In the Evergreen State

Well, I did it. I moved back to the Northwest. Here's a picture I took the other day that I think really captures the spirit of the region. I call it "Joggers In Rain With Radiant Green Backdrop."


When Dan and I arrived in WA the fates of weather conditions arranged for an unseasonably wet couple of weeks, probably to welcome us home. Now it's warmed up again, and Dan and I are just beginning to find our routines—work, family, school stuff, etc.—but I still haven't found my normal knitting stride. I'm fairly shocked it's been a month since the last time I blogged, and I really miss my knitting group. I had plans to start one here, but lately I keep thinking about how a new group will be totally different from my old one. Then I just get hung-up on trying to decide what day I should try to have it, and then I can't decide where it should meet anyway. Oh well. I miss you, my sweet Santa Cruz crafters!

Of course, I'm still knitting a bit, even if not as industriously as usual. Here's a little something that's almost done. It's a super cute free pattern from Hello Yarn. I'm making it for a special baby due this fall.


Now I have a very important question for you, gentle readers: Do you think the ear I made is too long? I'm worried it will be overly floppy, and this concern is keeping me from picking up stitches for the second ear.

Finally, by popular request, I took a picture of my new apartment. This is the living/dining room area.


Isn't it pretty? You should all come over to knit with me and sip tea.

In flux

We survived the long haul up to Washington and even found a place to live! It’s been stressful and hectic, and I didn’t sleep or knit very much. Our family has been very kindly housing us until we can get into our new home, and we’ve found a few minutes here and there to visit our old haunts (including Canvas Works, Olympia’s yarn store), but we feel that establishing ourselves in our new (bigger) home is necessary before we can relax and really enjoy coming back to the northwest. Being here still feels very surreal and, though we’ve only been away a short time, we find ourselves missing our friends back in Santa Cruz. Hopefully we will find ourselves again soon.

Transitions

Now everything is happening very fast. Boxes are everywhere. I need more sleep. We've reserved the moving truck for Friday. It's a period of transition.


My blog will make the trip up to Washington too, but my entries may continue to be inconsistent for a while. I hope you stick around to see what happens becuase transitions can be exciting. Plus, I decided that my traveling project will be my very first adult sized sweater...

I passed!

Now I'm an official Ph.D. candidate. Does that sound good? Maybe I should knit a sweater to celebrate....


Unfortunately, my imminent move takes the edge off my relief. While I'm looking forward to the good things that will accompany my move (family, old friends, a bigger living space, the loveliness of the northwest, family, etc.), I also have to face the parts of moving that make me sad (leaving my new friends, stress, packing, looking for a new place, feelings of displacement, leaving my Santa Cruz community, etc.). This is a really lovely little spot to live. Oh well, such is life.


My sister still doesn't know where she and the band she is touring with are going to play tonight. We may just takeover a space on campus and call it guerrilla music.

Ack! Come celebrate with me and my sister!

Edited to add at 8:58, Sunday night:

Well, something terrible has happened. The show my sister was scheduled to play at was canceled. Now she has no where to play on Wednesday night. She asked me if I have any friends with houses who can host a small concert, and I had to tell her that none of my friends have houses. We don't know where the show will be, or even if there will be a show. If anyone in Santa Cruz can help, please let me know. Ack!

I have absolutely no time. No time. But I'm writing this because, theoretically, I'll pass my exam, or turn into a pumpkin or something, on Tuesday. Therefore, I will have a reason to celebrate on Wednesday, and, conveniently, my sister is on her exciting west coast tour and will be in town that night performing.

Everyone who would like to celebrate with me and see my sister in all of her lovely indie-rock-singer-songwriter-ukulele-playing glory should come to the show on Wednesday. It will be an intimate little house show at 619B Broadway St., beginning at about 8:00, and there will probably be a small door fee. If you're curious about my sister's music, look at her myspace page where you can listen to a few of her songs. It will be fabulous! Plus, the completion of this whole QE thing really will be something to celebrate.

What was that? Where's the knitting? Um... We'll just have to talk about that after Tuesday, but I did go to knitting group yesterday, and I have a picture to prove it (note the new haircut and the knitting needle hanging off my head):

The Albino Squirrel Speaks

Dear Tangled Yarns Readers,

I'm sorry to inform you that Amanda, a.k.a. the Knotty Historian, is lost and believed to be buried under a pile of books and student essays. I last saw Amanda leaving her discussion section on I. B. Singer at 3:25 on Monday, and, as corroborated by several witness who saw her at coffee shops around town, there was a wild look in her eyes. Those around her have become concerned about the soundness of her judgment at this time, and, if spotted, we suggest approaching her with caution as she may be easily startled. Considering that she must finish all elements of her QE dossier and complete grading approximately 40 student papers by 5:00 tomorrow, it seems that her temporary insanity is probably justified. As for the rest of us, we simply hope she resurfaces before Friday when she is scheduled to drive to Los Angeles for her Grandmother's 90th birthday.

Sincerely,
Ms. Al. Squirrel

Nobody expects an Albino Squirrel!

As I sit here writing (pounding my head against the wall), I realize that I haven't checked in with my blog friends in over two weeks. Do not worry. I have only fallen off of a metaphorical cliff, not a real one. The writing continues. The goal: a finished dossier to be submitted several weeks prior to my QE scheduled for June 5th (you need not remind me that several weeks means, urm, now). Knitting has also fallen off a metaphorical cliff. Forgive me and send good writing vibrations.

In the meantime, enjoy the mystery that is the Albino Squirrel!


Personally, I'm intrigued. This thing lurks next to the Physical Sciences building and greets my students and me as we exit class. My students gave it the nickname, and, believe me, that rump is eerily white. It's not knitting, but it is interesting.

On the knitting front

Well, I'm feeling better. This cold was much milder than my last one (which kept me sick for a whole month!), and I'm back to my busy, busy self. The glimpse I gave you in my last post inspired some curiosity about my current project, and I want to fill in a few of the details.


It's the Swallowtail Shawl, designed by Evelyn Clark, from Interweave Knits (Fall 2006). Honestly, I'm almost done. It took a bit over two weeks to knit (I started it as soon as I finished Peter's scarf and will finish binding off at knitting group this afternoon), but don't hold your breath for FO pictures because I don't know when I'll have a chance to block the finished shawl.

I followed the pattern as it's written, except for the yarn. This is what I used:


That's a picture of the yarn I got for holiday gifts this winter, and the one in the middle is the Paris color way of Handmaiden Yarn's Seasilk (bought online, here). I've really enjoyed using it. When I began I was worried that all the color changes would be too busy for the lace pattern, but I overcame that concern as the project developed. The yarn is smooth and luminous. It smells faintly like the ocean or a bit of nori. I'm seriously looking forward to making something with the second skein (on the left in the picture) but haven't yet decided what it will become.

As for other fronts, Dan and I realized yesterday that we will be moving in exactly two months... crazy...

A glimpse

I am sick again! And this is really quite unfortunate timing because I'm way too busy right now. I need to write. I need to read. I need to teach. I need to comprehend what people say and offer articulate responses. Instead, I'm a very sad example of a graduate student.

Oh well, at least my knitting is pretty.

Peter's scarf

I made a scarf for Peter, one of the professors I work with, and it turned out even better than I thought it would.

Of all the people I know, Peter talks the most about death and mortality. Perhaps it's because he's Hungarian. Perhaps it's because he was a Jewish boy in Budapest during Nazi occupation. Perhaps it's just how he is. Here is an example of our conversations last spring (we had many little talks like this one):

Peter: Do you think I will make it through lecture today?

Me: Of course! Why not?

Peter: Well, you never know. I may open my mouth and the words may be gone.

Me: I'm sure you'll be fine.

Peter: Do you think that this problem with my voice is cancer?

Me: Your doctor said it's nodes on your vocal cords. How are you feeling otherwise?

Peter: Fine. But, we all must die. I think it's cancer.

He was right. Shortly after his diagnosis I asked Peter if he would like a scarf, but he didn't want me to knit him something until his health was better. I listened to Peter's request that I wait until he "survived" and put his scarf on a list of projects for later.


After treatment during the summer and a leave of absence in fall, Peter taught again in winter, and I was his TA again. He's recovered quite well, and I decided that his 70th birthday this month would be a good occasion to give him a scarf. He seemed very happy when I presented his gift, and was happy to model for my blog. He said, "Amanda, if I can lecture in front of 300 students, why would I worry about my picture on the internet?"


Scarf Details:

The scarf itself is made from Cascade 220. I cast on about 320 stitches and just knit, knit, knit away in the symmetrical stripe pattern.

As a design element I incorporated the "wrong side" of the garter at color changes on both sides of the scarf. Thus, it doesn't have a "wrong side."

Also, it was important to me to have both edges as similar as possible. So, I used "EZ's Sewn Bind-Off" (Elizabeth Zimmerman was a knitting genius!) to make the cast-off edge less obvious, and it worked like a charm. Several experienced knitters haven't been able to tell which edge was my cast-on and which was my cast-off!

The fringe was made by cutting the yarn and reattaching it at the end of each row, creating an instant fringe and eliminating the need to hide ends. I originally planned on trimming the ends to make a more even fringe, but several friends told me that they really liked the uneven look. So, I left it as it was.

I'm really happy with the finished scarf and will definitely use this technique again!

Small things can make a big difference

I finished another scarf (the one I was working on during my grading). Holly and I decided that the left over yarn makes the PERFECT fashion accessory. What to you think?


A FO picture will come soon.

In other knitting news, the yarn I got for my grandma's scarf is in time-out. (I'm sorry, Grandma. I love you, and I want to make you a scarf, but the yarn isn't behaving.) I have begun a new project for her that should please, but its identity shall remain a mystery for now...

Lastly, my dad uploaded some pictures of my family to Flickr so that I can see how tall and old my brothers look. They are significantly younger than me (I'm 27, and they're 12 and 14), and I haven't seen them for one-and-a-half years! I can't get over these pictures (here's my favorite, and this one from last summer is also really great). So, in order that they don't forget what I look like, here's a picture of me wearing my Clapotis as a shawl:


Back to work!

Applause with a French Accent and My Vacation

Well, school is back in session, and I have a variety of interesting but challenging tasks facing me this quarter. I am making some progress with my writing—which makes me feel good but also reminds me how much time I must dedicate in order to accomplish small steps—and I'm looking forward to the class I'm TAing and the readings course I'm taking. But, before I dive headlong into another pile of books, I need to show you something. My Clapotis:


This pattern, available for free on Knitty, is super popular in the knitting world, and the reasons are simple: it's fun and the results look good. I found this yarn on clearance last fall and, despite the fact that I wasn't planning on knitting a Clapotis, as soon as I saw it I knew what I would use it for. Now, if you read this blog regularly, you may be wondering when I knit this, because it barely made an appearance until today. To be honest, I think I did most of the knitting in December, and maybe January, right after I bought the yarn. I even gave you a glimpse when my fall grades were due.


I found that the knitting went quickly because the pattern has built in goals/rewards: "Oh, I can't stop now. I'm almost to the next row where I drop stitches!" But, silly knitter that I am, I was really slow with the finishing because I was worried the scarf/shawl was too long. So, I stuffed it in my knitting box and forgot about it until a couple weeks ago when I fished it out again, hid the ends, and suddenly had an *instantaneously* finished Clapotis.


My lovely model for these pictures is Karen. She and her son, Derek, came to visit me for two days over spring break. We had such a wonderful time playing at the beach, wandering through lovely natural settings, seeing sea lions and butterflies, eating tacos and tamales, and talking. Plus, I took tons of pictures, many of which I uploaded to my Flickr site, even creating a special set of pictures from their visit. (Karen has a wonderful blog about raising her son at Go, Bebe, Go! But, I don't think she's updated it for a few weeks.)


Their visit was very refreshing! Now I'm ready to get down to work. QE prep, here I come!

A girl with a hat

The hat fits!


And she looks so cute in it!

I want to send another thanks to Tim for the great pictures of Katie in the Kitty Hat. He sent them so quickly that they sat in my email in-box without attention for several days until I completed my grading and allowed myself a brief return to my online pleasures. I think they were worth waiting for.

After the grading was done, done, done I spent two days (well, maybe three) behaving as one on vacation before returning to my qualifying exam preparations. I will QE this spring. It must happen, and it will happen. (Must. Write. Faster.) Please send me good writing vibrations.

Also, please contemplate this second picture of Katie as she contemplates a sheep. The circle between animal, yarn, and Kitty Hat makes me happy.

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?

Where I am

I took this picture while I was walking on campus yesterday:



I think I need to place myself more firmly in my surrounds so that I can be more aware of where I am and what I am doing. For example, last week I was in a bookstore and read the first page of Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close because Tweak, with passion in her eyes, said it's amazing. And, she's right. I started laughing loudly in the bookstore. But I can't do that right now. I have to work. So, at that moment, I decided that when I move back to Olympia this summer I will start a book club and that will be the first book we read. The thought made me happy, but now the idea keeps coming to me while I am supposed to be writing my dissertation proposal. I need to get THAT done here, now, before...

I am here, now, to prepare for my QE. I need to focus on that.

As far as my productivity is concerned, I have been making a valiant effort to stick by my resolution, despite a rather tenacious cold. My dear readers, your advice was fabulous. I think I should ask you smart people for input more often, and anybody who didn't read the comments on my last post should do it immediately, particularly if you are a graduate student with a wandering eye.

Do your dreams for the future distract you from your purpose for the day?

Oh, since this is a knitting blog, I should also note that I went to Stitches West last Saturday with some very good company. There were knitters and yarn as far as my sickly eyes could see. I made a very exciting purchase, which I will have to discuss with you another time, and forgot to take pictures. Ops! Back to that paying attention to where I am thing...

Rainbows and resolutions

Dan and I are both sick--sore throats, stuffy sinuses, pressure in our ears, and postnasal drip. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I stayed home from class this morning, and later we followed the rainbow to Longs Drugs to stock up on throat lozenges and tissues with lotion.


Can you see the rainbow?

We also had a long discussion about productivity, procrastination, and focus (or lack there of). So, in the spirit of my newer, better, more productive mentality, I might not be blogging much for a while. Or, when I do blog, I might just include a picture with a few words, like this entry.

Do you have any advice on effective time use? I think I need it.

A day for pinks

What should be in a post-Valentines edition of a knitting blog? Songs of love? Yarn to make one swoon? A discussion of romance? A critique of the commercialization of love? Chocolate? (I really do recommend reading Yarn Harlot's entry from yesterday.)


I'm afraid my level of sophistication is not quite that high right now. Instead, I will simply share some observations about color that this knotty historian made during yesterday's day of love. I'm not a big pink fan. I don't think I own a single pink item of clothing. Yet, as I was contemplating the Valentines Day color scheme I realized that the yarn I obtained for my niece's hat and my grandma's scarf is all pink. So, fate demands a little photo with both pink yarns and some other pink and red things that I bought yesterday to celebrate yummy colors.

How else did I celebrate? Dan and I ate some very sexy fruit salad for diner. That was the follow up to the very romantic midterm review session that I led in the morning. I know, I know--the extravagance of it all is quite overwhelming.