pattern: Martha from Rowan Magazine 28
yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, Crush (color 144)
started: January 8, 2007
completed: April 11, 2008

This month at the library I work at we’re doing a Pedometer Challenge. There are different teams around the library competing for the highest weekly average. My average last week wasn’t great but this week is definitely going to be better. Biking can be converted to steps, so we dusted off our bikes this weekend. I’ve already biked over nine miles these last two days. My new walking shoes will be a huge help in motivating me to continue walking to work on those days that my seat is too sore to ride my bike.

pattern modified from Tweedy Vest by Mona Schmidt from Knitscene, Fall/Winter 2005
yarn: Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed, color: 20008
started: November 22, 2007
completed: February 10, 2008

The semester is winding down and there is still so much to be done. I’m looking forward to summer and growing vegetables again. Today I noticed the hostas we planted last year are coming up. They’re in a pot that we buried in the ground that we can dig up and put on our front porch. I just hope the apartment people don’t come by and chop them off thinking that they are weeds. My summer schedule is going to be a bit less crazy than this semester. I have two classes - Non-Fiction for Children and Adult Popular Literature. There will be a lot of reading but I loved reading for my Children’s Lit class last semester.

pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann from The Knitting Workshop
yarn: Berocco Cotton 100 in Blue (9198) and Lime (9225)
started: March 18, 2008
finished: March 28, 2008

Lately, I’ve been knitting washcloths. I’m nearly finished with my third in as many weeks. Maybe it’s spring fever, maybe it’s finally finishing the Martha sweater, maybe it’s feeling too pressed for time.

Six years ago on April 18, 2002 I started my lowly little blog. Last year, I noted all of the projects I’d worked on since April 2002. It’s been sort of a slow knitting year for me with school and all of the sewing that I did last summer. Since last April: I’ve started Library School, knitted two baby sweaters, finished the pair of Go with the Flow socks, completed a pair of Anniversary socks, and knitted one Waving Lace sock. I also finished the Moderne Baby Blanket. For myself, the Tweedy vest was knitted in a matter of a few months and the biggest accomplishment was finishing the Martha sweater. In the sewing department, I made six skirts for myself, several bags, two adorable bunnies, made my first quilt and started another quilt (which is a surprise).

New Year’s Eve is always an interesting day. Thinking about what has happened over the past year, dreaming of what will be in the year to come and then realizing tomorrow isn’t going to be much different it’s just a number. It’s sort of exciting to think of tomorrow being a fresh start, more of a fresh start than today was. Today we’ve had a relaxing and busy day. We decided to stay in this year for New Year’s Eve. I started an Italian loaf last night, made the bread dough this morning, started a loaf of wheat sandwich bread for Bryan and decided to try a new pizza crust. After three batches of dough, my food processor decided it needed a break. I had a lovely lunch with S and went to her house for tea afterwards. Bryan has enjoyed just reading on the couch most of the day.

We wish you all a happy and healthy 2008!

More of my year. Read the rest of this entry »

I finally got the little February Baby sweater, otherwise known as the Little Lace Demin jacket, was finished in October but I didn’t get buttons on it until recently. It was sent off to its rightful owner and received over the weekend.

pattern: February Baby Sweater from The Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmermann
yarn: Rowan Demin, Memphis (4 balls used)
needles: size 7 Knit Picks Options
started: September 12, 2007
completed knitting: October 6, 2007
buttons sewn on in November 2007

Somehow in all of the craziness of school, I’ve also managed to get a lot of knitting done on the Martha sweater. So much so that in the last two weeks, I knitted the second front of the cardigan. Now on to the sleeves. It’s absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to finish it. (Photos of the progress to come soon.)

First, just a quick housekeeping note, keep an eye out here for a moving announcement. Bryan and I are deciding to cut costs a bit and share a domain name. We haven’t come up with one yet but when we’re all moved in I’ll give you some warning. I’m giving up the erica-lee.org domain name after seven years and need to be moved by November 17, so there’s a bit of crunch time.

Thank you all to your very sweet notes and messages this week. I truly have dear friends from all over the country and world. Sometimes it takes something like this to remind me exactly what it’s all about. It’s so easy to get so wrapped up in school and other stuff that I forget about the really important things like family, friends and taking time for myself. School is important but I can’t let it completely rule my life. As my mom reminded me earlier this week, I need to remind myself how badly I wanted to go to school and why I’m in school. I’m still enjoying school but it’s feeling a bit overwhelming at the moment making up papers that I missed.

Tuesday evening at our knitting group, we had a blast making creep cakes and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas. I’m still working on the Waving Lace socks and am about half way through the foot on the first sock. Unfortunately, my plans of getting the whole sock done in October didn’t work out but I made significant progress. (Also my photo of the Waving Lace socks in the leaves made it up on Lolly’s blog. My sock’s 15-seconds of fame.) Lately, I’m experiencing start-itis and was swatching for the Tweedy Vest but got frustrated with the 8-row rib pattern that I’ve decided to do the same pattern with my own 3×2 rib pattern. I just really want a vest and to use yarn that I already have in my stash.

Wow, two posts in less than a week. There much be something in the air.

I think I’ve found a happy medium lately with school reading and knitting. For my Children’s Lit class this week, we have two decent-sized books to read, Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett and The BFG by Roald Dahl. On top of all of my other reading, I wasn’t sure I was going to get it all done. Several people mentioned last week that they listened to the books on disc. What a brilliant idea, why didn’t I think of that? So this weekend, I’ve been listening to Wee Free Men and knitting. During the first disc, I finished the Rowan Demin baby item, which has been washed and just needs buttons. (I’ll have a photo when it’s been received by mother and baby.) During the second, third, fourth and fifth discs, I’ve been knitting on a lovely new pair of socks. Ever since I first saw the Waving Lace Socks (Interweave Knits, Spring 2004) I’ve wanted to make them. Saturday, I decided that now is the perfect time to make them and I have plenty of sock yarn in my stash. I’m using Bonkers sock yarn, which I purchased at TKGA 2002.

All of this listening has been very productive and already I’m working the heel on the first sock. I love the rhythm in this lace pattern. In the description of the sock in Interweave, it says “…Evelyn Clark finds [this sock] particularly soothing to knit.” I have to agree. Who knows, I may have a sock finished before the end of October without any problems.

These last two weeks have been all about reading and writing. I mentioned my papers in my last post and thankfully I have four papers under my belt and only one due next week. Getting in the groove is starting to happen but some days I think it will never happen. Lack of sleep does tend to put a strange angle on life at times. This week I planned out every day in a reasonable way and have managed to stick to it. At this rate, I’ll have all of my readings done by Friday evening. Of course, I’ll have reading responses that will need to be written this weekend for one class but the readings will be done.

Last Saturday, I had a wonderful day with S sewing. I got some work done on the quilt that I’m making. Over the last week, I’ve also knitted quite a bit on the Demin baby project during study breaks and knit night. With a little time in the car this weekend, I’ll probably be near completion on the Demin baby project. Sunday, I’m planning on sewing in the evening. Maybe this weekend, I’ll finally get to two of the skirts that I finished back in July but never hemmed. With autumn weather quickly approaching I only have a few more weeks to wear them. I’m really itching to get myself back into knitting the Martha sweater. It’s been so long I don’t even remember where I left off with Martha.

With October comes Socktoberfest and the desire to start a new pair of socks. I’m thinking I know what I want to knit and it’s a cute pair of anklets. My goal this year is to finish one sock since I’m not sure I’ll have the time to knit a pair in October. Last year I managed to finish a pair in 27 days but that was with a lot of time on my hands.

The baby quilt and the Moderne Baby Blanket have both arrived at their respective homes. The response to both has been overwhelmingly positive, as I figured it would be. At the home of the Moderne Baby blanket, the dad wrapped himself up in it and fell asleep. If that’s not a compliment, I don’t know what is.

I love these moments I’ve been having lately. They’re moments where I get off the bus, I’m walking through campus and it dawns on me, “I’m in grad school.” Yes, I’ve been in school for about five weeks but these moments are interesting. For years I’ve thought about going back to school and wondered what would it be like. This morning as I was walking to the library, an image of what I’d thought grad school would be like immediately flashed in my head and everything seemed so right. Do you ever have moments where you suddenly feel, “this is exactly where I’m supposed to be”? In my mind, I didn’t expect to be married while in grad school but I’m very happy that I have Bryan to keep me sane.

This past weekend was a busy one of readings, papers and a tiny bit of knitting. My first grad school paper was due on Monday and I handed it in early on Sunday night. (We post our papers online, which saves some headaches and the panic of getting to campus without my paper.) Wednesday, my second paper was due and next week I have two more papers. These first two papers were a bit challenging, just getting words on the page can be so daunting. Now I feel like I can get the next two done without any problems. The paper due this coming Monday is really interesting. I have to research an organization for my intellectual freedom class and discuss how they would be an ally in a book challenge situation. I’m researching the American Booksellers Association, an association of independent booksellers, which has been really interesting. The entire intellectual freedom class has really made me more aware of books that are currently being challenged and what it means for librarians. There are two challenges in the news now in Maine and Alabama.

Onto other news, I finally sent off the quilt to its rightful owners, baby (born in June) and mother received the blanket on Monday, I can show it off here now. It’s my first quilt and I’m quite proud of it. I’m working on my second quilt and it’s another secret project. I’m hoping to get some serious work done on it this Saturday during my Saturday Sew-over with S.

Last week, I also started another baby project in Rowan Demin, which is going quite quickly. The baby was born in May so I’m hoping to get it to the mother soon. There are so many babies being born this year that’s it’s been quite difficult to keep up.