Ode to a new life

I love my new apartment. I love that I know exactly where everything is. I love my kitchen, which looks out into the living room, and in which has already been made many lovely meals. I love the windows and the light - the doorwall and the balcony of course, but especially the window in my bedroom, under which is my desk where I can sit and watch the cardinals eat the crabapples. I love that everything here is mine, that I have total and complete say over what happens here. I love living by myself.

Sure, I get lonely. But right now, I'm loving my freedom, and well, if I'm going to have a houseguest this weekend, so much the better.

I've moved so much lately, that I've lost track of some fairly crucial things, like power strips. So last night I went to Target, and as usual, I got sucked in.
Aren't these shoes the cutest? They remind me of my mom in a weird way - the plaid and the black and red - but I think they might be just the thing for striding confidently across campus to rehearsal, or for wearing with a certain black $1.50 cardigan.
I had a bit of a rough start. I got to about here earlier this week and had to frog because the lace pattern just wasn't clicking. I couldn't see where the holes were supposed to be, and I couldn't read the rows. I did some intensive lace work, figured it all out, and cast on again. It's probably a good thing that I frogged too because I decided to go down a needle size because, well, can you see the lace above? No?

How about now? Ok. Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. This is going to take some intense blocking in order to look good, so I think the smaller needle size will still allow me to get a sweater in the end, and not a tent. I have some reservations about this pattern. I'm really enjoying it, and I love the way it looks in the pics from IK, but I'm concerned about my slightly skewed body perceptions and whether or not this thing is actually going to look good on me, or whether I just want it to. We'll see!

FO: Thermal

Well, I'm all moved... mostly. Let's just say that I'm here, I'm registered for classes, I'm studying my butt off for my entrance exam on Thursday, and I'm practicing hard for my auditions on Thursday and Friday. The rest is just frosting.

Speaking of frosting... or not... here's Thermal!

Love, love, love the fit. The sleeves really are the same length, in spite of what you might assume based on this pic and my whining. I promise.

The one thing I would have changed would be to make the armholes shallower. There's a kind of bat-wing thing happening.

See? But it's also not blocked yet.

Thermal by Laura Chau
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in Woodland Sage
Needles: US 3
Modifications: Added 2 inches to the length. Haha, can you imagine what it would look like if I'd made it 2 inches shorter? It's barely long enough now. Would maybe add another inch next time. Decided against making buttonholes for the buttons since they aren't buttons anyone would actually use anyway, plus I wanted to minimize any pulling at the placket. I just sewed them through both layers.

And, hey, I've got 2 3/4 skeins left. Socks, I'm thinking. I've also got about 3/4 of a skein of the burgundy left from my mom's Christmas socks last year (before I had the blog.) So, I don't know, stripes or colorwork or something. Mittens might work, but I'm not sure a silk blend is really the ideal thing for mittens...

Moving right ahead, here's Dashing for my brother, just missing a thumb off the left mit. You know, I just typed "mit" and it makes perfect sense when I say it, but no sense when I type it. I mean mit, like as in one mitten. "Hey guys, do you know what happened to my other mit? I just have the one." I'm really not sure that's a word. Maybe it's "mitt?"

And I got my shipment from Webs.
I thought the black was dark heathered grey when I bought it, but oh well. Black will work just as well for my $1.50 Cardigan. I'm dying to swatch but my patterns are in a box that's still out in my car, and besides, I really should finish Dashing. And yet....

Grrr!

I've been trying to upload these pics for days. I had this cute blog all planned out. It was going to go something like this:

Look! The second sleeve is done! My Thermal now has two sleeves of the same length!

And a body! (Insert picture of the body of the sweater in between the sleeves, which blogger refused to upload.)

And edging! Now all I have to do is tie in the ends, sew it up, and find some buttons.

But that was days ago, and the post isn't so cute anymore. Stupid blogger. Why won't it let me upload photos? And why, when it finally deigns to let me do it, does it take FOREVER? Boo hiss.

And while blogger wasn't letting me upload pics, I finished Thermal. It fits just the way I hoped it would. You'll have to wait a bit for FO pics and pattern specs though. I'm moving on Monday! Wish me luck!

RIP

Let us take a moment of silence for those knits which are no longer with us....

Butterfly, you seemed like such a good idea at the time. Silky, green, with what seemed to be a forgiving fit, and in a gauge that wasn't going to take half of forever. As I knit you, it became obvious that you were a bit of a tease, eating up more yarn in a shorter period of time than it seemed like you should, creating pieces that didn't look proportional, and generally talking a good game and not delivering. Sadly, though I finished you, I am not pleased, and after you have sat for an appropriate amount of time in the back of my closet, I will reclaim your (horribly expensive) yarn for another purpose.

Ms. Marigold, I tried. I really did. I knit you twice, and still the sizing didn't work out. I think, ultimately, the fault is mine. I always want the cute, fun clothes - the kind that are meant for teenagers without boobs - and in the end my obvious cleavage, long torso, and squishy belly were not the match for your fun and sassy design. Fantastic yarn, though.

Ballet Camisole, last night I sent you to a good home. As I pulled you out of my drawer, your soft silkiness caressed my hands, seeming to say, "No, don't let me go!" But then I remembered how I hated the way you fit - how you bagged and gapped (although the shaping made is a surprisingly attractive baggy, gappy pink top) - and I handed you over to Caitlin. I hope she appreciates you more than I did.
From these failures I have learned that I must lengthen all tops by at least 2 inches, and that if it doesn't look right, it probably isn't.

Onward. Webs is having their summer sale. I caved. Yarn for the Dollar and a Half Cardigan and for the Deep V Sweater is on its way to my new apartment!

In the absence of significant knitting progress, I bring you some visual distraction.

These little babies were bought in Todi, Italy, where I spent the past 2 weeks. They're tiny - about the size of the tip of my pinky finger - and check it out. They're playing clarinets!

About that knitting progress.... I have a fairly severe case of SSS. Second Sleeve Syndrome. Thermal used to be my escape. Now it's my nemesis. I'm too stubborn (or stupid?) to start a new project right now, so I'm knitting that second sleeve. Dammit.
But my knitting boredom is providing a nice excuse for exploring the range of my camera...
Do you think anyone would notice if one sleeve was full length and the other was 3/4?

I'm back!

Let's just get the important info out of the way. Yes, I did get Harry Potter in Amsterdam. It was awesome. I got off my plane, and at the first store I came to, there it was. I snatched it up with only a little bit of visible external dancing, paid, and was on my way in 10 minutes.

But, see, the universe felt I needed to pay for being so lucky as to get Harry Potter on the day it came out. KLM lost my luggage. Well, strictly speaking, they knew exactly where it was, it just wasn't in Italy. They sort of "forgot" to put it on my plane. Whoops. I fit into the Italians better than I anticipated, what with my stench an all. Four days later, they managed to get it to me, and let me tell you, I have never been happier to wear pjs in my life.

Italy was beautiful. Witness the disgustingly beautiful view of Todi, which is only on of the many disgustingly beautiful views I have in my picture cache.

And the Italian breakfast? Due cornetto nutella e un caffe da portar via. (Two croissants with nutella in the middle and an espresso to go.) All for less than 2 euro. And my non-existent Italian? Very much existent. Italian is actually quite easy, especially if you have been in a previous life pretty fluent in French.

And, oh, the wine. This is from a wine "tasting" which was actually 4 glasses of different wines with dinner, not tastes. My favorite was Orvieto Classico Superiore. I hope you can get it in the US, but I bet it's expenive. Wine it Italy? Not so expensive. Yes, they really do drink wine all the time, and yes they really do eat pizza and pasta every single day. Every. Single. Day.

This is the hill I had to walk up and down at least twice a day. There is no way for this picture to accurately illustrate how steep this hill really is (or how scary it is to walk up and down with buses screaming past.) Let's just say that I now have a fantastically perky rear end.

My Italian experience wasn't all wine and views and nutella (although, let's face it, there was a whole lot of that going on). Actually I was there to play music, and boy did I. I have never played 3 recitals in a row before, nor have I ever put music together that quickly, but the whole thing was remarkably successful.

I have finished my travels for the summer, so you can expect a much more predictable schedule of posting from now on. I've got a ton of stuff to do, like study for my theory placement exam, learn my audition excerpts, and move, but the knitting? It's coming with me.