Finals, Moves, and Other Distractions

Between three senior projects, finals, graduating, moving, and not having access to my pictures, I have managed to go quite some time without posting anything on here. However, that does not mean I have stopped knitting. In the past two months I have completed my undergraduate degree and moved to a southern coastal town to attend graduate school in the fall. Since the move it seems that I can't do enough knitting. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I know a total of four people (my boyfriend and his family). I'm not an overly social individual and would rather just hang out in my apartment (roommate-free for the majority of the summer) chattering away on twitter and watching tv shows, which I have been acquiring more of again.

Unfortunately my new home, which is within walking distance of the campus, Best Buy, Starbucks, and TJ Maxx, is still without a local yarn shop. Fortunately I live behind an AC Moore, so am not quite as devoid of yarn as I have been, which is causing my yarn stash to grow once again. I'm currently in love with Caron's Simply Soft which I used to make my purple hat back in January. I have a gorgeous dark green that I am using for the Wicked Vest. I love how soft it feels and the way patterns really show up in its texture, making it great for these projects with lace elements. And even though I'm not very enviromentally concious beyond those things which make good economic sense, I do appreciate the fact that each skein contains .6 recycled plastic bottles.

Speaking of vests, the super secret project is complete! For my mother's birthday in April I knitted the Mistake Rib Vest from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. What started out as a fun simple project quickly became something that I dreaded pulling out, taking the place of my friend Jessica's blanket from Christmas break. Mostly the problem I had was that there was barely any variation in the pattern coupled with the fact that it shortly grew to be too big to carry around with me. It was knit in one piece, which was nice though I still had to seem the sides. Overall I am pleased with the result though I'm not looking to make the pattern again. My mom was thrilled with the finished piece, which made all of the frustration worth it.



In stark contrast to my mom's vest, I am thoroughly enjoying the Wicked Vest that I mentioned above. the measurements and pattern changes are far enough apart that I can watch tv while working on it, but still are enough to keep me interested. I started the project two weeks ago, but took a week off in the middle to work on another project that I've since frogged out of frustration. I finished the back of the vest today and am anxiously waiting to start one of the front panels. It's the first big project that I've made for myself, and I'm absolutely loving it.



I've decided to start making more projects for myself because I want to be able to show off my knitwear. This is not to say that I won't keep knitting other projects for friends and family, because I really do enjoy sending projects to people and hearing their reactions. However, I'm really liking the fact that I can expand my own wardrobe in a way that I can completely control. After I finish Wicked I am planning on starting the Great Gatsby Dress from this summer's Interweave Knits. My mom bought the yarn for me-- more Caron Simply Soft in a beautiful grey/blue. My new rule is to only make things that I could wear for the teaching assistant job that I will be starting in August. I have a lot of great ideas and can't wait to cast on more. Even more than before, knitting has become an addiction that I can't bear to shake.

There is so much more to discuss, but this is going to be it for tonight. I'm visiting my family for the week and when I leave I'm planning to finally take my mother up on her offer of one of her sewing machines. I want to start off with a needle case to make traveling a bit less chaotic and am planning on making a lining for the Luminarie Skirt (in the new IK) once I get around to knitting it. Hopefully I'll be updating on a more regular basis (weekly?), but I make no promises I can't keep. We shall see.