Chapter 1: Obamania, and a New Semester

New chapters in my life are emerging everywhere!

Obama was inaugurated President of the United States (despite what Fox News stipulates) on January 20th, 2009. This is historical, people, and a new chapter in the life of our nation. I even made a little pop-out White House and Obama Family, provided by the Hartford Courant. Sadly, my mother threw them away before I could take photos, because Michelle Obama's head kept falling off. Anyway, this is all so new...I just can't imagine how to get by knowing that my country no longer condones torture...

Okay, so to avoid getting too political, while I was watching the inauguration, I was knitting. In fact, I was knitting my first sweater. This is Chapter 2 of my Chapter Ones. If that makes sense...anyway, it's not so bad. More on this project will come later, but I'm realizing that such a large garment will not equal the end of the world for me or anyone else, and that I am capable of something more difficult than a sock. The February Lady Sweater has given me confidence--I can look at a new pattern, no matter what it is, and imagine myself completing it without some form of death or destruction. 

Wednesday also marks the beginning of my second semester at Hampshire College. This means that I am no longer a completely inexperienced freshman (merely an inexperienced one). I moved back into my dorm today, and found this note on my desk.

I'm sure I wrote it after completing my final Final Paper (I passed all my classes, yay!). I probably intended it for a blog post, but was too brain fried to string together a coherent sentence, let alone tell you people about it. So I will leave this little sticky note as a reminder to me and all that, no matter how stressful life gets, and how busy, we must always take a little time every day to preserve our sanity. Chapter 3. I promise if you do. 

Winter Photo Shoot: A Kp Special

Due to the fact that I am slightly bored and realized that some of my knitting pictures are woefully out of date (not to mention bland), I decided it was high time for a photo shoot. Every single one of the photos below had no other party involved in their making save myself, my camera, and a really cantankerous old tripod. I would also like to point out that all the outdoor photos were shot in 14 degree temperatures. These first pictures (above, all comments will correspond to the set above them) are in honor of my dear and lovely co blogger, because they feature her really lovely Snowflake Hat Pattern in diVe Zenith yarn. Let us walk through some winter fiber goodness shall we...

Okay, so this is a display of the Twee Gloves designed by the wonderful Anushka Tay, and the yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Many of these shots have a faery theme attached to the look considering my love of anything fae and that fact that a great deal of my knitting tends to ere on the side of the fantastical.

Ohhhh I am such a geek, but yet, this is actually on of my favorite looks in this collection. The knit being featured in this spread is the Saphira Gauntlets in the pattern Dragon Scale Gauntlets that can be found on chartreuseknits.blogspot.com, and the yarn is Zen by the paintedsheep in the colorway Tranquility. (Yes I know that was a run-on shut up!) What is so special about this look is that I made more than one thing that is featured (and no it is not the bokin I am holding.) Yes, I made that cloak and I am still uber proud of it.

Ahhhh, Cleaves. Yes, this is the pattern Cleaves, found on www.knitty.com and this particular version is done in Lion Brand Homespun and Lion Brand Jiffy. Mercy, I look gorgeous!

This is a tribute to my checked scarf made of Caron Simply Soft Brites. The scarf holds a special place in my heart not because it is my favorite, but because it is one of the first large things I made when my love for knitting was reawakened. It is a 9 foot monstrousity that was made the summer when I worked my first assistant scenic design job, and the long hours of tech were whiled away, knitting on this scarf.

And so we come, at last, to the end of this gallery of knitwear. This is my favorite hat EVER!!! The pattern is the Chicken Tam by Cass Long and it can be found on www.shutuppatterns.blogspot.com.  Anyway, the yarn is Handpainted Alpaca by the paintedsheep and the colorway is Larkspur. This is my go-to hat. I wear it so often and it is so perfect for me I can barely contain my glee every time I put it on my head. 

So ends the gallery. I am thinking on a part II that would be less of me and more of arranging the knitting in different settings with the props, but we shall see. I hope you enjoyed the view!

Little Bit of Pride

Just a quick recount of an event that made me feel pretty darn good about myself and my knitting capabilities. The yarn I used for my Cheshire Cat Stole was hand-dyed by the daughter of the woman who runs my LYS. She had expressed interest in seeing the stole when it was finished (the owner that is) and so I brought it by today. Upon revealing the work to her and another woman in the store, they simply gushed over the work and they seemed somewhat impressed. As a young knitter, I know I am pretty awed and shy around those who have been practicing the craft for so much longer than me. It was a nice change to have the older generation oggling at something I made.

"Don't you have enough hats?"

Picture 1
Originally uploaded by knitmeatheatre

This is the question I'm faced with as I pull out yet another misshapen pile of yarn and pointy sticks during my Novel in the U.S. class this past semester. Classmate Tom, the inquirer, does not knit...but I have knit so many hats next to him that he knows a hat when he sees one.

And now that it is 2009, Tom, I say yes to you. YES, I HAVE ENOUGH HATS!

Pictured here are some of the hats I have knit since October. However, it is not all of the hats that I have knit. If I had to count (which I'd rather not), I'd venture that I knit between 25 and 30 hats between October and December 2008. Therefore, I will not be knitting any hats. For a very long time.

But I love hats. So we'll see.

I Love Them Not.....I Love Them

When last I posted I was proclaiming my extreme dislike for the sock I was knitting. Well, upon finishing the creature today I put it upon my foot with great trepidation. At first, I noticed no difference from all the times I had forced it on my foot while it was in progress. But, as I began to move around and walk, the most extraordinary thing occurred. The sock seemed to settle in such a way that although the many holes and gaps were not invisible, they did not scream to be recognized. Indeed, a strange and wonderful appearance overtook the entire piece and now I am only awed and slightly giddy. I have not lost my sock knitting mojo!!! The other sock will not be a chore or a trial! Sometimes, we just have to finish something and live with it for a while, before it returns the rewards of our hard labor. It is amazing that even after so many pairs of socks, they still inspire me with their magic. Yay socks!!!

Yeah...That's What I Did....

(As a response to KP's blog post below, see the subject line above. [Also, I will post. Someday.])

My Sneaky co-blogger

I am a very versatile knitter. I have rarely met a pattern that has vexed me once it begins to reveal itself in all its beauty. Not so with the socks I am currently knitting. They are being knit up in a lovely Painted Sock Too by the Paintedsheep (colorway autumn) and the pattern is a supposedly tricky Pomatomous by the lovely and talented Cookie A. When one first looks at my sock, it does not seem so bad, but the minute I actually allow it to slip over my foot it is revealed to be full of stringy nonsense and holes. I do not fault me, nor do I fault the pattern. It looks really nifty to the not-kp eye, but I am discovering more and more that I am not a fan of a bunch of yarnovers placed in such awkward positions. 

   How does all this ranting relate to my co-blogger? Well, upon listening to my constant griping, and sitting through many a tale of woe about my dislike of this pattern, she proclaimed, "You are never going to finish the second sock. You just can't do it if you hate the pattern that much." At first I was so rankled by this pronouncement I became even more determined to finish these socks more than I ever wished to finish a pair. But, as I began to simmer on my co-blogger's lack of faith in me, I came upon a strange notion; until she said I couldn't do it, I really had very little desire to finish these socks. Also, my dear friend has never directly said "You can't do it" to me, especially when it has to do with knitting. Yet, she has always found a way to encourage me in my endeavors, even when they are a toil. She knows me well enough to know that the only thing that drives me to do something more than encouragement, is a desire to prove someone wrong. Could it be this supposed lack of faith is merely a ploy to keep me knitting this project until completion?

   I do not know if this is what my co-blogger intended me to think. It could be she really does not believe I will finish the socks. However, she is a ridiculously intelligent individual who has known me for over five years. It is very possible she employed an excellent use of reverse psychology in order to help me finish this arduous project. Either way, she has inspired me. I am going to finish them duckling, you just watch!

(Picture is of my incomplete sock over the spine of the book Eldest by Christopher Paolini)