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My goodness. I'm getting really terrible at this whole blogging thing. The last month and a half have gone incredibly fast - between weaving, sewing, knitting, and getting started with the semester (which is now onto week 3!) life has been crazy. I have been finishing things left and right, mostly spurred by my current complete lack of project monogamy. I'm actually sort of loving having so many projects; as I may have expressed before, it means that I always have something to knit, and I finish things about once every week or two, instead of once every month.
First up? I finished Halcyon. I cast on sometime during the beginning of last semester. I remember working on the back while waiting outside my physics professor's office for help with the problem set, and then later to tell him that I would be dropping the class. The sleeves came with me to Chicago and were finished within a few days. The front lagged for a while, but I finally finished it about three weeks ago, and then picked up and knit the collar a week or so later. And, again, blocking proves its magical powers to soften yarn, even out patterns and make the fit beautiful.
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All in all, I'm pretty happy with this. I would change a few small details - the cuffs are a touch short, the front a little high, and the drop shoulders are not the most flattering style on me. But the color is fantastic, and it's super warm. It's become my go-to sweater for chilly nights curled up reading for class.
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EwFmYNYqTC0/S4IKqPESCCI/AAAAAAAAAyE/1ioEB98L9hs/s400/halcyon3.jpg)
Speaking of which. I'm taking exclusively East Asian Studies classes this semester, and although there's a lot of reading for each of them, I'm digging the parallels that I'm able to see when studying early Meiji-period Japan and the roles of Japan and Korea in the beginnings of the Cold War simultaneously. Even though sometimes I have to take a break to be really intensely angry at Stalin so that I can move on to the next sentence.
Fascinating, scary stuff, this history.
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But you guys care about knitting! Halcyon was knit in Ella Rae classic, in almost exactly 7 skeins. I used the recommended size 5 and 7 US needles for a 40" sweater, and followed the directions from A Fine Fleece to a t. I'm so knitting more sweaters from this book.
Oh yeah, also: socks.
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Unst, from Knitting on the Road, in Jitterbug Oyster Blush on size 1.5 US needles. Fast, easy, and so flippin' pretty.
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EwFmYNYqTC0/S4IKpDeiu5I/AAAAAAAAAxs/457cixk0pBo/s400/unst3.jpg)
And last but not least, the socks that singlehandedly changed my mind about Socks That Rock variegated colorways.
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EwFmYNYqTC0/S4IPlUGh8pI/AAAAAAAAAyc/CO_FAs_7gio/s400/vintagesockspair1p3.jpg)
Oh socks, my first knitting love.
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