Sunday, February 21, 2010

A little busy


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.


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.


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.


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.


Unst, from Knitting on the Road, in Jitterbug Oyster Blush on size 1.5 US needles. Fast, easy, and so flippin' pretty.


And last but not least, the socks that singlehandedly changed my mind about Socks That Rock variegated colorways.


Oh socks, my first knitting love.

Ok, time for bed!

1 comment:

fecknom said...

"...sometimes I have to take a break to be really intensely angry at Stalin so that I can move on to the next sentence."

This feeling: I am quite familiar with it. Sometimes I'm not even reading when it comes along.

Halcyon looks GORGEOUS.

Also, a bunch of Jitterbug is on the 25%-off wall at Loopy. There is this Apricot colorway that calls to me, and I keep not taking it home with me.