catching up

i know, it's been a while since i've posted but can you blame me? i was pretty much out of commission last week because of the stomach flu. i barfed a lot. i hadn't barfed in about 7 years, now i have to start that clock again. flu = no fun.

a week ago i went to the LYS and bought this beauty.



it is necessary for me to point out that i am not a fan of variegated yarn. i think they look weird, and the pooling colors bother me. i love the richness and strength in the simplicity of a good solid color. but this one, this Manos del Uruguay wool called me out. i LOVE it. the yarn told me that i wanted to knit it, and it also told me that it wanted to become this...



oh yes, the counterpane accessory pouch from Handknit Holidays. immediate cast-on was in order. then this happened.



i don't even remember knitting it, it just came off the needles like that. but i have to finish knitting the second half which is proving to be more difficult. i frogged the second half 4 times already. stupid mistakes, of course. they're always stupid mistakes. bah. i'm working on it.

oh yes, how could i forget, ODESSA!



yay! i got to wear it in the snow in Michigan!



this pattern was so fun to knit. the hat is soft and the beads are easy to work with. it's likely that i'll knit another one.

i guess that's all for now. i'd better do some homework, and some knitting :)

papa bob

i'm not sure where to start. there's so much i could say about him, but i'm not sure how to say it.

my papa bob passed away on monday, March 13th. i love him dearly. he was very funny, in fact, he wrote hilarious short mystery stories for alfred hitchcock magazine. he really loved a good joke. his smile was so quirky it softened your heart. he was an awesome grandfather to me. he gave me a gift that brings me solace and comfort each day. it continually brings me joy and i feel creative and unique when i use this gift. my papa bob taught me to knit.

when i was eight years old, he took me into the "little house" where he and my granny lived and he pulled out a bag of yarn. i picked out a dusty blue yarn and he gave me some old metal needles, then he proceeded to teach me the long-tail cast on. next came the incredible knit stitch. i knit and knit on the bed in the little house. he was so patient with me. i'm a very easily distracted person, but he managed to sit me down long enough to teach me to knit. i was on a roll for about a year, but i put the craft down for years only to rediscover it again my freshman year of college and he was overjoyed to hear that i'd fallen in love with it again. my papa bob loved to knit these booties that were almost a sock but without the shaping. if you mention the booties to anyone in my family, they know exactly what i'm talking about. he and my granny always had a pair on. my granny is giving me the pattern, which really means a lot to me.

i think i miss his smile most.

ode to odessa

last saturday, paula and i went all over town doing all sorts of stuff. our first stop was at a bead shop where i found the perfect beads for odessa!

check it out, the beads blend perfectly with the yarn.



in fact, in the knitting they almost don't look like beads at all, they look like the subtle bumps of a purl stitch. in the right light they are iridescent and bluish. love 'em.

odessa is coming along nicely and i love love love the pattern. it's soooo simple but you wouldn't believe the comments it gets.

"that's knitting? but it looks store bought!"-awesome girl in my genetics class
"oh what's that, an arm band?"-guy in ecology who mistakenly thinks my arms are as thick as my thighs.
"wow! it looks like an ice cream cone!"-awesome guy in my ecology lab.
"oh my god, i wish i could knit. that is so cute."-girl in genetics.

thank you odessa, you make me feel like a knitting genius. but i'm not. not even close. but yesterday i sure felt like one. :)

look! she swirls.



gratuitous bead shot



i'll surely be wearing this by the time i land at the chicago airport. EXCITEMENT!

eowyn

the pieces for eowyn have been finished and blocked for a few days. i planned to seam them up a while ago, but i've been too busy with school lately. after a geology lab exam this morning, i had time to sit down, eat lunch and seam eowyn up.

done!



they're beautiful and fabulously cozy. i got three compliments on them already today! i love the finished product, but i found that rowan kid classic yarn feels oddly greasy when i'm knitting with it. it isn't greasy, but it feeeeels greasy. however, the wristwarmers feel great on and i love 'em to bits.

i think i need to knit a hat soon. i'm going to visit my brother at his high school out in Michigan in a week and it's much colder than california. odessa maybe? i have a skein of rowan dk that is perrrrfect for it. i just can't find the right seed beads. bah.

dag. i have tons of genetics homework to do AND the office is on later. no knitting for me tonight.