and to be completely off topic....

I have absolutely no knitting news to report. None at all. I’m sorry but I just haven’t had the time to knit! I had two tests this week too, both today in fact. So that has been taking up most, or let’s say all, or my time. So since I can’t talk about knitting I’ll talk about tests: today I had an archeology and a history test. The archeology test was short and multiple choice and is not worth saying anymore about, but the history test, that was a bit more of a worry. It’s the history of Christianity, and hands down the most amazing history professor ever (who also happens to be my advisor) teaches it, so I want to do really well in this class (isn’t it funny how that works? I want to impress the brilliant professor, but I could care less what the mediocre professor thinks of me). He’s also a pretty difficult grader so I was quite stressed out about the whole thing. But it turned out alright, the essay was some wonderful question about Constantine’s influence on the early Christian church, which I was quite excited about. So excited about, in fact, that I completely lost track of time and when I finished the essay I only had seven minutes left to complete the second half of the test! Five identification (ie mini essays) in 7 minutes…. Needless to say I did not write in complete sentences. So hopefully the first part of the test will counteract the second half….

I guess I’m obligated to put something about knitting in here. I’m now part of the Academics Knit webring. Yay! Hello everyone!
I also just came across this pattern, and I’m completely in love with it. Both in long and short sleeve, and it would probably look great if you modified it to be a tanktop too…. So many options, I’m going to have to get on this one.

Finished! I was lucky enough to have just enough yarn to make a normal length scarf.









Last night I blocked it. Honestly I had never blocked lace before, and I used these instructions, which worked out very nicely. It took a bit of convincing to get my mom to agree to putting a wet pile of yarn on the bed, and then sticking dozens of pins into the mattress, but she eventually realized what a brilliant idea that actually is



Of course this morning I found the cat lying on top of everything. I don’t think with a normal cat this would be too much of a problem, but I have one of the most clumsy, destructive cats I have ever met. One of her major problems is that her claws don’t detract. Ever. So when she walks across a carpet she sticks to it. Or if she’s lying on a blanket and decides to move, the blanket usually goes with her. But never fear, as you can see the scarf survived the ordeal with no noticeable scars.

I'm don't really do that math thing....

So I’ve decided to knit Knitty.com’s Branching Out pattern with my mystery yarn. I like it a lot. It’s not too difficult and it’s really pretty. For some reason I had tons of problems with row three. I spent the entirety of Benny and Joon (I tend to knit while watching movies….) knitting row three, realizing something had gone terribly wrong, and frogging the whole thing. I still don’t know what I was doing wrong, it’s not like row three is anything difficult, I just couldn’t seem to get it right. But I didn’t give up! The next morning I tried again and everything worked out just fine.

You’re right, my patterned sheets probably weren’t the best choice for a background, but I don’t feel like taking another picture so you’re just going to have to wait until later to see a better one.

I still can’t tell if I’m going to have too much or too little yarn. Or maybe just enough. That would be quite amazing. I’ll let you know.


As you can see, I was making great progress until I realized that I have both a math test and a chemistry test next week. I’m more of an art and history kind of person than a math and science kind of person, so having both a math and a chemistry test together is probably the worst test combination I could ever come by.... So back to studying for me!

Mystery Yarn (ooooh)

I finished my scarf the other night while watching the movie Everything Is Illuminated. I like how it turned out, much better than the last one. I like the colors better, and it just looks neater (not as in 'neat!,' as in 'tidy.' But it’s also rather 'neat!' I guess).


My grandmother made that doll for me many moons ago I think she looks quite stunning in that scarf, don’t you?

And I have to say, Everything Is Illuminated is an amazing movie! In fact, it's now officially one of my favorite movies, and that is a really hard list to get onto. First off it was really funny. Rarely do I literally laugh out loud at movies, and at points I nearly fell off the couch I was laughing so hard (if you've ever seen it, Alex's description of his grandfathers 'seeing eye bitch' really did it in for me). It also focused a lot on the Holocaust, and seeing as I'm slightly obsessed with history only made me enjoy it more. So I recommend this movie. Times a million. Really.



Now, onto knitting. See this yarn:


I got it a very long time ago at a thrift store. At the time it never occurred to me that buying yarn that thin was a stupid, stupid idea for someone who didn’t really know what they were doing (I was probably 7 and had no clue what lace knitting even was). So I bought it and attempted to knit a scarf with it. Surprisingly, I gave up. And now I have some lace yarn. And the thing is, even though I really like the yarn (wonderful color), what am I going to do with it? It's not like I can go out and buy more if I run out. And it's not even a whole skein. What can I do with such an odd amount of yarn? Something to think about.

So, I admit, I do more than knit. I also crochet. Now, I don’t do a lot of crocheting – in fact I didn’t even know how until about a month ago. And there is one sole reason for it: granny squares. I love them. I just think they look so neat. I like how both sides are right sides. Okay, so technically there is a "wrong" side, by in my opinion it doesn't look that drastically different from the "right" side; I need to actually search to identify one side from the next, and even then I don't know which one is supposed to be "right."
I admit, some granny squares really are.... granny like. They remind me of old and tacky. But I'm rather drawn to those with bright, bold colors. And the possibilities are endless. Forget the typical afghan - I made a scarf!

I'm trying to get rid of all my scrap yarn, and this is a wonderful way to go about it. This scarf is made with Carons ultra soft acrylic yarn. Yes, I admit, acrylic yarn. There was a time not all that long ago that I very little idea what I was doing, and didn't want to spend the money on wool. So now I have a basket very full of acrylic yarn that I'm trying to find uses for. So I've been making copious amounts of granny squares. Nothing fancy, and the color combinations aren't quite how I'd like them (I'm trying to get rid of yarn here), but I'm having a good time.

A few weekends ago I accompanied my boy on a business trip to the New England/New York area (yes, I realize this is not just one big area, we were in two distinct different places) and there was a lot of driving involved. So, of course, lots of granny squares were produced on the way.


I believe they will become another scarf, as I'm not entirely happy with the first one. I don't think I made the squares tight enough, and I'm not very pleased with the color combination. I'm sure I can find a good home for the purple one, though. My mom has been eyeing it at least.

Well, I'm off to class in the rain, stay dry everyone!