adventures begin!

I’m gonna go work on some lace and watch some House M.D. Gotta love that Hugh Laurie…
Happy knitting!

p.s.
This is some seriously pink sock yarn…

and I love it.

Back to school and some new knitting January 22, 2008

It’s official, I’m back at school. I did some auditions last night and I have another one tonight, so that’s fun. I only have one class today, and that’s not until 3. Sounds fun, right? My room is HUGE and all set up, so that’s fun. Isn’t it cute?

And of course my little yarn basket is there. The mini-stash is hidden, but it’s there. I need to hold off on starting new things… I have to finish something at least!

I started Wisp with my birthday yarn to myself. I’m pretty fond of it.

Very orange, which is good. And cracksilk haze. Good all around, I say. The book next to it is The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. I highly recommend it, it’s very good.

Well, it’s time for me to run off to lunch and registration stuff. Gotta love being back at school, right?

so much knitting, so little time… January 20, 2008

No really, there are so many projects that I want to knit and plan to knit, that it’s getting pretty intense. I think I have my knitting planned for the whole semester. That’s why I now have the “mini-stash”. A small, 19 quart translucent green storage container full if yarn to last the whole semester. It’ll be easier to transport than the whole stash, which is getting a bit out of control. It’s expanding beyond the confines of it’s tub and spilling over into other bags, baskets and finally, a new bin. The good news is, it forces me to use up the stash and go on a yarn diet. Yes, it’s official, I am on a yarn diet. At least for the semester, and until the stash can fit on one container again… I think I have enough lace to keep me distracted for a while, and not to mention the two sweaters worth of wool… I mean, what?!?!

I have been working on some projects though, including the Wing-o-the-moth shawl.

It’s a bit farther along than that now, but still on the fir cone chart. I’m using Malabrigo lace in Pearl. It’s so pretty, I can’t wait to make more progress. I am a slow lace knitter, so I’m sure it’ll take plenty of time. I tend to get distracted from lave projects by things like socks. But hey, you’ve gotta have something to take your mind off the charting and such. Speaking of socks, here’s what I made my Dad for Christmas,

Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR medium weight in Grinchy. He loves them, and the colors are fun too. This yarn is amazing, I just love it. Grinchy is one of the holiday colors, so it’s not up on the site at the moment. I have lots of other present socks, but these were probably my favorite. I have made progress on the first England sock, though.

I didn’t start these until my second to last full day in London, but they were started in the correct country and most of the cuff and heel were done on the flight. Now, let me tell you, calling Senegal from a pay as you go phone in London is EXPENSIVE! No joke, I had 5 quid on my phone when I called Mouse, and about 5 minutes later my phone cut out because I ran out of money. Sad indeed. The good news is we were able to come up with a pattern and put the first stitch on the needle in that very short conversation. Now that’s knitter devotion. haha.

I got some lovely knitting related birthday presents, too. My friend Keith got me a book,

The best of Interweave knits. It’s pretty fantastic. I’m pretty proud of myself for having made the shawl on the cover before (in case you don’t know, it’s the Icarus shawl. I still have to block mine, but I love it).

My Mom also bought me another skein of the Alpaca with a Twist Fino I needed for MS3

I can start that project whenever I feel like it. I can’t wait. It’s so pretty.
I also bought myself a little birthday present,

Rowan Kidsilk Haze in the pretty orange. I’ve already started using it. I’m making this from Knitty. I was craving something simple, pretty and almost instant gratification. Oh, and I also bought myself the second season of House M.D. on DVD. What can I say, knitting and watching House is my current favorite pass time. It’s just so much fun.

Have a good weekend, and wish me luck with moving in on Monday!

quick update January 11, 2008

I’m still alive, I swear! I made it safely back from London on the 17th of December after dragging all of my luggage across the city AGAIN, but it was fine. Currently I desperately want to go back to London rather than go back to school, but oh well. Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but between coming home from 4 months in another country, going to visit family for a week and then straight into Christmas and New Years it’s been pretty intense. I have managed to get a lot of knitting done though. I have pictures, I just need to put them on my computer. Soon I’ll be getting into the crazy rush that is going back to school, so chances are I won’t be posting for another little while, but I just thought I should put something up to prove that I’m alive. And now it’s time for bed. Sweet dreams and happy knitting!