Quick!

I'm just offering a quickie today, so that you know I haven't fallen off the edge of a cliff or something.

What I've been doing for the past three days:


I'm on the downhill slope of grading finals; plus, I have a new project. It's a horizontal garter rib scarf, and it's been great for the end of quarter stress.

Coming soon: Two FOs and a very cute picture of my niece wearing the kitty hat I knit for her.

Kitty hat

Oh my goodness, I actually finished something! (Please do note the festive cabbage modeling the hat. I found a double use for part of our St. Patrick's Day dinner.)


This little pink kitty hat is based on the Kittyville hat from Stitch N' Bitch. I sized down the original pattern, from adult to toddler, and left off the ear flaps. I don't remember the name of the yarn, off hand, but it's super soft and has tiny yellow and blue flecks spattered in the pink—very spring.

This hat is, of course, for my adorable little niece, who's been busy growing since we saw her last summer. I do hope that it fits her. She long ago outgrew the sweater and tam that I made for her. Although I had fun taking pictures of my cabbage wearing the hat, I do believe it will look much cuter on little Katie.


(Thanks to Tim for the great picture of Katie!)

A week, some notes

Spring burst all over the place this week, with blue skies and warm sunshine. Not much to say, otherwise, but I thought I should check-in since it's been a while since my last post. Here are some of the things happening this week:

• It's the last week of classes for the winter quarter at my university. For me, this point in the quarter is accompanied by a faint sense of relief overshadowed by panic as I scramble to find closure for my work.

• On Monday I went bowling, and I got four strikes! This is a lot for me. Overall, I didn't end up with my highest score ever, but that is definitely the most strikes I've gotten in an evening.

• I am still knitting my sock. In the comments on my last post, scarybez asked what pattern I am using. I kind of made the pattern up by myself. I originally thought I would make Thuja, from Knitty, but the gauge I liked with the yarn was too small for that pattern. So I turned to Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules! so that I could create my own pattern based on the basic sock recipe she describes. There is a pattern going down the sides that my stitch dictionary calls "mock ribbing."

• On Thursday I will show the first draft of my dissertation prospectus to one of my advisors. I'm rather nervous and afraid that I didn't do it quite correctly, but I'll never know until I get feedback. Wish me luck!

Back to work...

Riding the sock train through sick land

I'm terribly sick of being sick! Enough, I say! We are gaining on the two week mark, and, I ask you, isn't that long enough? Why do my ears still throb? Why does my throat still ache? Has my head permanently converted into a mucus producing machine? Why do I still feel like the most productive thing I will do today is take a nap? Arrrrgg!!! I have no time for this!

Thank you for your patience with my whining. I will now show you a sock.


Despite fabulous plans for my sweet grandma's scarf and a cat hat for my little niece, all I've managed in the past two weeks is to keep going on my socks. The marvelous Erin, who kindly entertains me while I'm a disgusting sick person and feeds me homemade chicken soup, modeled the first sock so I could take some pictures. At knitting group on Saturday I officially passed the half way mark on the second sock by picking up the gusset stitches off my heel flap. The heel is turned, and, I must admit, it was almost beyond me in my current state. Luckily, clearer heads were with me.

I know you can't see the sock very well, but I love this action shot of Erin and my sock. Doesn't she look like she's having fun? Did I mention that she feeds me chicken soup, and hot tea too?