I should be working on my dissertation commentary. And I will start it today. The story section I got done last Thursday (14,081 words, giving me about 1000 words or so to play with while editing). My goal is to have half of the commentary done this week, the other half next week. So that’ll leave me with about four weeks to edit and revise the whole thing during August.

But while I haven’t been actively working on the dissertation (I think about it constantly), I’ve been doing other stuff. Like participating in two KALs (a blanket and a shawl knit-a-long). And when those two weren’t giving me enough to knit, I started Christmas present knitting. My dad’s present is going swimmingly. :D

This is what I did just now (about ten minutes ago). I started off with two empty tea cans like this:

And about ten minutes later, I had this:

The stripe-y one now holds pens and pencils, the green one matches the paint in the kitchen and is in there holding my wooden utensils.

In yarn-y news, I finally scored some Wollmeise. I just happened to stumble upon an update and I got a skein of Campari Orange (medium) in the Twin 80/20 base. The color saturation is wonderful. And I’m going to knit it before I buy more to see if it really is worth stalking the site for an update.

Earlier this spring I decided I wanted to try to grow some veggies. So I planted seeds for lettuce, tomato and cucumber. It was four of each in their own compost pellet things and they started off fine. Then three of the tomato plants died, three of lettuce plants died but all four cucumbers seemed to be okay. I was telling O’s dad about my gardening attempts and when he saw the state of my puny tomato plant, he bought me two seedlings.

Anyway, eventually I moved all of them outside into a sack of compost.

Apparently, the fates decided that three of the cucumber plants had to die too.

So what I’m left with is two large tomato plants (but no tomatoes!), a lettuce plant and a cucumber plant.

And the cucumber plant that I do have left has two teeny tiny cucumbers growing! See?

This year, the cherry tree has decided to grace us with cherries too.

I did try one that was way darker than any shown in the pics, but they’re still not ready. :/

Oh and my last instalment of the WildCraft fibre club came last week. Isn’t it pretty?

I can’t wait to spin it up, but I’ve got so much on my needles at the moment (two KALs!) and my dissertation (at 13,409 words now) so we’ll see when I get the time to do it.

GirlMeetsNeedle - Jul 4, 2009

YAY! Piccies piccies piccies!!!! I had SO much fun with you guys! I really hope we can make it over to your part of the world before you migrate over to good ole Canada! And by the way, that yarn at the bottom looks super yummy! =)

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Another post so quickly after the last one? Amazing, I know. We got our suitcases this morning! Which lead me to take lots of pics to update my Rav page and then I figured I might as well blog about them too. Anyway, a heads up that this is very picture heavy so… yeah… just sayin’, lots of pics.

Like I said in my last post, I met up with Cadence on Wednesday and we went yarn shopping. We visited The Windsor Button and The Stitch House and this is what I came home with:

From left to right: Dream in Color Smooshy in Absolute Magenta, Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Crazy Woman, Malabrigo Lace in Water Green, Malabrigo Sock in Velvet Grapes and Helen’s Lace in The Black Purl. The bag I bought from Borders for $3!

So that’s Cadence & me, proving that we actually did meet and went shopping together (I have *no* idea what on earth is up with my hair in that pic, the humidity was making it act up during our whole trip).

Sorry it’s so fuzzy, but I just had to take a pic of this sign in The Stitch House. It was next to the breast cancer kits. :D

And that was Wednesday. On Thursday we went back to Borders again (we like large bookshops) and O bought two books for himself. Afterwards, since the weather was nice, we sat in front of city hall (I think it was city hall, near Faneuil Hall anyway) where I worked a bit on my dissertation and O read his newest book.

This is how much sock knitting I got done while in Boston. And we didn’t even hang out in the hotel room that much! We walked around the city center quite a bit, much to O’s dismay. I like walking around more than he does…

And when we got home, there was a slip saying that there was a package in the blue bin. It wasn’t there anymore, but the mailman noticed that we weren’t in so he decided to hand them over to our neighbor because another package had to be kept out of sunlight. I finally have some Intentions yarn!

So that’s a bar of the Fruitcake soap, my six cupcakes plus two freebies and my hank of Oops - I’m Just Not That Into You. It was supposed to be Love, but the red wouldn’t stick, so it got renamed and sold as an Oops. I love pinks, so obviously I had to have it.

And I’m back from Boston, MA. Had a great time, but I don’t think I’d want to stay for more than a week without a rental car. If we had that, then there would’ve been day trips to all sorts of places nearby. But we just spend the week in the city exploring. Getting there was fine. The train was on time, no delays at Manchester (although they did tell me to put my knitting in my checked luggage) and hanging out at Newark was fine. Our flight to Logan airport was delayed for about an hour, so that wasn’t too bad. Even our suitcases arrived with us!

While in Boston we walked around a lot (got soaked on our very first day there), went on the SuperDuck tour and learned a bit about the molasses flood in 1919, saw the Blue Man Group one night, shopped at Borders quite a bit, found yarn shops, watched Fox News because they were entertaining.

On Wednesday, we met up with Cadence, a Plurk and Raverly friend of mine, and her wife Steph. We went yarn shopping at the two stores that I liked from my previous visits to them. So what did I buy? I got a hank of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Crazy Woman, a hank of Dream In Color Smooshy in Absolute Magenta, a hank of Helen’s Lace in The Black Pearl and… I have finally gotten some Malabrigo! I got some laceweight in Water Green (I think it was called that) and some sockweight in Velvet Grapes. Too bad they’re all in my suitcase which hasn’t arrived here yet. I’m hoping that they’ll get here tomorrow.

The reason why our suitcases aren’t here yet is because of our “exciting” return trip. We got to Logan airpot at 12:30pm on Friday (our flight was at 3:30pm). Get checked-in and told that we’ve been moved to the 2:35pm plane to Newark instead, but that’s delayed until 3:47pm. We were like, okay that still gives us time to buy cigarettes for O’s mom at Newark. Then we get to the gate and hear that the reason why the flight’s delayed is because air traffic control back in Houston won’t let them go because of the weather in New York.

Then at 3:00pm they say that air traffic control has let them go, so we all pile into the plane and think we’re actually gonna get to go. O took the window seat and I got to sit next to an angry man. He didn’t seem so angry at first but the longer we sat on the runway the more pissed off he got. While we were just sitting there, he kept getting lots of calls from people and sounded fine while talking to them, but every time they made an announcement he swore louder each time. Then we got told that Newark had been closed due to the weather (tons of thunderstorms apparently). So the Angry Man calls a friend of his down there and asked what the weather was like and was told that it wasn’t even raining. Boy did that royally piss him off.

Anyway, after about two hours of just hanging out on the runway the plane returned to the gate and everyone got off. O & I got lucky with our seating and were one of the first ones to talk to a gate agent to see about our flights out of States. Our connection was at 7:30pm (it was past 5pm at this point) so she moved us onto the 10pm flight and told us to just wait. Which we did.

Finally at around 8pm it’s announced that Newark is open again so everyone onto the plane again. The angry man is gone (he probably decided it’d be faster to drive to Newark than to fly) and off we go. The plane gets filled up with us stragglers who have no other option but to fly and off we go. It was really cool seeing the remnants of the thunderstorm as it moved away while we were in the air. We land at 9:58pm.

Remember what time I said our connecting flight was (I might add the last flight out to Manchester before like 7am or so)? Yep, 10pm. Good thing about our seats being the third row in the whole plane. We ran to the screens to check if the flight was still there and if the gate had changed. It had from 136 to 135. So we ran. Bear in mind that we got in to gate 83 and that’s at the opposite end of the terminal from 135. I had to stop running and slow down to a fast walk at around the halfway point because I felt like throwing up. I told O to keep going since he could and to hold the plane. I got a major stitch in my right side as I was walking and breathing wasn’t easy. Then I saw O come back from the gate a bit and he looked bouncy and anxious so I started running again. We made it. Down the jetway we go and see that the main cabin door of the plane has already been shut. But the guy on our side of the door kept knocking until they opened it and let us on. A couple and a family that showed up just behind us were also let on. For about 30 mins all of us who had to run couldn’t stop coughing as we caught our breaths. But we made it and that’s the main thing.

We got home around 1 pm (napped on the plane and on the train from Manchester). Saw tons of junk mail piled into the junkmail box underneath the mailbox and a note saying that there’s a packet in the blue bin. O went to check and found nothing. I figured that O’s parents had taken it because I had asked them to check it while we were gone. They didn’t have it either. But today I went to see my neighbor, both to ask if she had any packages for us and to let her know that we’re home again. She did! I’ve got my Happy Housewife order now. A hank of Intentions yarn in the Oops - I’m Just Not That Into You colorway (was supposed to be Love, but the red wouldn’t stick and now it’s all pretty and pink), a soap (Fruitcake) and six cupcakes (plus two freebies). No pics yet, but once I get my suitcase and all of my new stash, I’ll take pics of them all. :)

It’s so nice to be back home again. Even though I did love the bed we had and the pile of pillows I got to sleep with (O didn’t want more than one, so I got to sleep with like four really fluffy pillows) on the king sized bed. Awesomeness.

Oh and I found a cool book series while shopping in Borders. It’s by Scott Westerfeld and I bought all four books: Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras. I’m about 50 pages in to Specials by now. It’s got some words that I feel tempted to use, but then I realized that no one else would get them who hadn’t read the books. Oh well.

Yesterday was World Wide Knit In Public Day. And Sheffield had something organized! It was held in the Peace Gardens from 11-4. The weather was gorgeous. So we (yes, we, Oliver came with me even though he doesn’t knit) got there a little after 11. Hung around knitting until about 12:30 and then we went to a friend’s birthday BBQ party for the rest of the day.

The organizer’s friend, who just happens to be a professional photographer, came along too. So, here are some pics from the WWKIPD. Can you find me? Even better, locate Oliver’s shoe! :P

What’s up? Not much. Lots and lots of school work. I should actually be reading and critiquing stories right now, but I’m blogging instead. Yay for procrastination?

The weather has been gorgeous over here. So much so that I spent most of Sunday outside reading (finished The Other Queen by Philippa Gregeory). And I wound up burning my back. The rest of me’s okay, just my back’s a bit red/pink. Not awfully burned, but enough for it to be a bit uncomfortable to wear a bra (yeah, no bra while I was outside reading). I started Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale yesterday, only about 20 pages in, but it’s pretty good so far.

Okey dokey, onto the knitting!

Remember the shawl Aeolian that I said I was knitting? Well, it’s been finished for awhile, but still not blocked. It’s nice and big. I plan on steam blocking it instead of wet blocking because it’s so big. Just barely enough floor space right now to get this pic. Here it is, in all its unblocked glory:

Then there’s the Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty. I’m using Araucania’s Ruca Multy in color # 11. It’s a blue-lavender-light pink (the color in the pic sucks, it’s actually a lot lighter and more pink than how it’s showing up. My camera just wasn’t co-operating today. Anyway, it’s awesome to work with. Soft and silky. Kinda like bamboo.

Since I’ve become a test knitter for The Unique Sheep, I got a $25 gift certificate to their shop. I used it to join their Secret Garden Knitting Club. I decided to get the Luxe base (75/25 merino/silk) in the Seashell Gradiance colorway. (Again, the colors aren’t quite right for some reason).

Then there’s my Wild Craft Fibre club. The March shipment has been finally spun up and plied and the twist has been set. I haven’t checked the wpi yet, but I’m guessing it’s fingering weight. Ta-dah!

Yesterday was a good mail day. My fiber from Blue Ruin Designs (my friend Sadie dyed it!) came yesterday. On the left is Spring Haze and on the right is Sweet Sangria #1.

Okay, that’s enough procrastinating for now. Better get back to reading stories and having opinions.

I’ve finally wound off the singles from my spindle and begun spinning the other half of the bfl/silk.

Aeolian is done. Ends still need to to be woven in and then blocking. It’s a pretty good size the way it is now. And I can tell it’ll be very warm (doing it in fingering weight instead of laceweight helps).

I’ve started some Milo socks from Cookie A’s Sock Innovation book. I’m using Lisa Souza’s Sock! Merino in Shade Garden on 2,25mm dpns. Looks great so far. I finished the gusset decreases of sock #1 yesterday. ^_^

School stuff? Eh, I’ve got two coursework pieces due in June (which means that I’ll be missing UK Rav Day). The Children’s & Young Adult Fiction one has the story section almost complete (tweaking needs to be done), just needs the commentary. The Fiction coursework still needs a ton of work. Need to totally restructure the story. But I’ve got about 4,000 words out of 4,500 words so far. And once the restructuring’s done, then the commentary. Good thing I’ve got no classes next week, going to spend all week doing that.

I tried reading Memoirs of a Master Forger but after about nine chapters I gave up. It just wasn’t gripping me. Not sure why. And that’s kinda sad, since I really like the author as a person (hint: I go to his class every other Wednesday so I do know him). And he’s got really good advice and stuff. This book just… not my cup of tea. So instead, I’ve been listening to CraftLit. I started from the beginning and the first book Heather chose was Pride and Prejudice. Darcy has just proposed to Elizabeth! I know how it ends, but it’s still great to read/hear/see it again. :D

I’ve bought shoes! I got some black Skechers from Schuh (so I got a student discount). They didn’t have any in my size in store, so they’re being delivered to me. According to the tracking on ParcelForce, they should be here tomorrow. :D I also thought about getting these Skechers but I couldn’t decide on a color and I figured I should wait until the Boston trip to see if they’re any cheaper over there.

Lookie what I finished yesterday!

That’s about 50 g of the BFL/Silk blend that I’ve spun up this last week. Now I need to wind it off, pre-draft the other half of March’s shipment and spin that up. This stuff is amazing. Like seriously soft and so easy to spin.

And this is Aeolian!

It’s scrunched up on the needles because it’s so huge. Takes me forever to do a row, but I’m meeting my goal of at least two rows a day. At the rate I’m going, I probably won’t finish it until after our Boston trip, but that’s okay. It’s out of fingering weight so it’s more of a fall/winter shawl anyway.

Oh, I got my Cookie A book yesterday! I’ve already decided on which yarn I’ll use for my first pair, now I’m just trying to decide on which pattern to make first. I’ll let you all know once I’ve decided and made some progress on the sock. :D

Well Pioneer is done. I’ve worn it twice already. It grew a bit more than I expected during the blocking, but that’s okay. Next time I’ll just throw it in the dryer so it won’t do that. I’ve started another large project: Aeolian. I’m using the green 100% wool I bought while in Montana two years ago. All I know about the yarn is that it’s not superwash wool. Came off a cone. I don’t even have an inkling as to how much I’ve got (either weight or yardage). But that’s okay. I’ve got a plan. And it’s working! I decided to use the lighter green for the Yucca and Agave charts and then the darker green for the edging. I’m doing the shawl size instead of the shoulderette and boy is this thing going to be big. Not huge, since the swatch didn’t grow a lot, but still pretty big. And it’s taking me forever to finish a row because of the size it is now. Also? The nupps, not so bad to make. I’ll definitely be making them again if another shawl calls for them.

Haven’t cast on any socks yet. I’m dying to. But I haven’t. I’m waiting for Cookie A’s Sock Innovation book to arrive. It should be here next week!

I’m in the Wildcraft Fibre Club and I got my second shipment yesterday! This one’s 100% Shetland wool, 115g, colorway Hedgerow. So that got me to finally start spinning my March shipment (70/30 bfl/silk, 100g, colorway Violas). I’ve split it in half in the middle and pre-drafted one of half. I started spinning it on my drop spindle and omg is it nice. So much nicer to spin than the stuff I’d tried before. I can’t wait for it to be done and plied and then knit with it. :D