Personal Update

So, this month has seemed to be pretty much all about fundraising and raising funds and getting funding. At first I was going to end the giveaway this week but I've decided to extend it until the end of the month. Then we can do a fun little Halloween night drawing for prizes! Also, can I say how excited I am about Halloween? I love the fall. I love how it marks the start of the holiday season and how there's a change in the temperature. I'm really looking forward to a pumpkin carving/bonfire/s'mores night with friends next week. We're also planning a corn maze/petting zoo/corn box/hayride/ more s'mores day in early November. Maybe I'll work some hiking in the North Georgia mountains in before Thanksgiving too. Now is the best time to go while the leaves are changing color.

Today is my one of the few days that I have off where I can actually get some things accomplished around the house. Right now that means filling out 501(c)3 paperwork and reading articles for school. I'm working on my integrated project for school which is basically a doctoral thesis without conducting the actual study. That means about 30-40 articles for the lit. review alone. Good thing I like the topic (for anyone interested I'm researching Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in children adopted from Eastern Europe and Russia and how that contributes to parental stress and attachment).

Everything with school, internship, and charity seem to be kind of just creeping along at a somewhat consistent pace. Of course I would like to fast track everything but I've been trying to rein myself in, especially over the last couple of days. I realized that if I keep up the stress and worry then I'll just end up having a melt down (never pretty).

Other things of interest...my dad is getting a new car, I busted my hand on the door frame last night when I literally jumped out of bed at the sound of the outdoor cat fighting with another cat or maybe a opossum at 3:45 in the morning, and I'm still knitting. Evidence:

Socks for charity.

Big puffy multicolored blanket of awesome. Also for charity.

I went to see Looper a couple of weeks ago with my brother and sister-in-law. Highly recommend the movie. Also, we went to the rich people's movie theater so the seats were these big leather recliners. Seriously. It was awesome.

I can never watch movies in a regular theater again.

 Oh, and I made an apple crumble. It was the best thing I've made in a long time. I ate it every day for breakfast for a week.

It's ok to be jealous.

It's been kind of fun talking about random stuff in life. Maybe I should that more often...

P.S. Don't forget to enter the giveaway! I'm doing the drawing on Halloween night.

All the Stuff I Didn't Talk About Last Time

I left a teaser at the end of the last post about several things but am only now getting around to following up. I think I need a manager for my life...

Wedding Blanket (cat included not for scale but because she thinks all the blankets are belong to her):

Praise the Lord! This thing is starting to get to a point where it actually looks like it might be finished this century. For those of you just now joining our little game I started making this blanket for some friends who got married almost a year ago. It has become something of a thorn in my side. The bad thing about this blanket is that it lost its portability several months ago. Turning or adjusting it on my lap requires significant upper body strength (which I generally lack) and just working on it induces much sweating (which I produce proficiently). Once I finish the block at the top (in red) then I will pick up stitches along the left side and do block #7. I'm stopping after block #8. The question is, Can I finish this for the 1 year anniversary? The answer is, Probably not. Let's just be honest. I know myself. But a girl can hope...

SIL's Socks (no picture because I'm too lazy to get up, take one, and upload to my computer):
Finally got measurements for my sister in law's foot. Can commence to finishing these ASAP.

And what's that over there...
Nothing to see here! That is not a new charity shawl on the needles. I'm finishing missed deadline projects first.

Then what are these washcloths...
Those were mindless, portable knitting! Mom wanted them. I said to keep moving along!

Language lessons:

My good friend Connie (who I meet via my charity and have never met in real life, oddly enough) was moving from California to Singapore. She knows Romanian and graciously offered me her language books (so she wouldn't have to move them half way around the world). I graciously accepted. Now I have about 20 new language books and tapes to help me learn Romanian. There is even a Romanian cookbook that she threw in which I'm unreasonably excited about.

I think that covers every thing from the last post. In the next post I will stop denying other projects and fess up to my deviant behavior.

Project count up:
Charity: 6 completed, 1 on the needles
 Self: 0 (I'm honestly kind of doubtful I will make anything for myself this year)
Family and friends: 3 on the needles, 2 completed! (and I never even mentioned them!)

Sucker Punched

My friend Jonathan made the speculation today that "It seems like winter was just hiding until it could jump out and sucker punch us in February." True, true. I don't think I turned on the heat at all during January and I know for sure I wore short sleeves at least once last month. But now it's game over. The temperatures have been hovering around freezing and the wind has been gusting at 35 miles per hour all weekend. I came home on Saturday night from a baby-sitting job/visit with friends and immediately went to turn on the heat. The heater ran for 2 hours with no change in temperature. I called maintenance and I'm running on "emergency heat" (yes, that's an actually setting on my thermostat) until they can come look at it tomorrow. At least I have this magical "emergency heat" or this would have been a very unpleasant weekend.

I've really been loving the Year of Knit Alongs that I'm hosting on the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project's Ravelry page. Every month I've managed to pick some designs that people are actually pumped to do. Of course I like them, I picked them! I finished the Mossy Ridge Socks (sadly no picture). And started a Citron Shawl. As per my last post I decided to make this using worsted weight wool because the thought of actual lace kind of gives me hives. So I picked out a light purple yarn and some size 6 needles and started plugging away.

I knit the whole first section and started the second. But something was bothering me. The yarn is acrylic (don't shoot me, I have a lot that needs to be used up and I'm broke). The needles are kind of small for any worsted weight. The combination of the small-ish needles and the unforgiving acrylic was too much. My hands were killing me. So, I did the only sensible thing to do and ripped the whole thing out. I didn't want to do it but I knew I would have been miserable if I didn't. There was a whole episode with the ball winder and the skein tangling and me cursing and then cutting up bits of acrylic yarn and threatening to burn it and then I was done and I had this:

3 decent sized balls and a tangled mess which I promptly threw in the trash. One thing I will not do is cry over tangled acrylic. Then I grabbed up a pair of size 10.5 needles and started once again. Much better. In 13 days I now have this to show for it:

I nearly completed shawl. I'm on the edging right now as we speak. Just 5 more rows to go and this bad boy will be finished. I'd love to do some more charity knitting but I think that the rest of this month will be devoted to projects for other people. I've set a goal to finish my sister in law's socks this month.

Which means I better get going. And I also want to finish at least a square and half of the wedding blanket.

Which might actually be do-able since I'm already almost half way through the next block (the black one on the right in the picture above). The blanket will be easy because it's mindless and I can work on it while I read articles for school online. The socks are another thing. I kind of have to pay a little more attention to them. Either way just these two projects are coming with me when I go on a little road trip for school next week. Stay tuned to see if I can meet my goals!

Project count up:
Charity: 3 completed, 1 on the needles
Self: 0
Family and friends: 2 on the needles

Don't Hate

I'm about to confess something that will probably get me punched in the mouth the next time I'm out and about: I kind of wish I'd gotten some snow this week. Not the blizzard that slammed the Northeast but just a light dusting. We hardly ever have snow in Georgia. Last year we had a White Christmas with about an inch falling. It was the first White Christmas in 129 years. 129, people. Some places haven't been 129 years without a White Christmas. It's more likely that you'll see snow here in January or February. And one year we did have a blizzard in March. But October would signal hell freezing over. So, while I love the look of a "snow sky" (when the sky goes all grey or white just before it snows) my chances of getting snow this early are pretty slim. I think the idea of being stuck in the house all week like earlier this year must seem appealing or something. The coming of snow is also the end of the holiday season. By the time snow comes Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are all done. And you know what that means? Christmas knitting is done too. And I'm ready to be done with Christmas knitting. I'm ready to be knitting on some new charity projects or making myself some new socks. But, alas, I have Christmas gifts to make. In fact, I have a quite a few I still need to finish. It might be important to note that I have only finished one (1) Christmas gift so far. This is not such a good thing. Maybe I can finish up the second tonight. The reason why I haven't gotten more done is that I took on a new nanny job and I've been baby-sitting lots more. And graduate school started back. These things now rule my life. So I generally try to stick to mindless things like washcloths.

Washcloths for a commissioned project.

I'm also trying to get a few rows in on the Log Cabin blanket too. Being all garter stitch helps in the mindless category.

*SLOWLY* growing.

Thankfully though, I have mindless projects to work on. Otherwise nothing might get accomplished around here.

Helen

As promised here is a recap of my recent trip to Helen.

Started the day with my mom and sister-in-law headed to Cleveland, GA which is only about 10 minutes outside of Helen. That's where Babyland General Hospital is.

The place is massive.

Babyland General Hospital is where Cabbage Patch Kids are "born." If you are not familiar with Cabbage Patch Kids you are obviously not a product of the '80s.

We had a fun time wandering around and looking at all the sites and acting like kids again.

Me and my SIL is front of magical baby growing cabbages.

I would have taken one home if not for the fact that I'm 28 and I already have enough people looking at me funny. I don't need a doll to compound that problem.

After we left Cleveland we went to Helen. Helen is quite unique in that it looks like an alpine village. It's also the home of the South's largest and longest running Oktoberfest. I don't know if that means it's been around the longest or if it runs the longest number of weeks. I don't think it really matters. During the summer you can tube through Helen on the Chattahoochee river. Right now it's too cold but it's still a lovely little town.

So, that's Helen! It was a nice little one day get away to start the fall off right. Now really is my favorite time to go to the mountains. The leaves are changing color and the air is cool and crisp. This weekend I'll be in Asheville, NC for the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. Come see me in the barn! I'll have to decide what knitting project(s) I want to take with me. I finished up two BIG ones this last week.

The Patchwork Blanket

The Square, Not a Circle Blanket

The Patchwork Blanket was made from squares donated to the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project for the Project 154 blanket collection. I have enough to do two more blankets I think. And I finally finished the Square, Not a Circle Blanket! It looks a little lopsided in the picture because of the way I tacked it down. The bind off was too tight. If I make another one of these in the future I will definitely change the way I bind off (I used the crochet bind off that the Yarn Harlot describes here, it's quite, um sturdy). And as you can see, Penelope loves them both. Especially the Square, Not a Circle one. She's been sleeping on it all day. It's going to be tough telling her she can't keep it. I think she will understand though since it's going to to a good cause.

Hot Friday Night

It's Friday night which can only mean one thing at Chez Single Knitter: big party!

Ok, that was a lie. I'm sorry I lied to you. What it really mean is weaving in ends on a patchwork blanket.

Kickin' it in front of the t.v.

Sometimes kitty helps.

Sometimes she just sleeps.

It also means ice cream.

Kitty likes ice cream too.

And kitty pets.

And some crappy non-cable t.v. Why is there never a good movie on t.v. on Friday night? Why do they always assume people are out living it up? Not that I'm not living it up. Because I am. I even made dinner after resisting the urge to call for pizza. And I went for a walk. So, yeah. Big time Friday night. Be jealous.

The Best Kind of Day

Today is my favorite kind of day. Not just because I have the windows open and the central heating and air conditioning off but because today is a 100% bona fide Work From Home Day! That means sweatpants and no make up, computer on the couch, and snacks at the ready. And, if I'm good, I might allow myself to watch some Jerry Springer in the afternoon. Somehow this makes even the mundane tasks of filling out job applications, doing the laundry, and cleaning the trash can seem so much more pleasant. Of course this does increase the chance that the cute guy who works in the apartment office will come by to discuss something totally random with me. Lucky for him I did brush my teeth. The gleam off my incisors should distract him from my Capella University t-shirt and non-matching yoga pants.

I also love Work From Home Days because I get to work on my charity (my passion), update my blog (usually a long overdue activity), and knit (my other passion). Thankfully all those things are somewhat connected which makes me very happy indeed. Take for instance a New Project:

Piles o' squares.

These are squares that have been donated to make blankets for orphans in Russia and Ukraine. Last night I started stitching (or rather crocheting) them together. Now I have this:

Patchwork Blanket

As you can see I didn't really get the hang of it until the second/third columns but now that I have a better idea of what's going on I can keep trucking along. I also started my second knitted Christmas gift. Thankfully all my gifts this year are fairly small (no sweaters or blankets for family) so once this is finished I will be 2/5 of the way done! The most daunting gift will be a pair of socks but I'm thinking that if I start those in November and work on the washcloths I need to make sporadically throughout October and finish the felted wine cozy order and finish up that Log Cabin blanket for my friends who got married in June and then start on the final Christmas gift in December that I should have plenty of time to get everything done! In fact I will even have time to start another charity blanket! This one:

Not that I've been thinking about starting this or anything like that...

I even have the yarn picked out.

Hard to see the brown, sorry.

I'm thinking of calling it Mint Chocolate Chip Ripples or something like that. Or I might snap out of it and realize that I'm delusional and will be working until Christmas Eve to finish everything but that's doubtful. I did finish my mom's scarf for SAFF and washed and blocked it to boot.

Shiny and silky

Now I just need to add a little bit of ruching to the ends and we're set to go! Something easily accomplished on a Work From Home Day.

Happy Labor Dabor Day!

Happy Labor Dabor Day! Today I plan on taking it easy, which for the single, self-employed gal means laundry, reskeining and listing yarn, doing the dishes, reading for school, and sending emails. Pretty much like a normal day. Except at some point I plan to watch a movie and knit. Which is not an everyday occurrence but does happen pretty frequently. So...pretty much status quo around here. I hope the rest of you are doing something cool too for Labor Day; the day when we celebrate work by not working!

I have been under the delusion that I might be nearing some sort of finishing point on a few of the blankets so I thought I would confirm or deny that this morning.

The Square-Not-A-Circle Blanket

The Square-Not-A-Circle Blanket feels like it should be close to being done. I'm running out of bulky scraps to use on this thing. Measuring from the corner to the center it's about 23.5".

Sorry for crappy, blurry picture.

If I double that I get a diagonal of 47. I think that means the sides are about 33". I need the sides to be at least 42" so that means I still have a ways to go. Close, but not to finishing yet.

Obsession Blanket

I've decided to call this the Obsession Blanket since I'm obsessed with making it! It's getting quite big and unwieldy. It measures about 32" down the side.

See, 32" down the side.

The directions say to knit until it's 61" from the cast on edge. Over half way there! But still, not ready for finishing.

Moderne Log Cabin Blanket of Doom

Finally we have the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket (of Doom) that will continue to plague me in my dreams even after I have cast off (for the final time, since each block has to be cast off). It's huge, it's got tiny stitches, and I'm never promising anyone an afghan again. Even if they get married underwater and have their first baby in space. Sorry Space Baby, no blanket for you! I really love my friends so I'm sticking with this one but I really want it finished before Christmas. Thankfully proper etiquette says you can send a wedding present up to 6 months after the wedding. Christmas would be just over that line but I think I can push it and they'd still be ok. Oh, and I only just started block 4 of 10. So, yeah. But I knew this one was nowhere close to being done and I wasn't even trying to convince myself otherwise.

So, none of my current projects are to a point where I can think about them being done. But today it's a holiday and it's raining so there will be knitting. I'm very excited about the rain because it's been over 35 days since it's rained. Yes, you read that right, over 35. I couldn't get data back further than August but I bet it's closer to 40 or 45 days without any rain. Which means it's been miserably hot. Since last night (when it started raining) the temperature has dropped over 20 degrees. That calls for a celebration in and of itself. I'm going to go sit on my cooler by the stick and say stuff to people (not really but I will knit and try to pretend like there isn't laundry sitting in the hallway).

"Dabbling" in Crochet

I got to thinking the other day about possibly teaching myself to crochet. Now that I'm self-employed I have a little bit of free time to learn (if I so desired). I've heard some people claim that crochet is faster than knitting and I thought this might be of some advantage in the blanket making department. I mean, there's an afghan hook the size of Texas that can apparently be used.

Giant afghan hook

My previous experience with crochet has been rather limited. I can make a chain but that's about it. Then I remembered the purple mitered squares blanket. I needed to start piecing it together and I didn't want to sew the thing up (I hate seaming with a passion). A quick Google search on crochet seaming and I had a rough idea of how things were supposed to go. Of course I pretty much adapted the whole thing to Whatever-Way-Worked-Best-For-Me which I'm sure made needle artists everywhere cringe. This is one of the drawbacks of teaching myself something new. I usually just interpret it as best as I can and jump right in. Case in point: for the first year or so after I learned to knit I purled backwards. Side note: I did eventually fix the back of that sweater. And no, I haven't finished it! Thanks for asking...

I assembled all the supplies for seaming.

Squares and yarn

Blurry crochet hook (not blurry in real life, only in crappy-taken-at-10-p.m. pictures)

Then I got to it. My first set of squares came out quite well I think.

First 4 squares seamed together.

It took me an entire movie (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which Daniel Radcliff sports some very voluminous hair) to finish seaming all 16 squares together. There was only one mishap. I had originally intended to seam the squares with the "fraternal twin" squares opposite one another (you can see that in the picture above). Well, one set got mis-seamed.

Fraternal twins on the same side as one another.

Not a huge deal and definitely not something I'm ripping out a whole half hour of seaming to redo.

After spending a whole night dabbling in crochet I don't think I could leave my first love, knitting. It would be like saying I was just going to go make out with that guy who's not my boyfriend because he looks like he might be a better kisser. In the end nothing is as good as it seems and everything takes a little work. Plus, I got a sore thumb from crocheting. Not sure how that equates to the kissing thing but I'd rather not work that one out.

Pathological Need to Snuggle

One of the gals on Twitter and I determined that the reason why I'm making so many blankets is that I have a pathological need to snuggle. I think we're on to something.

Exhibit A:
The Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. Production has been temporarily halted as I ran out of red yarn 10 rows before the color block was finished. I have plenty more I just need to dig it out.

This thing is huge and I'm not even finished with the third block! This makes it a little unwieldy to drag out and around but it's good mindless knitting when I do pull it out. Would love to be finished with this by October but seeing as how there are only 8 days left in August that may be a pipe dream.

Exhibit B:
Square, Not A Circle Blanket.

Really enjoying seeing how this blanket is taking shape. I'm just using up bits of bulky odds and ends I had laying around. It's seriously depleting my bulky yarns! The only problem is the needles. Using my Boye interchangables and have linked several cables together with the connectors. This is a great beginners set of interchangable needles but they're just not doing the trick any more. The joins between the needles and cables aren't always smooth, the cables are extremely unflexable, and when I join the cables together to make them longer they don't lie flat. This makes moving the stitches around extremely difficult as they usually snag or get log jammed at one of the "corners" where the cables are connected. I really want some 60" Addis but I'm not sure I'm ready to fork over $20+ for the pair. Especially on my self-employment salary.

Exhibit C:
"Assuring" Afghan.

This may actually be my favorite blanket that I'm currently working on. I love that it's going fast thanks to big needles and worsted weight yarn held double. It's interesting enough that I have to sort of pay attention to it but not so complicated that I can't watch a movie or read a few blogs while working on it. And I can attest to the fact that even though it's acrylic it's still warm as I've had it on my lap for several nights working on it. Will definitely be making more afghans from this book when I finish this one.

Exhibit D:
Purple Mitered Square Blanket. While I haven't done anything with this recently it's still marinating in my room ready to be called to action. With several of the above blankets getting too large to schlep around this might be the perfect "on the go" project.

Now I'm off to snuggle with my blankets and satisfy some deep seated urge in my being.